I wanted to share some thoughts and open a discussion regarding translation bounty rewards for ENS. First off, I truly appreciate the personal contribution I received from @validator.eth —thank you for the 500 USDC (18 $ens) donation from your personal wallet. I know that wasn’t an official ENS or DAO payout, and I’m grateful for your support.
That said, based on a discussion back in 2022 (check out the Public Goods. Translation of ENS into Russian – General Discussion), high-quality technical translations—especially for ENS and blockchain topics—are generally valued around 0.80 USDC per word. For my recent translation work, which amounts to roughly 3,900 words, that rate would translate to about 3,120 USDC.
I did this work out of love for ENS and because I firmly believe that having the application in Spanish is key to accelerating adoption among Spanish speakers. However, if there is a bounty reward for such contributions, it’s only fair that it reflects the effort and technical expertise involved.
I’m very interested in continuing to contribute—translating ENS documentation into Spanish and eventually other languages. So, I’d like to ask: Is 0.80 USDC per word still the standard? What can I expect for future contributions? I’d love to get some clarity on the official reward structure so that our work is compensated fairly.
I’m not trying to attack anyone’s decision here—I’m simply trying to ensure that our contributions are valued transparently and in line with the community’s standards.
Hey, that’s really neat—glad to hear about your contribution! Based on the conversation in the referenced thread, I acknowledge that the discussed rate was 80 cents per word, denominated in USDC. However, to my knowledge, there is no recognized bounty or program for rewarding this work today—at least none that is legitimately tied to Labs or either of the Working Groups.
In fact, this rate and payout originated from a now-defunct Working Group, so I don’t think it should be reinforced in this case.
To be frank, the translation initiative was community-led, and the discussed rate may have been generous. To my understanding, it has never been standardized. At the time, LLMs were not widely available, yet translators offered similar services for as little as 0.01 cent per word. A quick search on Fiverr shows the service is now on hold, suggesting low market demand.
My personal take
I believe the 0.80 USDC per word rate should not be recognized today, as it is naive, does not reflect market reality, and originated from a discussion within a now-defunct Working Group. To my knowledge, there is no official translation program recognized by Labs or any active Working Group.
Moreover, with LLMs now widely available and human translation services historically priced as low as $0.01 per word, this indicates a low market demand for human translators.
Please note, I am not communicating this in any official capacity; I’m merely a solo contributor, just like you.
Hey, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Let me break down a few points:
Yeah, there isn’t an official translation bounty from Labs or an active WG. But our 2022 internal discussion clearly set a benchmark of 0.80 USDC per word. That rate wasn’t pulled out of thin air—it reflected the quality and effort required for technical ENS work.
Sure, that rate came from a WG that no longer exists. But just because the group dissolved doesn’t mean the standard is meaningless. Quality work still deserves quality pay.
It might not be formally codified, but it’s the best reference we have internally. Saying it’s “naive” ignores the fact that our work is specialized. Technical translations for ENS aren’t low-budget Fiverr gigs. We’re not in that market.
Fiverr rates or LLM outputs don’t count here. Those are for bulk, generic translations. Our work is deep, technical, and done with passion. Comparing 0.80 USDC per word to 0.01 cents per word is like comparing apples to oranges.
Our work speaks for itself—let’s value quality fairly. Thanks
Hey @imrulo.eth ! Thank you for your contribution.
I will comment on your post since I am the author of the thread you are linking to.
I was indeed paid $700 to translate the ENS app. It was a flat payment, and there was no rate used to calculate it. It was also the first translation initiative for the DAO, and one of the first initiatives in general, so the working groups had not yet formed any structured approach.
However, after the grant was paid, I was asked to do a word count to figure out rates. It turned out that I was paid 80 cents per word translated, which is of course an inappropriate number if you are using a rate rather than paying a flat grant.
Further, the rate of 80 cents/word was never used, despite this post:
After that we discussed the rate again personally with the working group and came to the conclusion that 0.80 USDC/word is much higher than the market, which was then around 10 cents per word.
So, the final rate was decided to be something in the region of 0.18-0.22$, since the translation of ENS app/docs was burdened by the technical and contextual nature and was then used in all translation initiatives in DAO. @estmcmxci correct me if I’m wrong.
Hey @danch.quixote, appreciate the insight—it’s good to see how that $700 flat fee came about, and how it ended up near $0.80 per word by coincidence.
It totally makes sense that back then, everything was brand-new, so there wasn’t a strict formula. But now that more people want to do translations, having a clear, consistent approach would help everyone. That way, we can ensure fair pay for specialized work—and avoid confusion about whether a rate is “too high” or “too low.”
Thanks for sharing your experience—it really helps guide how we set a proper standard moving forward!
Are you suggesting that you were involved in that discussion? I don’t recall that—can you verify?
—
This transaction shows 2750 USDC sent from the defunct Working Group multisig to your provided deposit address, as referenced here. It was posted on June 19, 2022, about nine days after your cited post.
Can you verify whether this transaction is consistent with your work translating the documentation into Russian?
—
That’s right, I can attest that you and I, along with others involved in your translation initiative, did have this conversation off the record. However, it was never formalized and therefore shouldn’t be used as a precedent—nor should the rate discussed years ago.
Should these community-led translation initiatives merit a formal bounty or program? If so, who would be accountable for maintaining it, and what, if any, compensation should be included?
I’ll go on record to say that I don’t believe a formal bounty or program should be created; instead, rewards should be discretionary and granted on a case-by-case, ad hoc basis.
@estmcmxci I appreciate your time, but you’re missing the core issue: the DAO lacks a clear system to reward specialized work like translations.
You say you don’t speak for the DAO, yet question how we call this “our” discussion. This is a shared DAO space—everyone has a right to say “ours.”
You dismiss the 2022 discussion but offer no new approach. If 0.80 is outdated, propose a better system. We’re not asking for freebies. We want a transparent way to pay people for serious work that benefits ENS.
ENS is finally in Spanish—because someone had the will to make it happen. This isn’t about generic Fiverr gigs; it’s about passion and specialized work.
ENS related materials are not some kindergarden level books - these are very complicated texts which require deep understanding of the protocol and broad agenda.
We (JustaName) are happy to help doing the translation to French the day it becomes important to the community.
It’s not exactly our focus, but we understand ENS and its context enough, to ensure the french technical documentation is perfect.
