FAQ
Frequently asked
Questions, answered
Everything we get asked most often, grouped by what you are trying to do.
About Signals
What is Signals
Signals is a platform for running social quests with real, on-chain rewards. Projects fund a reward pool in any token, list a few tasks (follow on X, join a Telegram, vote in Discord, visit a page), and the platform verifies completions automatically. At the end, the project chooses who gets paid and the rewards are distributed on chain.
What is a quest
A short list of social tasks attached to a reward pool. Participants complete the tasks, the platform verifies each one, and the project finalizes who gets paid when the quest ends. Most quests take participants under five minutes to complete.
What chain does Signals run on
Arbitrum One. Quest contracts deploy on Arbitrum, gas is cheap (cents per transaction), and reward tokens are distributed on Arbitrum.
Is Signals an oracle, a quest platform, or something else
Signals is a quest platform. These docs are about the live quests product: launching quests, joining quests, managing rewards, and claiming on Arbitrum.
How is it different from older quest platforms
Three differences. Verification is automatic and direct against the source (X, Telegram, Discord) rather than self-reported. Anti-bot defenses are layered into each task type (account age, follower minimums, verified email, identity-to-wallet binding). Rewards are real tokens funded into a smart contract before the quest goes live, distributed on chain at the end, with no platform fee.
For participants
Do I need a wallet
Yes. Any Ethereum-compatible wallet works (Rabby, MetaMask, Rainbow, or anything that supports WalletConnect). The wallet needs to be on Arbitrum One, and you need a small amount of ETH for gas.
Why do I need to connect X
The X login is the platform's primary anti-bot check. It confirms your X account is at least 90 days old, has at least 50 followers, and binds your X identity to your wallet for the quest. You do it once on your first quest. Future quests reuse the connection.
Do I have to do every task to get paid
Usually, yes. Most projects pay people who completed every task. A few projects offer partial credit for partial completion, but that is up to the project. Read the task list before you join, so you know what you are signing up for.
How long do quests run
Whatever the project chose. Most run from a few days to a couple of weeks. The quest page shows the deadline. Tasks you complete are locked in until the quest closes.
How do I know if I have been picked to receive a reward
After the project finalizes the quest, a Claim button appears on the quest page if you are in the winners list. There is no separate email or notification. Come back after the deadline to check.
How long do I have to claim
Claim windows are usually thirty days, but the exact window is set by the project and visible on the quest page. After the window closes, unclaimed rewards return to the project.
What if my task is not verifying
Give it a few seconds. The verification round-trips to X, Telegram, or Discord and takes a moment. If after thirty seconds the task is still pending, refresh the quest page and try again. The participant guide has a full troubleshooting section.
Can I complete a quest from multiple wallets
No. The platform binds your X, Telegram, and Discord identities to one wallet per quest. The same X account cannot claim from two different wallets in the same quest. This is what keeps bot farms from sweeping the pool. You can use a different wallet for a different quest freely.
Did I lose my reward if I miss the claim window
Unclaimed rewards return to the project that funded the quest. The project can choose to redistribute, run another quest with the funds, or hold them. Either way, claim early to avoid the issue.
What if a project never finalizes the quest
If many days have passed since the deadline with no finalize, reach out to the project directly. The community Discord is the fastest channel. The smart contract guarantees the reward pool is locked, so nothing has gone missing, but you do need the project to finalize before you can claim.
For creators
How long does it take to launch a quest
About thirty minutes the first time, ten the second. The actual deployment is two transactions and less than a minute. Most of the time is spent on configuration and design.
Is launching free
Yes. Launching quests is free. You pay Arbitrum gas for deployment and finalization, and you fund whatever reward pool you choose. There is no platform fee on the reward pool.
What tokens can I use for rewards
Any ERC-20. USDC, USDT, WETH, your project token, anything standards-compliant. The pool holds whatever you fund.
Can I change quest parameters after deployment
No. Quest configuration is permanent after the contract is deployed. This is the trust guarantee that participants rely on: the rules cannot shift mid-quest. The dashboard shows a full preview of every parameter before you sign the deployment transaction.
