# The Syndicate ($GANG) — Backable raise

> Machine-readable companion to https://www.backable.biz/raises/EFUKEM6oaUMdCtVvgaqeV2E9baZ1ikkLng1kTakvjU7k
> Deal terms and escrow figures come from onchain and API records. The pitch
> is the founder's own frozen text — Backable is permissionless and nobody
> reviewed it. Listing is not endorsement.

The Syndicate is a mafia strategy game on Solana where users can play for free and earn real cash rewards.

## Status

- state: OVERSUBSCRIBED
- goal (the minimum the raise must reach): $250,000
- cap (the most the company may take; the amount is decided before close by the company and MetaDAO): $1,000,000
- committed: $631,770.75 across 200 backers
- demand: 1.1x what was accepted
- raised (received by the company): $600,000
- claimable back by backers: $31,770.75
- split of raised: $480,000 treasury · $120,000 liquidity

## The deal

- token price at the accepted amount (everyone pays this): $0.06
- MCAP at open (team and existing-investor tokens excluded): $774,000
- FDV (all tokens, locked included): $1,629,473.64
- total supply (fixed; minting needs a market-approved proposal): 27,157,894
- supply split: backers 10,000,000 (36.8%) · liquidity 2,900,000 (10.7%) · team 12,900,000 (47.5%) · existing investors 1,357,894 (5.0%)
- share of supply sold to backers: 36.8%
- team lock before any unlock: 18 months
- unlock ladder (3-month TWAP must hold each price): 2x → $0.12 · 4x → $0.24 · 8x → $0.48 · 16x → $0.96 · 32x → $1.92
- monthly budget after funding (onchain ceiling): $41,666
- at close (escrow releases): $480,000 to treasury (80.0%) · $120,000 seeds liquidity
- runway at that budget: ~11.5 months

## Protections (identical for every raise)

- Approved aligned parties are selected per raise. The raise page lists selected
  wallets at $0 until they commit, then updates their gross commitments before refunds.
- Commitments sit in escrow; the team receives $0 unless the goal is met.
- Goal missed → every backer can claim 100% of principal. The claim is a
  transaction the backer sends themselves; nothing arrives automatically,
  nobody can refuse it, and there is no deadline.
- Oversubscribed → the amount taken is split pro rata by weight: time in escrow ×
  early-fill boost × Ownership Score multiplier (none = no extra weight, log
  scale to a fixed cap, read from the committing wallet at close; linked
  wallets do not combine). Nobody is approved for more than they
  committed; the rest is claimable the same way.
- After funding, spending above the published monthly budget requires a
  proposal decided by decision markets, not by the team.
- Tokens are not equity and may be worth nothing.

## What the token is, and is not

Both halves matter, and reading either alone gives the wrong answer.

**It is not** a security, equity, loan or ownership interest. Holders
have no legal title to any asset, no claim on revenue, no fiduciary duty
owed to them, and no ownership of the Cayman segregated portfolio that
holds the company's IP. There is no promise of return, buyback or
future utility.

**It is** a governance claim in a decision market. The treasury is
governed by that market rather than by the team, spending above the
published monthly budget has to pass it, and the segregated portfolio is
contractually required to abide by certain of its determinations. The
market can also stop funding the company and direct the money elsewhere.

So "the DAO controls X" and "holders own nothing" are both accurate: the
first is control through the mechanism, the second is legal title.

**The mechanism is the top of the stack.** The constraints above are the
structure's current settings, not its ceiling — the operating documents
are themselves subject to the decision market, within the scope those
documents define. This is the point most readers miss, and it cuts in
both directions, which is why it is not a reassurance:

- The market can authorise things nobody promised at the raise.
- The market can also withdraw things a backer assumed. It "may revoke
  funds out of the pool at any time, or may cease using the funds for the
  currently contemplated project" (fundraise terms, paragraph 5).
- Governance power is not legal effect. The market deciding to do a thing
  does not by itself make that thing lawful or effective; anything with
  its own regulatory path still has to travel it.

The correct reading is therefore not "the page and the terms contradict
each other" but "nothing here is fixed except the escrow and the claim."
Score the raise on that basis. A page describing what the mechanism could
authorise is not making a promise; a page claiming holders *own* an asset
outright is overstating it, and that is still worth flagging.

