Retro Delegate Rewards: Season 4

Retro Delegate Rewards: Season 4

Thank you

A huge thank you is due to delegates for their continued dedication to experimentation and iteration. This Season, the Collective aligned around Collective Intents and increased the number of non-core teams building the Collective with the introduction of Missions. The Grants Council, renewed for a second Season, processed an incredible 448 grant applications! Votable supply of OP increased from 40M to 69M and it was the first full Season voting on Agora! The Citizensā€™ House expanded to ~138 badgeholders and will reward 30M OP in RetroPGF Round 3.

Why Retroactive Rewards?

The Optimism Collective rewards delegates retroactively. Retroactive rewards are a core pillar of the large scale experiment to establish a new, regenerative economic system within the Collective. Retroactive rewards will be the primary contribution reward mechanism in the Collective and when the Governance Fund runs out of OP (as it is intended to), RetroPGF will need to support all activity in the Collective.

Feedback on retro delegate rewards is extremely helpful in refining what will be the primary reward mechanism in the Collective. Delegates have requested more insight into the actions that are likely to be considered high impact in the upcoming Season, similarly to how RetroPGF Scope and Collective Intents are defined. There have also been several discussions about setting expectations for high impact delegate/badgeholders. Please see the Anticapture Commission, a first step towards defining the highest impact delegates and empowering them with additional resources.

Other reasons for maintaining retroactive delegate rewards:

  • The amount of participation required will continue to vary dramatically as governance experiments evolve Season over Season. Retroactive rewards are better able to adapt to this level of iteration.
  • Rewards that are allocated retroactively are not subject to a lock-up.

Thank you to your continued dedication to this experiment to retroactively reward impact. Being a delegate requires a serious time commitment and the Collective strongly benefits from your engagement.


The below criteria recognizes top delegates in Season 4 (snapshot as of 9/7/23, the start of the last Voting Cycle of the Season, in which there were no votes.)

Delegates that meet the below criteria are eligible to receive a rewards as outlined in the below chart.

  • Top 100 delegates by voting power (this has been adjusted from delegates with >0.25%, based on delegate feedback.)
    • Protocols in the Protocol Delegation Program that qualified as top 100 delegates only as a result of Foundation delegations are not eligible for rewards.
Criteria Definition Reasoning OP
Participated in Season 4 >70% voting participation in Season 4 (abstain votes count towards participation). In Season 4, 3/4 votes were required to meet this threshold. Voter turnout is critical to the resilience of the governance system 6,000 OP
Engaged during the Reflection Period Voted in Special Voting Cycle #12a OR #12b Delegate engagement during Reflection Periods is a crucial part of the feedback process, which enables iterative improvement 3,000 OP
Experimented with a new governance process Provided support for Token House Missions as identified in this Token House participation and incentives: an extended analysis Experimentation is core to Optimismā€™s approach to governance 1,000 OP

The Grants Council did an outstanding job this Season, processing many more grants than in previous Seasons. In Season 3, the Foundation provided retroactive rewards to the Grants Council for their outsized impact as the Foundation proposed the Councilā€™s initial budget. Since the Council now proposes its own budget, and Token House Seasons are now aligned with RetroPGF rounds, it is important that the Councilā€™s impact be assessed by the Collective and rewarded via RetroPGF. The Grants Council is encouraged to apply as a project in Round 3, so that the Collective may reward the impact the Grants Council created in Season 4.


Qualifying delegates

Top 100 Delegates (All reward amounts in OP) > 70% Voting Participation (Baseline rewards) Reflection Period Participation Supported Missions Total
Linda Xie 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Polynya 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Synthetix ambassadors 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
L2BEAT 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Jack Anorak 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
GFX Labs 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Lefteris Karapetsas 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
PoolCollective 6,000 6,000
Michael Vander Meiden 6,000 3,000 9,000
404 DAO 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Boiler Blockchain 6,000 3,000 9,000
Olimpio 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Blockchain@USC 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
PGov 6,000 6,000
Katie 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Griff Green 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
*Velodrome 6,000 3,000 9,000
*Paraswap 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
*Pika 6,000 6,000
*Rubicon 6,000 6,000
*Polynomial 6,000 3,000 9,000
*Galxe Ineligible N/A
*Clique Ineligible Ineligible N/A
*Lyra Ineligible Ineligible Ineligible N/A
*Kyberswap Ineligible Ineligible N/A
*Gelato Ineligible Ineligible N/A
Joxes - DeFi LATAM 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Doug 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Gonna 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
she256 6,000 3,000 9,000
The Wildfire Infrastructure Pod 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Solarcurve 6,000 3,000 9,000
Butterbum 6,000 3,000 9,000
L222 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
StableNode 6,000 3,000 9,000
brichis.eth 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
web3magnetic 6,000 3,000 9,000
ITU Blockchain 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
ethdaily.eth 6,000 3,000 9,000
ceresstation.eth 6,000 1,000 7,000
mjs.eth 3,000 1,000 4,000
yoav.eth 3,000 1,000 4,000
Hop Protocol 1,000 1,000
Minimal Gravitas 6,000 3,000 1,000 10,000
Flipside Crypto 3,000 3,000
Exosphere 3,000 3,000
optimisticus.eth 3,000 3,000
Nathan van der Heyden (Snapshot Labs) 6,000 3,000 9,000
Annymesh Mohanty 3,000 3,000
Mikegriff 3,000 3,000
yitong.eth 3,000 3,000
0x Protocol Community Delegates 3,000 3,000
Carnegie Mellon Blockchain Club 3,000 3,000
Rabbithole 6,000 3,000 9,000
Penn Blockchain 3,000 3,000
donnoh.eth 3,000 3,000
jacob.willemsma.eth 6,000 6,000
David Mihal 6,000 6,000
0x71672e0d7d13384cf01737a68740733e852e8e98 6,000 6,000
kentf.eth 6,000 6,000
mikegriff.eth 6,000 6,000

