> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://theluckyducks.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://theluckyducks.gitbook.io/docs/economy/spl-tokens.md). # SPL token races Racing in USDC, USDT or another supported token, and what differs from a SOL race. Races and tournaments can run in supported SPL tokens instead of SOL. USDC and USDT are supported and more arrive over time; the currency picker on the create form is the live list.
The currency picker beside the entry fee field, listing SOL and supported tokens with balances

The picker is the live list. A token that is not in it is not supported yet.

## Supported token programs Both Solana token standards work: {% tabs %} {% tab title="SPL Token (Legacy)" %} The original program (`TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA`). Most major tokens run here, USDC and USDT included. {% endtab %} {% tab title="SPL Token-2022" %} The newer program (`TokenzQdBNbLqP5VEhdkAS6EPFLC1PHnBqCXEpPxuEb`), with extensions like transfer fees, interest-bearing balances and confidential transfers. Tokens such as AMPS use it. {% endtab %} {% endtabs %} Which of the two a token uses is worked out for you, so there is nothing to set: pick the token and everything else follows from it. Where a token charges a transfer fee of its own, the platform reads that fee and accounts for it both when you join and when you are paid, so the amount you see is the amount that actually moves. ## How a token race works Mechanically identical to a SOL race, with three differences: * The entry fee is set and shown in the token itself, so a 1 USDC race costs 1 USDC. * Each player needs a token account for that SPL token, which is a small account Solana uses to hold one token for one wallet. Without one, joining creates it for you and you pay a one-time deposit, about 0.0015 SOL at today's rent rate, which comes back when you close it. * The race vault holds the token itself, and payouts move it from there to each winner's token account. {% hint style="warning" %} Costs paid in SOL stay in SOL. Network fees, rent, and the withdrawal or cancellation penalties are all charged in SOL even when the pot is a token. {% endhint %} ## Selecting a token The entry fee field carries a currency picker listing SOL and every supported token with its icon, symbol and your balance. Which tokens appear, and in what order, is set by the platform. Under each symbol is the token's address, shortened, with a button that copies it in full: the sure way to tell a token from a lookalike with the same name. SOL has no token address and reads **Native**. The Play Balance picker and the holder gate's picker show the same line. ## Fee tier differences Each token has its own tier schedule. The percentages match [SOL's](/docs/economy/fees-and-prizes.md#platform-fee-tiers) while the thresholds suit what that token is worth, which is why AMPS and AISI sit at much higher absolute numbers. A token race pays the [jackpot fee](/docs/economy/fees-and-prizes.md#the-jackpot-fee) in its own token, at the same rate as a SOL race. ## Joining without the token Hold none of the chosen token and the join button is disabled with an "Insufficient balance" tooltip. The app checks before anything is signed, so finding out costs nothing. ## Tournaments in SPL tokens A tournament pot can be in a supported token, and when it is, only races in that token count toward the standings, so the event and its prize share one currency. Claiming works as it does for SOL: one claim pays every member of the winning team, over several transactions when the team is too large for one. See [Tournaments](/docs/competition/tournaments.md#claiming). ## When someone has no token account Every payout goes to each person's token account for that token, and sometimes one does not exist: a winner who never held the token, or a player who closed theirs. There is nothing to set up first. The payout is sent as it is, and only a failure caused by a missing account opens anything. * **A prize claim**, for a race or a tournament, opens a missing account itself. When too many are missing for one transaction, they are opened in a transaction of their own and the claim is sent again. Whoever claims pays the rent, from their vault when the platform claims for them, and only for accounts actually opened. * **A refund or a cancellation** opens none itself, so the missing accounts are opened after it fails and it is sent again. Whoever sends it pays, the platform when it does, and your vault never does. See [Refunds and rent](/docs/economy/refunds-and-rent.md#when-a-player-has-no-token-account). Signing yourself, you approve the extra transaction and the payout in one prompt. The retry happens once, and a second failure shows its error. An account opened for you is yours like any other, and closing it returns its rent to you. ## What your wallet history shows A token payout can carry a memo, a short note that travels with the transfer and shows in a block explorer and in any wallet history that displays memos. It says what the payment is and which race or tournament it belongs to, such as `LuckyDucks refund race #1234`. A withdrawal from your player vault, or closing your account, reads `LuckyDucks withdraw`. * **Always**, on a race prize, a creator's share, leaving a lobby, a declined rematch's refund, a withdrawal from your vault and closing your account. * **Only when your token account requires one**, on a refund, a cancellation and a tournament prize, which pay a whole lobby or team at once. Some Token-2022 accounts refuse any incoming transfer that arrives without a memo, and those get one. Every other account receives the payment with no note. ## Why use SPL tokens * **Stablecoins** keep an entry fee fixed in USD terms, with no exposure to SOL moving between joining and finalization. * **Community tokens** drive activity in their own ecosystems, turning race pools into liquidity events for those projects.