[Formal Review 🌿][v2] - Remove name registration fee

[abbey]

This is the official formal review and second Snapshot poll for adjusting the name registration fee. This post revives the Remove name registration proposal and resubmits it for formal review so it can meet participation requirements and move into the final phase of governance.

@Delegates Please review the proposal and vote in the Snapshot poll by 16:00 GMT - Monday, February 21st.

Proposal Champions

Nassar Hayat - @nas | nas#9634
Abbey Titcomb - @abbey | abbey#5646
Cloudhead - @cloudhead | cloudhead#2904

Description

This proposal is to set the Radicle name registration fee to 0 ("setRadRegistrationFee(uint256)" 0).

The goal of this initiative is to support the adoption of Radicle features by reducing the cost and effort required to create & link on-chain identities (ENS names).

Purpose & Background

Today’s hosted platforms benefit from the network effects that come with centralized server-side data hosting. Peer-to-peer systems lack this global namespace and the discoverability that comes with it. With Radicle Registrar, you can register globally unique names under the radicle.eth domain (e.g. cloudhead.radicle.eth) for Radicle profile and Orgs. These are interoperable and self-sovereign usernames that resolve to an Ethereum address. They can be used to recognize users not only within the Radicle network, but also throughout the global Ethereum network.

In order to register a name with the Radicle Registrar (to acquire a radicle.eth name) it cost 10 RAD:

Relevant Forum Discussions

[Temperature Check] Remove name registration fee

Currently, registering a name costs 10 RAD. Though in itself, the amount is high in $ terms, another issue is that we require all users to buy RAD before registering a name. This means they have to go on Uniswap and exchange some ETH or USDC for RAD, before being able to register a name. Since name registration is integral to creating an identity on Radicle as well as creating an Org, and is part of the onboarding process, any friction there will slow down growth of the network. I propose that…

[Discussion] Remove name registration fee

The official discussion for the Remove name registration fee proposal. With this post, the proposal has entered the second phase of the governance process. Please review the drafted proposal and contribute feedback by Friday, November 26th. Proposal Champions Nassar Hayat - @nas | nas#9634 Cloudhead - @cloudhead | cloudhead#2904 Description We’d like the radicle name registration fee to be removed. The goal of this initiative is to support the adoption of Radicle Orgs by reducing cost and e…

[Formal Review ][v1] - Remove name registration fee

This is the official draft and Snapshot poll for adjusting the name registration fee. With this post, the proposal has entered the third phase of the governance process. Please formally review the proposal and vote in the Snapshot poll by :rotating_light:21:00 GMT - Monday, December 6th Proposal Champions Nassar Hayat - @nas | nas#9634 Cloudhead - @cloudhead | cloudhead#2904 Description We’d like the radicle name registration fee to be removed. The goal of this initiativ…

Reasoning & Analysis

To register a Radicle name, if a user doesn’t have RAD they have to exchange something in order to get RAD (cc @bordumb for the user flow).

This incurs 3 bits of overhead:

• The time it takes to exchange something for RAD
• The opportunity cost of making that exchange (e.g. volatility of RAD)
• The gas costs to make that exchange

For a feature that’s meant to be as easy as registering a username, the current RAD fee introduces a barrier to entry/adoption that diminishes user experience. Additionally, current L1 gas prices add far too much cost to be assumed by the average user.

While the fee was originally set as a way to create utility and drive demand for RAD, the positive effect of value captured with the fee is nominal when compared to the experienced negative effect of user drop-off when onboarding. We believe that the positive network effects of designing for easiest adoption & onboarding will result in a more substantial net-gain for the project.

Technical Implementation

Drafted proposal code can be found in the alt-clients org, in the radicle-governance repository.

https://app.radicle.network/alt-clients.radicle.eth/rad:git:hnrkeoptyqxgg5rwjdaqxo47y6odkxitgc51y/tree/64dcc28bdec74e0f0c7649853c635c30dc1d3559/proposals/set-name-registration-fee-to-zero.proposal

This change to the registration to remove a RAD fee will be in place indefinitely, unless superseded by a future proposal reinstating the price.

Impact

This proposal will make it easier and less expensive for new users to onboard which we believe will help support long-term adoption of Radicle features.

This includes:

• Radicle Orgs: Registering & linking a radicle.eth name allows Orgs to be discovered and identified by a unique name and additional info. This makes Orgs more functional and usable as a means for maintaining a public organizational identity.

  without an ENS name
  

  

  with an ENS name
  

  

• RadCLI: An upcoming Radicle CLI tool developed by the @Alt-Clients team will allow users to register radicle.eth names from the command-line, making it easier than every to acquire a unique on-chain identity. Reducing the steps required would improve user experience of the CLI.

@Delegates Please review the proposal and vote in the Snapshot poll by 16:00 GMT - Monday, February 21st

[shelb_ee]

As an active delegate in the Radicle community, I want to state I am planning on voting in favor of this proposal. I believe it will help reduce on-boarding friction and make Orgs far more functional for their purpose of maintaining a public identity.

You can delegate to me to vote on your behalf for this proposal and future proposals. All delegation happens through Sybil, but any RAD delegated can be used to vote in on-and off-chain (Snapshot) votes.

You can find my delegation address and links to instructions on how to delegate on the Active Delegate Platform. I plan to vote on this proposal on Monday, Feb 21 at 12:00pm CET. Please delegate your RAD before this time.

[fintohaps]

Free registration for the masses! Happy to say I voted “For”

[lftherios]

I am supportive too.

[abbey]

I’ve voted ‘For’ this proposal. I think it’s a low-touch way to reduce barrier to adoption of Ethereum-based Radicle features. I think prioritizing user experience is important at this stage in our “quest” to find product-market fit.

Excited to see it implemented

[shelb_ee]

This proposal was PASSED unanimously in the recent Snapshot poll (see final results).

This proposal will now move to the final stage of Radicle’s governance process.