Streaming Quadratic Funding is a real-time, open-ended implementation of QF (i.e. the mechanism used to allocate funding in this Gitcoin round!). In SQF, donations/votes are continuous streams rather than one-off transfers. Changes to donation stream values immediately (and gas-efficiently) adjust each grantee’s live quadratic matching stream. SQF can be thought of as calculating and distributing a quadratic matching round every block. This structure eliminates the discontinuities of the traditional QF round. It can increase public goods funding velocity, create long-term donor-grantee relationships, and enable optimized collective funding decisions anytime, anywhere.

Why SQF? QF’s killer value proposition for the average user is simple: “Your $1 can be matched x100+ to something you care about.”

But too often we are caught up explaining the math and relative allocation dynamics behind QF instead of focusing on the user impact. We can partly attribute this to the traditional round construct that requires time-bound voting, centralized grantee-to-grantee comparison, and after-the-fact matching distributions.

As a continuous allocation mechanism, SQF doesn’t face these same constraints. SQF can bring the free-rider-problem-busting quadratic matching formula to new contexts like a supercharged web3 Patreon or Buy Me Coffee-like widgets. Credible product and marketing decisions that elevate the matching value prop can be made because SQF donations have an immediate, visible impact on grantee payouts.

This approach is how we can spread the power of QF outside of our nerdy corner of the internet.

SQF’s Origins This project started in late 2023 as an experimental collaboration between the Geo Web, Superfluid, and the Gitcoin Allo team. The Geo Web had the idea to democratically allocate its partial common ownership land market fee streams to public goods in real-time. We successfully launched a pilot to run from February 21 to April 21. The reception was amazing with many reaching out to run SQF rounds and supporting the idea. This grant is the first official step to SQF becoming a standalone project outside the Geo Web (“What does augmented reality have to do with quadratic funding?”). Several pilot contributors will remain actively involved in the project, but we believe this SQF opportunity calls for its own identity and growing a dedicated team/community. Join our new Discord server to get involved as a contributor or user!

What’s Next

• We’re working with partner ecosystems and communities to understand their SQF use cases, develop a proper “product,” and launch new implementations:
• SQF round deployment & management tools
• Donation widgets & Frames
• Alternative voter eligibility criteria
• Improved donor UX (onramps, AA wallets, transaction batching, etc)
• A streaming quadratic voting implementation
• Grow the team and community!

Links

• Pilot UI - https://geoweb.land/governance
• Launch Blog - https://mirror.xyz/geoweb.eth/54RLkPhmWIcWP4B8QFlYbVY_M-fxaNqjqZF-5pe3WdI
• SQF Discord - https://discord.gg/mFX2TwhQRA