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Polkadot governance report - subdaily

Executive Summary

Spotlight proposal

The Polkadot spotlight proposal for this report is Polkascan's proposal for the Continuation of Maintenance & Support for Python Libraries which aims to extend the Polkascan team's ongoing maintenance and support contract with the Polkadot ecosystem.

Key headlines

  • Subsquare released new features for Governance statistics.
  • t3rn submitted an on-chain proposal for the development of a trustless Ethereum 2.0 Light Client as a Substrate pallet.
  • More OpenGov information is now available on the Polkadot wiki.

Governance changes

There are currently 7 proposals on Polkadot that were either opened for discussion within the last 7 days, or currently up for voting.

Top 5 delegates

Applicable once Opengov ship to Polkadot

Spotlight proposal

The Kusama spotlight proposal for this report is the social contract between Polkassembly and the Kusama treasury, which outlines a recurring payment request to cover maintenance, operations, and human resources costs for Polkassembly for the three-month period of April, May, and June 2023.

Key headlines

  • Gov 1.0 has been dissolved on Kusama.
  • Kryptoschain media proposal.
  • HACN finally speaks out via a proxy.

Governance changes

There are currently 6 proposals on Kusama that were either opened for discussion within the last 7 days, or currently up for voting.

Top 5 delegates

Governance activity overview

Number of proposals

There are currently 7 proposals on Polkadot that were either opened for discussion within the last 7 days, or currently up for voting.

Treasury vs Non-treasury

Status

Number of proposals

There are currently 6 proposals on Kusama that were either opened for discussion within the last 7 days, or currently up for voting.

Treasury vs Non-treasury

Status

Reports and Interesting discussions

Polkadot

Subsquare releases new feature for governance statistics

Subsquare has released a new feature for both Polkadot and Kusama that allows you to track governance statistics. This feature will provide more insight to the community on information like voting trends, voters turn out, delegation information, etc. The statistics page can be found here.

Delivery report for simnode treasury proposal

Simnode, a product by Polytope Labs, recently unveiled their treasury report outlining the progress and achievements made in the development of sc-simnode under their first treasury proposal. The report signifies a major milestone in the continuous advancement sc-simnode, a Simulation Testing Framework for Parachains and Standalone Substrate Based Chains.

You can find details of the report here and simnode documentation here.

Kusama

Gov 1.0 has been removed from Kusama

In light of the recent migration of. the Kusama network to version 9420, governance 1.0 has been dissolved completely from the canary network.

This marks a significant evolution in the Kusama blockchain’s governance structure, signaling a complete move away from the initial governance model and paving the way for more innovative and efficient governance systems under Governance 2.0.

The dissolution of the Gov 1.0 model from the canary network represents not just a technical shift but a philosophical one as well.

It underscores the community’s belief in the potential for more dynamic, efficient, and democratic models of governance under OpenGov that can better serve the diverse and evolving needs of the Kusama community.

Updates on virto team’s trial proposal’s progress

The Virto team recently updated the Kusama community regarding their referendum 77 grant’s progress. Having commenced their seventh sprint, the team shared their continued efforts and developments over the past three months. They have maintained their commitment to transparency, offering regular bi-weekly proposal updates and holding monthly team calls, now conducted in Spanish, which are available on their YouTube channel.

The Virto team is committed to establishing itself as a “Latino Rust dev-shop” for the Kusama community. They are currently focused on integrating the decentralized communications protocol Matrix with Substrate, with the aim of creating an accessible developer and user experience for those less familiar with cryptocurrency. In the mid-long term, the team intends to implement the Local Incentives Protocol into a parachain specifically for real-world marketplaces contributing to local economic development.

With conservative spending habits, the Virto team has managed to retain over 70% of their initial funding (6000+ KSM), despite being more than halfway through their project timeline. Despite the financial uncertainty, the team chose to slim down and operate with some part-time members, slowing down progress but also ensuring financial longevity and room for real-world application of their technology.

