Background
BitShares has several different kinds of accounts: Basic Account, Annual Member, and Lifetime Member.
Basic Accounts are free, but do not qualify for the referral program, nor any cash back on transaction fees.
Lifetime Members pay 5,791.31307 BTS and earn 80% cash back on every fee they pay. They also qualify for 80% of the fees paid by Basic Accounts they refer to the network. In the event of a subscription expiration, the referral income falls back to the nearest Lifetime Member in the referral history.
These cashback referral rates, 50% and 80%, can be adjusted by the consensus of the BitShares Stakeholders at any time. Annual Accounts have their rates locked in for one year, while Lifetime Accounts have their rates locked in for life.
We estimate that the average fees paid over the lifetime of each Account will be in excess of the lifetime membership fee, which means that a membership could earn over the cost of the membership per referred user. Of course, it is your own responsibility to estimate how often you, and those you refer, will use the network. Keep in mind that the BitShares stakeholders have the ability to change transaction fees, which could impact future earnings.
Examples
When a user pays a $20 annual subscription fee to become an Annual Member, $10 is paid to their Referrer, $6 is paid to the nearest Lifetime Member, and $4 is paid to the Network. The Annual Member becomes its own Referrer for one year. In one year, the renewal fee is divided in a similar manner to the original annual subscription.
When a Basic Account pays $100 to become a Lifetime Member, $50 is paid to their Referrer, $30 is paid to the nearest Lifetime Member, and $20 is paid to the Network. After this point the Lifetime Member becomes its own referrer and nearest Lifetime Member and its prior Referrers no longer get any revenue from this user.
If an account’s Referrer is an Annual Member whose subscription has expired, then the Referrer fee goes to the nearest Lifetime Member.
If an Annual Member decides to upgrade to a Lifetime Member then $50 goes to his Referrer, $30 to the nearest Lifetime Member and $20 goes to the Network. Annual Members do not qualify for a 50% Cashback Referral on the upgrade fee.