Thread by @HalscionRose

What does @Gitcoin on #Fantom really mean??

This thread explores Gitcoin, quadratic funding, and what it might entail for the incentive program coming to @FantomFDN

https://twitter.com/gitcoin/status/1561727199962701826?s=20&t=lW4DABpbGGsrQ-3vCnpePg

In simple terms, Gitcoin is a platform where members of the cryptocurrency community can donate to new, budding open source projects they'd like to see completed. The focus is on "public goods", which for an ecosystem can mean anything supporting growth.

gitcoin.co/grants/explore…

In order to be eligible to earn grants, "grantees" must meet Gitcoin's general criteria (no fraud/deceit/impersonation) as well as other ecosystem program criteria.

Looking back on Main Rounds & Layer-1 Ecosystem Rounds, we get a general idea of what that criteria may look like:

🔹 No prior VC funding received over $500k
🔹 Must be open source, must be legal
🔹Cannot include quid-pro-quo activity (promising something of value in exchange for donation)
🔹Must directly advance the protocol's ecosystem
🔹Project forks must show meaningful improvements

🔹 The received grant should focus on accomplishing: Usability, Community Growth, Tooling, Infrastructure, Security, Education, Application.

*As a reminder, none of these criterion reflect the official Fantom eligibility criteria - these are guidelines found in previous rounds.

If I had a project preparing for when #Fantom has their own Gitcoin program, I would:

🔹Ready a Github account
🔹Draft an explanation for why a grant is being sought, clearer communication is better. Imagine describing to donors who have never heard anything about the project!🎯

So how does quadratic funding (QF) actually work?

Its a bit complex, but can be simplified. Per @Gitcoin, QF is the mathematically optimal way to fund an ecosystem in a democratic way. The key being the math. 📐

Great examples shown in the video below 👇

QF let's individuals decide which projects deserve to be funded by donating w/ their own wallet.

Donations can then be matched by a pool of money dedicated to funding the ecosystem.

Like buying votes, there are diminishing returns to individual’s potential for donation matching

Additionally, the number of contributors matters more than the total contributions.

For example, a project that receives 1,000 donations of $1 will receive more matching than 1 donation of $1000.
legacy.ethgasstation.info/blog/quadratic…

Vitalik wrote about QF back in '19
vitalik.ca/general/2019/1…

To expand on the quadratically funded donation example, 1000 donations of $1 from unique contributors shows there is more collective interest in the product than 1 big donation from a whale, so the project w/ higher # of total contributors receives more matched funds.

One downside of QF is ability for Sybil attack. A Sybil attack is when an anon user spreads their funds across multiple wallets & donates to the same project.

In order to prove unique donations (and not 1 individual w/ 50 wallets), Passport can be used.

docs.passport.gitcoin.co

More examples of Quadratic Funding, check them out:

wtfisqf.com
finematics.com/quadratic-fund…

Gitcoin has distributed over $64M in total, including $40 million through grants alone.

Given what we know from the March '22 blog post on the topic, there is reportedly 335,000,000 $FTM set aside for matching. This equates to ~$75M today!!

fantom.foundation/blog/new-335m-…

This will be a massive funding opportunity to builders across the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

I'm pumped to see which builders apply for grants, and what projects are being developed to improve user + dev experience & nurture community/ecosystem growth on #Fantom!

#BUIDL on $FTM