Progress has been significant, with members, both junior and senior, upskilling in Rust language and sharing their knowledge in daily calls. The team has successfully developed their client libraries Sube and Libwallet, which now compile to JavaScript and can serve as simple alternatives to Polkadot.Js or Subxt. However, they have abandoned their plan to build on the Conduit Matrix homeserver due to its incompatibility with their “embedded needs”. Instead, they’ve initiated a new project, called emma (embedded matrix), which they foresee as a multi-year endeavor to develop a homeserver compatible with Substrate and capable of running on embedded devices.

Despite slower than desired progress, the team remains dedicated to contributing to real-world applications and mainstream adoption of Kusama. They are optimistic about attracting Web2 projects interested in their technology and the concept of progressive decentralization. While they are eager to come back to the treasury with new proposals, they believe it’s important to first deliver more technology to the field. They foresee that additional funds from the ecosystem will allow for team growth, continued project maintenance and acceleration, and the development of new initiatives such as the Local Incentives Protocol and the open-source “artisan” hardware wallet.

The team also plans to set up a new Matrix homeserver dedicated to the Kusama community, showcasing demos of their progress, including an assistant bot that can help interact with the blockchain. The Virto team assured the community of their dedication to regular updates, striving to balance the informality of a chat with the seriousness of a report. 

On-chain treasury proposals

Polkadot

Motion #410

Proposal: Development of a trustless Ethereum 2.0 Light Client as a Substrate pallet

Details

This proposal from t3rn aims to develop a trustless Ethereum 2.0 light client as a Substrate Pallet, compatible with all Polkadot Parachains, to enhance interoperability within the ecosystem. The proposal asks for 180,000 DOT from the Polkadot Treasury.

t3rn, a decentralized smart contract hosting platform for cross-chain transactions, has a strong track record in facilitating seamless cross-chain transactions, and having been a Polkadot parachain since March 5, 2023, it has direct experience with Substrate and the Polkadot ecosystem.

The proposal makes a case for the importance of bridging Polkadot to Ethereum, two of the largest and most established blockchain networks, for the transfer of assets, data, and applications across both networks. The Ethereum 2.0 light client will offer 1-way bridging of Ethereum transactions, state, and events to Polkadot.

The proposal provides a comprehensive breakdown of light clients, explaining their use, types, and the advantages of on-chain light clients for secure and trustless interoperability. Furthermore, the proposal lays out the benefits for Polkadot and the strategic value of integrating an Ethereum light client on the Polkadot network, highlighting potential benefits such as increased liquidity, more significant network effects, and the ability to drive innovation and adoption.

The technical aspect of the proposal includes an outline of the official Consensus Eth2 Light Client specs and a step-by-step description of the setup and management, state update, state and immutable configuration data reading, and message verification processes.

The majority of the grant funds will be allocated to ensuring the security of the project, including code audits and quality assurance.

Status: Gov 1.0 vote ongoing (external motion)

Results

Brief analysis

The light client proposed by T3rn will be primarily focused on improving the quality assurance aspect of the Ethereum 2.0 light client and potentially improving the size of inclusion proofs using zk-SNARKs.

The T3rn team suggests their solution will provide a sort of redundancy or insurance, contributing to the robustness of the Polkadot network in case of unexpected delays or downtimes in the Snowbridge project. They also propose to provide precompiled interfaces for WASM and EVM smart contracts to utilize the Eth2 Light Client, thereby enabling builders to verify and decode arbitrary state from Eth2 within smart contracts and parachains. This could potentially be a unique selling point compared to the Snowbridge project.

The T3rn team specifies that the Polkadot Treasury funds will primarily be used to excel in the QA aspect and cover auditing costs, while T3rn will bear the development costs. They are currently in the prototyping stage and have implemented several features such as working sync committee signatures, fully blinded beacon header to execution header execution proofs, etc.

