# Introduction

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## ✨ Introduction

PoolTogether is a protocol for no-loss prize games on the Ethereum blockchain. The protocol:

**1) Enables developers to build their own no-loss prize games**\
**2)** **Offers governance-managed no-loss prize games**

Prize games are pools of funds whose accrued interest is distributed as prizes. The concept is well-established and otherwise known as "[no loss lotteries](http://beniverson.org/papers/MaMa.pdf)" or "[prize savings accounts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prize-linked_savings_account)". All prize games created by the protocol share the same key characteristics:

* No loss of deposited funds
* Ability to withdraw at any time
* Fair prize distribution according to a prize strategy

Prize games can be differentiated in the following ways:

* The yield source the prize pool uses to generate no loss return
* The prize strategy used to determine frequency and distribution of prizes 
* The additional rewards offered by the prize pool
* The asset type the prize pool accepts for deposits 
* The fairness parameters 

### Governance

The PoolTogether Protocol governance serves two primary functions.

* Governing the prize pool creation tools
* Governing a sub-set of prize pools

The protocol governed prize pools appear on the official [PoolTogether App](https://app-v3.pooltogether.com). Governance is currently the core PoolTogether team, but very soon governance control will be distributed amongst protocol stakeholders.