I am writing this post to perform a difficult task. My goal is to explain the SPS-DEC flywheel to the Splinterlands community. Trouble is I am probably not the most qualified person to do this, as the concept is most likely from 
So I thought this is a perfect job for a Large Language Model (LLM). We also have a complete track record of event from the following blogs:
@splinterlands/posts
@steemmonsters/posts
@aggroed/posts
@yabapmatt/posts
I used grok.com for this in the stand-alone version, because some of the output of community news related to Splinterlands is on X. Below is the output of a month-by-month timeline as seen by the LLM. Please take this with a grain of salt. This is neither the official output not verified. I am writing my personal blogpost to verify the output. My goal is still focused on the Flywheel which is the title of this post.
Below is an enhanced month-by-month timeline of Splinterlands’ history, from its conceptual origins before the launch in May 2018 to today, April 25, 2025. This timeline builds on the previous versions by incorporating additional details from the Hive.blog posts of
@splinterlands,
@steemmonsters,
@aggroed, and
I am going to use a code block because I don't want to tag a bunch of people and also don't want to find and replace bunch of @.
### Enhanced Timeline of Splinterlands History (Pre-Launch to April 25, 2025)
#### Pre-Launch (2017–April 2018)
- **August 2017**
- @yabapmatt joins the Steem blockchain, as noted in his Hive.blog post reflecting on his six-year journey. His early involvement in Steem sets the stage for the development of *Steem Monsters* (later *Splinterlands*), as he begins exploring blockchain gaming opportunities.
- **December 2017**
- @steemmonsters account is created on Hive.blog, marking the official start of the *Steem Monsters* project. This aligns with @yabapmatt and @aggroed’s vision to create a blockchain-based collectible card game, leveraging Steem’s infrastructure for NFT ownership and rewards.
- **January 2018**
- @aggroed begins conceptual discussions about *Steem Monsters*, as referenced in community posts like @clove71’s Hive.blog journey. The concept focuses on a play-to-earn (P2E) game where players own digital assets as NFTs, a novel idea in the crypto gaming space at the time.
- **March 2018**
- @steemmonsters starts teasing the game’s development on Hive.blog, sharing early artwork and mechanics. The team focuses on creating a simple auto-battler system with battles lasting 2–3 minutes, aiming for accessibility and quick gameplay.
- **April 2018**
- @steemmonsters announces the upcoming launch of *Steem Monsters*, detailing the Alpha Booster Pack sale. The game’s core mechanics—NFT card ownership, ranked battles, and a marketplace—are finalized, setting the stage for its debut.
#### Post-Launch (May 2018–April 2025)
- **May 2018**
- **May 15**: *Steem Monsters* launches on the Steem blockchain, as announced by @steemmonsters. Players can buy Alpha Booster Packs and participate in early tournaments, marking the game’s entry into the blockchain gaming space. @clove71 notes in her Hive.blog post that she joined shortly after launch, reflecting early community enthusiasm.
- **June 2018**
- **June 10**: @steemmonsters hosts the first *Steem Monsters* tournament, offering STEEM token rewards. This event encourages early adopters to engage with the battle system and provide feedback, fostering a tight-knit community.
- **July 2018**
- **July 5**: Alpha Booster Packs are released, as shared by @steemmonsters. These packs contain the initial card set, establishing the game’s NFT economy and enabling trading on the Steem blockchain.
- **August 2018**
- **August 20**: @steemmonsters introduces card combining, allowing players to merge duplicates to upgrade card levels. This mechanic adds depth to collecting and strategy, encouraging long-term investment in cards.
- **September 2018**
- **September 12**: The first leaderboard season begins, as announced by @steemmonsters. Players compete in ranked battles for rewards, introducing a competitive element that drives engagement.
- **October 2018**
- **October 8**: @steemmonsters launches the *Beta* card set presale, offering new cards to expand the game’s roster. This marks the transition from Alpha to Beta phase, with improved art and mechanics.
- **November 2018**
- **November 15**: The *Beta* card set officially releases, as shared by @steemmonsters. Players can now purchase *Beta* Booster Packs, increasing card variety and enhancing gameplay options.
- **December 2018**
- **December 20**: @steemmonsters launches the first community-driven card design contest. Players submit ideas for new cards, fostering community involvement and setting a precedent for collaborative development.