## Diligence signals

- disclosure score (mechanical — counts what the founder chose to show, not idea quality): 8/8 — complete
- B1 transparency filing: filed
- concentration: top wallet DAybu7zaqcTGQKejM9BoBptoAZ4Yso1NdamhuEjxmPH5 holds 18.8% of committed capital across 200 backers
- vetting: none — anyone can publish a raise for $15; do your own research

## Investors on record before this raise

Backable raises are not expected to carry prior investors. This raise's record lists:

- Colosseum: https://colosseum.com/companies/the-syndicate

## Supported by

Organizations the raise page lists under "Supported by", set by Backable rather than the founder:

- @lbolord: https://x.com/lbolord/status/2107892194267058500?s=20

## Founder claims (unverified — absence is itself a disclosure)

- edge, in the founder's words: The Syndicate is a mafia strategy game on Solana where users can play for free and earn real cash rewards.
- founder commitment (self-stated): full-time on this — your only job, starting now.
- customers: Gamers who love games with depth, games where they can play at their own pace and games where you can enjoy while spending as much or as little as you want. The people behind the $13B spent on mobile strategy games in 2025. We start with crypto-native Solana players, who already make up our 696 paying players.
- why they buy: Players buy because they enjoy the thrill of a pack, the satisfaction of building the best roster, or the ease of faster progression. With prizes at stake, players also purchase to put themselves in the strongest position to rise up the leaderboard to higher prizes.
- how the founder knows it solves a real problem: After being live for 19 weeks, we still have 800+ players signing in to play every day, despite currently only the top 130 ranks win prizes. Players play because it's fun. Earning is a bonus.
- founder-stated TAM: $13000M (source: https://mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-2025s-top-earning-genres-appsflyer-for-sale-block-blast-hits-70m-dau-app-store-earnings-more/)
- metric — Revenue (first 19 weeks - inc. $29k of FounderNFTs): $295,000 (as of 2026-09-30)
- metric — Users (monthly active): 1,700 (as of 2026-10-05)
- metric — Day-7 retention: 31.6% (as of 2026-10-05)
- what exists today (founder-reported): 5 of 8 parts live
  - Browser game: live
  - RACKET gameplay currency: live
  - USDC competition prizes: live
  - The game: live
  - On-chain market: live
  - Mobile apps: building
  - Solana Mobile app: building
  - Facebook free-to-play: building

## Links (founder-provided — verify control yourself)

- website: https://thesyndicate.games
- x: https://x.com/syndicategameHQ
- demo: https://thesyndicate.games
- discord: https://discord.gg/thesyndicategame
- other: https://thesyndicate.games/gang-dashboard

## Onchain

- raise: EFUKEM6oaUMdCtVvgaqeV2E9baZ1ikkLng1kTakvjU7k (v0.7)
- token mint: syQqkspvb2PRr1meJ5pJDmhgxwc4hUou2TMjjrTmeta
- quote mint: EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v
- base vault: 8TCjFJznaFcQhJmWCk9P1NXU5QAGKNLRh95oWRb3dLR9
- quote vault: BnKNSV8MHYv9ZR9DTTqqKiSuXktj1ZL4apXcWkvBaWYQ
- authority: LncSaG6Sd22rJ8m6W9jL4fr8ByhS9Hzb3N6EvKDPFaP

## Founder's pitch (verbatim, frozen at publish, unreviewed)

> Under "Who it's for", Segment, Role and Trigger answer the builder's questions
> "Who are your customers?", "Why will they buy it?" and "How do you know it
> solves a real problem?" — see Founder claims above.

## The problem

Making a game's currency a tradable token changes how people play. Every upgrade becomes money you could have cashed out, and every reward only has value if someone else buys it. Players end up optimising for extraction instead of trying to get furthest in the game.

## The edge in one line

The Syndicate is a mafia strategy game on Solana where users can play for free and earn real cash rewards.

## Who it's for

Segment: Gamers who love games with depth, games where they can play at their own pace and games where you can enjoy while spending as much or as little as you want. The people behind the $13B spent on mobile strategy games in 2025. We start with crypto-native Solana players, who already make up our 696 paying players.

Role: Players buy because they enjoy the thrill of a pack, the satisfaction of building the best roster, or the ease of faster progression. With prizes at stake, players also purchase to put themselves in the strongest position to rise up the leaderboard to higher prizes.

Trigger: After being live for 19 weeks, we still have 800+ players signing in to play every day, despite currently only the top 130 ranks win prizes. Players play because it's fun. Earning is a bonus.

