Grant Proposal - Usher: Rewards Protocol

Project Title
Usher: Rewards Protocol

Description
Usher’s rewards protocol allows for the allocation and re-allocation of on-chain assets to participant wallet addresses based on off-chain data.

This off-chain data can be brought on-chain via an Oracle network or can be pushed directly from an authority wallet – like a multi-sig wallet.

The premise of this set of Smart Contracts is to allow a DAO or Brand to allocate a pool of funds for a specific purpose/project and then allow for open participation for achieving this purpose, whereby the activities performed by the participants directly affects their allocation of rewards.

Consider a scenario where a DAO would like to incentivise open community moderation with a budget.
With this new development, this DAO would be able to allocate funds to this project, in the form of funding this Smart Contract, and then adjust the rewards earned by each moderator that has opted in to openly participate.
Each moderator can then earn equity in this pool of funds based on their performance in comparison with other moderators.

Consider another scenario, a part of Usher’s value proposition, where a DAO would like to incentivise the sharing and promotion of a project, and therefore rewards promoters from a pre-determined pool of funds proportional to their promotional performance.

Once the funds are unlocked, at the end of a given period, using some custom logic, or determined manually, participants can then claim their allocated rewards.

If participants need to undergo some verification, a verifier’s wallet signature can be included in each reward claim, which is then verified on-chain to ensure that some authorising body has verified that the given participant can successfully claim their rewards.

Manifesto/Vision
It should be simple to manage the allocation and re-allocation of real-time equity (tokens) from off-chain data.
Through this mechanism and an open-source set of Smart Contracts, the intent is to enable DAOs to reliably drive action and complete goals through performance-based rewards and open participation.

Problem
Currently, there is no way to manage equity allocation in a pool of funds or set of rewards using off-chain data, with the intent to allocate rewards proportional to a participant’s performance at achieving some goal.

Solution
A set of Smart Contracts capable of accepting some stake of rewards, and allocating portions of the reward pool to participants based on off-chain, voted on, and/or automated data.

Product Features

  • Stake ERC20 or Native Ethereum as a pool of funds
  • Allow authority wallet or Smart Contract address to manage the allocation and re-allocation of staked rewards
  • Authority Smart Contract can request off-chain data via an Oracle Network
  • Unlock rewards for participants to claim after custom conditions are met
  • A verifier wallet address can be assigned to add another layer of verification requirement for participants to claim rewards
  • Allow Smart Contract to mint new tokens as a form of rewards where a mintable token Smart Contract has been assigned as the funding source

Validation
Referral programs that are integrated with cryptocurrency distribution have been proven to require such a protocol, however, generalising the protocol for use by DAOs for other efforts is the intent.

Progress
Validated the utility of such a set of Smart Contracts by developing on-chain integrated referral mechanisms that require the value proposition.

Differentiation (from other projects)
While this reward distribution mechanism is similar to what DAOs are already doing through Grant allocations, this protocol differs in that it introduces competitiveness over a pre-determined reward pool.

Team
I’m a project & talent manager, software engineer and tinkerer working on Usher. We’ve participated in and been rewarded in hackathons that were hosted by Arweave and Humanode.

Prior to Usher, I experimented with NFT art and Smart Contract development to dive deep into Web3.

At Usher, I work alongside two software engineers, who are supporting the development of our rewards protocol and web3 infrastructure project.

Our collective experience includes expertise in architecting and delivering software solutions in Web2 such as developing software for manufacturing facilities, low-level systems programming as well as experience at Web3 startups.

Grant Request $
$10,000+

What the Funds Are For
The funds will be allocated to the talent devoted to the development.

Help Requested
Exposure to DAOs that may be interested in more dynamic approaches to treasury management and project reward allocation.

Additional Resources, Links, Portfolio
https://usher.so/brands
https://github.com/usherlabs
https://twitter.com/usher_web3