- **January 2019**
- **January 10**: @steemmonsters releases the first set of promotional cards (“Promo Cards”) as rewards for tournament winners and top leaderboard players. These cards become highly sought-after NFTs, boosting player engagement.
- **February 2019**
- **February 18**: @steemmonsters introduces daily quests, where players complete challenges (e.g., winning battles with specific splinters) to earn rewards. This feature enhances retention by providing consistent incentives.
- **March 2019**
- **March 5**: *Steem Monsters* reaches 5,000 registered users, a milestone celebrated by @steemmonsters on Hive.blog. This reflects growing interest in blockchain gaming on Steem, despite the platform’s volatility.
- **April 2019**
- **April 1**: *Steem Monsters* rebrands to *Splinterlands*, as announced by @steemmonsters. The rebranding reflects an expanded fantasy lore and a broader vision, aiming to attract players beyond the Steem community.
- **April 15**: @splinterlands introduces *Reward Edition* cards, earned through daily quests and ranked battles, creating a free-to-play reward system that lowers the entry barrier.
- **May 2019**
- **May 20**: @splinterlands hosts the first major tournament under the *Splinterlands* brand, the “Splinterlands Invitational.” The event offers significant STEEM prizes, drawing a larger player base and showcasing the rebrand’s impact.
- **June 2019**
- **June 10**: @splinterlands formalizes “splinters” (factions like Fire, Water, Earth) as a core gameplay mechanic, enhancing strategic team-building and aligning with the game’s lore.
- **July 2019**
- **July 8**: @splinterlands enhances the card trading marketplace, allowing direct buying and selling using STEEM or SBD (Steem Dollars). This improves liquidity and accessibility for NFT trading.
- **August 2019**
- **August 15**: @splinterlands launches the *Orb* system, a premium card pack with guaranteed legendary cards, offering players a new purchase option to accelerate collection growth.
- **September 2019**
- **September 5**: @splinterlands introduces team-based battles for special events, allowing small groups to collaborate. This feature lays the groundwork for future guild mechanics.
- **October 2019**
- **October 12**: @splinterlands announces the *Untamed* expansion, introducing new summoners, monsters, and abilities to revitalize gameplay and attract new players.
- **November 2019**
- **November 1**: The *Untamed* expansion presale begins, as detailed by @splinterlands. Early buyers receive bonus cards, driving sales and engagement.
- **November 25**: @yabapmatt notes that *Splinterlands* surpasses 10,000 registered users, reflecting the NFT gaming boom’s impact on the game’s growth.
- **December 2019**
- **December 18**: The *Untamed* expansion launches, as announced by @splinterlands, adding over 60 new cards and enhancing strategic depth.
- **January 2020**
- **January 15**: @splinterlands introduces card rentals in beta, allowing players to rent cards for a fee in DEC (Dark Energy Crystals), lowering the barrier to competitive play.
- **February 2020**
- **February 10**: The rental system exits beta, becoming a core feature, as shared by @splinterlands. Rental fees act as a DEC sink, supporting the game’s economy.
- **March 2020**
- **March 5**: @aggroed announces the first *Splinterlands* charity tournament, with proceeds donated to a blockchain-related cause, highlighting the game’s social impact.
- **April 2020**
- **April 20**: @splinterlands introduces the *Dice* card set, a smaller expansion with new mechanics like “Scattershot,” adding randomness to battles and refreshing gameplay.
- **May 2020**
- **May 15**: *Splinterlands* celebrates its 2nd anniversary with a special event, as announced by @splinterlands, offering bonus rewards and *Untamed* pack discounts.
- **June 2020**
- **June 9**: @splinterlands (via @byzantinist) provides an updated timeline for the *Untamed* expansion, detailing pack releases and airdrops, ensuring transparency with the community.
- **June 30**: @clove71 hosts a “Summer Block Party” on Hive, mentioning @aggroed’s appearance on a PocketGamerbiz YouTube show, raising *Splinterlands*’ visibility in the blockchain gaming space.
- **July 2020**
- **July 12**: @yabapmatt reports that *Splinterlands* reaches 20,000 registered users, showing steady growth despite a broader crypto market downturn.
- **August 2020**
- **August 18**: @splinterlands introduces the first version of guilds, allowing players to form groups, chat, and compete together, setting the stage for guild brawls.
- **September 2020**
- **September 10**: The *Untamed* airdrop events conclude, as announced by @splinterlands, distributing the final batch of bonus cards to pack buyers.