*Signifies participant in the Protocol Delegation Program. Only protocols that would have been included in the top 100 delegates even without their delegation through the program were eligible for rewards.


Consistent with other grant allocations, all delegate rewards will be subject to a KYC and claims flow process.

This round of retroactive delegate rewards will be allocated from the ā€œUnallocatedā€ portion of the Ecosystem Fund, not the Governance Fund (and is therefore not subject to Token House approval).


Retro Governance Reward Framework

Delegates and badgeholders have requested more insight into the actions that may be considered high impact in the upcoming Season, similarly to how RetroPGF Scope and Collective Intents are defined. The highest impact contributions will align with the Collective Intents. The below table outlines activities that are aligned with the Intents, but does not guarantee any retroactive rewards based on the below criteria.

Intent Aligned activities
Progress Towards Technical Decentralization Being a member of the Developer Advisory Board, substantive engagement on proposals related to Superchain governance, sharing of technical knowledge or analysis with the broader community, etc.
Grow the Superchain Being a member of the Grants Council, actively supporting the onboarding of new OP Chains or projects, providing approvals on successful Delegate Mission Requests, being a member of the Anticapture Commission, etc.
Community Intent (TBD) To be completed once the community sets Intent #3
Improve Governance Accessibility Enforcing the Code of Conduct, monitoring grant programs, participating in Reflection Periods, voting, creating Lists that are useful to other badgeholders, expanding the Citizensā€™ House capabilities to assess impact & profit, which could come in the form of useful tooling, education of badgeholders, and/or other initiatives.
22 Likes

We are delighted to be a part of the Optimism Collective as a delegate. We are experiencing highly effective governance experiments together. We also understand more each day how successful retroactive incentives can be. We are very happy to be included in this grant <3

We hope to see more ecosystem stakeholders participating in governance, sharing their ideas, and making an impact in the days to come. LFG :smiling_face:

4 Likes

Congrats to all the delegates! Glad to see governance being sustainably funded by the foundation :slight_smile:

3 Likes

Iā€™m glad to see the introduction of Retro Delegate Rewards for Season 4. This is a positive step in acknowledging and compensating delegates for their valuable contributions and time commitment.
I think we can develop a more precise framework for evaluating delegateā€™s involvment and rewards in the future.
Always iterating :clap:

1 Like

Please can I get some clarification as to how this is calculated? I definitely missed one vote a couple of months ago (the for Intent 2 Budget Proposal 2) as I was away without my keys, but think thatā€™s the only one I didnā€™t make this season?

I have had a look on Agora but it seems to be showing everyoneā€™s data a bit wrong, for example Katieā€™s is showing as 7/10 of the last props but going down the list I think she has voted on everything? In fact I canā€™t find anyone with more than 8/10ā€¦ but presumably at least some delegates have managed to voted on everything?

Iā€™m not too bothered by the season rewards, and completely understand if they have been settled already, but Iā€™d really like to be able to work out if I can qualify for the Anticapture Commission, and donā€™t want to miss out on participating there due to a miscount or something!

4 Likes

Hi guys, first of all big thanks to the Optimism Foundation for your relentless efforts and for spearheading initiatives that strengthen and elevate our collective governance participation.

Also special nod to @MinimalGravitas for raising a valid point about voting participation calculation and its discrepancies!

Weā€™d like to contribute some insights. My team, behind the OP governance analytics dashboard - has been closely monitoring governance activities and voting participation. Our data indicates that MinimalGravitas was active in 3 out of the 4 (75%) proposal during Season 4 (starting June 8th) and since we went onchain voting, MinimalGravitas voted on 14 out of the 15 proposals (thatā€™s 93.3%). When we look at the requirement for the Top 100 delegates on the snapshot date, MinimalGravitas secured the 62nd rank for delegate by voting power. Both of these facts clearly meet the >70% voting participation criteria for the rewards.

