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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All about governance

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March 23, 2020

As the coronavirus continues to shake faith in institutions around the world, the novel governance structures blockchains present may provide alternatives. Though, just as often, blockchain governance is also beset by problems. Here's the story:

ON CHAIN

The Ethereum community now has a roadmap, albeit a confusing one. Dropped Wednesday, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s state of the network map helps contextualize the next five to 10 years for a global community of 20,000 developers while highlighting a key issue for the blockchain’s next version: scalability.Scalable map



The Tezos Foundation sold bitcoin to reinvest in XTZ, bonds and equities. In 2019, the non-profit that holds funds raised in Tezos' $400 million ICO, sold as many as 8,000 BTC. Roman Schnider, CFO of the Tezos Foundation, said although bitcoin is a "key store of value," the protocol wants to focus on long-term objectives "without being distracted by short-term market moves." Long term investment

The former Steem community is in hot water, after a hard fork away from Justin Sun. The new blockchain, named Hive, has stepped on the corporate toes of a blockchain firm branded with the same name, HIVE Blockchain Technologies, which sent a cease-and-desist letter to the new chain. Kick the Hive

OFF CHAIN

The U.S. government is looking to financially support citizens amid the fear and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Why not pay people in digital assets, writes Catherine Coley, CEO of Binance.US, in an op-ed. “In the interests of speed and safety, why not consider sending the stimulus in the form of stablecoins as a means to verify the transfer of assets?” she asks. 



The Federal Reserve is ready to flood the U.S. with coronavirus-free banknotes. According to a spokesman for the central bank’s Philadelphia branch, there’s no need to destroy potentially infected banknotes – as the People’s Bank of China reportedly did last month – but it is ready to remove them from circulation. New bills

The Australian share market fell sharply during its opening session of trading on Monday (AEST) after the country's Prime Minister announced drastic measures to curb the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). "I think the ASX is being driven by global equities, which are being driven by a combination of momentum selling, panic selling and de-levering on the back of coronavirus fears," Joshua Green, chief investment officer at Orthogonal Trading, said. Down under

Bitcoin, gold and stock futures shot up after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a quantitative easing package with no upper limit to support the economy amid the coronavirus crisis. Bitcoin's move higher along with gold is likely to revive the safe-haven narrative. Pick me up

However, bitcoin is also staring at a "death cross,” a widely tracked, bearish chart indicator, having suffered sharp losses over the last five weeks. The pattern arises as the 50-day moving average is poised to cross below the 200-day average within the two days. If confirmed, it would be the first death cross since Oct. 26, 2019. Short lived?



CoinDesk Research's latest monthly report examines Binance, Cash App and Coinbase fiat on-ramps, crypto's faltering narrative as a safe haven asset, and “criminality” as a use case for crypto networks. The report also looks ahead (and back) to bitcoin halving impacts, as preview to the event slated later this Spring. Full report
 
The dual financial and biological crises besetting the world can be difficult to deal with. CoinDesk’s Leigh Cuen talks with cognitive economist Leigh Caldwell, author of “The Psychology of Price,” about how to stay sane during the pandemic. Finding balance

WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER
 

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