Decentraland DAO subsidizes polygon gas fees to improve user experience

This proposal passed in May 2022 with overwhelming support and has since been enacted. There were 42 votes in favor (6,015,377 voting power) and only 3 votes against (4,335 voting power).

Authored by Nacho, this governance proposal means that the DAO will subsidize all gas fees for each meta-transaction on the Polygon network. This means users can publish, list, bid, and buy wearables without paying fees. This improves the user experience for users and reduces the barrier to entry. This governance proposal was a follow-up from a prior grant proposal that sought $45,000 in funding for the same purpose.

Integrating subsidies at the governance level means this will be a permanent and ongoing program unless the Decentraland DAO decides to repeal it.    

Biconomy, a meta-transaction relayer, provides the DAO with a personalized gas tank that covers the cost of meta-transactions. This proposal ensures that the gas tank remains filled, and the DAO will cover the cost. As Decentraland onboards more users, logistic approaches similar to this proposal become more vital to ensure continued growth and ease of accessibility.  

The motivation behind this governance proposal as well as enhancing overall user experience, grounds itself in economics. The fees received from the Decentraland marketplace generate revenue for the DAO; thus, the proposal helps create a flywheel effect.

The revenue the DAO receives from the marketplace fees outweighs the subsidy cost of transactions. Users who do not have to pay for transactions are more active and make more transactions, equating to more revenue for the DAO. With increased income, the DAO can fund more grants bringing more users to Decentraland, and the flywheel continues spinning. The exact opposite is true. When users have to pay for transactions, it discourages marketplace participation and subsequently reduces the DAO’s income, reducing its ability to fund initiatives and onboard new users.

Nacho did make exceptions for free wearables and wearables costing less than 1 MANA, stating his reason for doing so:

Note that to avoid potential attacks or abuse situations where the gas tank could be emptied, claiming/buying wearables for free or less than 1 MANA is not going to be covered by the meta-transactions model.

This proposal has funded the gas tank for all meta-transactions in Decentraland since it was enacted early last year. The DAO Committee retains responsibility for trading MANA for MATIC to fill the gas tank hosted on the Biconomy platform. A real nuts and bolts proposal helping improve the user experience for every active user in Decentraland.

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