As set out in the V1 Economics and Governance R&D page in the POKT DAO ERA hub, the purpose of this keystone is to:
define a minimum viable set of parameters against the V1 utility spec that ensure the Pocket economy’s adaptability, dynamism and sustainability.
So, what have we done so far?
Overview of mechanisms
While this took longer than we would have liked, we have worked with the protocol team to produce this spreadsheet that details the relevant mechanisms that each of the protocol team, PNF, BlockScience, and/or the community are to work on.
As you will see, certain mechanisms are defined already, meaning that we need to focus on researching the optimal parameter ranges for such mechanisms, as well as how we could refine such mechanisms to make them more efficient and easier to administer (ie to avoid PNF having to manually update it each week). And others are still to be defined, meaning that we need to fully specify a new mechanism and ensure that it aligns with our goals for v1.
BlockScience
We have onboarded with BlockScience to design an open source model of Pocket’s economic system. This model will be used for simulating the outputs of scenarios across different parameter ranges to better understand the trade-offs between different parameter ranges and the risks to be wary of. In short, this work will help us have more confidence in the starting parameters we choose for v1 and allow us to use this model to tweak these parameters in the future, too.
BlockScience has only been allocated mechanisms that are already defined. This will make the most of their expertise in modelling and simulating. The research into any new mechanisms will be led by the protocol team, PNF and/or the community.
See here for a blog post about the research method that underpins how the Block Science team works, and below for an overview of the timeline for BlockScience’s work:
Research led by the community, protocol team and/or PNF
As you will see from the spreadsheet, certain of the mechanisms have initially been allocated to the protocol team and PNF as well as @RawthiL @bulutcambazi (C0d3r) @shane and @poktblade as they have already expressed interest in such areas and have demonstrated to the community their capabilities and knowledge. We are still working with all of these contributors to finalise their approach and agree on timelines and how they plan to bring their work into the public.
What’s coming up next
We still need the community to take the lead in other areas, as set out in the status column in the spreadsheet, so please reach out if you would like to get involved!
In any case, no matter which contributor or group is the driver for the R&D regarding a particular mechanism or parameter, cross-community collaboration and participation are paramount, and the recommendations of any one contributor will never be final. The DAO will eventually discuss, debate and vote on all recommendations. In the meantime, members from different research subgroups are expected to exchange ideas, discuss challenges, and explore potential solutions with the broader Pocket community.
Please stay tuned for more updates as these research workstreams progress.