Snowbridge however, highlights that they have already implemented much of the scope/work outlined in the T3rn team’s proposal, indicating potential redundancy. They also raise the point of the necessity of off-chain infrastructure and a relayer to support the on-chain light client, which they claim has not been mentioned in the T3rn proposal. Finally, Snowbridge suggests that it might be more efficient to review, audit and harden a single implementation rather than implementing multiple ones, as multiple implementations of a light client or bridge would not find consensus across implementations if one breaks.

T3rn argues that while the Snowbridge implementation might be close to completion, it may not yet be production-ready. They believe that having an alternative implementation is not redundant but beneficial in terms of fallback options and for incorporating notarization schemes. They also mention the possibility of collaborative work with Snowbridge in validating state transitions across both implementations.

Overall, while there seems to be some overlap with the Snowbridge project, the T3rn proposal can potentially provide additional robustness to the Polkadot ecosystem by offering an alternative implementation with a focus on QA and auditing. However, more discussion and possibly collaboration would be beneficial to avoid duplicated efforts and to ensure the best use of resources in the Polkadot ecosystem.

Vote (Council)

Motion #409

Proposal: Continuation of Maintenance & Support for Python Libraries

Details

This proposal aims to extend the Polkascan team’s ongoing maintenance and support contract with the Polkadot ecosystem for the term 1 January 2023 until 31 March 2023. This proposal is grounded in the continued need for maintenance and support services provided by the Polkascan Foundation, a non-profit infrastructure service provider that maintains open-source software, including the Polkascan Explorer and Python libraries within the Polkadot ecosystem.

These Python libraries, which are widely adopted within the ecosystem (213 Github repositories rely on them as of the proposal), were initially funded by Web3 Foundation grants. They possess a generalized design, making them fit for use by any Python-based project in the broader Polkadot ecosystem.

The Polkascan Foundation, based in the Netherlands, aims to make multi-chain data accessible and understandable through the development and operation of tools, platforms, and educational initiatives. As part of its activities, the foundation has devised a Social Contract that outlines its relationship with the blockchain communities it serves. This Social Contract is seen as an off-chain coordination mechanism to enhance relations between blockchain communities and external service providers like Polkascan.

Under this Social Contract, the Foundation seeks to address financial, legal, moral, and practical considerations in its relationships with blockchains, treasuries, and DAOs. This includes clarifying the operational costs of a multi-chain explorer, establishing sustainable funding, navigating legal issues, and managing tax and trust matters. It also addresses practical matters such as handling illiquid assets and receiving funds from blockchain entities.

The Foundation currently has active Social Contracts with the Kusama and Polkadot Networks. The ultimate goal of the Social Contract is to facilitate a sustainable funding model for the services required on polkascan.io from a Blockchain Treasury while ensuring the neutrality of the services and insulating them from external influences.

In line with the spirit of continuous improvement, the Foundation is open to further refinements of the Social Contract, acknowledging the complexities of contracting with decentralized entities such as blockchains, treasuries, or DAOs. The proposal invites community contributions to mature this Social Contract further.

Status: Gov 1.0 vote ongoing

Results

Brief analysis

Polkascan is a multi-chain block explorer tool that makes data across various blockchains accessible and understandable. It provides critical tools and libraries that many projects in the ecosystem depend on, with the proposal noting 213 Github repositories that rely on these libraries. This underscores the significance and widespread reliance on Polkascan’s services, suggesting a continued need for their maintenance and support.

The proposal seeks to extend a pre-existing maintenance and support contract from 1st January 2023 to 31st March 2023. Notably, the Python libraries that Polkascan provides were initially funded through Web3 Foundation grants, implying a level of recognition and support from significant entities within the ecosystem. The extension of this support contract is thus likely crucial for the ongoing operation and development of these libraries, and by extension, the projects that depend on them.

