“What I care about is the reality of goodness, not the perception of it. And what I see all over the place is people who care about looking good while doing evil.” -Elon Musk (video clip; full interview recommended)
This is why Gitcoin Grants continue to flourish in web3 - because the gap between the perception & reality of goodness is minimized. It’s where we put our Money where the mouth is. Every single contribution is a vote for an endeavor related to Public Good. Web3 Community & Education has been a priori agreed upon as a net positive force in the world, so qualifying projects are supported to further this directive.
Magic of Quadratic Funding
Each donation of $1 or more is matched by the Quadratic Funding algorithm. This algorithm values the number of individual contributions more than the amount of money donated. E.g., 1 person x $10 = 10 persons x $1 = $10 total value of contributions. However, 10 persons donating $1 each is more democratic as it more closely approximates the voice of the majority. Therefore, a project receives a greater match bonus when it is more democratically supported. Learn more about the power of community funding at wtfisqf.com. In order to prevent spam bots & sybil attacks, contributors must hold qualifying Gitcoin Passport credentials.
Below, a contribution of $1 (0.0005 ETH) to 7 different projects has unlocked an estimated match of $156.38!
Where does the QF Matching Pool(s) come from?
Can you imagine what our society would look like if our taxes were actually directed towards everyone’s well-being & Public Good, instead of being wasted and embezzled?
The matching pools are donated by philanthropists and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) within the web3 ecosystem, who recognize the value of web3 as they have often times themselves benefited from the space. This is Decentralized Governance in action - people collectively deciding to #fundwhatmatters.
“Economics is the youngest of all sciences.” -Ludwig von Mises; Human Action
After we transition through the current Fourth Turning and begin the next cycle, we’ll look back on this period of time and realize just how ineffective and rudimentary has been the regime of Keynesian Economics. Central Planning alone does not work - cannot work - simply because there are far too many incalculable variables. Unknowable unknowns. A balance must be struck with Decentralization so that information is integrated with high fidelity on the periphery.
If economic planning is asymmetrically skewed towards the center, then we run the risk of encountering such blunders:
“Law, Language, Money, the three paradigms of spontaneous government institutions. Fortunately, law and language have been allowed to develop…Money…in it’s most primitive form was frozen.” - Friedrich Hayek; Ampleforth Presents
Opening up the Monopoly over Money to healthy free market competition is important not only for ideological reasons, but also for far more pragmatic imperatives. Simply put, there exist far more effective ways to organize society than the status quo which has reached its limits. Gitcoin Grants has blazed a trail in this domain by powering community with quadratic funding tools, and we have just scratched the surface of what is possible (i.e., American Cancer Society launches on Gitcoin Grants; Life you can save round to fight poverty).
And that is where we are headed, for the benefit of all - yet another reason the AMPL-SPOT protocol lies at the Heart of the Archimedes’ Lever.