4 Things You Need to Know About Project Catalyst Funding
What is Project Catalyst and why you should bother to vote!
Cardano is a 3rd-generation blockchain with revolutionary initiatives in place to drive its long-term goals of scalability, interoperability and sustainability via a strong community-centric approach. A prime example of this approach is Project Catalyst, which provides funding opportunities to projects the community thinks will advance the overall development of the Cardano Ecosystem. Let’s get into it.
1. What is Project Catalyst?
Starting back in 2020 with Fund1, Project Catalyst describes itself as a series of experiments in creativity, governance and innovation. The most important takeaway: it is a proposal/grant-style platform that encourages and funds entrepreneurs, businesses and developers to build their projects on the Cardano Blockchain. Funding rounds generally happen every twelve weeks and are named sequentially (e.g., we are in Fund13 at the time of writing this article), but as it is a massive experiment, a lot can be unclear in the process, so we’ll break it down a little.
2. Why is it important?
In three simple, yet bold words: funding, future and voice. We’ll explain:
- Funding – In each category (aka ‘Challenge’), there is anywhere from 50,000 to 2M ADA (sometimes more) up for grabs to proposals and ideas that the community deems valuable to the future of Cardano. Proposers can request all or just a portion of these funds. More than one proposal can be funded in any given Challenge, depending on how the community votes.
- Future – The future of the blockchain lies in the hands of eligible voters, meaning whether you are a developer or not, you have the power to prioritize and decide how Cardano evolves and what it should look going forward.
- Voice – Coinciding with the previous statement, what makes Cardano stand out amongst other blockchains is its community-centric approach. If you hold ADA (Cardano’s native coin), you have the power to vote on the projects that should/shouldn’t receive funding. Any ada holder with a minimum of ₳25 can vote on a proposal by downloading the voting app from here. Active voters can also receive monetary rewards for their participation, but more on that in the voting and incentives sections.
3. Who Can Participate?
The short answer: everyone!
The long answer: there are different prerequisites and/or eligibility requirements, depending on which type of role you choose to participate in, but it’s nothing like sending a resume or applying for a job. It’s mostly a time and intellectual investment with some sweet monetary rewards for every role. Here’s a brief explanation of the three main roles along with their requirements and some linked resources:
- Proposers – Though not clearly stated on the IOG FAQ (IOG is the company that has been chosen to build the Cardano Protocol) or Project Catalyst sites, I’ve gathered that basically anyone can propose an idea for collaboration or submit a proposal for feedback; these participants are known as ‘Proposers’. The only eligibility requirement to be a Proposer seems to be registering and using an Ideascale Account for the submission process.
- Community Reviewers – Fund13 has three levels of Community Reviewers: LV0, LV1, and LV2. After proposals are final, community reviewers are tasked with providing thoughtful, thorough and fair reviews based on comparing and contrasting submissions with their respective Challenge objectives. At the base level, all reviewers provide their opinions in exactly the same way as each other. The only difference is that more experienced reviewers have additional roles that they execute further along the review process and are eleigible to receive greater rewards. You can find a full explanation of the community levels, eligibilty, and rewards here.
- Voters – This is a role very near and dear to the heart of Cardano. Voters truly shape the future of the ecosystem by collectively choosing which proposals become real-world, funded projects. In order to vote, you must be registered, hold at least 25 ADA, and have the latest Catalyst Voting App downloaded on your phone. More info below.
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4. Things You Need for Voting
In my humble opinion, voting during Project Catalyst is probably the easiest and most effective way you can help shape the future of Cardanon. You will just need a couple of things to get started with voting. Since there is a minimum ADA requirement for voting, you have to download the Catalyst Voting App (links below) and register before the snapshot date (there is a registration fee of 0.17–0.18 ADA).
Tiny hint: First, make sure to register your Cardano wallet to vote before you hop into the App for the voting process. For the current round, which is Fund13, the deadline to register is 20/NOVEMBER/2024 @ 9:45pm UTC, so jump on it via the links below!
Download Voting App
Android users: “Catalyst Voting” on Google Play store
IOS users: “Catalyst Voting” on IOS store
Registration + Voting Guide: Register and Vote
Important note: Regardless of your wallet, each registration will provide you with a unique QR and PIN code. Both are required to vote so make sure to save them, or else you will not be able to participate.
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