The Polkascan Foundation’s Social Contract approach is a particularly interesting aspect of the proposal. This contract serves as an off-chain coordination mechanism, representing an innovative attempt to formalize relationships between the foundation and the blockchain communities it serves. The inclusion of the Social Contract within the proposal speaks to Polkascan’s commitment to transparent, ethical, and mutually beneficial operations.

However, the Social Contract also highlights the unique challenges that arise when interfacing with decentralized entities like blockchains, treasuries, or DAOs. For example, the proposal discusses legal questions around contracts with a Blockchain or DAO, the financial sustainability of a multi-chain explorer, and the practicalities of receiving funds from a DAO.

The proposal is clear in its goal to sustainably fund Polkascan’s services using a Blockchain Treasury, without compromising the neutrality of these services. It represents a stepping stone towards establishing a more formal, reciprocal relationship between blockchain communities and service providers.

In conclusion, Polkascan’s proposal is a forward-looking initiative that not only addresses immediate needs (extension of the support contract), but also considers long-term challenges and opportunities (the Social Contract). Given the crucial role of Polkascan within the Polkadot ecosystem, the outcome of this proposal could have significant implications for the development and operation of numerous projects. Furthermore, the evolution and maturation of the Social Contract concept could potentially influence how other service providers engage with blockchain communities in the future.

Vote (Council)

Kusama

Ref. #200

Proposal name: A Social Contract between Polkassembly and Kusama Treasury

Details

This proposal outlines a recurring payment request to cover maintenance, operations, and human resources costs for Polkassembly for the three-month period of April, May, and June 2023.

Polkassembly is an essential platform in the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystem that facilitates participation in governance. It allows individuals to explore on-chain proposals, engage in discussions, and cast votes directly from the platform. The proposal emphasizes Polkassembly’s role as a key tool for proposers and council members, and it is widely utilized in various newsletters and apps.

The proposal briefly reviews the milestones achieved since the previous proposal, which include multiple completed features and enhancements, such as Gitbook documentation, the addition of comment sentiment analysis, integration with Subsquid and Subsocial, and many other improvements.

For the upcoming three months, the proposal outlines new milestones and objectives. Among these include the creation of a dynamic notification engine, introduction of anti-spam features, improvements in user customization, integration of Grill chat with the Subsocial team, and enhancements to the site’s content and UI.

Budget-wise, the proposal outlines costs associated with cloud and infrastructure expenses, including Google Cloud and Sendgrid services, and human resources costs. The human resources cost covers the salaries of full stack and front-end developers, a site reliability engineer, a forum moderator, a designer, and a product manager. In addition to these, legal costs, Subscan API costs, and documentation costs are also included.

By supporting the maintenance, operations, and further development of Polkassembly, this proposal seeks to sustain and enhance the platform’s key role in fostering democratic engagement within the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems. The requested funds are aimed at not only maintaining current services but also delivering on new feature developments and improvements outlined in the proposal’s milestones and objectives for the next quarter.

Status: Passing

Results

Brief analysis

The proposal from Polkassembly for a recurring payment from the Kusama Treasury primarily covers three categories – maintenance, operations, and human resources. The primary purpose is to support the continuous running and improvement of Polkassembly – an important platform in the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystem for on-chain governance.

As a platform enabling the discovery and participation in Polkadot and Kusama governance, it’s become an essential tool for proposers, token holders, and the wider community. This indicates a high likelihood of continuous usage and demand for Polkassembly’s services, thereby justifying the need for continued funding.

Polkassembly has completed several key milestones from their previous proposal, which showcases their ability to deliver on their commitments. This includes a number of upgrades and new features, such as improved documentation, new voting data categorization, and comment sentiment analysis. This demonstrable track record increases confidence in their ability to deliver on future commitments.

For the next quarter, the proposal outlines a range of new features and enhancements. These include user customization options, introduction of anti-spam measures, and platform integrations. This forward-looking plan indicates an active development cycle, with an emphasis on user experience and platform utility. This ongoing development is crucial to stay relevant and valuable to its users.

