Encointer Global Growth Proposal (to be posted on polkassembly)

Encointer has innovated community currencies with its secure and decentralized sybil-defense protocol, laying the foundation for a brighter future with basic income. Field-tested with several hundred users, this protocol, known as Encointer LoCo, has proven its capabilities in pilot communities like the Leu community in Zurich.

With new products, Encointer will not only benefit Kusama as a laboratory for personhood and local community currencies. It will benefit Polkadot directly as well:

• The faucet will be useful for new token launches, i.e. on Polimec
• The personhood oracle will be useful for privacy-preserving sybil-resilience for projects like KILT, subsocial as well as many others
• BeeDance will foster community engagement at meetups and events everywhere around the world and could become a massively useful tool for Polkadot ambassadors

So far, expenses have mainly been funded by the KSM treasury. Starting with September 2023, the team proposes to be funded by the Polkadot treasury on the grounds that Polkadot and its parachains benefit from new products to be released in the next few months. See milestones.

Our recent proposal passed OpenGov on Kusama and will cover expenses for July and Aug 2023. The controversial discussions surrounding the Treasury proposal have led Encointer to draw some important conclusions:

1. There is a pressing need to focus on the global expansion of Encointer communities, indicating a strong interest in reaching wider audiences.
2. The primary reason for pushback was attributed to the limited funds available in the KSM Treasury as the proposal amounted to roughly 3% of currently available funds.

We understand that launching new communities and navigating the complexities of the protocol can be demanding, slowing down widespread adoption. But fear not! We have the perfect solution: BeeDance.

BeeDance opens up a world of possibilities for event organizers to create their very own Encointer community, whether it's for a single event or a series of regular meetups. With BeeDance, organizers have the freedom to choose the event location and determine the timing that suits them best. The beauty of BeeDance lies in its simplicity and flexibility, making it far easier to launch compared to Encointer LoCo. While it serves as an excellent onboarding tool for LoCo, it also stands strong as a standalone protocol for proof-of-attendance (PoA). Expect more info on BeeDance to be published before decoded'23.

Common Good

Proof-of-personhood will become such a fundamental primitive of our online lives that we suggest to acknowledge it as a basic human right. Therefore we claim it it is imperative to not let a for-profit entity take care of it (like i.e. worldcoin as a bad example).

Inclusivity in web3, too, is a common good for the entire Dotsam ecosystem as it helps onboarding the long tail of the wealth distribution: A market that should not be underestimated.

As Encointer's offerings are non-excludable and aiming to be non-rivalrous, there can't be a business case here which would offer an ROI to investors (into Encointer). However, the Encointer protocol adds value to the ecosystem as a whole which will inevitably cause buy pressure to DOT/KSM.

Milestones

• July '23 deploy Encointer Faucet, enabling all reputables of Encointer LoCo to drip a tiny amount of KSM (to be followed by any tokens through XCM)
• Aug '23 deploy the privacy-preserving Encointer personhood oracle for the nostr protocol, showcasing sybil-free social media public channels. To be followed by integrations with KILT and subsocial.
• Q4'23 PoC demo for BeeDance on out testnet with a beta mobile app, involving a social event of at least 30 people.

Treasury Spend

We propose a treasury spend of 438'000 CHF (approx. 488'370 USD) for Encointer's expenses for 4 months (Sept-Dec 2023)

We will upload our detailed proposal by Fri June 23rd which will be consistent with our previous proposal, so please check the previous document for now and keep in mind that the current proposal is the second slice of what is suggested in that document.

DEPRECATED

Encointer proudly asserts that it has successfully implemented the most decentralized, secure, and inclusive proof-of-personhood protocol to date. This groundbreaking protocol, which we here refer to as Encointer LoCo, excels in optimizing all these critical dimensions simultaneously. By leveraging local community currencies, Encointer LoCo has achieved an unprecedented level of innovation.

However, it has come to our attention that the Dotsama community has raised concerns regarding the growth potential of Encointer LoCo within a timeframe of 1-2 years. They have expressed the view that the current product entails excessive friction hindering its ability to achieve global significance within the desired timeframe. We acknowledge and value this critique, recognizing the importance of addressing these concerns.

In response, we propose the introduction of a new complementary product that is specifically designed for rapid growth, while ensuring a reasonable level of security.

Introducing Encointer BeeDance: BeeDance is an innovative proof-of-attendance protocol specifically designed for social events, whether they are conducted in person or virtually. It goes beyond the traditional concept of proof-of-attendance and can even offer a unique-proof-of-personhood feature.

Imagine a scenario where Polkadot, together with all its ambassadors, organizes a remarkable global event, such as Decoded, encompassing various local satellite events. Within the program of these events, a dedicated 30-minute slot is allocated for a BeeDance experience where all attendees mutually attest their presence in small randomized groups.

By leveraging BeeDance, participants at these events can not only prove their attendance but also establish their unique proof-of-personhood. This novel approach holds immense promise for fostering inclusivity, enhancing engagement, and amplifying the democratic processes within the Polkadot ecosystem, i.e. by enabling quadratic voting. BeeDance truly represents a groundbreaking step forward in creating meaningful social interactions and strengthening the fabric of the global community.