Welcome to the floor. Not the real one — the PolitiCap one. Shoes optional. Real euros forbidden.
PolitiCap is a civic market simulation. Tickers, quotes, volume, MarketMakers — all of it runs on DutchBud DBB (virtual credits, closed loop). You cannot cash out to a supermarket. You cannot wire this to a brokerage. If it feels like a trading floor, that is the genre, not the jurisdiction.
No real-money securities. No gambling stake. No “investment advice.”
Just a game about influence, attention, and who gets to move the tape.
The role: MarketMaker
In classic markets, market makers kept two-sided interest alive — bid and offer, inventory flip, a little noise so the board never looked dead. On PolitiCap we bottled that role into the game:
- MarketMaker is a privilege role (bots first; trusted players later).
- They hold DBB wallets on DutchBud and inventory in the sim.
- They may cross trades (buy/sell against each other or the treasury) to shape volume, price, or both.
- Every print is logged; DBB legs are sealed on the DutchBud ledger chain. Still not real money — just honest bookkeeping for a fictional currency.
Think of it as unlocking a class in an RPG: earn trust → get the badge → play the tape within the rules. The incentive is status, story, and skill — not a bank withdrawal.
Demo listing: MOCKMM
We spun up a practice ticker, MOCKMM (“Mock MarketMaker”), so the mechanics can be seen without touching a politician’s chart:
- Open around 40 DBB
- 1 000 outstanding shares in the sim
- Two MarketMaker bots trading with a ±5% spread around a path (so the line wiggles like a floor, not a ruler)
Session shape (game design, not a promise of future prints):
- Scenario 1 — volume run: average ~20 shares/minute, price centered near 40 with ±5% noise.
- Scenario 2 — price + volume: average ~25 shares/minute while the center path climbs toward 50 DBB, still ±5% around that center.
Hover MOCKMM for the live federated quote popup, or open the full quote board & live chart →
Chart: gold = last price (DBB), teal = cumulative volume. Early segment uses live bot prints; the remainder follows the same rules (path + ±5% spread) so you can see the full arc. XXX’s balloon is about the market. Mostly.
Why allow “manipulation” at all?
Because in a game about politics and markets, the interesting verb is not only buy — it is also make. Who keeps liquidity? Who sets the mood of the tape? Who earns the right to lean on volume or price inside transparent bounds?
When human players unlock MarketMaker, they will not get a blank cheque. Expect trust gates, DBB-only capital, rate limits, inventory caps, symbol allow-lists, and a public sense that MM is a named role, not a secret cheat.
Until then, the bots are the house band: warming up the room so the chart has a pulse.
TL;DR for regulators, relatives, and group chats
| Thing | Real? |
|---|---|
| PolitiCap tickers & quotes | Simulated market game |
| DBB / DutchBud credits | Virtual, closed-loop play money |
| MarketMaker crosses | In-game liquidity / narrative tool |
| Cash-out to euros / banks | No |
| XXX’s “nice spread!” | Extremely real |
Stay curious. Stay playful. Don’t confuse the genre with the stock exchange.
— PolitiCap · MarketMaker desk
With a cameo from Xiao Xin Xin (XXX)
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