KIP-77 Research Initiative on Decentralized Digital and Blockchain-Based Nations and the Role of Kleros’ Suite of Products

Proposal
1

Summary

This proposal calls for Kleros to initiate and publish a research report on how Kleros’ suite of products can support newly created and emerging decentralized digital and blockchain-based nations. The research will map out use cases, identify partnership opportunities, and help position Kleros as a key infrastructure layer in the formation of decentralized digital and blockchain-based nations.

Motivation

With advances in the internet and blockchain technologies, we’re witnessing the rise of digital and blockchain-based nations, often referred to as Digital Micronations, Network States, or Decentralized Autonomous Nations (DANs).

However, a vast majority of these initiatives face several challenges in various areas, including identity and citizenship, justice and dispute resolution, and governance.

Kleros is not only uniquely positioned but critically essential to solving these challenges. By offering products like Kleros Court, Proof of Humanity, Curated Lists, Escrow, Governor, and others, Kleros can become a cornerstone of decentralized nation-building infrastructure.

Goals

This research aims to deliver actionable insights and strategic positioning for Kleros:

  • Landscape Analysis: Conduct a landscape analysis of digital and blockchain-based nations. Identify their core tenets, governance models, pain points, and challenges.
  • Kleros Solution Mapping: Map Kleros’ product suite to the challenges and detail how each Kleros product can address the identified challenges.
  • Partnership, Pilot Opportunity, and Recommendations: Identify partnership opportunities, potential pilot collaborations, and provide recommendations.
  • Active Engagement & Feedback: Actively engage with key stakeholders from these projects, explore potential integration opportunities, and gather actionable feedback to inform and improve Kleros’ offerings.

Benefits

This report offers substantial benefits to the Kleros ecosystem and mission:

  • Enhanced thought leadership: Establish Kleros as a leading authority and essential infrastructure provider in the nascent but rapidly growing field of decentralized nation-building.
  • Potential for partnerships: Provides a clear roadmap for making strategic alliances and partnerships with innovative decentralized digital nations projects.
  • PNK utility and adoption growth: Drives increased demand, utility, and adoption for PNK token and will contribute to the long-term value of PNK.
  • Mission Alignment: Directly contributes to Kleros’ mission of fostering individual freedom and justice by building foundational infrastructure for decentralized communities.
  • Strengthen Kleros’s Position: Strengthen Kleros’s position as a thought leader in decentralized governance and justice infrastructure.

Risks:

  • Low initial ROI.
    • Mitigation: The primary value of this report is long-term strategic value and market positioning, not immediate revenue. The cost of the report is an investment in future growth, returns, innovation, and brand leadership.
  • Perceived hostility with traditional nations.
    • Mitigation: The report will maintain a neutral, research-oriented tone, focusing on technological solutions and innovation rather than political advocacy.
  • Limited Immediate Adoption of Digital Nations.
    • Mitigation: Digital nations are emerging, and widespread adoption is long-term. The report aims to position Kleros as a prepared and forward-thinking decentralized solution.

Why This Matters

Kleros stands for accessibility, fairness, and transparent justice in the digital realm. Kleros’ mission is to enable individual freedom and justice using open-source software and research. If digital nations are to succeed, they must have a reliable, decentralized infrastructure for basic services like identity, justice, governance, asset lists, and others.

Kleros has developed and offers these critical solutions. The research will demonstrate Kleros’ crucial role by defining its position as the foundational pillar for decentralized blockchain-based nations and enabling a new era of digital world-building.

Proposed Deliverables:

  • Comprehensive research report (30-50 pages)
  • 2-3 detailed pilot project recommendations.
  • Recorded panel discussion or X space. (Optional)

Budget Request and Reward Mechanism

This proposal seeks a budget of 5,000 USD worth of PNK to fund the research and outreach work. The PNK will be sourced via a direct transfer from the Kleros Governor contract (0xe5bcea6f87aaee4a81f64dfdb4d30d400e0e5cf4). This will be a collective research effort, open to anyone from the community who can contribute. Valid contributors will be rewarded equally from this pool of funds upon successful completion and publication of the research report and related deliverables. The distribution mechanism will be transparent and based on demonstrable contributions to the initiative.

Clarifications and Updates Based on Community Feedback:

This proposal has evolved based on valuable community feedback. Here are the updated details:

Team and Qualifications

This initiative will be a collective research effort, open to anyone from the community who wishes to participate. While the Kleros team may offer guidance, the primary execution will involve a hybrid team of Kleros community members and external contributors. The ideal team would comprise individuals with backgrounds in Legal Studies, Blockchain & Decentralized Systems, Cryptoeconomics, Social & Political Sciences, and Research & Analysis.

Review Process

The research will be self-published by Kleros, but it will follow an open and transparent process. Drafts will be shared publicly, and feedback from the Kleros community members, researchers, and domain experts will be actively encouraged to ensure transparency and alignment with decentralized research values.

Research Approach

The study will take an interdisciplinary approach, combining economic, legal, and governance perspectives. This will allow us to explore how Kleros’ dispute resolution, identity, and other solutions can serve the needs of emerging decentralized digital nations, identifying comprehensive solutions and opportunities for Kleros.

