Is this just a rebase token with extra steps?
Rebase tokens usually expand supply against nothing and call the new tokens yield. Ascent runs the other way: it only ever contracts supply, and it can only contract it by the amount of ballast the market already bought and burned. Nothing is minted, and no number is invented to make a balance look bigger.
If altitude only rises, why would the price ever fall?
Because price and altitude are different numbers. Altitude is the guaranteed buyback level; price is whatever the market pays above it. Price can fall a long way while altitude sits still. The claim is that price cannot fall through altitude, not that it cannot fall.
What stops the team draining the reserve?
The absence of a function that would do it. There is no owner, no proxy and no upgrade path, so the reserve has exactly two exits: a holder redeeming at altitude, and nothing else. This is checkable in the verified source before you buy.
What happens if everyone redeems at once?
Everyone gets altitude, and the contract ends with an empty reserve and no supply. It cannot run short, because altitude is defined as reserve divided by supply — paying every token the floor is arithmetically identical to paying out the reserve balance.
Who pays for ascent if nobody calls it?
The epoch's ballast keeps accruing. The step is delayed, not skipped, and the tip grows with it, which is the incentive to call. A late ascent costs holders nothing except the delay.
Why 50 / 30 / 20?
Helium takes the largest share because it is the only split that raises altitude directly. Ballast is next because burning supply raises the floor per token without needing new money. String is smallest because depth helps traders rather than the floor, and it stops mattering once the pool is deep enough.
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