# Parity/Polkadot Decentralization Notes

On [Parity](https://www.parity.io/) decentralizing itself:

- Paritytech announces is decentralizing early 2023
- Kicks off implementation in earnest summer 2023
- October 2023 lays off estimated 30%
- Moves some teams to spinoffs, to serve the community, not only Parity
- January 2024 a vote ratifies funding of fellowship program

Funding
- The funds come from W3F, but teams can still ask for extra funding from the Polkadot Treasury
- To get Polkadot Treasury funds, a proposal needs to be presented and DOT holders vote

## W3F Funding

Announcement [here](https://web3.foundation/press/w3f-launches-decentralized-futures-program/). Conditions and requirements are not well known yet, as this is mainly to support Parity's teams which decentralized, but other teams and projects could apply. Anyone can apply.

The funds are entirely from W3F, not from the Polkadot Treasury.

## OpenGov & Treasury Funding

https://polkassembly.io/

Forbes story:
> Under Polkassembly rules, token holders decide how and where funds are allocated using a system called OpenGov, where DOT ownership equals voting power, in the same way as shareholder voting rights are allocated under company equity rules.

Polkassembly is just a frontend to make the OpenGov interactions more easy. [Here](https://polkadot.network/ecosystem/treasury/) you can have more information about how it works, participa and propose.

## Technical Fellowships

From the manifesto:
> The Polkadot Fellowship is a rules-based ranked-membership organisation administered and empowered through blockchain logic hosted on the Polkadot Network.

- [Polkadot fellowship manifesto (PDF)][1]
- Not just for Parity, is for Polkadot ecosystem
- Program is currently running, passed in January 2024, passed in [public vote here][2]
- The fellowships have responsibility to vote on changes in the relay chain, upgrades to network
- Fellowships have to defend their position every six months or year to keep level and funding - need to show/prove contributions, delivery
- Proposal and discussion for fellowship salaries on [the proposal PR][4]
- [Polkadot technical fellowships channel on Matrix][5], which is public read-only, rw for fellows. You can see the proposals, the votes to make changes, upgrades

[1]: <https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/manifesto/blob/5e01eef15eded63f1db9be808b0f7c11bb9f4a12/manifesto.pdf> "Polkadot fellowship manifesto (PDF)"
[2]: <https://polkadot.polkassembly.io/referenda/400> "Fellowship vote"
[3]: <https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/RFCs/blob/main/text/0050-fellowship-salaries.md> "Salaries RFC"
[4]: <https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/RFCs/pull/50> "Salaries Discussion"
[5]: <https://matrix.to/#/#fellowship-members:parity.io> "Technical Fellowships channel on Matrix"

## Links / Publications

Media, announcements, etc
- Oct 10, 2023: [Tweet thread from @paritytech](https://twitter.com/paritytech/status/1711752651887480906)
- and W3F dot funding program [announcement thread](https://twitter.com/Web3foundation/status/1711750271670321233)
- Oct 17, 2023: ["Hunger games retreat story"](https://www.dlnews.com/articles/defi/polkadot-workers-told-to-attend-retreat-after-being-laid-off/) about Mallorca all-hands
- Oct 24, 2023: [30% layoffs - Yahoo Finance story](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/parity-technologies-polkadot-blockchain-developer-033212373.html)
- Feb 5, 2024: [short Forbes story](https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/02/05/polkadots-path-to-decentralization-latest-insights/) pointing to https://polkassembly.io/