[DAO:cd3ce0b] Should Grant Request Proposals require at least 100 VP to submit?

Governance
1

by 0x0636211443e91468ee3657e1d7faede7059c4843 (nwiz)

Linked Draft Proposal

Should Grant Request Proposals require at least 100 VP to submit?

Summary

This Governance Proposal aims to add a 100 VP requirement for Grant Request submissions.

Abstract

Grants Program :

The Decentraland DAO possesses a MANA fund that has been set aside to help sponsor and facilitate the continual growth of the Decentraland platform. One avenue used by the DAO to achieve these goals is a Grants Program that was voted in place by the community.

This Grants Program allows any member of the community to request funding to help reimburse their efforts in community building and education, creating 3D content for the world, or implementing new features and improvements to the platform.

Grants can be requested by completing a Proposal form within the DAO. If approved by the community, then the DAO Committee will execute the transfer of funds to the grant beneficiary by means of a one-time transfer, or a vesting contract.

VP :

Voting Power is represented as ā€œVPā€. MANA, LAND, NAMEs & (š˜“š˜¦š˜­š˜¦š˜¤š˜µ) L1 Wearables contribute to your total Voting Power as follows:

  • 1 MANA contributes 1 VP
  • 1 NAME contributes 100 VP
  • 1 LAND parcel contributes 2000 VP
  • Wearable rarity ; Uncommon: 1 VP, Rare: 5 VP, Epic: 10 VP, Legendary: 100 VP, Mythic: 1000 VP

Motivation

Currently, any wallet can request up to $240,000 from the Decentraland DAO with zero investment in the platform. A 100 VP requirement may reduce ā€˜opportunisticā€™ Grant Requests, prevent bot submissions and help alleviate voter fatigue.

Specification

A 100 VP requirement, same as Pre-Proposal Polls, would be added to Grant Requests.

*100 VP is a roughly $40 investment (current rate), of which could also be acquired through delegation.

Impacts

A 100 VP requirement would disincentive Grant Requests being submitted by bots or users who have no real stake in Decentraland. Also, it could help encourage participation in the DAO by setting a minimum level of engagement that must be met before a Grant can be requested.

Implementation Pathways

A check will be added to the Governance dApp to validate if the wallet has the required VP in order to submit the proposal. This will be informed to users as - ā€˜This action requires at least 100 VP. Buy MANA to get VP, or run for delegation.ā€™

Conclusion

A 100 VP requirement for Grant Requests intends to prevent bot submissions and ensure users have some ā€˜skin in the gameā€™ when requesting money from the Decentraland DAO.

Vote on this proposal on the Decentraland DAO

View this proposal on Snapshot

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I think it would be better to make it ā€œOwn a Nameā€ since that is really the only kind of VP that is generated with direct investment into DCL. Itā€™s not that hard for a scammer to buy 100 mana to submit a prop and then sell it after the vote is started.

Still voted yes, because as @HPrivakos pointed out last time, if you canā€™t find someone to delegate you 100 VP, you probably arenā€™t going to be able to get a grant passed anyway.

1 Like
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I always thought this was a good idea, but then someone pointed out to me what a big deal that 100 mana might be for people in other parts of the world (Iā€™m in the United States). I donā€™t want to invalidate their living standards by saying $40 is not much money.

Could we make it so that thereā€™s still enough flexibility to not gatekeep anyone? Perhaps like this:

Grant request $0-$3000: No vp required
Grant request $3000-$240,000: 100 vp required

This would allow users to ask for a small grant, it could prove their concept and their commitment to the platform, and then they could return asking for a larger grant once they have successfully completed theirs.

Either way, I like the concept, and will happily delegate to individuals looking for sponsorship if they have a quality proposal theyā€™d like to submit.

1 Like
4

Iā€™m going to agree with @Canessa. Even though they could probably find someone to delegate them the 100 VP, I think for the lower amounts less resistance in those cases is better. Iā€™ve seen several grants asking for around $1500 give or take and they usually get turned down anyway even though I think most would have been worth taking a chance with. Anyway, I will vote yes but please consider the tier option if it proceeds. Thank you.

1 Like
5

Thank you for your feedback! @jar0d @Canessa @Existential14

I like your idea of requiring a NAME, not only would it require a user to buy 100 mana, but then to interact with the platform to buy a NAME before being able to submit a Grant Request (with the MANA going directly to the DAO) - also given the illiquid nature of most NAMEs it prevents them from liquidating the 100 MANA after submitting their proposal. The only concern I have is, as Canessa mentions, for countries where $40 isnā€™t easy to come by it could exclude these users from the Grants Program entirely - if the requirement is just 100 VP vs owning a NAME then they would just need delegation from someone with a name. Realistically, if you cannot get delegation from a single person with a name, then you probably wonā€™t be able to achieve your grant anyway.

I think 100 VP (regardless of budget) is a good starting point but I intend on proposing tiered VP requirements later down the line :slight_smile:

6

I would be more onboard with this if the VP wasnt associated to monetary investment as @Canessa voiced concerns about. For example, if VP could be earned through participation rather than through purchases so that wealth isnt a limiting factor.

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I would be ok with requiring that anyone requesting funds from the DAO be active in the platform/ecosystem and to have purchased a name.

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Should Grant Request Proposals require at least 100 VP to submit?

This proposal is now in status: PASSED.

Voting Results:

  • Yes 98% 9,204,367 VP (116 votes)
  • No 1% 17,054 VP (4 votes)
  • Abstain 1% 3 VP (4 votes)
9

Should Grant Request Proposals require at least 100 VP to submit?

This proposal has been ENACTED by a DAO Committee Member (0xbef99f5f55cf7cdb3a70998c57061b7e1386a9b0)