Web3 Citizenship Bootstrapping
Web3 Citizenship - User Bootstrapping
Requested DOT: 1,100,260
Expected HOLLAR (at 3.2 DOT): $3,520,512
Context:
The Web3 Citizenship (W3C) feature set creates a privacy-first, sybil-resistant individuality solution which facilitates several methods for proving one's individuality. This treasury proposal requests funding to cover the user bootstrapping phase for the launch of the product. We believe this will be the fairest airdrop in the history of Web3 as funds will only ever be distributed to people that have verified their individuality - no bots, no VCs, only real humans.
We are very excited to bring this proposal to the community as Web3 Citizenship will become one of the foundational blocks of the second age of Polkadot.
“Digital identity is one of the biggest challenges in Web3, and Web3 Citizenship provides a novel approach to solving it without sacrificing privacy” said Dr. Gavin Wood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJKjGjiJytA
Short video on Web3 Citizenship from Gavin Wood.
Instead of relying on centralized servers, databases or biometric tracking, Web3 Citizenship ensures trustless and unique identity verification without compromising personal data. This feeds into a broader protocol being developed that any product can use in the future to ascertain or verify a user's individuality. Given that W3C is not released yet, some of the mechanisms / features and details are not yet public information.
The product is split into two distinct parts:
- A mobile app (iOS and Android) that is delivered to end users
- A protocol that is built using Polkadot core functionality, primarily using the Polkadot People Chain. This protocol delivers all of the underlying mechanisms for the mobile app to function.
The protocol will use "Decentralized Individuality Mechanisms" (DIMs) to prove individuality, these are presented in the mobile application and are designed to solve problems of bots, sock puppets, and sybil while maintaining privacy, unlike other companies approaches.
Once the user has proved their individuality, they are deemed a Citizen.
Funds Distribution:
As part of this proposal, the protocol will DCA the DOT into Hollar on the Hydration network over four days. This Hollar will be used towards bootstrapping users through incentives, rewards and other means. The trades will take place every 20 blocks (~2 minutes) of swapping 382 DOT per trade.
The Hollar will remain on the Polkadot People Chain sovereign account on Hydration: 13cKp89TV87ZZGQ2K2d9VTx8o3Gwq9j2xBYJyjJdgc47sQU7
This funding will be allocated to DIMs and other mechanisms and split between user acquisition and retention. The funds will remain in control of the DOT holders - being transferred to a keyless account derived from a Polkadot People Chain location, controlled solely by the Polkadot People Chain (and root) until the runtime upgrade to launch Web3 Citizenship is introduced. The rewards will be provided to individuals who become and stay recognised as Citizens, and actively participate in the associated Web3 Citizenship activities, boosting the credibility and security of the system overall.
No funds from this allocation will be spent on marketing or promotion, software development or other means - these activities will be managed by other funding allocations.
Expected HOLLAR (at 3.2 DOT): $3,520,512
Expected HOLLAR (at 2.8 DOT): $3,080,448
Expected HOLLAR (at 3.0 DOT): $3,300,480
Why Hollar:
Given decentralisation is a core tenant of our new social contract - we should only promote and distribute decentralised tokens - USDC and USDT no longer fits within this new framework.
Stablecoins (specifically Hollar) is an excellent choice to distribute to users as Hollar is a non volatile asset and Citizens that receive Hollar won't have to worry about potentially losing value on their rewards over time. Given the fact that Hollar is a DOT backed stablecoin - this makes it the obvious choice.
Entropretty:
Entropretty (https://entropretty.com) is the home for DIM1 (Proof of Ink) designs. Anyone can create or remix algorithm based artwork and submit it to Entropretty - the best designs will be posted on-chain as tattoos that individuals can get as part of the DIM1 process. Working closely with the teams building Web3 Citizenship, Entropretty has sponsored three events
Revision 2025: https://2025.revision-party.net/competitions/entropretty/
Assembly Summer 2025: https://assembly.org/en/events/summer25/program/entropretty-tattoo-algorithm-competition-assembly-summer-2025-2
Assembly Winter 2025: https://assembly.org/en/events/winter25/program/entropretty-tattoo-design-algorithm-competition
to crowdsource tattoo designs for the upcoming Web3 Citizenship project.
Web3 Citizenship further reading watching:
Comments (11)
Comments are restricted to accounts with an on-chain verified identity.
Hi,
3 questions/concerns:
1/ Why do you want to DCA DOT into HOLLAR and not stablecoins into HOLLAR ?
There is no obvious reason to dump DOT here if the final point is to get stablecoins.
2/ Why should we fund this request without any demo of the final product?
The sentence: "Given that W3C is not released yet, some of the mechanisms / features and details are not yet public information." echoes to "Trust me bro" here.
But "Trust me bro" situations never ended well in OpenGov, leading to many dramas in the past under Giotto's run.
What if the product has a bad UI/UX?
What if the product doesn't target the good audience?
What if there is no associated marketing campaign to bootstrap users?
What if there is no use case once people are certified to be human?
3/ Why the Root track?
It's supposed to be an emergency track.
I feel the community is missing the global picture. We would need way more information to confirm this request.
We need a plan. If you can't showcase anything, it feels like we're throwing a coin in the air.
Let us know.
@SuperDupont-Nexus
Thanks for the question!
1/ Why DCA DOT into Hollar
Given the size of the request and how slowly the USDC/USDT DCA takes place, it felt best to go with DOT - also allowing the community to use and request the USDC/USDT.
2/ Why should we fund this request without any demo of the final product?
We want to ensure that when the product is ready for launch, it can launch with the incentives on day 1.
There will be associated marketing and use cases beyond becoming a citizen, however product demos and further information about the product will come when the time is right.
3/ Why the Root track?
The root track is required as the proposal is an XCM call which requires root level access to swap tokens and place them on the Polkadot People Chain sovereign account (on hydration).
After the swap, these assets are still controlled by Polkadot Governance (DOT holders).
As mentioned - further information about the product will come when the time is right.