Overview

Toban is a DAO Tool that realizes the simplest and most effective way of recording contributions and distributing rewards. It supports contribution tracking and reward distribution in a way that aligns with the operational needs of internet-native collaborative activities. It mainly aims to support sustainable activities in open-source software (OSS) communities, collaborative art creation, and DAO-based regional revitalization projects. By providing role-based contribution tracking and reward distribution based on contribution levels, Toban promotes the long-term growth of communities.

Objective

Toban's objective is to provide a system where every contribution in internet-native collaborations is recognized and properly evaluated, leading to sustainable activities. Projects and communities conducted over the internet have the potential to create new value through the collaboration of diverse individuals, unrestricted by distance or time. However, volunteer and remote-based contributions often go undervalued, and the lack of proper reward mechanisms can make it difficult to sustain participation. Toban aims to increase the number of projects where contributions are recorded and visualized so that participants are recognized and rewarded.

Additionally, although Toban originated in Japan, it is being developed in collaboration with contributors from across Asia, ensuring interoperability with global DAO tools and protocols. This allows Toban to offer a unique approach rooted in Japanese and Asian culture while also providing new insights and perspectives to other global projects.

Features

While there are other DAO tools for tracking contributions and distributing rewards, Toban's key feature is its "Role-Based Rewards Distribution" system. Traditional task-based contribution tracking often becomes cumbersome and prone to being overlooked, making it difficult to sustain. Peer-based evaluation systems can also introduce subjective bias, sometimes leading to all participants being rated similarly, diluting the value of the evaluation. There are also tools that calculate contribution scores based on activity on platforms like GitHub or Discord, but these struggle to capture contributions made outside the platform.

Toban addresses these issues through the following elements:

• Contribution Tracking: Toban records contributions based on slightly abstracted "roles" while also offering a mechanism to capture smaller contributions through P2P token distribution.
• Reward Distribution: When a project generates revenue or receives donations, Toban calculates contribution levels based on contribution time, P2P token balances, and role-based weighting, automatically distributing rewards. The system is built using tools like Splits and Superfluid to manage ERC20 and native tokens.
• Interoperability: Toban is designed to be interoperable with other DAO tools and protocols, such as Hats Protocol, DAOHAUS, and ENS, enabling flexible decision-making and reward distribution that scale with the community’s size and growth.

Target Users

• Communities or project teams involved in internet-native activities
• DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) or communities looking to implement contribution-based reward systems
• Projects aiming to automate contribution tracking and evaluation, boosting participant motivation

Roadmap

• 2024.09: Release of smart contracts and CLI prototype
• 2024.10: Start of internal proof-of-concept testing
• 2024.11: Release of the web interface prototype and introduction to external projects
• 2024.12: Collection of user feedback and feature improvements
• 2025.01: Beta release on the mainnet
• 2025.02: Expansion of the user and developer community

Development Stage

Toban is currently in the prototype phase and is being developed as an open-source project. Contributions from the developer community are being encouraged through GitHub, and the system is being tested and improved through real-world projects.