Who decides who gets paid
You do. Anyone can complete tasks, but only you (the project owner) choose who is rewarded. You sign that decision with your wallet, the result is published on chain, and from that moment it is immutable.
What stops me from refusing to pay anyone
Nothing stops you mechanically. But if you do that, no one will participate in your next quest. The reputation incentive is what keeps creators honest. The contract guarantees the funds are real and the verification is automatic; the rest is on the project.
Can I see who participated in real time
Yes. The dashboard shows live counts of joins and completions per task. Click into the quest to see every participant, their wallet, their connected social handles (where required by their tasks), and their task-by-task progress.
How does the anti-bot verification actually work
Different layers per task type. X: minimum account age and follower count, set at the platform level. Telegram: identity binding to wallet (same Telegram cannot reuse another wallet). Discord: account age, verified email, optional role gate. Website tasks: less strict by nature; useful for low-friction discovery but should not be your only check. All checks happen at completion time, not at the end.
What if I picked too small a reward pool
If you under-funded, you cannot pay everyone you wanted to. You can either select fewer winners (the worst option, breaks trust), or run a follow-up payout off-chain to cover the shortfall (the better option, costs reputation if it becomes a pattern). Easiest fix: size your pool generously to start. Whatever is unclaimed returns to you anyway.
Do I get the unclaimed rewards back
Yes. After the claim window closes (typically thirty days after finalize), the contract releases unclaimed tokens back to your wallet. Nothing is left in the contract indefinitely.
Can I run multiple quests at once
Yes. The dashboard manages many quests in parallel. Each quest is its own contract and its own reward pool. They do not share state.
Can I cancel a quest after I deploy it
Not while it is live. The reward pool is committed and participants are relying on it. The supported path is to let the quest run to its end, then choose how to handle the situation in the finalize step. Cancel-style flows exist as a recovery measure for specific failure modes but are not a routine option.
Payments and tokens
How are rewards actually paid
When you finalize a quest, the platform publishes a compact summary of the winners list on chain. Each participant clicks Claim on the quest page, which executes a one-off transaction that transfers their specific reward from the quest contract directly to their wallet. The platform does not hold funds in transit.
Does Signals take a fee from the reward pool
No. Every token funded into the pool is available to participants you select, or returns unclaimed to the creator after the claim window closes.
How fast do claims happen
Seconds. A claim is one transaction on Arbitrum. Confirmation typically takes a couple of seconds after the wallet popup is signed.
Can I pay rewards on a chain other than Arbitrum
Not today. Funding and claiming happen on Arbitrum One, so participants need a wallet that supports Arbitrum to claim.
What if the reward token has unusual mechanics (rebasing, fee-on-transfer, etc.)
Stick to standard ERC-20 tokens for rewards. Tokens with rebasing or fee-on-transfer mechanics may cause the actual reward each winner receives to differ from the listed amount. The dashboard warns you if you pick a token with detected non-standard behavior.
Account and platform
What does Signals see about my X / Telegram / Discord
The minimum to verify the task. For X: your handle, account age, and follower count. For Telegram: your numeric user ID and username. For Discord: your user ID, username, account age, email-verified status, and membership in the specific server the task targets. We do not access DMs, private messages, or write to any of your accounts.
Can I disconnect a linked account
Yes. Your profile dropdown has a Disconnect option for each provider. Disconnecting from one quest disconnects from all future quests until you re-link.
What if I lose access to a linked account
If you lose access to X, Telegram, or Discord, you cannot complete tasks that require it. Recover the account through the provider itself. Once you regain access, re-link on Signals and you are back in.
Is the source code public
The smart contracts that hold reward pools and publish winners are deployed and publicly readable on Arbitrum. The platform's anti-bot logic is open in spirit (we describe what each check does), but specific implementation details are not published so that bot operators cannot trivially work around them.
How do I report a bug or get help
Drop into the Overlap Discord and post in #signals-help. We treat participant and creator questions with the same urgency. For sensitive issues, DM the @overlapfi X account.
Did not find your answer
Drop into the Overlap Discord and post in #signals-help, or reach out on X. A real human will respond.