The proposal provides a comprehensive breakdown of their budget requirements. This includes both infrastructure costs (cloud services, email provider, documentation) and human resource costs (various development and management roles). The transparency and itemization of costs add credibility to the proposal and reflect careful planning.

However, there are a few areas that might require further clarification or attention:

While the proposal indicates the importance of Polkassembly, it would be beneficial to provide specific metrics demonstrating its usage and impact on the ecosystem. For example, data on the number of users, proposals discussed, votes cast, and other key usage statistics.

Also, while the breakdown of costs is comprehensive, justifications for each cost would strengthen the proposal. For instance, explaining the necessity of each role in the team, especially as they represent significant costs, would be beneficial. Similarly, clarifying why specific infrastructure services are chosen over potential alternatives could be helpful.

Overall, this proposal indicates a structured plan for the maintenance and development of Polkassembly over the next quarter. Given the track record of the team, the important role Polkassembly plays in the ecosystem, and the outlined future plans, this proposal demonstrates a significant potential for positive impact on the Polkadot and Kusama governance ecosystems.

Vote

Ref. #204

Proposal name: Privacy Sidechains for all Substrate- Based Chains

Details

Integritee AG is requesting funding from the Kusama (KSM) Treasury for work that has already been completed. The goal is to deliver privacy-sidechain solutions that can work on any substrate-based chain in the Kusama, Polkadot or Solo ecosystems without any runtime modifications. The proposal stems from the fact that activities in these blockchain ecosystems are highly transparent, potentially exposing sensitive information. Integritee aims to enhance privacy without compromising accountability, and outlines a system where the balance between privacy and law enforcement insight could be decided via on-chain governance.

Work that has been completed includes:

  • Specifying a privacy sidechain that can interact with any para- or relaychain without modifying their runtime.
  • Preparing to support two light clients in a single enclave into two different substrate-based chains.
  • Creating a Target Chain Event Listener to avoid reliance on custom pallets present in runtimes on L1.

The proposal also provides a concept for a privacy-enhancing transaction between users and outlines the fees involved for different operations. It further outlines additional implementation tasks necessary to allow token shielding and unshielding on any substrate chain which uses frame and the balances pallet. The proposal then details plans for testing, deployment on Statemine and Statemint, and a security review.

Upon completion of all tasks, Integritee will conduct public testing, offer a bug bounty, and deploy the sidechain first on Statemine, then on Statemint after a month of stable operation. The final acceptance criteria include resolving tracking issues, providing tutorials for different operations, and submitting an adoption report after 3 months of operation on Statemine.

Status: Failing

Results

Brief analysis

The proposal by Integritee AG essentially involves the development and implementation of privacy sidechains to offer greater privacy within the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystem, which can be seen as a key improvement, given the increasing concerns about privacy in blockchain operations. They seek funding for work already done with the promise that all deliverables will be open source and usable by anyone on any Substrate-based chain on Kusama, Polkadot or Solo in an unpermissioned manner.

The methodology is well-documented and seems feasible, relying on trusted execution environments (TEEs) and ‘validateers’ for the operation of second-layer sidechains. The use of mixers to hide transaction timing and amounts also indicates an advanced understanding of privacy technology, although this is left for future work and is out of scope for this proposal.

The proposal outlines a clear set of tasks that have already been completed and future tasks necessary for the implementation of the project. These tasks are well-described, and each is linked to specific GitHub issues for transparency and tracking.

The budget is reasonably estimated and transparent, and the timeline seems feasible given the progress already made. The company offers a discounted hourly rate for this project due to its nature as a common-good project, which is commendable.

While there is support from several members of the community, there are concerns regarding the Law Enforcement Access section of the proposal. Users want to understand the extent and implications of LEA, including the process through which law enforcement will be granted access, the kind of proof required from LEAs, the party responsible for allowing this access, and whether users will be notified of accounts affected by such requests.

