Gitcoin has helped to fund nearly $70 million in public goods over 15 rounds organized, operated, and protected by Gitcoin.
Gitcoin has helped to fund nearly $70 million in public goods over 15 rounds organized, operated, and protected by Gitcoin.
Now, we are using our experience and years of software development to deliver a set of protocols that other projects can operate and tailor to the needs of their communities.
In addition, we would like to share the data analysis Gitcoin has used to operate, and protect, those 15 funding rounds.
Additionally, as Gitcoin seeks to decentralize Gitcoin grants, we also strive to decentralize the Sybil defense, grant review, and data science aspects of our grants programs.
And what better way to share those approaches and help the broader community to learn and improve upon these techniques than a hackathon?
The Open Data Science Hackathon is an open data science hackathon to support public goods, led by GitcoinDAO’s FDD workstream.
The hackathon aims to nurture an open data science community to play a crucial role in defending and growing web3 and open approaches to innovation.
Data scientists and analysts will be able to win prizes by contributing useful models and insights. Any organization or individual interested in protecting communities from malicious actors and in funding public goods through funding rounds will find something valuable in these hackathons and the broader open data science community.
The Open Data Science Hackathon runs from 10/3 - 10/31. Prizes total $18,250, and will be split among the top finishers in three categories: Sybil Slayers, Human Hackers, and Dune Detectives!
Keep reading to learn more about the origins of the ODS Hackathon, and how to participate!
One of the most important aspects of the Gitcoin Grants ecosystem is Sybil defense: it’s how we ensure credibly fair grants rounds.
As you know, only a limited number of matching funds are available from our Ecosystem partners. Without effective Sybil defense, bad actors inevitably find a way to game the system and siphon those funds away from honest grantees playing by the rules.
Successful Sybil attacks harm the overall Gitcoin grants ecosystem, which is why we prioritize defending grants rounds from Sybil attackers, using both software and human-powered grants review.
In GR15 and previous grants rounds, this work has been done by FDD and their superstar team of grant reviewers to ensure that bad actors were not exploiting grants rounds.
Contributors from other workstreams in the DAO have often contributed data analysis and data visualization projects to make sense of Sybil defense and analyze grants round activity of grantees, partners, and those making donations.
For example, here’s the Dune analytics dashboard for GR15-check it out if you haven’t already! 🧙
As Gitcoin seeks to decentralize Gitcoin grants, we also strive to decentralize the Sybil defense, grant review, and data science aspects of our grants programs.
Just as Quadratic Funding(QF) and decentralized grants protocols are public goods, so are Sybil defense and applied data science for the decentralized grants rounds of tomorrow.
With our first ODS Hackathon, we are laying the groundwork to build a community of data scientists to build the next generation public goods for Sybil defense and data science for the grants programs of tomorrow!
One thing that makes the ODS Hackathon unique is that we will be hacking on previous Gitcoin grants funding data.
We welcome any individual or group that wants to use data science to make public goods funding more resilient to adversaries, fairer, and more efficient.
Keep reading for the step-by-step process to get started.
We’ll explain how to develop a project idea, apply, and find your team!
To join the hackathon, we suggest that you:
To join the ODS Hackathon the first thing is to have a look at the three categories, and check out some Sybil defense projects from GR15.
The three categories are:
👾 Sybil Slayer - Interrogate large datasets to find new ways to identify Sybil attackers. ($10,000 in prizes)
🧑🔬 Human Hacker - Create new ways to decentralize grant reviewing in ways that maintain quality and reliability ($7,500 in prizes)
🕵️ Dune Detective - Design novel dashboards that are useful to grants rounds contributors and managers ($1,750 in prizes)
The following post is a great primer on how Gitcoin thinks about Sybil defense, and how that fits into the context of decentralizing Gitcoin grants.
To register for the Open Data Science Hackathon, click here.
Also, multiple sub-contests and challenges will be launched on October 3rd!
Once you’ve registered for the hackathon, it’s time to find your team!
Chat with other hackers, ask sponsors and the Gitcoin team questions, find or create a team, and communicate real-time. Jump into the channel here.
Hackathon bounties will be posted soon to the Prize Explorer!
We will announce these as they’re posted. The best way to follow is by checking the Discord channel for the hackathon, Twitter, and checking the Prize Explorer in the days leading up to the event.
That’s all for now. If you’d like to do a deep dive into how Gitcoin thinks about Sybil defense and decentralizing public goods, we’ve put together this reading list for you below.
Happy hacking and more to come!
We’ve included some links about how we are thinking about Sybil defense and mitigation and Gitcoin, and how we are working to create solutions.
Streamlining Sybil Defense, by Disruption Joe (FDD Lead)Closing the Gap between FDD and Gitcoin Passport Sybil Defenses, by j-cook