# Protocol: Economics Domain
Solvency mechanics, liquidation design, capital adequacy, interest rate models, and incentive sustainability.
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## What This Domain Covers
The economics domain evaluates the financial mechanisms that keep a protocol solvent and functional. For lending protocols, this means liquidation design and capital buffers. For DEXes, it means LP incentive sustainability. For bridges, it means relay economics.
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## L1 Branches (AND-split)
| Branch | Gate Question | What It Measures |
|--------|--------------|------------------|
| **Liquidation Mechanism** | Does the protocol use liquidations to maintain solvency? | Liquidation efficiency, cascade risk, incentive alignment |
| **Solvency Buffer** | Does the protocol maintain reserves or safety modules? | Reserve adequacy, drawdown triggers, recapitalisation mechanisms |
| **Interest Rate Risk** | Does the protocol use variable interest rate models? | Rate model design, utilisation sensitivity, extreme scenario behaviour |
| **Leverage Management** | Does the protocol allow leveraged positions? | Maximum leverage limits, margin call design, cascading liquidation risk |
| **Incentive Sustainability** | Does the protocol use token incentives to attract liquidity? | Emission schedule sustainability, mercenary capital risk, value capture |
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## Example Subscores
**Liquidation Mechanism branch (OR-split children):**
- Fixed-spread liquidation (Aave, Compound)
- Auction-based liquidation (MakerDAO)
- Gradual liquidation (Euler, Morpho)
Each subtype has specialised subscores measuring the containment quality of that specific liquidation architecture.
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## Related
- [[Welcome]] — All domain templates
- [[methodology/Subscores]] — How subscores work
- [[methodology/Conditional Logic]] — OR-split mechanics for liquidation subtypes