Polkadot Governance News #JAN24: Influencers Shape Polkadot’s Future — Did You Vote?
Welcome to Polkadot Governance News #JAN24, the first edition in 2024. In a continued trend, major influencers, including Ivan on Tech and Crypto Banter, are tapping into the Polkadot treasury for content creation and brand awareness.
The latest governance developments showcase substantial proposals from these influencers, with Crypto Banter’s gaining notable attention. The proposal sparked intense community discussions, resulting in a tight voting battle. The impressive 90 million DOT in favor and 90,6 million DOT against sets the stage for a significant decision-making showdown, highlighting the substantial influence these influencers wield in shaping the future of the Polkadot ecosystem.
But the question is, where is the bottom line of what is truly beneficial for a decentralized protocol such as Polkadot? And who has the right to be the final judge of what’s going on in governance? The truth is, that voters decide. Those, who lock DOT tokens and have skin in the game. And that’s the beauty of the OpenGov, isn’t it?
1. Referenda Digest
1. Referenda 432: Bifrost Foundation — 500k DOT liquidity loan for Bifrost LST vDOT to be returned including staking rewards
- Bifrost is independently applying to the Polkadot treasury for a 1-year liquidity loan of 500k DOT. The loan will be repaid in full including staking rewards to the Polkadot treasury.
- Bifrost already repaid the KSM loan from the treasury in the past.
Polkadotters opinion: AYE. Bifrost has consistently proven its value in the ecosystem, with Bifrost on Kusama successfully managing KSM loans from the treasury. Their focus on expanding vDOT liquidity aligns to enable new use cases like lending and borrowing. This initiative addresses the need for stable liquidity, crucial for liquidations in lending protocols. We fully endorse this referendum and extend our support to the dedicated Bifrost team.
2. Referenda 408: Sasha — Fellowship, Proposal-01: PoC and Prototype. ink! + Ethereum RPC = ethink!
- “ethink!” aims for Ethereum RPC compatibility for smart contracts parachains.
- Migration without UI/UX changes: Allows seamless user migration from Ethereum to Polkadot. Ethink! excludes the EVM part.
- Project in working proof of concept. Testing planned deployment on the Yerba Network, an experimental smart contracts parachain.
- “Ink!” and “Solang” are separate means for producing pallet-contracts compatible Wasm binaries.
Polkadotters opinion: AYE. The project’s focus on unlocking Ethereum RPC compatibility for smart contracts parachains is promising for enhancing the adoption of Polkadot smart contracts. Providing a seamless migration for dApp developers and users from the Ethereum ecosystem to Polkadot, without altering the UI/UX, is a significant step toward attracting a broader user base.
3. Referenda 401: Crypto Banter — Ran Neuner, Proposal for Polkadot Brand Awareness Campaign 38,6k DOT
- Crypto Banter, Ran Neuner's show on YouTube with ~900k subscribers altogether in 3 different channels, wants to increase Polkadot brand awareness with their campaign.
- They want to create informative and engaging content about Polkadot and its ecosystem.
- Crypto Banter is a media organization with multiple live shows daily and a strong social media presence.
- They seek 38,684 DOT funding over three months for Ran Neuner — Main Show + FeFe Demeny Dedicated Video show + Kyle Doops Trading Show.
Polkadotters opinion: AYE. Despite the significant amount for just three months, there is an evident impact on the Polkadot ecosystem stemming from the Crypto Banter show. It wasn’t an easy decision, but after careful consideration of various factors, we opted for this choice.
Check all the other Polkadot referenda by using Subsquare.
2. Community Spotlight
In the community spotlight, we focus on important members of the OpenGov community commenting on actual referenda.
In this edition, we got Giotto and his views on ref. 401.
Referenda 401 summary: Crypto Banter is seeking for.
Giotto: “Crypto Banter is one of the largest crypto influencers. I think this is a huge opportunity to increase the awareness of Polkadot.”
3. Polkadot Forum View
1. Polkadot Staking Dashboard and Polkadot.js not supporting decentralization of Validators by design
Alex from PromoTeam started a discussion that the current state of the Polkadot Staking Dashboard does not support independent Validators and 1KV participants, so it’s not supporting decentralization by design.
The validator recommendation algorithm favors large multi-validator networks, sidelining smaller, quality-independent validators, impacting decentralization. Urgent adjustments are needed to prioritize unique locations and give preference to 1KV participants for fairness.
2. PAPI is coming: Showcasing the ‘Validator Selector Tool’ DApp
The Polkadot Forum teases the imminent launch of the Validator Selector Tool, a light-client-only DApp developed with Polkadot-API, promising impact for Polkadot validator nominations. This innovative tool is poised to revolutionize the process, providing a user-friendly interface and robust functionality for nominators.
Shortly, the project aims to release the first Beta version of polkadot-api/client by the end of Q1, marking a significant milestone. The developer’s unwavering commitment and departure from Parity underscore the dedication to advancing Polkadot-API independently, relying on community support through an upcoming OpenGov proposal.
4. Final Word, Meme Time
Onchain governance is not for everyone. Isn't it?!
- 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
