- Ouija
Major DAOs in the Polygon Ecosystem
Updated: Mar 10
#12 Governance Series
If I had a penny for every time I heard a comment on Ethereum’s transaction speeds and onchain cost, I’d have retired by now.
Enter Polygon. This “layer 2” scaling solution, or sidechain, has emerged in order to provide faster transactional throughput and lower costs for users. It functions as a speedy blockchain, running parallel to Ethereum.
Using a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, it still relies on validators and delegators. Just as with Ethereum, it allows for smart contract functionality. As we know, with this functionality, DAOs and all their varieties may be created.
Projects, products and the subsequent DAOs that may be created around them are critical to the growth and longevity of any given blockchain. These entities help drive activity, in the form of users, developers and capital.
There are the large projects and DAO’s who have enabled cross-chain solutions such as Frax Finance and Convex. However, we should be aware of those projects that are in their nascent stages and are budding network natives.
We can depict a chain’s ecosystem in many ways. One such tool that I have found to be particularly helpful is Messari’s Governor tool. It allows us to filter by chain first and then by type.
This helps categorise projects, examples may include community, discovery & analytics, financial, etc. Note that the tool does not have a filter by notability, market cap, etc. Rather it will filter those with the most “tags” to the top. However, a project with a number of tools may speak to its usability.
Let’s take a whistle-stop tour of the most notable DAOs, native to the Polygon network. I have ordered them by marketcap to provide some hierarchy.
Mai Finance (QiDAO)
Mai Finance is Polygon’s first native stablecoin protocol. It is self-sustaining, community-governed, and decentralised. Loans are secured by always having more value locked than the amount of debt given out. Loans are paid out and repaid in MAI (a stablecoin soft pegged to the USD).
The components of QiDAO include:
Overcollateralized vaults: MAI relies on collateral vaults to back its value. At all times, MAI stablecoins are fully backed by collateral.
Vault: Where users deposit their token collateral and borrow MAI. Vaults are user managed and controlled.
Decentralised and user-managed: MAI is built on market incentives and penalties. There is no centralised authority or algorithm controlling the protocol. Only users can control their funds.
Two tokens: MAI is the stablecoin made by the QiDao Protocol and Qi is the protocol’s governance token
KlimaDAO
Klima’s main value proposition is to be “the centre of a new green economy”, hence it is built on the polygon network, chosen due to its “energy efficient” nature.
KlimaDAO reduces market fragmentation and helps to drive “climate finance” to sustainability projects globally.
How does Klima propose to achieve its goal? It backs every KILMA token with a real-world carbon asset. It does this to ensure that each token is used to offset carbon emissions.
Their products are aimed at organisations and individuals who are environmentally aware and looking to offset their carbon footprint. They help users achieve this in three steps:
Calculate. Calculate your or your organisation’s carbon footprint and define the scope of your offset with Klima Infinity
Implement. Implement your offset with just a few clicks and with near-instant transaction time
Amplify. Track your commitment, and amplify awareness around your Climate Positive actions.
HumanDAO
This is a social impact project which utilises blockchain technology to help those who make less than $20/day, an estimate of 1.9 billion people. HumanDAO’s mission is to improve lives through the use of crypto.
They aim to create profound and beneficial revenue streams for their community and investors, while creating opportunities for those living in underserved communities.
To achieve this, many different avenues may be explored. One such avenue they are experimenting with is their scholarship program. This can be utilised in many ways.
For example, gaming assets may be loaned out, allowing others who may not be able to otherwise participate in P2E games (play-to-earn), such as the popular Axie Infinity.
The possibilities are numerous, you may make a list of tasks. Things you hate doing, things you can’t do yourself, things you shouldn’t be doing, and then delegate them to your scholarship PA.
PhoenixDAO
This project is a digital identity-based suite of protocols designed to cover authentication, identity payments, and decentralised governance.
A core goal of PhoenixDAO is to be controlled by a decentralised stakeholder community. To become a self-governing DAO, operating in transparency and with a public budget page.
They hope to be completely self-sustainable through a range of revenue-generating products. The main 3 products include:
Phoenix identity. This creates and links digital identities across different DeFi based dApps, apps and APIs
Phoenix authentication. A blockchain based 2-factor authentication protocol used to verify DeFi app logins and approve transactions using a digital identity
Phoenix payments. Smart contracts that facilitate payments without a 3rd party escrow service
Thoughts
There are ever more complex and expansive ecosystems developing within the newly emerging crypto sector. Different blockchains must build out their own infrastructures, including DeFi, NFTs, etc.
Many of these systems and projects will desire to have a functioning and specifically tailored governance structure to support them. In our work with Polygon, aside from running nodes to secure the network, we provide a wide range of product-specific services such as governance advisory, delegation, business development, fundraising, token design, liquidity providing, and marketing. Reach out on https://twitter.com/stablelab or follow us for more similar DAO ecosystem analysis.
Get in touch,
If you would like to support us in our governance efforts,
If you and your team need guidance on governance related matters, or
If you are a founder who is building something interesting in web3
