Motivation
KLIMA holders influence the DAO most directly by voting through the designated governance platform (currently Snapshot), wherein their positions are signaled in two metrics:
1) Total vote count (v): This indicates the number of supporters for a particular option, and each voter adds one to this count.
2) Total voting power (p): This indicates the weighted support for a specific option, taking into account the voter's overall KLIMA balance (including sKLIMA, wsKLIMA, etc.) through a function called "p." The function "p" assigns voting power based on the KLIMA balance, and it increases as the balance increases.
It is currently possible for voters to vote using multiple wallets. This has downstream implications when trying to get a true representation of governance.
KlimaDAO currently operates a linear voting function. This protects from unequal voting power, but opens the DAO to the appearance of inequality as large holders have no barrier to splitting votes across multiple wallets, artificially creating the appearance of a higher vote count and fairer distribution.
For example:
KlimaDAO has a linear voting function where 1 KLIMA = 1 Vote, regardless of which wallet it comes from. Let’s imagine two cases: one where a user has 500,000 KLIMA held in 5 different wallets, and a second where that user has 500,000 KLIMA in a single wallet. Both scenarios result in 500,000 voting power, however the first scenario creates the false impression of a higher vote count and more distributed token supply. The first scenario resembles the situation today, whereas the second is more representative of the reality with a tool like Gitcoin Passports.
Demonstrated mathematically:
- When the function "p" is linear where p(v1 + v2) = p(v1) + p(v2):
In the context of the governance platform, this means that if you combine the KLIMA balances of two voters (v1 and v2), the resulting voting power (p) will be the sum of their individual voting powers. In other words, the total voting power is directly proportional to the total KLIMA balance. When "p" is linear, the use of multiple wallets artificially inflates the total vote count without affecting the voting power, creating the appearance of a fairer distribution.
Proposal
To enhance governance integrity, this proposal suggests integrating Gitcoin Passport into the KlimaDAO governance platform. Gitcoin Passport is an identity verification system that allows a voter to attach data in the form of verified credentials to their wallet in order to identify themselves as a unique individual, without revealing their identity. The credentials themselves come from various third-party services such as social media logins and Web3 identity authentication platforms.
A Passport collects bundles of credentials, called stamps. Taken together, the collection of stamps enables protocols to verify that a user has an identity, without compromising that identity.
While one service can provide multiple stamps to multiple Passports, calls to the Gitcoin Scorer API already handle deduplication, meaning that users are prevented from using the same stamps across multiple Passports to influence some specific outcome.
Options
Snapshot enables multiple configurations for Gitcoin Passports to serve as a validation strategy. Basic options for potential configurations include combinations of the following:
- Requiring individual, non-negotiable stamps
- Requiring some number from a set list of stamps (e.g. at least one)
- Assigning scores to each stamp from a set list, then requiring a Passport to meet a minimum score
Gitcoin Passport stamps currently include (full list here):
- Coinbase
- Discord
- Github
One ostensible configuration is as follows:
- Equal weighting of stamps listed above
- Required threshold: 2/7
What strategies and stamps the DAO is to employ, if at all, is up for discussion.
Implications
Enhanced governance integrity: The integration of Gitcoin Passport and identity verification processes provides an additional layer of security and helps mitigate the risk of Sybil attacks. By requiring participants to attach verified credentials to their wallets, the DAO can ensure that each voter represents a unique individual, reducing the potential for manipulation of voting metrics.
Potential reduction in participation: Although the implementation of Gitcoin Passport maintains voter privacy, the additional steps in governance going forward may be perceived as inconvenience and result in a reduction in governance participation. This trade-off between governance integrity and participation needs to be carefully considered by the community.