· BuiltOnBulk · Strategy · 5 min read
BULK AURA at Scale: What $100K, $500K, and $1M Pre-Deposits Actually Earn
The BULK AURA formula rewards size × time. Larger deposits capture proportionally more of the 1,000,000 weekly AURA pool — and institutional referral mechanics mean that referring one large depositor earns more AURA per week than 100 retail referrals combined.
The BULK AURA formula is strictly linear. A $1M depositor earns exactly 10× more AURA than a $100k depositor holding for the same duration. There is no diminishing return, no cap below $5M, and no minimum hold threshold for personal AURA. For institutional capital that would otherwise sit in a money market or stablecoin yield product, the AURA upside is asymmetric.
This page breaks down the actual math — AURA projections at different deposit sizes, the referral multiplier that makes institutional networks more valuable than institutional capital alone, and the compounding effect of early entry versus late entry.
The Formula
Every week, 1,000,000 AURA is distributed to pre-depositors. The mechanism:
Your AURA = (Your USDC × Your Days Held) / (Total USDC-Days in Pool) × 1,000,000USDC-days is the product of your deposit amount and the number of days you held it during the distribution period. If you deposit $500,000 and hold it for all 7 days of a weekly period, you accumulate 3,500,000 USDC-days. If you hold for 3.5 days, you accumulate 1,750,000 USDC-days.
The total USDC-days in the denominator is the sum of every depositor’s USDC-days for the same period. Your share is your fraction of that total.
This formula has three implications for large depositors:
- Size is linear. 10× more capital = 10× more AURA, all else equal.
- Time compounds. Deposits made in Week 1 of Season 1 accumulate more USDC-days before TGE than identical deposits made in Week 6.
- Pool growth dilutes share but not absolute AURA. As more depositors join, each depositor’s percentage share shrinks — but your absolute USDC-days (and therefore absolute AURA) only declines if new entrants grow the pool faster than your capital grows relative to it.
AURA Projections at Different Pool Sizes
Because AURA share is relative to total pool size, the per-depositor AURA depends on how many others are in the pool. The table below shows estimated weekly AURA at three different total pool sizes.
At $25M Total Pool (Early Adopter Scenario)
| Your Deposit | Your USDC-Days (7-day hold) | Pool USDC-Days | Your Share | Weekly AURA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | 70,000 | 175,000,000 | 0.04% | 400 |
| $50,000 | 350,000 | 175,000,000 | 0.20% | 2,000 |
| $100,000 | 700,000 | 175,000,000 | 0.40% | 4,000 |
| $500,000 | 3,500,000 | 175,000,000 | 2.00% | 20,000 |
| $1,000,000 | 7,000,000 | 175,000,000 | 4.00% | 40,000 |
| $5,000,000 | 35,000,000 | 175,000,000 | 20.00% | 200,000 |
At $100M Total Pool (Growth Scenario)
| Your Deposit | Weekly AURA | AURA Cumulative (8 weeks) |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | 100 | 800 |
| $50,000 | 500 | 4,000 |
| $100,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 |
| $500,000 | 5,000 | 40,000 |
| $1,000,000 | 10,000 | 80,000 |
| $5,000,000 | 50,000 | 400,000 |
At $500M Total Pool (Large-Pool Scenario)
| Your Deposit | Weekly AURA | AURA Cumulative (8 weeks) |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | 200 | 1,600 |
| $500,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 |
| $1,000,000 | 2,000 | 16,000 |
| $5,000,000 | 10,000 | 80,000 |
The key observation at large pool sizes: the per-USDC efficiency of direct deposits declines as the pool grows. This is where the referral program reverses the math.
The Referral Reversal: Where Institutional Networks Beat Capital
The referral program pays 1 AURA per eligible $100 held by referrals per week. This is a flat rate — it does not depend on pool size. It does not dilute as more depositors join.
| Referred Deposit | Your Referral AURA/Week | At $500M Pool: Better Than Direct Deposit Of |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | 100 AURA | $2.5M direct |
| $50,000 | 500 AURA | $12.5M direct |
| $100,000 | 1,000 AURA | $25M direct |
| $500,000 | 5,000 AURA | $125M direct |
| $1,000,000 | 10,000 AURA | $250M direct |
At a $500M total pool, referring someone who deposits $100,000 earns you more AURA per week than depositing $25M yourself would — because the referral rate is fixed while the direct deposit rate dilutes.
The institutional implication: your network is worth more than your balance sheet at scale. An institution with existing LP relationships, investor community, or counterparty network has access to referral AURA that retail participants cannot generate.
The Time Advantage of Early Entry
AURA is distributed weekly from June 6, 2026 until mainnet. Assuming an 8-week pre-deposit window before mainnet:
| Entry Week | Weeks of AURA Earned | AURA Earned vs Week 1 Entry |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 (June 6) | 8 | 100% |
| Week 2 | 7 | 87.5% |
| Week 4 | 5 | 62.5% |
| Week 6 | 3 | 37.5% |
| Week 8 | 1 | 12.5% |
The absolute AURA gap between Week 1 and Week 8 entry is 7× at equal deposit sizes. For a $1M deposit at a $100M pool, the difference between Week 1 and Week 8 entry is approximately 70,000 AURA over the pre-deposit window.
The Deposit-to-Margin Conversion
When BULK mainnet launches, your pre-deposit converts to trading margin automatically. No action required. The capital that earned AURA during the pre-deposit phase becomes your starting margin for perpetuals trading.
For institutions that intend to trade on BULK anyway, the pre-deposit is a free option: capital that would have sat idle in USDC earns AURA while waiting for mainnet. At mainnet, it activates as margin with zero friction.
The $5M maximum per wallet is the ceiling for a single depositor. Institutions with multiple affiliated wallets can structure accordingly.
Multi-Wallet Strategy
The $5M maximum is per wallet. Institutions can operate multiple wallets, each with its own pre-deposit up to $5M. Each wallet earns AURA independently based on its own USDC-days calculation.
Each wallet also has its own referral code. An institution running multiple wallets can route different referral networks through different codes — maintaining separate attribution and AURA tracking per code.
Risk Disclaimer
AURA has no confirmed dollar value prior to TGE. All projections in this article are estimates based on the confirmed mechanics (1M AURA/week, size × time formula, 1 AURA per $100 referred) and assumed pool sizes that have not been confirmed by the protocol. Actual distributions depend on total pre-deposit pool size and composition. Pre-deposit USDC is withdrawable at any time before mainnet. This is not financial advice.
Start your institutional pre-deposit → early.bulk.trade
Back to cluster hub: BULK Institutional Trading: The Full Playbook
Also in this cluster:
- Three Stacked Yield Streams for Institutional Depositors
- The Institutional Referral Playbook
- DAO Treasury Pre-Deposit Framework
- BULK vs Hyperliquid: Institutional Comparison
- What Institutions Learned from Early Hyperliquid
Related: AURA Points Guide · BULK Season 1 AURA Guide — Season 1 mechanics confirmed
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1M AURA distributed every Saturday — formula is USDC × time held. First allocation June 6. Deposits are withdrawable anytime.
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