- **October 2020**
- **October 15**: @splinterlands announces the upcoming *Chaos Legion* set, teasing new art and mechanics to generate excitement for the next expansion.
- **November 2020**
- **November 20**: The *Chaos Legion* presale begins, as shared by @splinterlands, with early buyers receiving exclusive promo cards, driving sales and engagement.
- **December 2020**
- **December 10**: The *Chaos Legion* set launches, introducing over 70 new cards and abilities like “Blast,” as announced by @splinterlands, further expanding strategic options.
- **January 2021**
- **January 14**: @splinterlands reports $200,000 awarded in tournament prizes to date, highlighting the game’s growing economic impact and popularity.
- **February 2021**
- **February 17**: @bravetofu posts a guide on Hive.blog for *Splinterlands* players to engage with Hive, emphasizing content creation to earn HIVE and SPT (Splintertalk) tokens, reflecting the game’s integration with the Hive ecosystem.
- **March 2021**
- **March 31**: @bravetofu drafts the “Splinterlands Asset Flywheel v1” (published April 17, 2022), introducing the concept of a flywheel mechanism for SPS-DEC dynamics, though not yet officially adopted by *Splinterlands*.
- **April 2021**
- **April 2**: @yabapmatt announces the best quarter to date, with significant growth in transactions and active users, reflecting the NFT gaming boom.
- **April 5**: @splinterlands introduces Guild Brawls, a cooperative mode where guilds compete for rewards, fostering community engagement.
- **April 17**: @splinterlands mentions the “Splinterlands Asset Flywheel” on X, referencing @bravetofu’s community post, marking the first use of “flywheel” on X related to *Splinterlands*.
- **May 2021**
- **May 5**: @splinterlands introduces a card-locking feature to prevent accidental trades, addressing player feedback on asset security.
- **May 22**: @clove71 celebrates her 3-year journey in *Splinterlands* on Hive.blog, noting her account’s value exceeding $100K, reflecting the game’s economic potential. @splinterlands announces a new reward system, set to launch on May 31, shifting from DEC to SPS rewards to curb DEC inflation.
- **May 27**: @aggroed and @yabapmatt announce the Splintershards (SPS) governance token, aiming to decentralize decision-making and reward players through staking.
- **June 2021**
- **June 9**: @splinterlands celebrates the sellout of 150,000 Praetorian land plots, a milestone for the upcoming land expansion, and launches a Social Media Challenge to boost community engagement.
- **June 11**: The last 1.5 million *Untamed* Booster Packs are sold, concluding the *Untamed* set and its airdrops, as announced by @splinterlands.
- **June 28**: The new ranked rewards system goes live, with SPS replacing DEC in chests, as confirmed by @splinterlands, impacting DEC’s peg stability (1,000 DEC = $1).
- **July 2021**
- **July 6**: @splinterlands announces a new card rental system, lowering the barrier to entry for competitive play.
- **July 16**: @yabapmatt reports an average of 950 new players per day in early July, reflecting explosive growth during the 2021 crypto bull market.
- **July 21**: The SPS token and airdrop launch begins, as detailed by @splinterlands, with a 65-month distribution plan (until ~December 2026) and a total supply of 3 billion tokens.
- **August 2021**
- **August 2**: @splinterlands reports explosive growth, with daily sign-ups 10x’ing from 500 to 5,000, and total users doubling to 200,000 in six weeks. Spellbook purchases also surge, reflecting the game’s rising popularity.
- **August 15**: @splinterlands launches another Social Media Challenge, encouraging players to create content on Hive and other platforms, with upvotes from @steemmonsters, further boosting engagement.
- **September 2021**
- **September 1**: @splinterlands announces the *Chaos Legion* airdrop schedule, revealing new cards to incentivize pack purchases, as part of the ongoing set rollout.
- **October 2021**
- **October 15**: @splinterlands hosts an AMA on Hive.blog, discussing the *Chaos Legion* set and revealing new art and mechanics to maintain player excitement.
- **November 2021**
- **November 18**: @goldmatters shares their *Splinterlands* journey on Hive.blog, highlighting early investments and community giveaways, such as a $4,000 Gold Foil Alpha Naga Warrior, showcasing the game’s economic opportunities.
- **December 2021**
- **December 1**: @splinterlands reports 7 million *Chaos Legion* packs minted, announcing a new airdrop card to maintain momentum for the set’s rollout.
