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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 EasyA Polkadot developer hackathon which plans to educate 1,000 developers, with an educated individual defined as one who has completed their Polkadot crash course.

Key headlines

  • New Polkassembly feature for auditors
  • Decoded Satellite event in China
  • EasyA Polkadot developer hackathon

Governance changes

There are currently 13 proposals on Polkadot that were either open 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 Polkadot visualization bounty by Opensquare, whose main goals include the development of UI to visualize the business of Kusama/Polkadot, engaging more developers into the ecosystem through child bounties, and facilitating collaboration between projects and external developers.

Key headlines

  • New features shipped on Subsquare
  • Discussion on the fate of Kappa Sigma Mu pot of funds
  • AIWeb3 community report for May

Governance changes

There are currently 5 proposals on Kusama that were either open for discussion within the last 7 days, or currently up for voting.

Top 5 delegates

No Data Found

Governance activity overview

Number of proposals

There are currently 13 proposals on Polkadot that were either open for discussion within the last 7 days, or currently up for voting.

Treasury vs Non-treasury

No Data Found

Status

No Data Found

Number of proposals

There are currently 5 proposals on Kusama that were either open for discussion within the last 7 days, or currently up for voting.

Treasury vs Non-treasury

No Data Found

Status

No Data Found

Reports and Interesting Events

Polkadot

New Polkassembly feature for auditors

Polkassembly recently announced the launch of a novel feature that allows for easy access and consumption of audit reports on various proposals across platforms. This functionality is aimed at providing comprehensive audit reports on governance proposals in both the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems, thus enhancing transparency and community engagement.

Polkassembly emphasizes the significance of these audit reports in promoting open discourse and ensuring that community voices are heard. To this end, they’ve partnered initially with CoinStudio and The Kusamarian to facilitate the sharing of audit reports and AAG videos.

In the interest of continued expansion and collaboration, Polkassembly invites potential partners who wish to share their audit report for a proposal to get in touch at hello@polkassembly.io. This move demonstrates Polkassembly’s commitment to fostering transparency, partnership, and shared understanding within the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems.

Kusama

Subsquare updates the community on new features

Subsquare has recentry released new features updates aim to enhance user interaction with the platform, improve transparency in governance processes, and provide more granular data to users. These features include:

Nested votes, which enhances the visibility of direct voters along with all delegations contributing to final votes. It offers a detailed view of delegations when clicking on a voter’s line. This feature allows the community to understand better which voters possess significant voting powers by providing a hierarchical view of the voting process.

A tally bar on the referenda list page, providing users with an immediate overview of the referendum results before clicking on individual referendum’s page.

Integration of Achainable Labels, which scans on-chain business and provides solutions for Decentralized Identity (DID) labels, indicating on-chain activities. Currently, most labels are governance-related, but more are expected in the future.

Dotreasury filters which now allows users to sort proposals by status, token amount, or token fiat value. Users can also sort proposals by token value or proposal index, providing a more tailored browsing experience for community members.

AIWeb3 community report for May

AIWeb3 community has shared their monthly update for the month of May, 2023. The community has successfully collaborated with Ajuna, InvArch, Neurolanche, and PhalaWorld to help in building the chinese community. They coordinated a content competition with Neurolanche where winners received complimentary NFTs. The community and PhalaWorld also successfully concluded a video competition with all rewards being distributed.

AIWeb3 organized a special 520 Twitter Space event in collaboration with multiple Chinese communities of Moonbeam, Bifrost, Gear, Centrifuge, Ajuna, and InvArch, with a significant number of participants.

As of June 1, 2023, AIWeb3’s Twitter account had 511 followers, Discord had 362 members, and Telegram had 267 members. There were 29 active content creators categorized into L0 and L1+ levels.
 
Various content creators contributed to the community by creating different types of content, with varying levels of engagement and rewards received. Content creators used platforms like YouTube and Twitter to reach out to the community.
DrCAO, the director, contributed significantly to building relationships with other parachains, organizing events, and generating video content. However, the report mentions that the director’s content generation has declined due to the time spent on these other activities. 

Also, some content creators have low viewership and engagement rates on their platforms, which might need to be addressed.