A detailed view of the MinimalGravitas proposals participation can be accessed here: MinimalGravitas Delegate

Our aim is to contribute to greater transparency for initiatives like these. Weā€™re here to collaborate, enhance how we operate, and ensure everyone has access to the information they need. We always welcome your thoughts and ideas on how we can improve further.

Moreover, it would be great to hear from the foundation regarding this matter to clarify and perhaps validate the data. A cooperative and collective dialogue could further refine our processes and reinforce accuracy and transparency moving forward.

7 Likes

Thanks for sharing that data, hopefully the 103/106, or 14/15, are what counts for the Anticapture Commission! Fingers crossed the OF can confirm that at some point.

Also, I really like that your data set includes non-conformity, thatā€™s a really interesting metric, very cool.

4 Likes

Hi @MinimalGravitas, thanks for raising this question! Weā€™re verifying with our data team and itā€™s possible that one of the ā€œdefeatedā€ proposals was included in the calculation. In that case, a few more delegates may be eligible for rewards. We will follow up shortly with any updates.

5 Likes

Cool, thanks. What about with regards to the Anticapture requirements:

  • Maintain > 70% voting participation from time of first vote cast, provided > 3 votes cast

Am I safe to assume that @v3naru_Curiaā€™s data means Iā€™ll be able to get involved there?

2 Likes

Hi @Lavande, thanks for jumping on @MinimalGravitasā€™s question so quickly! Itā€™s great to see that additional delegates might be recognized for their contributions.

Should our data be of assistance to your data team during this verification process, please feel free to reach out. Weā€™re eager to help cross-check and validate data regarding delegates eligible for rewards. Collaborative efforts are key to maintaining clear and accurate governance data, after all.

Looking forward to the updates, and weā€™re here to help out however we can.

4 Likes

To aid in transparency and ease of reference, Iā€™ve compiled a Google Sheet listing all delegates eligible for Season 4 rewards under the first 2 criteria based on our data.

This sheet contains a breakdown based on the previously discussed reward criteria, including proposal participation throughout Season 4. We hope it provides a clear and concise reference for all involved.

Let me know if thereā€™s any updates from the data team. Would be great if we could spotted any discrepancies. I wanted to ensure all deserving delegates are duly recognized.

3 Likes

Thanks for sharing! One note: Thirdweb is not eligible for baseline participation rewards as they were part of the Protocol Delegation Program and do not have enough organic delegation to be in the top 100 delegates separate of the PDP.

Iā€™ve identified 5 delegates that should be eligible for rewards, but which are not reflected on the above list. This is consistent with the internal data we have, excluding the defeated proposal. Once verified with our data team, Iā€™ll update the list in the post above accordingly.

5 Likes

Thanks for the update!

Looks like I missed that - just updated that part. Anyway, looking forward more update from the team!

2 Likes

Nice looking dashboard, you saved me some time to figure out what my % was.

3 Likes

The table has been updated to reflect accurate voting participation information - thanks to @MinimalGravitas and @v3naru_Curia for calling this to our attention.

One of the defeated proposals was included in our prior calculations, which lowered all participation percentages and excluded 8 delegates that have qualified for rewards.

The table has been updated to show the below delegates are eligible for 6,000 OP based on >70% participation:

  • ceresstation.eth
  • Minimal Gravitas
  • Nathan van der Heyden (Snapshot Labs)
  • jacob.willemsma.eth
  • David Mihal
  • 0x71672e0d7d13384cf01737a68740733e852e8e98
  • kentf.eth
  • mikegriff.eth
6 Likes

Thank you for the updated list.

I took a moment to review the updated delegate list and noticed a potential oversight: it seems that RabbitHole (0x8f5415415d9200ccd8523f3ee88f96f476141cc3) also fulfills the >70% participation criterion, according to our dashboardā€™s data. Additionally, Iā€™d like to note a minor detail that Mikegriff and mikegriff.eth appear to reference the same delegate.

Iā€™ve also noticed potential discrepancies related to the second criteria - ā€œEngaged during the Reflection Periodā€ - when comparing with our list. Could you shed some light or share updates regarding the eligibility of delegates concerning this specific criterion? My understanding is that, per this criterion, delegates are required to vote on all 9 proposals within the special voting cycle #12a and #12b.

1 Like

Rabbithole was excluded from voting participation rewards as they received their delegation through the Protocol Delegation Program. However, they have had a large increase in delegation since the start of the program, partially driven by the success of their growth experiments grant. I have added them to the list, as they have enough organic delegation to qualify as a top 100 delegate separate of the PDP.

Rabbithole was always eligible for rewards related to participation in the Reflection Period as they had not yet received delegation from the PDP at that point.

Participation in the Reflection Period is defined as having voted at least once in Special Voting Cycle #12a or #12b. Tagging in @chuxin_h for any additional questions in the data.

2 Likes

Hello @lavande,

How will the rewards claiming process and KYC process proceed, and when will it happen?

2 Likes