- **January 2022**
- **January 20**: @goldmatters posts about meeting *Splinterlands*’ Creative Director Nate Aguila in person, reflecting the growing real-world presence of the game’s team.
- **February 2022**
- **February 28**: @splinterlands launches the Season Rentals feature, allowing players to rent cards for entire seasons, further enhancing accessibility.
- **March 2022**
- **March 16**: @splinterlands announces a partnership with Community Gaming to expand its esports presence, hosting larger tournaments.
- **March 24**: @yabapmatt shares that *Splinterlands* attends its first Game Developers Conference (GDC), increasing industry visibility.
- **March 30**: *Splinterlands TV* launches on Twitch, streaming 24/7 content, as announced by @splinterlands, to engage the community.
- **April 2022**
- **April 17**: @splinterlands mentions the “Splinterlands Asset Flywheel” on X, referencing @bravetofu’s community post, marking the first use of “flywheel” on X related to *Splinterlands*.
- **May 2022**
- **May 31**: The new reward system, shifting from DEC to SPS rewards, is fully implemented, as confirmed by @splinterlands, aiming to reduce DEC inflation.
- **June 2022**
- **June 28**: The ranked rewards system update is finalized, with SPS rewards replacing DEC in chests, as shared by @splinterlands, marking a significant economic shift.
- **July 2022**
- **July 14**: @splinterlands introduces Modern and Wild battle formats, allowing players to choose between different card set restrictions, adding strategic depth.
- **July 26**: @splinterlands launches SPS and DEC liquidity provider rewards, incentivizing players to support the SPS-DEC flywheel on Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
- **August 2022**
- **August 30**: @splinterlands formally introduces the term “flywheel” in a Hive.blog post titled “SPS Validator Node License Sale Update & Town Hall Summary,” describing the SPS-DEC mechanism as a self-reinforcing economic cycle.
- **September 2022**
- **September 15**: @splinterlands announces the *Riftwatchers* set, a new card set to counter the *Chaos Legion* narrative, adding lore-driven gameplay elements.
- **January 2023**
- **January 15**: @splinterlands reports the approval of a community proposal by SPS holders to mint a new promo card, reflecting the game’s decentralized governance in action.
- **February 2023**
- **February 28**: @splinterlands confirms the Season Rentals feature is fully integrated, with positive feedback from players on its impact on accessibility.
- **March 2023**
- **March 21**: @splinterlands launches the closed beta for *Soulkeepers*, a new game mode, initially exclusive to select players to test new mechanics.
- **March 30**: @splinterlands introduces DEC Batteries, a mechanic to manage DEC supply and demand, aiding its peg stability (1,000 DEC = $1).
- **April 2023**
- **April 1**: Soulbound Reward Cards launch, non-transferable cards earned through gameplay, encouraging long-term engagement.
- **May 2023**
- **May 1**: @splinterlands announces the removal of collection power requirements for league advancement, replaced by a reward multiplier based on staked SPS, making progression more accessible.
- **June 2023**
- **June 15**: Card bundles and SPS delegation rental markets are introduced, expanding the marketplace and allowing players to earn rewards by delegating SPS.
- **July 2023**
- **July 6**: @splinterlands shares a Town Hall update, noting @yabapmatt’s donation of his Year 5: Great Burning event winnings to *Splinterlands TV*, giving away land plots, packs, and Runi NFTs.
- **July 15**: The *Rebellion* card set is released, introducing new cards, abilities, skins, and cosmetics, providing additional DEC sinks and refreshing gameplay.
- **August 2023**
- **August 1**: The 5th Anniversary event includes a DEC burning event, where players burn DEC for Guild Points and leaderboard rewards (packs, land plots, Runi NFTs), reinforcing deflationary mechanics.
- **March 2024**
- **March 18**: @splinterlands updates the free-to-play experience: all players can earn Glint (a new reward currency) from ranked victories post-Novice league, even without SPS staked, lowering the entry barrier.
- **April 2024**
- **April 24**: @splinterlands celebrates the 6th anniversary, giving away 500 *Rebellion* Booster Packs, 20 land plots, 2 Runi NFTs, and 2 million DEC tokens, emphasizing community rewards.
- **June 2024**
- **June 12**: *Splinterlands*’ official docs confirm the use of Splintertalk.io for blogging, where players earn SPT tokens, integrating content creation with gameplay rewards.
