docs: add bounty economics explainer\n

README.md

@@ -23,3 +23,7 @@ Haven lets a device owner register a privacy-preserving hash of their device IME
 ## Current status
 
 Haven is currently in an early open-source preparation phase. The smart contract contains the core registry, killswitch, recovery, and insurance flows. The frontend contains the landing page and a typed Stellar/Soroban client stub that will be expanded into dashboard and verification flows.
+
+## Documentation
+
+- [Bounty Economics](docs/bounty-economics.md) - How bounties align contributors, maintainers, and users.

docs/bounty-economics.md

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# Bounty Economics
+
+This page explains how Haven bounties can help align contributors, maintainers, and users around practical improvements to the project.
+
+## Goals
+
+Bounties are intended to make contribution opportunities clearer by connecting a specific piece of work with a visible reward. A good bounty should describe the problem, define the expected deliverable, and make it easier for maintainers to review whether the work is complete.
+
+## How a bounty should work
+
+A useful bounty starts with a clearly scoped issue. The issue should include the expected outcome, any constraints, and the review criteria. Contributors can then decide whether the task is feasible before investing time. Maintainers benefit because completed work can be compared against a documented target instead of an informal request.
+
+## What contributors should expect
+
+Contributors should read the issue carefully, keep their changes focused, and include enough context for review. For documentation work, that usually means a concise explanation, consistent terminology, and links from the right place in the docs so readers can find the new page.
+
+## What maintainers should expect
+
+Maintainers should be able to review the submission against the bounty description. The best submissions are narrow, easy to inspect, and avoid unrelated changes. This keeps review time low and makes acceptance decisions easier.
+
+## Practical review checklist
+
+Before a bounty is considered complete, reviewers can check that:
+
+- the contribution matches the requested scope;
+- the change is easy to find and understand;
+- the wording is clear for new contributors;
+- no unrelated files or behavior were changed;
+- the final result improves the project documentation.
+
+## Why this matters
+
+A clear bounty process helps the project turn community interest into useful contributions. It also gives contributors a better understanding of what work is valuable, how to complete it, and how their effort will be reviewed.