To ensure the cost of customer acquisition is sustainable, the BitShares referral system is designed to always pay out a percentage of actual profits. BitShares allows the users to draw their own conclusions about the Life Time Value (LTV) of each customer they refer, after educating them about the LTV of customers for similar businesses. Bitshare believe that the BitShares network can offer each referrer an average value of $80 per member they sign up, or $40 if they go through an affiliate. This value is realized over time based upon the actual usage of the customers. Even if a customer thinks we are overestimating by a factor of 4, BitShares still offers a larger incentive than PayPal did.