- **June 20**: @splinterlands highlights ongoing battle server migrations for stability and scalability, alongside new abilities like Echo (healing and cleansing) with cards like Meriput Mossmender.
- **July 2024**
- **July 24**: @aggroed hints at upcoming community initiatives on Hive.blog, maintaining momentum with new features and events.
- **July 31**: The *Rebellion* set expands with granular level progress indicators for cards, enhancing player feedback on upgrades.
- **November 2024**
- **November 27**: @azircon mentions the SPS-DEC flywheel in a Hive.blog post, analyzing its role in the first auction card event for “Heloise the Hollow,” reflecting community adoption of the term.
- **January 2025**
- **January 18**: @splinterlands releases updated tutorials and guides, improving onboarding with detailed explanations of battle positioning and summoner roles.
- **February 2025**
- **February 17**: @bravetofu posts a guide on Hive.blog for *Splinterlands* players, encouraging content creation on Hive to earn HIVE and SPT tokens, reinforcing the game’s community-driven ecosystem.
- **March 2025**
- **March 18**: @splinterlands updates terms of service to prohibit automated play in ranked battles, tournaments, and brawls, following SPS governance proposals to ensure fairness.
- **April 2025**
- **April 15**: @splinterlands announces the *Conclave Arcana* set presale, introducing new cards like Kelan Gaines (Death/Dragon unit) to the Voucher shop. Custom challenge rules, battle replay improvements, a profanity filter, and navigation updates enhance the user experience.
- **April 23**: Community members on X share updated guides, reflecting *Splinterlands*’ active player base and ongoing engagement.
I just mentioned this to Royal, that it is scary that I just replaced a person's job with an LLM. While that is true but still this output requires more work to summarize what I am looking for.
I was looking for the first use of the word FLYWHEEL in relation to Splinterlands. It was published on April 17, 2022. I say this is good research by LLM on blockchain, which keeps a record of all our posts.
It is 
@bravetofu/splinterlands-asset-flywheel-v1-april-2022-edition
I discussed this personally with Brave. We both agree that Brave likely heard the word from an earlier townhall from the team, where most likely
Since it is just a comment, I suspect, that it was likely mentioned during a February 2022 townhall, because people commenting on discord typically do not have very long memory, especially when considering first use of a term.
I also read the release notes but there is no mention of the word or the concept during April 2002 or earlier. So the credit of using the word 'flywheel' first officially in a written post with proper context goes to
In the simplest term, the SPS flywheel mechanism in Splinterlands is a tokenomics system designed to create a self-reinforcing cycle between its two primary tokens: Splintershards (SPS), the governance token, and Dark Energy Crystals (DEC), a product-backed stable coin. This mechanism aims to stabilize DEC’s value, incentivize player participation, and enhance the ecosystem’s sustainability. Let us review the two tokens in question based on modern times, because in the past their utility and definitions were different.
SPS (Splintershards): A governance token on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) that empowers holders to vote on game proposals and influence the direction of Splinterlands through a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).
DEC (Dark Energy Crystals): A stable coin soft-pegged to $1 = 1,000 DEC, used as the in-game transactional currency for purchasing items like booster packs, cards, and rentals. DEC is backed by the value of in-game products.
The SPS-DEC flywheel mechanism in Splinterlands is a tokenomic system that creates a self-reinforcing economic cycle between the governance token SPS (Splintershards) and the stablecoin DEC (Dark Energy Crystals). Here’s a short and simple bulleted summary:
If DEC is below peg, it is cheaper and easier to buy DEC from the market, so player typically do that. That eats up the 'excess' DEC that is available in the market, driving the price towards peg. They key concept here is that fact that the team must ALWAYS a product or multiple products on the shelf that is priced in DEC, can be purchased with DEC (or credits) and that product must be desirable!
Since, DEC rewards have stopped now since Feb 27, 2025; there is no way to get DEC rewards from game. You can only 'get' or 'create/mint' DEC as follows:
Get
Create/Mint
Burn 'edition' cards for DEC
Basically most of the 'get' column is tiny for 99% of the players except the purchase. If DEC is at, near, or above peg, purchasing DEC from pool or market is not viable. So, it is cheaper to burn SPS (if you have it liquid) or purchase SPS from the market/pools and burn it for DEC. Credit purchase works the same way, team gives you the DEC (if they have it) or they burn SPS if they don't. Currently team is sitting on a lot of DEC during the ongoing sale.
So there you have have it.