Polkadot Governance News #18 MAY24: No Need for Drama
Welcome to Polkadot Governance News #18 MAY24. Are you familiar with the latest drama? Which one, you might ask? Check out the gradual development of support for this proposal below and try to guess. A small hint, the requested amount was 1 million DOT.
Yes, it was the Big Spender referendum 684 by Chainalysis rejected by 52% of voters, followed by the Root track referendum 785, and afterward aborted by Giotto and his Referendum Canceller 786 with 50,9% support.
Well, there is no lack of drama in OpenGov, as it's an open borderless governance structure for funding and technical protocol changes. And where the money is, there is a drama.
1. Referenda Digest
1. Polkadot Referenda 773: DOTphin Event Multipass by Sovereign Nature with WalletConnect integration & upgradeable, dynamic NFTs by Unique Network
- DOTphin initiative brings dynamic NFTs that evolve with the owner’s participation in Polkadot events.
- DOTphin aims to unify proof of attendance NFTs for Polkadot events and bring sustainability into events.
- DOTphin will be backed by animal data and support biodiversity restoration.
- Wallet Connect will provide seamless wallet integration and outstanding UX, benefiting the wider Polkadot ecosystem.
- Requested amount: 50,000 DOT
Polkadotters opinion: AYE. We support this proposal as the integration of the DOTphin Event Multipass with WalletConnect and Unique Network’s dynamic NFTs will improve the user experience and unify NFTs for Polkadot events. This solution will also make the community more engaging, because POAPs are without a doubt part of our crypto culture. of the protocol
2. Polkadot Referenda 763: The JAM Spring Time Tour & Top Up — The Kus x Key Pictures
- Gavin Wood is going on a tour to 6 universities to talk about the JAM paper + doing a Q&A.
- The tour is being documented by The Kus & Key Pictures for short and sharable content.
- The entire tour will be captured in a longer piece of content at its conclusion.
- Requested amount: 35,400 DOT
Polkadotters opinion: AYE. JAM is one of the most important upgrades in Polkadot and it’s a really good idea to document „The JAM World Tour“ made by Gavin.
We loved the video Gavin Wood: The Gray Paper Interview — JAM & the Future of Polkadot — Behind the Code: Web3 Thinkers, it was very professional work and we feel that this piece will be with those high standards. Thus we support this proposal.
3. Polkadot Referenda 748: Bringing Stellar Liquidity to Polkadot: DOT Collateral for Pendulum’s Spacewalk Bridge Vaults
- The Pendulum team allows to connect Stellar and Polkadot ecosystems through a decentralized bridge called Spacewalk, which enables the use of stablecoins from Stellar network in the Polkadot applications.
- Vaults are used to ensure secure transfers between the two ecosystems, and the proposal requests 50,000 DOT, which will be staked on Bifrost, and vDOT will be used as collateral, with a 200% secure collateralization to minimize the risk of liquidation.
- The loan will be returned after one year, and staking rewards will be used to incentivize more external vaults to provide collateral for the Spacewalk bridge.
- Requested amount: 50,000 DOT
Polkadotters opinion: AYE. Liquidity is the key in DeFi. Loaning DOT to be used as collateral is something we endorsed even in the past for other DeFi projects, such as HydraDX or StellaSwap. The list of multi-sig account holders is also trustworthy, so that’s why we decided to vote in favor of this referenda.
2. Community Spotlight
In the Community Spotlight, we focus on key members of the Polkadot ecosystem who are commenting on recent referenda.
In this edition, we hosted William, former COO of Talisman, one of the delegates from the 1st cohort of the Decentralized Voices program. He gave us his opinion on the ref. 730.
Polkadot Referenda 730 summary: By approving this referenda, the Polkadot Community Foundation, incorporated in the Cayman Islands, will be directed by DOT holders via Polkadot OpenGov, extending Polkadot governance into real-world activities with the focus on establishing a compliant off-chain organization, taking custody of assets, and executing contracts, with the potential to expand its scope through future treasury proposals. Requested amount 88,000 DOT for one year.
William: AYE. This is an important step in the decentralization of Polkadot — the creation of a legal entity, that represents, is directed by and acts on behalf of token holders. This provides a direct link between OpenGov and performance of actions in the real world, which didn’t strictly exist before.
3. Polkadot Forum View
1. Agent of the Day Bounty
Alice_und_Bob proposes an innovative “Agent of the Day” reward system to recognize small but valuable daily contributions to the Polkadot ecosystem. This initiative aims to counter the sentiment that honest work is undervalued, inspired by Jakub from HydraDX’s suggestion to regularly highlight and reward community efforts.
The proposed process involves allowing community members to nominate contributions, with experienced ecosystem agents judging and awarding tips of $100-$300 in a transparent manner. Challenges include the added workload for judges, which could be mitigated by having a rotating panel of 42 judges, each participating every 14 days. This bounty-based system seeks to foster a fun, engaging, and fair reward culture within Polkadot.
2. The next Polkadot Hub: Budapest, Astoria
Six and Gabo, Polkadot head resp. senior ambassadors from Hungary, propose opening a physical Polkadot Hub in Budapest, sponsored by Mosaic Chain, a soon-to-be parachain DEX and investments platform. There is already Polkadot Sanctuary, a physical hub in Bali, so this one will be the second.
This co-working space offers free access to the Polkadot community during weekdays, including a bookable meeting room and utility spaces, aiming to bring more talent together and enhance ecosystem engagement.
4. Final Word, Meme Time
Conor Daly finishes in the TOP 10 at the Indianapolis 500. But did you know, there are more crypto cars besides Polkadot?
Delegate your DOT or KSM to Polkadotters for easy participation in the on-chain governance via Talisman or Nova wallet
- Strengthen Polkadot by nominating your DOT tokens to POLKADOTTERS, community builders for the Polkadot ecosystem
- Support Polkadotters Shrimp and Polkadotters Octopus on Polkadot and be a part of a more secure Web3 future