Q2 2021 Contribution Focus & Rewards

Going Forward

As we move into the second quarter of 2021 we would like to share with our existing partners and new potential partners the type of contributions that are in line with the IOST Foundation’s goals for 2021 and beyond. Whilst IOST’s core mission remains unchanged, to help in unleashing the power of blockchain and contribute towards a truly decentralized global economy, there has been a need to re-think the type of contributions that will add value to the ecosystem and a sustainable way of rewarding those contributions.

The overall structure of the contribution and rewards remains mostly unchanged with notable differences in the following;

• Going forward there will be an emphasis on quality of contributions (contributors) vs quantity of contributions (contributors). As the number of interested potential contributors increases there is a need to raise the bar in terms of what are considered to be quality contributions because at the end of the day there is a finite amount of rewards that can be distributed. Partners who consistently contribute high-quality work should be rewarded accordingly.
• Rewards will now mostly be paid out in USDT with a small portion paid out in IOST, this might vary slightly from quarter to quarter. This means that going forward when contributors submit their contribution plans they should state their fees or expected rewards in USDT.
• Contributors will fall into two broader categories; Technical Contribution Partners and Media Contribution Partners. The criteria of what will be high-priority contributions will be listed below for each category.

Technical Contribution Partners

For contributors looking to make contributions of a technical nature, the following are areas that will be considered high priority and value;

• Cross-chain solutions, bridges that allow IOST users to access other ecosystem services and enable features such a liquid-staking,
• NFT marketplaces or solutions that enable artists/creators/designers to have a seamless user experience (the creation of technical tutorials and how-to content will also be considered),
• DeFi solutions that have potential and a proven case for significant user adoption (feel free to make your case),
• Payment gateways (fiat-to-crypto) and wallet services will also be considered on a case by case basis.

Successful referrals of teams that are working on any of these areas will also be considered a valuable contribution, in these cases the team that is being referred to IOST should have an existing product that is market-ready or at the very least near market-ready. Referrals should be an actual direct introduction to the team(s) behind the product/solution. Referrers are only eligible for rewards once a partnership has been established (gone live). The Foundation reserves the right to choose to proceed or reject referrals that are submitted.

Media Contribution Partners

In 2021, IOST aims to further strengthen the relationships with those already familiar with IOST, and at the same time inform new audiences of IOST’s technological strengths and ongoing developments. Through this, IOST will not be satisfied with merely being in the CMC(Coin Market Cap) TOP 100 but will strive to grow into a TOP 50 project in the course of the year.

With the increased competition among Top 100 projects to stay relevant, adapt to changing trends, and deliver on their mission statements. IOST would like to continue developing in the hopes of meeting and possibly exceeding market expectations in 2021. It is the IOST Foundation’s hope that the IOST Community can continue to expand through quality and consistent contributions from existing and new Node Partners.

Creating awareness and education about IOST to crypto communities and mainstream audiences is one of IOST’s most important objectives in order to grow and attract more investors and developers. Quality of content is important, but even more so is the number of people this content reaches.

Quality content produced should be placed where it can get a lot of exposure outside of the IOST community and shared via news outlets, social media, and community channels. The areas that IOST considers most important when reviewing media partners are as follows.

• How much influence does your channel have in your country/region?
  (Please explain it in comparison with the country’s other Crypto Media/Community)
• Subscribers/followers of your main contents channel(Blogs/Youtube/or other SNS)
• The number of followers of all SNS such as TG Group/Twitter other than the channel where publishes the main contents
• The average number of views count of articles
• Total number of view counts of articles during the quarter

We understand that it is difficult to quantify one’s contribution and express it only in numbers. However, in order to create an objective indicator of what can contribute to IOST, we feel the need to review node partners by quantitative numbers.

For that reason, we also value the following points.

• Has the view count in the channel increased from last quarter?
• How much did the node voluntarily produce IOST contents, and what evaluation did the contents receive?
• Does the node have the ability to proceed with the event with the IOST?

(Meetup, Online AMA, On/offline event that will increase the number of the IOST community)

Others

We have identified the two main areas we want to focus on most and explained them. However, IOST is open to proposals from our ecosystem. You can suggest to us your own ideas that you think can improve the IOST ecosystem to the next level.

If there is a good way to contribute to the development of the IOST ecosystem, please convey your thoughts to the IOST Foundation.

Q2 Contribution Plans, Submission Dates, and Deadlines

For contributors interested in making significant contributions to the IOST ecosystem in Q2 2021, here are some dates to be aware of;

The Deadline for Q2 contribution plans is Sunday 4th of April at 3 pm (UTC). Late submissions run the risk of not being considered.

Contribution plans should be submitted via email to the following depending on your region:

• Japan Region: jp@iost.io
• Korea Region: kr@iost.io
• International (Rest of): kuda@iost.io

When putting the contribution plans together please include the following;

• Clearly state what your contribution is going to be and please try to not be vague,
• Please state significant milestones that will be used to assess progress during the quarter (this applies more so to technical contributions),
• Any performance metrics that you will be keeping track of and/or sharing with IOST,
• How often/frequent you will be providing updates (ideally it should not be longer than two weeks without some sort of update, although there may be exceptions),
• In the case of new technical contributions, you can also share closely related solutions that you may have built in the past,
• Finally, your expected rewards (in USDT) for delivering on those commitments

IOST Foundation’s responses to contribution plans will be sent Saturday 10th of April, 3 pm (UTC). And for those plans that are approved, the teams can proceed to start their work as soon as possible.