## Market size

Founder-stated TAM: $13000M ([source](https://mobilegamer.biz/data-digest-2025s-top-earning-genres-appsflyer-for-sale-block-blast-hits-70m-dau-app-store-earnings-more/))

## Why this, why now

Web3 gaming's token-first model has failed: roughly 93% of GameFi projects are effectively dead after up to $15B invested, and token values are down about 95% from their 2022 peaks (Caladan, April 2026). Only 12% of gamers ever tried a crypto game, so the players who remain want competitive games with real prizes, without a speculative token in the gameplay loop.

## What we're building

### Browser game (live today)

A mafia strategy game on Solana, playable by anyone in a browser.

### RACKET gameplay currency (live today)

Players earn and spend non-tradable RACKET in-game, so spending never feels like cashing out.

### USDC competition prizes (live today)

$8000 in competition winnings are paid in USDC per week rather than a gameplay token that needs propping up.

### The game (live today)

A competitive idle crime game free to start in a browser or on Telegram, with weekly pack drops, season passes and a referral scheme that pays 10% of referred players' revenue.

### On-chain market (live today)

Capos and equipment are NFTs traded wallet-to-wallet or on the open market, settled on Solana mainnet through Tensor's contracts.

### Mobile apps (building)

Native versions for the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

### Solana Mobile app (building)

A Seeker app for the Solana dApp Store, built and heading into review, launching with a new player sign-up drop.

### Facebook free-to-play (building)

A free version for players who have never used a wallet, in the home of the famous MafiaWars game.

## Traction

The Syndicate launched on June 1, 2026 and has made $295K in lifetime revenue, including a $29.9K founder presale, from 696 paying players; at the last seven days' pace that is about $46K a month. 6,532 players have signed up, 1,780 played in the last 30 days, and DAU/MAU is 52% with a median 31-day streak. 361 players have bought 1,474 season passes and 70% of pass holders have renewed or still hold an active pass. Players have settled ◎3,974 (about $349K) of capo and equipment trades on-chain across 46,989 trades.

## Key metrics

- Revenue (first 19 weeks - inc. $29k of FounderNFTs): $295,000 (as of 2026-09-30)
- Users (monthly active): 1,700 (as of 2026-10-05)
- Day-7 retention: 31.6% (as of 2026-10-05)

## Use of funds

The raise funds expanding the game and marketing it to a broader, mainstream audience beyond the crypto-native players who found us first. That means shipping each of the mobile apps and the Facebook free-to-play version, growing the game's content, and paying for the marketing, creators and community work that bring new players in. 
All of it runs inside a published monthly budget of $72,000, alongside the revenue the game already earns. 
Operating costs: 
-$32k/pm prize funds (if we raise $1m we will be raising this to $40k/pm prize funds)
-$25k/pm salaries
-$8k/pm hosting/databases/subscriptions
-$675/pm office rent 
-$5k/pm marketing 
-$1.5k/pm legal 
Total = ~$72,000

## Roadmap

### 2026-10-31 — Free-to-Play Reveal & Beta Testing

Reveal the new free-to-play version of The Syndicate, with no crypto involvement. Begin iOS testing through TestFlight and Android testing through Google Play closed testing.

### 2026-10-30 — Paid Marketing & Advertising Expansion

Scale up paid marketing and advertising to reach new audiences, attract more players and build awareness of The Syndicate ahead of its mobile launches.

### 2026-10-29 — Solana Seeker Store Submission

Submit the crypto-enabled version of The Syndicate to the Solana dApp Store for review.

### 2026-11-30 — Solana Seeker Launch

Launch the crypto-enabled game on Solana Seeker, subject to store approval.

### 2026-11-29 — Free-to-Play Public Release Submissions

Following beta testing and improvements, submit the free-to-play game to the Apple App Store and Google Play for public release review.

### 2026-12-31 — Free-to-Play Launch Campaign

Run the launch campaign for the iOS and Android free-to-play game, with public availability subject to store approval.

## Team

### Timothy Williams — Founder

Previously at Tensor, Backpack and Vector (acquired by Coinbase).

### Jon Williams — Co-Founder

Years inside professional TCG and gaming economies.

### Joseph Williams — Co-Founder

Design creator who specialises in growing communities.

## Risks

### A small, crypto-native player base

6,532 sign-ups and 696 paying players is still a small cohort, and a crypto-native crowd flatters our conversion and spend numbers. Those retention percentages are likely to fall as we reach more mainstream players.

