Three rungs are always unpaid.

RUNG — public ladder project · RH Chain 4663

Rung—

Settlement rule

Detail A — load transfer, typical

Each rung settles the rung three below, at +20%.
You are settled when three more people climb.
Three rungs are unpaid at all times.
If nobody climbs, the top three are never settled.
At most three people lose. It could be you.
Works stop at rung 150.

Rung—

Cost schedule

Fig. 1 — unit cost, semi-logarithmic

Rung	Unit cost	Settles for
1	0.0012 ETH	0.0014 ETH
10	0.0023 ETH	0.0028 ETH
25	0.0075 ETH	0.0090 ETH
50	0.0527 ETH	0.0633 ETH
75	0.3695 ETH	0.4433 ETH
100	2.59 ETH	3.11 ETH
125	18.15 ETH	21.78 ETH
150	127.20 ETH	152.64 ETH

Unit cost rises 8.1% per rung. Settlement is 120% of unit cost.

Rung—

Self-rescue

An unpaid holder is not held. The holder of rung N is settled when rung N + 3 is cast, and nothing prevents that holder from casting rungs N + 1 through N + 3 themselves. The settlement then arrives at the usual +20%, and the holder now occupies the rungs above, unpaid.

Holder of rung: 3
Casts: rungs 4–6
Self-rescue cost: 0.0048 ETH
Recovers: 0.0016 ETH
Net: −0.0031 ETH

Nobody is ever structurally trapped, only economically discouraged.

Rung—

Register

Rung	Holder	Price	Settles for	Settled by	Status
3	deployer · foundation	0.0014 ETH	0.0016 ETH	6	UNPAID
2	deployer · foundation	0.0013 ETH	0.0015 ETH	5	UNPAID
1	deployer · foundation	0.0012 ETH	0.0014 ETH	4	UNPAID

Rungs 1–3 are seeded by the deployer at deployment and are unpaid until rungs 4–6 are cast.

Below grade—