I've been working on Q24 Crypto TOP10 submissions and after reading the
Q24-crypto-guide repo I have a few clarifying questions that aren't covered in the
notebook. Posting them as a single thread to keep things tidy. Any answers (even
partial) would be very helpful for planning.

1. Ranking metric — IS Sharpe or Live Sharpe?

The repo says: "Top 7 unique-user eligible strategies ranked by highest Sharpe ratio
are winners."

Is the ranking Sharpe based on:
(a) In-sample Sharpe (used for the eligibility filter ≥ 1.0)?
(b) Live-period Sharpe (Apr 1 → contest end)?
(c) A combined or weighted version?

This matters a lot for design choices.

2. "Unique user" — best strategy only, or multiple allowed?

If a single user has multiple strategies in the top 10 by Sharpe, are they all
eligible as winners, or only the highest-ranked one per user counts? Phrased
differently: can one account win more than one prize slot in Q24?

3. Q24 prize structure — same as Q17?

The repo doesn't list prize amounts. Are the Q24 prizes the same as Q17 ($1M / $750K
/ $500K / $100K / $50K × 3 for top 7), or has the structure changed alongside the
new payout model?

4. Contest end date + submission deadline?

The notebook references scale_date = '2022-08-31' and Live 2022-10-01 → 2023-10-01
as the Q17 example. What are the equivalent Q24 dates? Specifically:

• When is the submission deadline (last day to add new strategies)?
• When is scale_date (when vol-scale factors get locked)?
• When does the Live payout phase begin?
• When does it end?

5. Dashboard tab semantics

The contestant dashboard shows tabs: Checking, Candidates, In Contest, After
Contest, Filtered, Deleted. The documentation (passFilters.html) only mentions
Checking / Candidates / Filtered. Could you clarify:

• What does "In Contest" mean? Is it strategies currently in the live payout phase
  (i.e. selected winners post-scale_date)?
• What does "After Contest" mean? Strategies from previous contest cycles whose
  payout period ended?
• For a strategy currently in Candidates during the live phase, is that the
  "in-contest" state, or do strategies need to move to In Contest at scale_date?

6. PayoutScore < 1.0 — zero or partial?

The formula is PayoutScore = SubmissionEquity / max(BenchmarkEquity, 1.0). The
notebook says "negative performance will not be rewarded." Does this mean:
(a) If SubmissionEquity < 1.0 (i.e. strategy lost money in live), payout is zero,
full stop?
(b) Or is payout reduced proportionally?

And separately, if SubmissionEquity ≥ 1.0 but PayoutScore < 1.0 (i.e. I made money
but lost to benchmark), is there still a partial payout, or zero?

7. PayoutScore → cash mapping

Once PayoutScore is computed, how does it map to actual dollars? Is there a formula
like payout = base_amount × PayoutScore capped at the prize tier? Or is the prize
amount fixed per rank and PayoutScore only affects ranking?

Thanks in advance — I'm trying to plan strategy submissions properly and these
answers will affect what types of strategies I prioritize for the remaining ~2
months of the live phase. Happy to consolidate the answers into a community FAQ if
useful for other contestants.

Best,
Natpaphon