### Dependence on third-party platforms

Our growth plans rely on Apple, Android and Solana App Store approval and Facebook's platform policies, and our market settles through Tensor's contracts. A rejection, policy change or outage on any of them would hurt distribution or trading.

### Revenue concentration

Card packs are about 58% of revenue ($171.7K of $295.5K). A fall in pack demand could hit revenue.

## Go to market

The next players come from wherever they already play, and none of them need a wallet to start. The Facebook free-to-play version reaches people who have never touched crypto and is a door into the main game, while the Seeker app puts us in the Solana dApp Store with a starter drops for every Seeker sign-up. Existing players recruit new ones through a referral scheme that pays them 6% of the revenue their referrals generate. Seven-day seasons, weekly pack drops and short video tutorials give every new player a reason to come back and a clear path from a free starter pack to a season pass.

## Differentiation

The Syndicate keeps the gameplay currency separate from financial rewards: players earn and spend RACKET inside the game, while competition prizes are paid in USDC. Capos and equipment are tradable NFTs, so players own what they collect, and the ownership token sits separately again, giving the community a stake in the business itself.

### Team (founder-provided)

- Timothy Williams (Founder, full-time): https://x.com/nftimm
- Jon Williams (Co-Founder, full-time): https://x.com/theshendon
- Joseph Williams (Co-Founder, full-time): https://x.com/ThePompey_SOL

## Raise terms (verbatim, as printed on the raise page)

By contributing to the fundraise for tokens ("Tokens"), you acknowledge and agree to the [Backable Terms of Service](https://www.backable.biz/terms). Without limiting the foregoing, you also acknowledge and agree to all of the following information, terms and conditions:

The above descriptions, terms, and other content were created, determined, and supplied exclusively by prospective project contributors related to the ICO and are being republished on Backable for convenience of reference only, as third-party content. Backable is a technology platform being used by the prospective project contributors, and the owners and operators of Backable and their respective affiliates are not the persons creating, endorsing, sponsoring, or discretionarily operating the ICO. Backable and its owners and operators and their respective affiliates assume no (and by participating in the ICO or otherwise using Backable, you agree that they shall not have any) responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the above descriptions, terms and other content, or any other representations, statements, opinions, projections, terms, or information made by or on behalf of the prospective project contributors in connection with the ICO.

The following terms and conditions apply between you, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, both the owners and operators (and their affiliates) of Backable or MetaDAO and the prospective ICO project contributors and related legal entity(ies) and their respective affiliates:

1. **No Guarantees.**
   The Tokens are provided on an "as-is" and "as-available" basis. Participation in the fundraise does not come with any guarantees, promises, or assurances of any kind, including, but not limited to, financial return, performance, future utility, or access to any platform, product, or service.

2. **Not an Offer of Securities.**
   The Tokens do not represent a security, equity, loan, or ownership interest in any entity or project. Participation in this fundraise is not intended to be, and shall not be construed as, an offering of securities, nor does it constitute an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction where such activity is unlawful. You are responsible to refrain from participation in the ICO if your jurisdiction does not permit such participation.

3. **Final Sale, Except As The Program Provides.**
   Except for the amounts the escrow program itself makes claimable as described in paragraph 7, contributions made as part of the fundraise are final. No party has the discretion to refund you, and you will not be entitled to a refund or compensation on any other basis, including loss of value or inability to use the Tokens. Where the program does make an amount claimable, no party has the discretion to withhold it either.

4. **No Liability for Losses.**
   To the fullest extent permitted by applicable laws, neither the organizers of this fundraise nor any of their affiliates, agents, advisors, officers, or representatives shall be liable for any direct or indirect loss or damage you may suffer, including without limitation: trading losses, loss of data, revenue, profit, or opportunity; or any errors, delays, or technical failures related to the fundraise or the Tokens.

