Monday, March 23, 2020

ICON Newsletter #11 - Flattening the Curve and Providing Direct Funding for Contribution

The central philosophy of the ICON Network has always been to reward ICONists based on their relative
ICON Newsletter #11 - Flattening the Curve and Providing Direct Funding for Contribution
By ICON Newsletter • Issue #11 • View online
The central philosophy of the ICON Network has always been to reward ICONists based on their relative contribution. With Delegated Proof of Contribution and our unique IISS design, we believe we have created one of the best ecosystems in the entire space that incentivizes builders, content creators, and other ecosystem participants. That said, there is always room for improvement. In this week's newsletter, we dive into the recent IISS 3.0 proposal. But before that, let's check out our stats for the week:
Key Highlights:
  • Weekly transaction activity increased 15.5% vs. December 2019 levels.
  • 44.7% of circulating supply staked, vs. 38.4% at the end of 2019.
  • ICON network continues to expand with 116 P-reps, up from 115 from a week ago.
  • Main P-reps decreased i_rep to 42,987 from 43,120 the previous week.
  • ICON now on Dapp.com site! With the grant provided by the ICON Foundation, the recipient quickly integrated and listed ICON Dapps. This follows our DappReview listing last week!
  • ICONLOOP continues to make national news in Korea. This time MTN covered broof & VisitMe as blockchain services are seeing more and more interest due to COVID-19. 
Thank you,
Min Kim, ICON Foundation Council Member

IISS 3.0 Proposal
ICYMI: we published the IISS 3.0 proposal two weeks ago on forum.icon.community. We also discussed the proposal at our 2nd P-Rep Meeting #2. And we continue to gather feedback from the community.
But based on community polling, ~70% haven't read the proposal, so we thought it would be a good idea to summarize it here. And we hope after reading below, you will provide your feedback in the forum so we can make sure the community is both informed and aligned with our objectives.
Anonymous Poll from Community Member Detoxx
Anonymous Poll from Community Member Detoxx
IISS 3.0 Proposal - Network Proposals - icon.community
What is IISS 3.0?
In IISS 3.0, we propose modest adjustments to the ICON ecosystem to better align incentives between voters, P-Reps and contributors.
One of the major goals is to improve collaboration
With 3.0, we want to amplify cross-team efforts and initiatives while ensuring good use of network resources.
To do so, we've flattened the curve for P-Rep rewards putting less emphasis on the number of votes they receive. And given P-Reps control over managing the Contribution Proposal Fund to fund direct contributions to grow our ecosystem. Working alongside one another, P-Reps will fund needed infrastructure, applications, and marketing initiatives in a capital-efficient way - without wasting resources on duplicative efforts.
We believe this solution provides a good balance giving P-Reps latitude to pursue their initiatives while also looking out for the betterment of the network. 
Better yet, 3.0 doesn't require any new inflation. This alone is a meaningful upgrade vs. the current design. 
Daily ICX distribution in Current Design vs. 3.0 Proposal
Daily ICX distribution in Current Design vs. 3.0 Proposal
How does it work?
The CPF will use existing inflation funded by P-Reps with over 1% delegation. As noted above, we believe this better aligns the role of P-Reps and the role of Contribution Proposals (formerly called DBPs / EEPs) and lessens the need for trust in our ecosystem for any individual Representative.
Furthermore, it solves an issue that we're seeing where strong contributors aren't directly rewarded for their efforts. 
With the CPF, developer groups, ICONists, Sub P-Reps, even Main P-Reps will be able to have their contribution funded directly and transparently.
Below is a great illustration showing how the reward curve will shift and how the funding will move to the CPF.
Square root method flattens the curve for rewards
Square root method flattens the curve for rewards

Bond requirement
Another key area of focus for the proposal is the P-Rep bond requirement which solves the "skin in the game" issue on our network. Presently, there is a mismatch of risk in our design. Outside of time and node costs, P-Reps have no ICX collateral at risk compared to voters who face a potential 6% slash.
While we would concede that slashing is an unlikely outcome given the maturity and stability of the network, we still think this needs to change. 

  • Therefore, in the 3.0 proposal, we will remove any potential burning of ICX voters. Yes, this is meant to protect VOTERS! And subsequently, mandate P-Reps post the bond as 6% of their delegation amount. So for example, if a P-Rep had 1 million votes, the P-Rep would need to hold 60,000 ICX in a bond.

Governance slashing
Additionally, we want to introduce more stringent governance slashing to deter exchanges and passive nodes from joining. 
Here are some key updates:
  1. Network Proposals would be increased from 1 day to 3 days to give teams enough time to submit a vote
  2. Votes will no longer close upon reaching majority to allow all teams to vote
  3. Missed Network Proposal vote: slash 20% of the required bond
  4. Submitting i_rep outside of range: slash 20% of the required bond
  5. Range = 50% (+/-) from current i_rep
  6. Forces P-Reps to pay attention to i_rep regularly
  7. Only applies to Main P-Reps
  8. Missing a Contribution Proposal Vote (not currently live): slash 20% of the required bond

Ability to Prevent Additional Delegation
Lastly, we want to be able to prevent nodes from receiving votes. The ICON Foundation node is a clear example of this need. Despite consistent efforts, and the ICON Foundation team requesting the community to delegate to other teams, unfortunately, we still receive votes. 

This can be used by other nodes as well such as:
  • Those that may want to permanently stay out of governance in fear of getting slashed
  • Others that may not want to continue increasing their ICX bond
  • Exchanges and passive self-delegated nodes
ICYMI: Highlights for the week
ICONbet Community P-Rep
WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!! ICONbet is the #1 DApp in the past 30 days for ALL DApps!!!! 👀🥳👀 🥳👀🥳 @ICONbetofficial $icx #icx #iconbet #icon #casino #dapp #blockchain #winning #numberone https://t.co/eFuh7WY8e9
7:59 PM - 18 Mar 2020
Mineable
Find out how #ICONProject is utilizing blockchain to fight back against #COVID19.

Blockchain based voting, cars on the #blockchain and is billionaire @TimDraper bullish on $ICX?

Coming up on #iconTV!

📺👉https://t.co/Cd4At2xfdj

@helloiconworld https://t.co/y5GYSzgy51
3:37 PM - 19 Mar 2020
ICON Integrates with Dapp.com - ICON Foundation - Medium
VELIC takes over ICONex and ICON Tracker from ICONLOOP
mincircle
S.Korea Media, MTN covered #ICONLOOP 's blockchain services #broof & #VisitMe on its article.
As growing people's interest in untact service due to COVID-19, media have attention to MyID and blockchain services.

https://t.co/UjvBv6KGiv https://t.co/bgSaSISbzQ
11:15 PM - 16 Mar 2020
ICONLOOP blockchain dApp VisitMe.app featured on MTN news broadcast 2020/03/17
ICONLOOP blockchain dApp VisitMe.app featured on MTN news broadcast 2020/03/17
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