In conclusion, the proposal by Integritee AG is well-structured, detailed, and presents a clear need within the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems. The technical implementation and motivation behind the proposal are robust, and it has a clear, transparent budget. The initiative’s successful execution could significantly enhance privacy within these ecosystems and open up new possibilities for decentralized applications (DApps) development. The key concern would be the implementation of the mixer, which is out of scope for this proposal but is a key part of the privacy solution. However, it is understandable that this complex feature might be planned for a later stage.

Vote

Ref. #209

Proposal name: ParaSpell XCM SDK Maintenance funding for 5months

Details

This proposal outlines the ParaSpell team’s plan to maintain and develop their Cross-Consensus Message (XCM) Software Development Kit (SDK) for Polkadot and Kusama Parachains. This includes the continuation of support, issue resolution, and feature development.

The ParaSpell team has previously been funded by the Web3 Foundation and the Kusama treasury to create an XCM SDK for the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystem. The team seeks funding from the Kusama Treasury for maintenance, bug-fixing, and feature enhancements.

The team commits to bi-monthly checkups for new XCM compatible Parachains, providing support for SDK, UI, and documentation issues, implementing new features, updating documents, releasing medium articles about ParaSpell’s monthly improvements, and creating comprehensive monthly reports.

The team also demonstrates its commitment to promoting the Polkadot ecosystem and ParaSpell at international conferences and through published articles. They also provide detailed information about the team members, their experience, and their contact information.

Status: Failing

Results

Brief analysis

The ParaSpell proposal is a well-articulated, comprehensive plan aimed at upgrading and maintaining the ParaSpell tool, which is an open-source software development kit (SDK) intended to facilitate the integration of cross-chain functionality into decentralized applications (dApps) in the Polkadot ecosystem.

The proposal clearly identifies the problem – the diversity and complexity of implementing support for multiple Parachains due to the customization of XCM pallets by Parachains to fit their specific use cases. The problem statement section provides a comprehensive understanding of the current state of XCM development, making it accessible to both developers and non-developers.

The proposal sets out clear goals for the maintenance period of five months, during which the team will work full time to maintain and enhance the ParaSpell repositories, resolve issues, and add new features.

The proposal will significantly benefit different groups within the Polkadot ecosystem. dApp developers will be able to more easily integrate XCM support into their applications, while ordinary users interested in understanding how XCM works can use the ParaSpell UI. Parachain developers can also benefit from the tool, as it provides packages for launching local networks, easing the process of adding their Parachain for testing.

In conclusion, the ParaSpell proposal presents a compelling case for its continuation and maintenance. It shows a clear understanding of the challenges within the Polkadot ecosystem, and the solution it offers appears to significantly streamline and enhance the process of integrating cross-chain functionality into dApps.

Vote

Ref. #201

Proposal name: Funding for KryptosChain Media Brand - 6 months

Details

The proposer, Claudio, known for his role as a Polkadot Ambassador and as the person behind the KryptosChain media brand, aims to request treasury funding for a new initiative that involves the production of content centered around the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems.

Claudio, an ex-Database Developer with a passion for content creation in Web3, runs a YouTube channel named KryptosChain since April 2018, sharing research and tutorials about the crypto landscape. After Polkadot’s launch in 2020, he shifted his focus primarily to media coverage about this particular ecosystem.

He has already successfully executed a previous proposal (#Ref.46), where he worked towards building a Romanian community for Polkadot. This current proposal is distinct from his main KryptosChain channel activities, which have continued without additional treasury funding.

In this new proposal, Claudio plans to create a total of 116 videos over a period of six months, breaking down into four categories:

  1. Comparison Videos (52 videos): These videos will compare different ecosystems (Cosmos, Cardano, Solana, Aptos, Sui & Avalanche) to Polkadot, discussing their DeFi dApps, wallets, and NFT marketplaces, including their pros and cons.

  2. General Polkadot Ecosystem News (26 videos): This category includes videos providing updates and news about the Polkadot ecosystem.