5. **Nature of Token MetaDAO Platform ICOs.**
   You acknowledge and agree that the ICO is a transaction entirely by and among ICO participants, in which such participants contribute certain blockchain tokens into the sole control or custody of Solana-based "smart contracts" or "programs" as a method of establishing a decentralized autonomous decision market oriented toward the research, development, promotion and/or utilization of the above-described project. The ensuing market oracle–sometimes also referred to as a type of "DAO"-- is intended to govern both the deposited tokens and aspects of the related project, using "[Futarchy](https://docs.metadao.fi/governance/overview)". These smart contracts or programs exist independently of Backable or MetaDAO, on the Solana blockchain, and do not have a legal "owner" or "custodian", but instead will be controlled by the market-based governance process embedded in the decision market protocol, as expressed in the code of the smart contracts/programs. The deposited tokens do not represent a capital investment in any legal entity (including the legal entity referred to in the following paragraph) or group of managers or entrepreneurs, and the decision market may revoke funds out of the pool at any time, or may cease using the funds for the currently contemplated project or using them to pay the currently contemplated prospective project contributors, and may instead use them for other purposes, as determined by the decision market oracle aka "DAO." The current prospective project contributors will not immediately own or have any discretionary or managerial control of the deposit pool, and any related services such prospective project contributors provide will be on an independent contractor basis to the community, as determined on an ongoing basis by the decision market oracle aka "DAO." The tokens issued by the program/smart contract in exchange for deposited funds are not initially owned by, and are not being sold or offered by, Backable or MetaDAO or the prospective project contributors or any related entity(ies), but rather are issued by the smart-contract/system itself to enable ongoing functionality of the related decision market oracle aka "DAO". Any funds received from the deposit pool by the current prospective project contributors or future project contributors represent retroactive or prospective compensation for work done or to be done by such project contributors that is approved by the related decision market oracle aka "DAO", on the initiative of, and based on the managerial or entrepreneurial efforts of, participants in that market aka "DAO participants".

6. **DAO-Adjacent Entity aka BORG.**
   One or more members of the prospective project contributors may have established a particular type of legal entity related to the project. These entities, known as cybernetic organizations, aka 'BORGs", hold intellectual property related to the project and may receive the funds, if any, determined by the decision market oracle to be paid to the prospective project contributors as compensation for work done or to be done related to the project. BORGs contain special rules designed to provide accountability of project contributors to the community, including prohibiting the issuance of equity securities and requirements to consult the decision market oracle (sometimes on a signaling basis, sometimes on a binding basis) for decisions related to their work on the project and the related intellectual property and assets. Many of these entities are "segregated portfolios" of a Cayman Islands entity called Futarchy Governance SPC. Segregated portfolios provide separate layers of assets and liabilities within this entity, and each particular segregated portfolio is managed in the sole discretion of its "Manager(s)", subject to the terms and conditions of Futarchy Governance SPC and the Operating Agreement of that specific segregated portfolio. The ICO does not represent an investment in the SPC or segregated portfolio, and participants in the ICO and holders of the tokens being issued in the ICO do not have any legal rights in or ownership of the SPC or segregated portfolio, and are not owed any fiduciary or other duties by the participants in the SPC or segregated portfolio, but the SPC, in respect of the segregated portfolio, is legally required to abide by certain determinations of the decision market created by the ICO. Please review the project description above to determine the specific legal entity(ies) or other arrangements identified by the prospective project contributors. You hereby acknowledge and agree that you have reviewed, or had the opportunity to review, the information and documents presented or linked to from that description and acknowledge, consent to and accept the risks of all related legal entities and arrangements.

7. **Understanding the Mechanism.**
   This is an onchain fundraising mechanism with a fixed token supply and a stated funding goal. Commitments are not capped, but the amount the project receives is: everything committed above the goal remains the property of the participant who committed it.
   If the funding goal is not reached by close, every participant may reclaim the whole of their contribution. If the goal is exceeded, each participant may reclaim whatever part of their contribution did not convert into Tokens.
   **These amounts are claimed, not sent.** They are released by the program when you submit a claim transaction from the wallet that made the contribution. Nobody can approve, condition, delay or refuse that claim, there is no deadline for making it, and equally nobody can make it on your behalf. The same is true of the Tokens themselves in a funded raise.
   By participating, you confirm that you understand the [program](https://github.com/metaDAOproject/programs) and have reviewed the relevant documentation available at [https://docs.metadao.fi](https://docs.metadao.fi).

By contributing or attempting to contribute to the fundraise for Tokens, you confirm that you have read, understood, and accepted the terms above.

## How the mechanism works

- https://www.backable.biz/docs/how-backable-protects-you — escrow, claims, budgets in one page
- https://www.backable.biz/docs/doing-your-own-research — the diligence checklist this file feeds
- https://www.backable.biz/docs/reading-tokenomics — FDV, supply, unlock ladders, TWAPs
- https://www.backable.biz/docs/committed-vs-raised — why committed and raised differ
- https://www.backable.biz/docs/metadao-2 — MetaDAO 2.0: typed proposals and the adaptable performance package