 

On-chain treasury proposals

Polkadot

Motion #417

Proposal: EasyA Polkadot developer hackathon

Details

EasyA, a community of over 500,000 developers, has put forth a proposal for milestone 2 of a two-pronged educational initiative to expand the Polkadot ecosystem, known as the #60DaysOfPolkadot initiative. The initiative will entail the development of a mobile crash course and the organization of two in-person hackathons in London, UK, and Boston, US.

The proposed mobile crash course will educate developers about Polkadot and its parachains/projects. The subsequent hackathons will provide an opportunity for developers to apply their newfound knowledge, with the goal of producing 100 new projects on Polkadot by the end of the hackathon series.

This initiative aims to target developers familiar with other blockchains, early-stage founders looking to build the next significant dApp, and students interested in programming and building in the Polkadot ecosystem. The plan is to educate 1,000 developers, with an educated individual defined as one who has completed the Polkadot crash course.

EasyA has prior experience in organizing similar events, with their last hackathon achieving a social media reach of over 700,000 impressions. With the global scale of the #60DaysOfPolkadot initiative, they anticipate an even larger reach. The funding requested from the Polkadot Treasury will go towards venue/equipment hire, content planning, pre-event planning, and prizes for hackathon winners.

The proposal is backed by several Polkadot parachains and ecosystem projects, including Acala, Astar, Composable, and Moonbeam. EasyA invites all interested parachains/projects to get involved in what they envision as an ecosystem-wide project.

Status: Gov 1.0 vote ongoing

Results

No Data Found

Brief analysis

The EasyA proposal for the #60DaysOfPolkadot initiative presents an ambitious yet credible plan to educate a significant number of developers about Polkadot and its ecosystem. The fact that they have experience in organising similar events and have the backing of several notable entities within the Polkadot ecosystem speaks to the plausibility of this proposal.

Comments from the community generally express strong enthusiasm and support for the initiative. One community member eagerly anticipates the Boston hackathon and has observed significant engagement on social media. Harvard Blockchain Labs, who will host the Boston hackathon, also affirms the importance of educating people about blockchain and mentions the growing interest in their lectures and discussion sessions. Such positive feedback and collaborations with renowned institutions further endorse the relevance and potential success of the proposal.

The EasyA team is also actively engaging with community inquiries and extending invitations for further discussion, which indicates their commitment to transparency. There is a request for more detailed cost breakdown for the second milestone of the initiative. EasyA’s response clarified the allocation of the $104,000 request from the budget lines for Content Creation, Technical Implementation, and Manual Verification. They explained that this is a continuation of an already approved budget from the first proposal.

The progress report provided also covers both the first and second milestones. While the naming may have caused some initial confusion, the EasyA team clarified this and updated the report to reflect the completed work for both milestones.

The combination of EasyA’s experienced team, their track record in the community, support from notable entities within the Polkadot ecosystem, positive feedback from the community, and their responsiveness to questions provide a solid basis for assessing this proposal positively. However, like any project, its successful implementation will require effective project management and the delivery of the stated outcomes, particularly the education of the targeted 1,000 developers.

Vote (Council)

Motion #418

Proposal: Polkadot Decoded Satellite event, China

Details

This proposal is centered on the Polkadot Decoded 2023 China Satellite Event, planned to be hosted in Shanghai, China on July 15-16, 2023. The total amount requested for the event is $311,553.44 in a single payout.

The main Polkadot Decoded event is to take place in Copenhagen at the end of June 2023, representing the largest annual conference focusing on Polkadot. To align with this global event, a series of satellite events are planned in various regions, including the USA, Latin America, and China. The objective of these events is to provide local communities with regional focus and engagement.

The China satellite event is designed to serve the fast-growing Polkadot community in the Asian market, particularly in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam. The event will feature presentations, panels, workshops, demos, and regional events, delivered in either Chinese or English. The target audience includes decision-makers, investors, entrepreneurs, and Web3 Media from start-ups and enterprises interested in Polkadot, builders from teams in the Polkadot ecosystem, DOT Holders, developers, Polkadot enthusiasts, and supporters.

The event is expected to have between 300-500 attendees, 25 speaking slots, 20 exhibition booths, and a job fair for Substrate-based ecosystem projects. It will be facilitated and hosted by Aitijia’er, a China-based event agency known for producing prominent events such as the 2020 Web3 Form @ Shanghai and 2022 Decoded China @ Hangzhou.

