Today, Web3 Foundation, whose flagship project is the Polkadot blockchain protocol, announces the launch of the Decentralized Votes Program, which will be a groundbreaking initiative to improve OpenGov participation and the increased decentralization of Polkadot. Web3 Foundation created the Decentralized Voices program for Polkadot and Kusama to enable more users to be significantly involved in OpenGov by delegating 180,000 KSM and 42,000,000 DOT voting power to active voters in the ecosystem. Interested applicants can fill out a form and be eligible to receive voting delegations from Web3 Foundation DOT or KSM.
This initiative closely follows the Foundation’s Decentralized Futures Funding Program, backed by $20 million and 5,000,000 DOT to jumpstart teams and individuals building ambitious projects, along with the Thousand Validators program, which brought more independent validators to the Polkadot ecosystem .
Bill Laboon, Director of Education and Governance Initiatives at Web3 Foundation, said at the launch: “Web3 Foundation was founded to help bring about the decentralized Internet, and decentralization of Polkadot is an important goal. An important part of decentralization on Polkadot is the decentralization of governance, as this is how the future of the network is decided. However, there are passionate and intelligent participants in governance who do not have significant amounts of DOT to agree with, and whose voices may be drowned out. Web3 Foundation would like to helping individuals raise their voices.”
No change to the Polkadot protocol can occur without agreement from the DOT holders. Each runtime, upgrade or modification of a parameter must be voted by the network. There is no hidden multisig that controls Polkadot, or developers who can arbitrarily change the rules of the network.
Currently, the DOT and KSM used for the Thousand Validators program are not used for management. Therefore, Web3 Foundation has decided to delegate a significant amount of this DOT and KSM, currently only used for nominating validators for staking, to active and thoughtful voters in these respective ecosystems. As strike and management lots may overlap, this will have no impact on the Thousand Validators program.
On Kusama there will initially be six delegates, each delegated 5,000 KSM against 6x conviction, for a total voting power of 30,000 KSM per delegate. On Polkadot, there will initially be seven delegates, each delegated 1,000,000 DOT at 6x conviction, for a total voting power of 6,000,000 DOT per delegate. The purpose of this program is not only to empower these individuals directly, but to allow them to build their own following of delegations by showing what they are capable of and what their agenda is. This is similar to the Thousand Validators program, where validators can prove their effectiveness and the end goal is that they independently receive enough nominations that they no longer need nominations from Web3 Foundation. Both the Kusama and Polkadot versions of Decentralized Voices launch today.
How does it work?
Every three months, Web3 Foundation will delegate its own DOT and KSM to individual voters who have been shown to be diligent and thoughtful contributors to governance, through both on-chain voting and off-chain interactions. These delegations will only take place on all Spender (32, 33, 34) and Tipper (30, 31) courses. Candidates must write a public statement of their political “philosophy” and/or agenda, and must be able to demonstrate significant participation in Polkadot or Kusama governance.
Participants are expected to vote regularly and explain the rationale behind their vote on Polkassembly, Subsquare and/or other communication media (eg Polkaverse, X/Twitter, Polkadot Forum). Participants are prevented from voting Yes or No on Treasury proposals for themselves or for which they have a conflict of interest (eg voting against a competitor). In such cases, they can vote Remember or not vote at all.
Selection of candidates is at the discretion of Web3 Foundation and delegation may be revoked at any time in case of violation of the rules. The specific number of delegations or amount of DOT/KSM delegated may change in the future. Web3 Foundation employees are not eligible to be delegated.
How do users apply?
Interested applications must complete and share the following information:
The Polkadot or Kusama address you would like DOT or KSM to. This account must have a verified identity that includes at least one of the following fields: Twitter, Matrix, or email. A link to a publicly accessible statement of your Polkadot “political philosophy” and/or agenda on the Polkadot Forum. This can include an actual philosophical statement, analogies with other political philosophies, opinions about past referenda or management decisions, or any other way you want to explain to people how you will vote in the future. It should be at least one paragraph. A description of why you would be a good choice for this program. This may include information such as past votes (including votes with other accounts if you can prove you own them), as well as comments, blog posts, etc. about Polkadot OpenGov or specific referenda. It may also include other information that you would consider relevant to decision-making, eg being part of other political groups or legislative bodies.
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