> So I just withdraw my funds take photos of them, "upload" them. Go back to my bank, exchange the bills and repeat?

Yes. Anyone else who gets hold of those bills you used and exchanged with your bank will find them "burned" when they try to use them on Ellcrys.

> What am I missing here. What is being accomplished by photoing bills?

Aside from fair distribution of the Quant, It is meant to create a sense of value. If your net worth is $1000 and your understand that sending this in will invalidate those banknotes, you might value the Quants you get differently. Going to your bank to exchange invalidated banknotes takes some effort as most people don't have their banks close by. You might take this effort into account when valuating the resulting Quant.

Basically, you'll need to give something of measurable value to receive a share of the root Quant.