The Stellar Community Fund Evolves to Support New Projects built on the Stellar Network

The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) has played a crucial role in the Stellar ecosystem since its inception in 2016. As we approach the groundbreaking Soroban Mainnet launch, which introduces smart contract functionality to the Stellar public network, SCF is set for its fifth iteration.

The recent expansion of SCF marks a significant stride in bootstrapping the ecosystem, on the Stellar native smart contract platform Soroban. This initiative has been crucial in fostering the development of innovative tools and applications within the Stellar network. With an impressive allocation of nearly $10M in XLM* to over 130 projects in 2023 alone, SCF demonstrates its commitment to scaling up support for blockchain innovation.

Discover What's New in SCF

Neural Quorum Governance: Revolutionizing Reputation-Based Voting

Central to SCF 5.0 is the introduction of Neural Quorum Governance, a new governance and voting mechanism explicitly designed for SCF in collaboration with R&D firm BlockScience.

This mechanism is modeled after neural networks and contains layered voting neurons that allow members to adjust their voting weights based on their expertise, trust given by peers, and historical contributions to the SCF. In addition, voters can delegate their weighted votes to a group (or quorum) of other individuals, which draws inspiration from the Stellar Consensus Protocol.

Common issues across voting mechanisms include inaccurate sentiment of the larger community, voter fatigue and apathy, as well as a lack of growth in the core group of voters. NQG aims to solve these issues in SCF by

• Distributing voting weight across community members in a fair, transparent, and decentralized way in alignment with the SCF’s objectives;
• Fostering higher engagement by empowering members to grow their reputation within the community;
• Providing greater flexibility on voting responsibilities when a voter has limited availability or expertise;
• Making it more accessible for newcomers to join, which is necessary for the success of Stellar and Soroban.

The first implementation of Neural Quorum Governance is built on Soroban on testnet, and the pilot Community Vote phase of SCF #20. For the foreseeable future Community Vote will still be used as a signaling mechanism to determine the final award allocation as we adjust the inner workings based on results and feedback in the coming months, but we aim to be fully reliant on the new voting mechanism by mid-2024.

Dive deeper into the Neural Quorum Governance design in this blog post by BlockScience, and explore its integration on Soroban in an insightful piece by one of the lead engineers. We’ll link all updates and information of our progress in the SCF Handbook.

Revamped SCF Website: A Portal to the Thriving Stellar Community

We are thrilled to unveil the redesigned Stellar Community Fund website at communityfund.stellar.org. This refresh better mirrors our active and diverse community, showcasing successful projects and offering enhanced user experience and transparency. The new site features an organized project directory, a vibrant community section, and an integrated dashboard with an intuitive UI for both submission and review processes.

Image of the new SCF Dashboard

Optimized Award Structure for Blockchain Innovators

The SCF now features a more streamlined award structure, catering specifically to blockchain project needs. The Activation Award and Community Award, each with its own distinct criteria and benefits, are designed to support projects at different stages of development, ensuring a smoother path to success in the Stellar ecosystem.

• New projects can apply for an Activation Award up to $50K worth of XLM* for 1-1.5 months of development work to demonstrate their commitment to the project. Activation Awards are allocated directly by a distributed review panel consisting of both Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) and SCF verified members following a week of review.
• If the project completes deliverables successfully, they can then apply for a Community Award for up to $100K worth of XLM* for 2-3 months of development work. Community Awards are allocated through the input from a Community Vote, final decisions are made by the review panel. Projects can apply for additional Community Awards according to the resubmission guidelines

Charting the Path Forward: Sneak Peek of What's to Come

While we’ve made big leaps with the Stellar Community Fund, our journey doesn't stop here. Here’s a sneak peek into the next set of initiatives on the horizon:

• Automate Verified Member tiers to increase community participation;
• Renew the SCF Startup Camp and make it funnel directly into SCF Awards;
• Collaboration with growth partners (accelerators, incubators) to support projects;
• Adding security audit credits and infrastructure credits;
• And more!

If you’re looking to build on Stellar and Soroban, we encourage you to submit your project. If you'd like to get involved in governance, become a Verified Member and join the Stellar Developer Discord today!

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*To determine the number of XLM equal to the USD value of any Award, the USD valuation of XLM shall be calculated using the CF Stellar Lumens-Dollar Settlement Price as administered, maintained, and reported by the cryptocurrency index provider CF Benchmarks Ltd. (using the ticker “XLMUSD_RR”) (available at https://www.cfbenchmarks.com/indices/XLMUSD_RR), or, if such settlement price is unavailable or reasonably suspected by SDF to be unreliable, the settlement price as reported on a substantially similar and equally reputable cryptocurrency index provider as determined by the SDF in its discretion. The USD valuation of XLM for any particular Award shall be calculated using the CF Stellar Lumens-Dollar Settlement Price (or other agreed upon settlement price) reported on the day such Award is scheduled to be paid. The Participants acknowledge and understand that XLM is a highly risky and volatile asset, and that SDF does not provide any representations, warranties, or guarantees of its value.