  3. Open Governance News (26 videos): These videos will focus on news concerning treasury spending in the Kusama ecosystem, and potentially the Polkadot ecosystem if it launches during the proposal period.

  4. Interviews (12 videos): The proposal includes conducting interviews with Founders/Co-Founders or other team members from the Polkadot ecosystem.

Status: Failing

Results

Brief analysis

This proposal has faced criticism on the grounds of value-per-view, which seems high considering the number of views the videos typically generate (around 400 per video, or 8,000 views per month). While the proposer sees value in producing these videos, some token holders feel the costs might not justify the perceived benefit, as expressed in KPIs like “ROI”.

Questions have also been raised about alternative funding options for KryptosChain’s YouTube channel if the proposal is rejected. Moreover, the proposer’s simultaneous focus on Cosmos & Cardano content has raised concerns that funding this proposal could inadvertently support competing blockchain ecosystems.

Despite the concerns, there is recognition of Claudio’s commitment to the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems and appreciation for the structure of the proposal, particularly the focus on comparison videos and governance insights. Supporters emphasize the need for increased involvement in ecosystem governance and appreciate the unique content that KryptosChain offers.

Criticisms about production quality have been noted, with some suggesting that the content lacks depth and creativity and that video quality could be improved. These issues could potentially impact viewer engagement and the perceived value of the content.

There are also concerns about the up-front payment nature of the proposal. Some believe that it lacks accountability measures to ensure a return on investment for the network. These token holders favor a model that ties funding more closely to tangible results or performance metrics.

In conclusion, while there is recognition of KryptosChain’s commitment and contribution to the Polkadot ecosystem, there is a clear divide in opinions about the proposal’s value. The issues raised – value for money, viewer engagement, production quality, content depth, and accountability – should be thoroughly addressed for the proposal to gain wider acceptance. The proposer may need to revise the proposal, addressing these concerns to ensure it aligns better with the perceived interests of the network.

Vote

Ref. #202

Proposal name: Ziggurat - The Network Testing and Stability Framework - Milestone 1

Details

This proposal introduces and seeks funding for Ziggurat, a network testing and stability framework, to Kusama, a Substrate-based blockchain. Ziggurat, developed by Equilibrium, is a toolset that allows node developers to comprehensively test three layers: Conformance (adherence to the network protocol), Performance (healthy throughput under pressure), and Resistance (withstanding malicious behavior). This helps in ensuring new releases are free of bugs, performance bottlenecks, and security flaws.

Ziggurat, having been effective with ZCash, Ripple, and Algorand networks, aims to extend its benefits to Kusama. This proposal aims to develop the necessary tools for Kusama while maintaining the potential for future compatibility with any Substrate-based chain. It has already received favorable feedback from the Polkadot Developer community.

The main motivation behind this proposal is the belief that without proper testing and resistance measures, a network-level hack could potentially bring down an entire blockchain network. This proposal suggests the use of a synthetic node, offering flexibility, developer experience, and potential for further uses beyond testing.

The deliverables for the first milestone include reverse-engineering the network protocol, designing a set of tests against it, and setting up the required infrastructure. Potential risks include the complexities of Kusama’s networking layer, such as multiplexing, cryptographic concerns, and the use of libp2p.

Equilibrium has a strong track record, deep technical expertise, and experience in design and testing of peer-to-peer networks, positioning them well to undertake this project. Their goal is to provide network reliability and resilience to as many networks as possible, protecting blockchain networks from potential threats.

Status: Failing

Results

Brief analysis

The Ziggurat proposal focuses on a vital area within the ecosystem – network testing. This specialized focus positions the project to provide targeted solutions that can lead to improved network performance. The Ziggurat team has a track record in this area, with previous work on a C++ light client implementation indicating that they have the necessary expertise to undertake this project.

