You’re right that offering gas subsidies on Namechain isn’t a meaningful builder incentive, since fees will be trivial. I had overlooked that, but the spirit of the design still has merit.
It’s worth exploring this further in the context of rewarding verified, ENS-aligned participants — perhaps through a “voters-as-builders” or “verified builders” pilot.
How can we structure alignment between voters, builders, and the protocol itself? Let’s naively scope what it means to become a “verified, ENS-aligned delegate” and how a rewards system could work.
Scope: "Aligned Identity
Baseline criteria for a verified, ENS-aligned delegate :
- Delegate record set (onchain, self-selected identity).
- PoH (e.g., Dentity or World ID).
For simplicity, assume these two conditions define an Aligned Identity the DAO can track whenever someone participates in governance.
We could design a Watcher that monitors governance activity and batches verified participants:
# alignment watcher (pseudocode)
def is_verified_delegate(address):
return has_delegate_record(address) and is_poh_verified(address)
def track_aligned_voters(proposal_id):
aligned_voters = []
for voter in get_voters(proposal_id):
if is_verified_delegate(voter):
aligned_voters.append(voter)
return aligned_voters
This renders a per-proposal list of “aligned and verified” participants.
Rewards distribution logic
Rather than gas subsidies, distribute wENS: an internal, redeemable unit (think “ENS miles”), earned for aligned participation and developer actions.
# wENS distribution (pseudocode)
def distribute_wens(aligned_voters, reward_pool_ens):
per_voter = reward_pool_ens / max(1, len(aligned_voters))
for voter in aligned_voters:
mint_wens(voter, per_voter)
- where
reward_pool_ensis funded by treasury allocations or recycled protocol revenue. wENSis a non-transferable ERC-5192 until redemption, to signal verified alignment rather than invite farming.
Hypothetical Mechanism: Sequencer fee recycling
If the DAO later captures revenue from sequencer fees, recycle it into ENS buybacks to back new wENS issuance—an options-style rewards program for aligned contributors.
# loop for ENS buybacks and wENS issuance
def reflexive_buyback():
revenue = get_protocol_revenue()
ens_bought = buy_ens_on_open_market(revenue)
mint_wens_backed_by(ens_bought)
log_event("reflexive_cycle_complete", ens_bought)
- where
revenuecaptures DAO or sequencer fees - where
ens_boughtapplies soft buy pressure - where
mint_wens_backed_by(ens_bought)issues wENS to verified participants
This lets ENS function as its own internal economy, where verified builders (voters are builders) earn redeemable claims (wENS) on the protocol’s long-term value.