The proposal argues the necessity of a region-focused satellite event, given the rapid global growth of the Polkadot/Kusama community, and considering the possible travel restrictions preventing some community members from attending the flagship event in Copenhagen.

The satellite event’s primary objectives include attracting, engaging and inspiring attendees with successful projects and use cases, updating the community on Polkadot’s roadmap, and strengthening the sense of belonging to Polkadot. Secondary objectives include fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing, and deepening relationships within the Polkadot community in Asia.

Regarding logistics, attendees will be required to register their name, contact details, and other information for security and regulation purposes. Free NFTs as proof of attendance will also be distributed. Marketing efforts for the event will align with the global plan, leveraging both global and local Chinese channels. The event’s location may be subject to change, pending finalization of contracts with potential venues.

The total budget breakdown includes costs for venue, tech equipment and construction, food and beverages, entertainment, staff costs, and swag production, with a 6% China tax applied, totalling $311,553.44. Payments are requested in one lump sum payout, with critical milestones to be delivered on a pre-set schedule post-receipt of the funds.

Status: Gov 1.0 vote ongoing

Results

No Data Found

Brief analysis

The proposal presents a plan for a satellite event for the 2023 Polkadot Decoded conference in Shanghai, China. The proposed event is part of a series of global satellite events that aim to bring together local communities of Polkadot, a scalable, interoperable & secure network protocol for the next web.

The event aligns with the global flagship event in Copenhagen, creating continuity and amplifying the impact of the global brand.

The proposal lays out a detailed plan covering venue, logistics, agenda, audience targeting, and partnerships. The planning seems to be well-structured, which exhibits a high level of professionalism and experience.

The event organizer, Aitijia’er, has a track record of successful Polkadot events in China, including the 2020 Web3 Forum @ Shanghai and 2022 Decoded China @ Hangzhou.


This satellite event has a broad coverage as it will cater to the Asian region with a focus on China, potentially attracting attendees from Korea, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, and the rest of Southeast Asia.

However, the high budget may require further deliberation and risk assessment. It would be beneficial for the proposal to include concrete success metrics to facilitate post-event evaluation.

Vote (Council)

Kusama

Ref. #215

Proposal name: Polkadot visualization bounty by Opensquare

Details

 

OpenSquare, is seeking to top-up the Polkadot Visualization Program Phase 1 Bounty by an additional 3,100 KSM. The main goals of the bounty program include the development of UI to visualize the business of Kusama/Polkadot, engaging more developers into the ecosystem through child bounties, and facilitating collaboration between projects and external developers.

So far, OpenSquare has developed and released a collaboration site funded by child bounty #34, which allows curators to import bounties or child bounties from the blockchain, and external developers can apply for them. The platform supports basic collaboration flows between curators and developers. OpenSquare has also launched Statescan-v2, an open-source site supporting multiple chains, which is more modularized and collaboration-friendly. Two bounties for identity and vesting pallet business scan have been created, engaging 2 external developers.

The budget already spent includes 281.7KSM for child bounty #34, 100KSM for child bounty #245, and 80KSM for child bounty #335 which is currently under development. The remaining budget is approximately 262.77KSM, equivalent to about $6,500. With the costs already incurred and the requested amount, the final ask is $80,000.

OpenSquare confirms that the bounty site can be used by other bounties and that maintenance costs for Statescan are not considered double payment as they typically cover bug fixes, UI tweaks, and code refactoring. They advocate for the bounty approach as it allows the involvement of a broader pool of developers and aids in price discovery for labor in the ecosystem.

Status: Passing

Results

No Data Found

Brief analysis

The OpenSquare proposal plans to further develop and expand the visualisation of Polkadot ecosystem metrics through This bounty was funded initially requests for a top-up to continue with their plan.

OpenSquare’s request for an additional 3,100 KSM ($80,000) seems reasonable given the scale and impact of their work. Their transparency about past expenditures and remaining funds signals financial responsibility. They have effectively used child bounties to distribute work and engage external developers, potentially optimising their budget utilisation.

The proposal seeks to further promote a culture of collaboration and openness. which can be beneficial for innovation and resource optimisation.

