FYC: Telos Worker Proposal System

Below is the Telos Worker Proposal System (WPS), which outlines our proposal for how WPS funds will be claimed and then distributed via “workerproposal” contracts. We are releasing it in a still early form specifically to elicit community feedback and support as early as possible.

Telos Worker Proposal System

The Telos Network creates annual inflation of 1.5% which is dedicated to the Worker Proposal System (WPS). The Telos WPS funds are claimed each day when the first block producer or standby block producer executes the “claimrewards” action. These funds collect in the WPS account until they are allocated via the “workerproposal” contract.

Contract Components

The “workerproposal” contract may be executed by any Telos Member. The components of a workerproposal contract are as follows:

1. A unique, generated number which serves as the official title for the proposal

2. A common title for the proposal

3. A pointer to IPFS storage where the entire text of the proposal is stored

4. Hash of proposal text to ensure it is not edited after submission

5. The number of cycles (5 million blocks or approx 29 day each) that the payments will continue

6. A transaction which will be executed by the WPS account every 5 million blocks (~29 days) multiplied by the number of cycles if and when the proposal is accepted

7. A fee paid to the WPS contract that will be returned if the workerproposal reaches a minimum threshold of voting (eg. 3% of the requested amount with a minimum of 50 TLOS; minimum threshold of 20% YES vote amongst all votes and a minimum voting total (YES or NO) of at least 0.1% of all TLOS tokens at conclusion of voting)

For Example:

1. Proposal Number: 0000014AF (automatically generated)

2. “Proposal to purchase Google ad words for Telos network in January 2020 across UK, Ireland, Wales, and English-speaking Northern Europe”

3. Pointer to IPFS location containing text: “This proposal seeks to purchase the Google ad words “blockchain” “DPOS” “EOSIO” “fastest” and related words across UK, Ireland, Wales, and English-speaking Northern Europe as part of an ongoing effort to advance the Telos image in the region by ensuring it comes up among the top results any time a user searches for items such as “fastest DPOS blockchain.” The cost of the proposal is T5,500.0000 with a contingency of 10% to be applied to future proposals if not used (for example, this proposal incorporates funds from a 7% contingency fund not needed for the October-December 2019 proposal. Proposer’s fee of T385 is included for management and monitoring. This is the tenth proposal I have submitted on this workflow and the charts below document the results achieved so far, including a savings of 14% over expected rates due to strategic bundling of purchases. The Telos Google search rank has risen 29% in the region during this period indicating a high return on investment. This work is important and I have delivered every month for going on a year now. Please help this work continue.”

4. Hash: “548a8613f51cfe1863e3156d3f3e1a51656f55faad66ce”

5. 3 cycles

6. Transaction to execute: “send T5500.0000 to adwordguy111”

7. Filing deposit paid: T50.0000

Voting

Once submitted, the proposal will be registered on-chain in a table of active proposals. A portal page at TelosFoundation.io and other Telos voting sites will display all proposals along with YES, NO, and UNVOTE voting buttons that any voter may choose (and re-choose if they revise their vote) using an account access tool such as Scatter or a voting-enabled wallet such as Sqrl. Each vote will represent the total TLOS tokens in the voter’s account, staked or unstaked, without any weighting applied.

It will be the responsibility of the presenter and interested community to publicize each proposal. Community members in favor of or against the measure may lobby accordingly and proxies that manage Member votes for block producers and arbitrators will also vote Member tokens for all worker proposals.

In order to be accepted, a proposal must receive >50% YES votes over NO votes and a minimum of 5.0% of votes from all TLOS holders at the conclusion of voting, 5,000,000 blocks after the workerproposal is submitted (approximately 29 days). If a proposal reaches the minimum threshold of 20% YES vote and 0.1% of all TLOS tokens voting at the conclusion of voting, it will receive its deposit back. If it is accepted, then the transaction described in the proposal (5) will execute immediately, provided sufficient funds exist in the WPS account. If sufficient funds do not exist, transactions from accepted proposals will be queued to execute as soon as the WPS account accumulates sufficient funds, in the order accepted.

Workerproposals that include multiple cycles will recalculate the total votes and percentage tally at the beginning of each new cycle (5 million blocks). Proposals that continue to qualify will again be funded at the beginning of the new cycle. Proposals that no longer qualify will not be paid for that cycle, but may be paid in a future cycle, up to the number of cycles listed in the initial proposal. Voters may change or withdraw their vote from any proposal at any time.

The “workerproposal” contract will be registered on the network before eosio.system so that it will have access to unlimited system resources.

Proposals are paid in advance in order to provide necessary funds to enable the stated goal to be performed. If a proposer fails to deliver on the action promised by the proposal, the block producers (as informed by their voting constituents) will have the power to enquire about the reason for failing to achieve the stated goal. There may be legitimate reasons why goals were not reached. However, when the block producers suspect that the worker proposal recipient failed due to fraud or negligence, then the block producers may, by 2/3+1 vote elect to file an arbitration against the recipient on behalf of the WPS account to reclaim some or all of the proposal funds. The arbitration will proceed with Telos Elected Arbitrators (as defined in the Telos Network Operating Agreement) and any settlement will be transmitted to the WPS account.

Types of proposals

WPS proposals may be of any type. The intent is to improve or promote the Telos Network but there are no strict limits on proposals except that to be accepted they must win over TLOS token holders. Common types of proposals are likely to include funding to:

• Promote or advertise the Telos Network
• Present or support conferences, hackathons, meetups, code boot camps
• Create a specific tool or protocol to support the network
• Pay ongoing fees to development, marketing, or administrative staff
• Underwrite charitable works
• Burn excess tokens in order to reduce inflation
• Participate in EOSIO or general crypto trade organizations
• Underwrite the creation of documentation, tutorials, and templates for Telos smart contracts
• Produce video, infographic or other materials
• Underwrite the creation of free accounts for new users

Strategies for Success

Telos is not the first blockchain project to fund worker proposals in the interest of advancing the blockchain. In reviewing other, more mature projects, certain patterns emerge for proposals that succeed for both the network and proposal submitters:

• Ask for small amounts of funding, especially in initial proposals
• Build a reputation with voters based on promises delivered before seeking larger funding
• Consider proposals for ongoing funding for ongoing efforts, such as monthly funding for code testing and generation or regular month-to-month marketing efforts
• Focus on core functions for sustaining and promoting the blockchain
• Build support for your proposal within a group prior to submission
• Ensure that you can deliver on your promised actions, as failure to do so may impede your chances to be approved for future proposals and in extreme cases may cause your payment to be returned, in whole or part, to the WPS account due to arbitration action
• Initial proposals from any proposer should be for just one cycle to prove competency before proposing multi-month proposals
• Proposals that go on for multiple months may be proposed in a single proposal for efficiency and planning
• Multi-month proposals that are approved may fail in the future if voters revote, change their votes, or if new voters come in to vote against the proposal