TVP Conflict Disclosure

Updated: May 9, 2026
Next scheduled update: June 30, 2026

This is the standing Conflict Disclosure document for True Value Protocol. Per Rule 42 of the TVP Operating System v8.0, this document publishes quarterly. Each quarter's version supersedes — does not amend — the prior quarter's version.

Operator holdings

The operator (Steven Seagroves, sole member of True Value Protocol LLC) currently holds positions in sports cards as part of a personal trading book and a separate fund-pilot vehicle (the GOAT Rookie Card Investment Fund, in pilot phase).

Reads on cards in which the operator holds a position carry an inline disclosure on the read itself stating the position and direction. This document does not enumerate the full holdings list ahead of the first scheduled quarterly publication on June 30, 2026.

The full unredacted holdings ledger as of June 30, 2026 will publish at /disclosure on that date and will supersede this document.

Financial relationships

As of May 9, 2026:

• No paid sponsorships. TVP does not accept paid promotion tied to specific cards, sets, players, breakers, marketplaces, grading services, or auction houses.
• No affiliate revenue. TVP does not run affiliate links to marketplaces, grading services, or related vendors.
• No revenue share. TVP does not have revenue-share arrangements with any party in the hobby.
• No paid placements. TVP does not accept fees for inclusion in any read, ranking, or content beat.

This sponsorship policy is held for the launch year (May 2026 – May 2027) and revisited annually post-NSCC.

Household exposure

The operator's household has no material exposure to sports-card businesses outside the operator's own trading book and the GOAT Fund pilot. No household member is employed by, contracts with, or holds equity in:

• Marketplaces (eBay, Whatnot, Fanatics Collect, PWCC, Goldin, Heritage, Alt, Mojo)
• Grading services (PSA, BGS, SGC, CGC, TAG)
• Card manufacturers (Topps/Fanatics, Panini)
• Breakers, group-break operators, or pack-rip channels
• Auction houses or consignment platforms

Lockbox protocol

Per Rule 43 of the TVP Operating System, the operator pre-discloses any acquisition or disposition of a card that has been the subject of a TVP read in the prior 30 days, in an internal Lockbox log, before the transaction executes. The full Lockbox log for the prior quarter publishes as part of each quarterly Conflict Disclosure update.

The Lockbox protocol exists to make the timing of operator transactions auditable relative to published reads. It is the structural protection against operator front-running of TVP-driven market moves.

Methodology of this disclosure

This document is published per Rule 42 of TVP Operating System v8.0 and is modeled on the SEC's Regulation AC analyst-conflict disclosure norms and Morningstar's Code of Ethics personal-security trading policy.

If a contributor refuses to publish their holdings, that contributor cannot work on TVP. This is non-negotiable; it is the floor of credibility.

Questions

Email [email protected] with conflict-related questions. (For methodology challenges, use [email protected].)

This disclosure is general and impersonal. It is part of TVP's regular publication cadence as required for the Publisher's Exclusion safe harbor under Section 202(a)(11)(D) of the Investment Advisers Act and Lowe v. SEC, 472 U.S. 181 (1985).