The emergence of Carbonvote 2.0

Carbonvote.com's 2024 upgrade intends for it to be utilized in the Ethereum community, serving as a platform for gauging community sentiment on proposals related to the Ethereum network and as a tool that can be used for similar purposes in other community affairs.

This platform allows users to vote on issues offering a space for decentralized decision-making.

Background:

Carbonvote.com was a website built across several teams in the Ethereum Community. It facilitated a signaling mechanism for Ethereum stakeholders to express their preferences on important decisions. In the context of the DAO attack, it was used to conduct a carbon vote, a type of vote in which participants indicate their preferences by casting a certain amount of votes proportional to their stake in the network.

Carbonvote.com played a role in the aftermath of the 2016 Ethereum DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) attack. As a response to the attack, one proposed solution was a fork in the Ethereum blockchain, which would roll back the transactions associated with the DAO attack. This proposal led to a significant debate within the Ethereum community. (See Repo)

Ethereum stakeholders were asked to vote on whether they supported the implementation of a hard fork to reverse the effects of the DAO attack. The carbon vote on carbonvote.com showed that a significant majority of the community supported the hard fork option.

The name “Carbonvote” is composed of two elements: “Carbon” and “vote”. In this context, “Carbon” symbolizes something fundamental and elemental. Just like Carbonvote is a fundamental governance tool in the Ethereum community it provides the functionality of poll voting and counting for big community decisions.

Objective & Carbonvote V2.0:

The DAO incident and the subsequent hard fork highlighted the challenges and complexities inherent in decentralized governance, with divergent perspectives within the community on how to address critical issues. For this upgrade, beta.carbonvote.com needs to address some known issues found in the previous implementation.

As the Ethereum community continues to evolve, there is a recognition of the need for improved signaling mechanisms and platforms like Carbonvote.com to facilitate community input on proposed upgrades and changes. The development of effective and inclusive tools for signaling and decision-making remains a priority for fostering consensus and maintaining the decentralized nature of the Ethereum network.

To address the goal of going beyond Zuzalu and creating advanced signaling tools for the Ethereum community, especially in the context of discussing potential hard forks, it’s important to consider the specific needs and concerns of core developers. The aim is to provide a platform that not only facilitates community input but also ensures the legitimacy of proposals, instilling confidence in core developers.

Key Features

CarbonVote is a platform that enables the creation of polls, with real-time display of results. It supports two types of polls: EthHolding and HeadCounting.

A. Voting Methods:

A.1 EthHolding Method:

• Utilizes smart contracts for on-chain voting.
• Dynamically calculates ETH held by each voting address.
• Voters cast zero-valued ballots to specific addresses, determining Yes or No based on the transaction destination.
• Real-time display of total ETH voted for each option during the voting process.

A.2 HeadCounting Method:

• Each voter's vote has equal weight.
• Results displayed in real-time.
• Introduces a Credentials system.

B. Current Features: Credential Checking System

B.1 Credential Types:

• Zupass Credential (Zuzalu Ticket Holders, Zuconnect Ticket Holders, Devconnect Ticket Holders):
  • Requires holding specific Zupass tickets for voting.
  • Integrates well with Zupass for authentication.
• Gitcoin Passport Credential:
  • Requires an authenticated Gitcoin passport with a score above zero for voting (test version).
  • Allows customization of score thresholds in future releases.
• Ethereum Events POAPS Credential:
  • Requires a user's wallet to have a certain number of Ethereum events POAPS for voting.
  • Verification methods include API and smart contract.
• Protocol Guild Membership Credential:
  • Corresponds to the HeadCounting method that each vote has the same weight.
  • Requires the user's address to be on the list of protocol guild members, verified using a smart contract which is similar to EthHolding poll.

C. Upcoming Features:

C.1 Usage of Secret Message:

• Allows users to prove ownership of an account by sending a transaction with a locally-generated secret message, providing an optimized method for user verification.

C.2 Changes in Storage:

• Shifts all polls to Web 3.0 stacks, making polling data transparent and aligning with the vision of CarbonVote becoming a dApp.

C.3 Poll Counting for Different Groups:

• Allows polls to be open to multiple credential groups.
• Counts votes of each group individually, providing a better reflection of diverse views.
• Supports overlapping credentials within groups.

C.4 Optimized Storage Methods:

• Explores cost-effective ways of storing and deploying polls while preserving validation possibilities.
• Considers methods such as off-chain signatures and storing on IPFS.

Build with us!

Explore Carbonvote 2.0 - Now Open for Testing! 🚀

We're excited to announce that Carbonvote 2.0 is now open for testing! Dive into the beta version and experience the latest features at beta.carbonvote.com. Your feedback is invaluable as we strive to enhance and refine the platform.

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