While a bounty-based approach can attract a wide range of developers, there could be issues with consistency and quality of work. Ensuring effective management and oversight of these bounties from the curators will be critical.

Vote

On-chain non-treasury proposals

Polkadot

There were no new Polkadot on-chain non-treasury proposals between 5th and 11th June, 2023.

Kusama

There were no new Kusama on-chain non-treasury proposals between 5th and 11th June, 2023.

Governance metrics

Polkadot

Treasury status

The treasury is 14.7% down from last week USD-wise, and 0.42% down DOT-wise

No Data Found

No Data Found

Kusama

Treasury status

The Kusama treasury is 20.7% up from last week USD-wise, and 1.36% down KSM-wise

No Data Found

No Data Found

Trends, Insights and other news

Polkadot

Discussion: Quadratic voting for Polkadot Governance

This discussion revolves around the potential of quadratic voting as a means to balance the influence between large token holders and individual voters.

The original poster (OP) expressed concern that the existing OpenGov model, based on token voting, can potentially result in a plutocracy where power is held by the few with significant tokens. This is particularly problematic in a decentralized ecosystem like Polkadot. They believe quadratic voting, which applies a square root to the weight of committed tokens used for voting per account, could provide a healthier balance between one-token-one-vote and one-person-one-vote, mitigating the risk of plutocracy while maintaining a voice for those with capital at stake.

However, the OP acknowledges that quadratic voting requires a sybil-resilient system to avoid manipulation of the vote through the creation of multiple accounts by one individual. They propose several options such as using state-issued IDs for KYC, biometric identity, social graph based systems, or pseudonym parties.

Shawntabrizi, in their reply, largely agrees with the OP but suggests that labeling the current Polkadot governance system as a “plutocracy” may be a bit harsh. They believe the current system incentivizes token holders to make decisions beneficial to the token value growth due to their vested interest, similar to traditional business models. They also highlight the unique feature of Polkadot – conviction voting, which allows a voter to increase their vote’s power by locking their tokens for a longer period, thus giving passionate smaller voters a chance to outweigh a large, indifferent token holder.

However, Shawntabrizi also acknowledges the potential of alternative voting systems in addressing broader global issues. They believe that different types of voting systems should be used based on the specific incentives and outcomes required. For instance, quadratic voting might be useful for decisions related to community events, while 1:1 voting might be ideal for national elections, supported by a robust web3 identity system.

Overall, the discussion is exploratory and thought-provoking. It stimulates critical thinking about the intersection between the current state of governance, identity verification, and other decentralized governance models. The quadratic voting proposal invites further discussions on how to balance token-based influence and individual representation in decentralized governance. You can follow along with the discussion here.

Kusama

Discussion on the fate of Kappa Sigma Mu’s Pot of funds

The discussion revolves around the KappaSigmaMu (KSM) society funds, which holds 130,000 KSM and is continually increasing due to a 0.2% treasury burn directly added to the society. The main question is about the fate of these funds, with several proposed options: leaving them where they are, redirecting them to a new address, repatriating them to the treasury, or burning them.

Rich initiates the conversation, questioning the need for the society to keep accumulating resources without clear objectives or oversight. He implies that the society’s original mandate of driving artistic experimentation and serving as an economic game to encourage participation and maintain membership has been overshadowed by the focus on accumulating funds and gaining status points.

Abeluga, a member of the KSM community since 2021, provides a historical context, noting the reduced community activity and numerous failed candidate elections due to inactive members. He observes a recent resurgence of “real” candidates willing to take risks. Abeluga advocates for patience, arguing that the society’s short existence is not long enough to deem the experiment a failure. He also highlights the significant impact of the broader crypto market’s condition on the society’s activities.

Jelliedowl questions the size of the KSM society pot. He suggests that, given the lack of current spending, the treasury could be drastically reduced without affecting operations. Jelliedowl questions the necessity of the ever-increasing pot of funds, which he believes the society is unlikely to use, and he proposes consideration of alternative uses.

In essence, the discussion revolves around three main themes: the potential waste of resources by the KSM society, the impact of the broader crypto market conditions on the society’s activities, and the need for patience in judging the success or failure of this experiment. It also involves debates on the community’s primary purpose and the appropriateness of comparing it to other entities within the cryptocurrency landscape.