The proposal encourages engagement and discussion within the ecosystem, as evidenced by the feedback from the community and core developers. This demonstrates a willingness to refine the project based on this feedback.

However, some community members have raised concerns about potential duplication of efforts, particularly regarding starting from scratch with network protocols that already have robust testing procedures. Engaging closely with these existing teams to understand their workflow and integrating the existing tests into the Ziggurat tooling could alleviate this concern.

Some concerns have also been raised about the overall cost of the project and whether the outcomes will justify the expenses. The team needs to provide a detailed breakdown of the project costs and potential benefits to address this concern effectively.

As suggested by some community members, Ziggurat should involve more teams working on host implementations, as these teams can benefit from the proposed project.

Rather than creating a second networking team, it might be more beneficial if Ziggurat emphasizes collaboration with existing teams to provide tooling that enhances the existing efforts.

In summary, while the Ziggurat proposal has the potential to contribute significantly to the testing and quality of node firmware, it will be critical to closely engage with all stakeholders, respond to feedback, and integrate this feedback into the project development process. Ultimately, the value of the project will be determined by its ability to meet the needs of the node developers and the broader community effectively and efficiently.

Vote

On-chain non-treasury proposals

Polkadot

There were no new Polkadot on-chain non-treasury proposals between 22nd and 28th May, 2023.

Kusama

There were no new Kusama on-chain non-treasury proposals between 22nd and 28th May, 2023.

Governance metrics

Polkadot

Treasury status

The treasury is 4.86% up from last week USD-wise, and 0.85% up DOT-wise

Kusama

Treasury status

The Kusama treasury is 3.3% up from last week USD-wise, but 0.97% down KSM-wise

Trends, Insights and other news

Polkadot

More OpenGov information is available on Polkadot wiki

The updated wiki provides more insights into several crucial aspects of the OpenGov, including its Origins, the different governance Tracks and their specifics, among which you can find information about Treasury spending limits.

The community, Web3 Foundation and Parity understand that timely and accurate information is paramount in this rapidly evolving space. To ensure that you always have the most current data at your fingertips, these OpenGov details will be automatically updated once the Polkadot OpenGov is officially launched and operational.

It’s encouraged that you leverage this resource to enhance your understanding of the new governance mechanism in the Polkadot ecosystem and to stay abreast of the latest developments. Click here for a structured approach to learn about OpenGov on Polkadot.

Kusama

HACN finally speaks out via a Proxy

A series of tweets were recently published, outlining the role of HACN, an ecosystem agent for the Polkadot and Kusama networks. Described as a collective of activist shareholders, HACN aims to embody a philosophy of pluralism within these on-chain governance systems. This approach helps to decentralize power and politicize the networks’ scarce resources, including treasury and runtime.

Drawing on the Polkadot Fellowship Manifesto, the tweets highlight the necessity for political decentralization in both Polkadot and Kusama. The politicization of these networks’ resources, he argues, is vital to achieving this goal.

The tweet reveals that HACN recently launched a campaign aimed at stimulating discussions around the improvement of treasury management and governance in both the Polkadot and Kusama networks. This effort falls in line with HACN’s voting policy, which favors R&D initiatives that could enhance treasury management and governance on Kusama.

The policy, however, leans towards rejecting proposals for medium and high spending. It also tends to abstain from tipping and small spending. Proposals that are unlikely to receive HACN‘s support include those involving media spends, projects of low quality, proposals from recipients with low reputations or unverified identities, and those where there is a disagreement on value propositions or opaque accountability.

While the actions of HACN will likely cause increased friction on larger treasury disbursements in the future, the tweet clarifies that this isn’t a personal stance but a strategic one, designed to apply pressure on project proposals. He suggests that the collective’s approach could be perceived as a form of “tough love.”

The tweet concludes by emphasizing that HACN‘s power as an activist shareholder is limited. Nevertheless, as it appears to be the first of its kind, it will continue to exercise its rights within the Polkadot and Kusama networks and encourage political mobilization.