PolkaWorld’s Past Contributions
PolkaWorld was established in June 2019 as a Chinese community for the Polkadot ecosystem. Over the past five years, we have consistently focused on a single goal: sharing the latest updates, news, and developments from the Polkadot ecosystem while helping community members better understand its technology and vision. We have accomplished this through a continuous output of original articles, news releases, project interviews, engaging videos, and live streams, providing a clear picture of what Polkadot is and its evolving direction. As a result, we have gained an in-depth understanding of Polkadot.
After five years of effort, PolkaWorld has amassed over 50,000 genuine Polkadot community members through its social media accounts, particularly in the Asian market. Although this number might not be astounding, it represents a loyal group of users who recognize and support Polkadot’s technology and are eager to contribute to the ecosystem’s growth. Moving forward, we aim to bring even more builders into the Polkadot ecosystem through continued effort.
Review of PolkaWorld’s Contributions to the DV Program
PolkaWorld was honored to join the first cohort of the Decentralized Voices (DV) Program in March 2024. We have actively participated in the governance process of Polkadot OpenGov, having reviewed and voted on 54 proposals to date, averaging at least five proposals per week. These proposals span a wide range of topics, including marketing, community, and media-related issues.
For each proposal, we conducted in-depth research and discussion, organized discussions within the Chinese community, consulted with experts in relevant fields, and even held long phone conversations with proposal creators. This thorough process ensures that each vote reflects the community’s best interests and aligns with PolkaWorld’s governance philosophy.
To further promote governance discussions, we created a Telegram group to gather community voices and regularly published our voting results on Twitter, making the process more transparent and accessible for community oversight.
Through these efforts, we have come to understand the immense responsibility and obligation that comes with being a DV member. It requires a deep understanding of each proposal and the ability to make informed judgments on its potential contributions to the Polkadot ecosystem. This demands a high level of expertise across various fields and a comprehensive understanding of Polkadot’s ecosystem. PolkaWorld is confident in our ability to fulfill these responsibilities, as we are one of the few long-term contributors that have demonstrated this capability through both words and actions.
Despite not being selected for the second cohort of the DV Program, PolkaWorld remains eager to apply for the third cohort.
Continuous Evolution of Governance Philosophy
Before joining the DV Program, PolkaWorld had already developed its own unique governance philosophy. However, through our deep involvement in the first cohort, our principles have been refined and evolved into a more concrete set of standards that will guide our future voting decisions:
- Adherence to the MVP Principle: We are particularly supportive of newcomers to the Polkadot ecosystem, offering them more opportunities and support.
- Focus on Past Performance Reports: For those who have applied for treasury funding multiple times, we place significant emphasis on the quality and fulfillment of their past reports.
- Attention to Proposal Creators’ Identity and Influence: The background of the proposers matters. We tend to support those who have influence in the Web3 or Web2 space, rather than focusing solely on the proposal content.
- Standardization of Bounty Proposals: We do not support bounty proposals with fewer than seven curators. Future bounty proposals should clearly outline funding replenishment conditions and strictly adhere to them. We hope that bounty proposals will eventually be replaced by Collectives to further decentralize and professionalize this process.
- Uniform Standards for All Proposals: Regardless of the funding amount, we apply the same standards to all proposals. We refuse to support large funding requests that lack detailed explanations or exaggerated claims of impact.
- Focus on Community, Market, and Media Proposals: We specialize in proposals related to these areas and explicitly do not support technical proposals.
- Reduced Support for Proposals Focused Solely on Increasing Polkadot Visibility: Strategically, Polkadot, as a top-tier crypto protocol, does not need visibility-enhancing events like sports tournaments or concerts. Instead, we prefer proposals that increase the activity of Polkadot ecosystem applications or connect prominent external applications to the Polkadot ecosystem.
- Encouragement of Innovation with Caution: While we generally support innovative proposals, we do not blindly trust the promises of proposal creators. As guardians of the community’s interests, we believe in setting reasonable boundaries for fund usage.
Looking Forward to the Third Cohort of the DV Program
While the Web3 Foundation may prioritize newcomers for the third cohort, PolkaWorld remains passionate about continuing in this role and contributing further to the governance of the Polkadot community.
Since joining the Polkadot community in 2019, we have been committed to promoting Dr. Gavin Wood’s vision. As one of the few Asian participants in the ecosystem, PolkaWorld aspires to continue representing the voice of Asia in governance, encouraging more Asian holders to actively engage in Polkadot’s governance process.
Our goal is to ensure that more community members and proposal creators from Asia can participate in Polkadot’s governance, contributing to the ecosystem’s diversity and global growth.
Conclusion
In the upcoming third cohort of the DV Program, PolkaWorld will continue to adhere to our governance philosophy, focusing on community, market, and media-related proposals while driving more innovative projects into the Polkadot ecosystem. We will also continue to ensure fairness in governance, respecting proposal creators but not blindly approving projects without substantial contributions. Through our efforts, we hope to make Polkadot’s governance more transparent, open, and inclusive.
We look forward to continuing our service to the Polkadot community and contributing more to its global governance.