diff --git a/lib/referrals.js b/lib/referrals.js
index 0693187..eddcdc9 100644
--- a/lib/referrals.js
+++ b/lib/referrals.js
@@ -23,8 +23,14 @@ const DEFAULTS = {
   refBountyPol: 3,      // flat, not a draw: a referral is work someone did, not a lottery
   refMatchPct: 20,      // paid ON TOP of the newcomer's find, never taken out of it
   refMatchDays: 30,     // how long the match runs, from the newcomer's InstantAdPay join date
-  refNewDays: 30,       // the bounty only pays for a genuinely new member, not an old one who
-                        // happens to start hunting years after their sponsor signed them up
+  // THE gate, and it has to be an absolute date, not a rolling window. It was refNewDays: 30 on a
+  // site whose oldest account is 19 days old, so it excluded nobody and 8.67 POL went to sponsors
+  // for existing members hunting — zero acquisitions (Marty, 2026-09-23: "I need people that never
+  // existed before. That's why we're doing it."). Anyone whose account predates this moment was
+  // already a member, by definition, and can never earn their sponsor a bounty or a match.
+  refNewAfter: '2026-09-23T10:00:00Z',
+  refNewDays: 30,       // secondary: a newcomer only earns their sponsor a bounty in their first
+                        // month, so a dormant signup cannot trigger one a year later
   refCapPol: 20,        // referral pool per Central day, separate from the find pool
   refMatchMinPol: 0.005,// do not write a transaction for dust
   // Marty's launch bonus (2026-09-23): an extra drip to the FIRST hunter whose referral gets all
@@ -115,6 +121,10 @@ function onFind(member, find) {
   const out = [];
   let room = Number(c.refCapPol) - paidRefToday();
   const ageDays = me.joinedAt ? (Date.now() - Number(me.joinedAt)) / 86400000 : 0;
+  // the floor: did this person exist before the mission did?
+  const floor = Date.parse(String(c.refNewAfter || '')) || 0;
+  const isNew = !floor || (me.joinedAt && Number(me.joinedAt) >= floor);
+  if (!isNew) return [];   // an existing member hunting earns their sponsor nothing, ever
   const who = { forMemberId: id, forName: me.username || ('#' + id) };
 
   // the bounty, once, on their first find, and only while they are genuinely a new member