Importance of a DAO Vote

While this proposal now includes a budget request, the broader goal of a DAO vote extends beyond just funding. It’s a strategic initiative aimed at mapping real-world challenges faced by blockchain-based sovereign nations or states to Kleros’ suite of products. A DAO vote provides legitimacy and signals community consensus, which is crucial for attracting more volunteers, researchers, and external stakeholders. It also creates the necessary visibility to engage meaningfully with external projects and organizations, ultimately strengthening Kleros’s position as a thought leader in decentralized governance and justice infrastructure.

2 Likes
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First and foremost, I believe that education forms the cornerstone of society. The easier it becomes to explain emerging technologies, the more widely accessible and beneficial they are for everyone.

In that regard, I understand that Kleros as an alternative justice mechanism needs to be recognized as a viable option for those seeking to resolve disputes outside traditional courts or even conventional arbitration systems. I find your proposal promising, as it could, if implemented, support scholars in the field by enriching the existing literature and making it easier to advocate for the advantages of blockchain-based conflict resolution.

That said, I do have several questions and concerns that could fortify the proposal:

  1. Who will conduct the study? Will a dedicated team be formed?
  2. What qualifications or capabilities will this team have?
  3. Will the study be funded or conducted on a voluntary basis?
  4. Will the research be subject to peer review, or will it be self-published?
  5. What review methodology will be followed?
  6. Will the study be approached from an economic, legal, or interdisciplinary perspective?

As a lawyer, academic, and a professional deeply passionate about Blockchain and LegalTech, I would be happy to contribute to or participate in the research team should the project proceed. You have my full support in bringing it to fruition.

1 Like
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Thank you @joanbisonom for your insightful feedback and generous offer to contribute! Your point about education forming the cornerstone of society truly resonates with the core motivation behind KIP-77.

Regarding your questions, here’s how I envision addressing them, keeping in mind that these are initial thoughts and the exact execution will be refined if the proposal moves forward:

My preference is for a dedicated team built and headed by the Kleros team. This would likely involve a combination of internal Kleros expertise, external researchers, and community members who want to volunteer in this research.

The team would ideally comprise individuals with backgrounds in: Legal Studies, Blockchain & Decentralized Systems, Cryptoeconomics, Social & Political Sciences, Research & Analysis.

I envision the study will be conducted by a hybrid team of Kleros’ internal members and external contributors on voluntary basis.

However, I invite the Kleros team and DAO members to share their thoughts on whether a budget could be introduced to compensate contributors, especially if the research develops into a more resource-intensive effort.

The research will be self-published by Kleros. However, it will follow an open and transparent process that invites feedback from the community and relevant experts.

An open review methodology will be used. Drafts will be shared publicly. Feedback from Kleros community members, researchers, and domain experts will be actively encouraged to ensure transparency, and alignment with decentralized research values.

The study will take an interdisciplinary approach, combining economic, legal, and governance perspectives. It will explore how Kleros’ dispute resolution, identity and other solutions can serve the needs of emerging decentralized digital nations. This interdisciplinary approach will allow us to identify comprehensive solutions and opportunities for Kleros.

I’m grateful for your thoughtful feedback and your willingness to contribute. If the proposal moves forward, I’d be glad to coordinate with you and other interested contributors. I believe this could be a meaningful step toward positioning Kleros as a foundational tool for emerging digital nation-states and on-chain governance systems.

4

As discussed with several community members, here are some key clarifications regarding this proposal:

This proposal does not request any funding from the DAO.

The goal goes beyond simply conducting research; this is a strategic initiative aimed at mapping the real-world challenges faced by blockchain-based sovereign nations or states to Kleros’ suite of products. It includes:

  • Actively engaging with key stakeholders from these projects
  • Exploring potential integration opportunities
  • Gathering actionable feedback to inform and improve Kleros’ offerings
  • Strengthening Kleros’ position as a thought leader in decentralized governance and justice infrastructure

Although the initiative does not involve moving funds or smart contract changes, a DAO vote is important to provide legitimacy and signal community consensus. This legitimacy can help attract more volunteers, researchers, and external stakeholders to contribute. It will also create the visibility needed to engage meaningfully with external projects and organizations.

5

a DAO vote is important to provide legitimacy and signal community consensus.

Don’t agree with this at all, but there’s nothing that can be done to prevent “empty” proposals from starting a Snapshot vote. “Legitimizing” is not a DAO function, the point of a DAO is that you don’t need legitimacy to do anything, you can just do it on your own. You use the vote to request funding or modify common settings that affect all of us.

1 Like
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Hey @shadabhind,

Thank you for this proposal. As discussed with you in DM, we appreciate your interest in Kleros; however, we prefer to put only proposals requesting a formal budget or specific actions from the Governor Contract of the Kleros Protocol to a vote. We recognize that you are acting in good faith, but want to avoid future spam proposals that could harm Kleros DAO.

Kleros Cooperative is already supporting research papers on the Kleros Protocol. As explained in private, every year we run the Fellowship Program, applications will reopen next month for the 9th Generation. This is a great opportunity to contribute and collaborate, and the work is rewarded with $1k worth of PNK, as you can see in the previous session announcement: The Kleros Fellowship of Justice, 8th Generation: Applications Open!

The Cooperative’s position is that we prefer all research to be consolidated under the Fellowship Program. It’s easier for collaboration between Researchers and Cooperative Members. This allows us to track participants’ progress and keep everything in one place, as we already have this structure in place. Thanks again for your interest and commitment.

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Thanks, @greenlucid and @0xAlex, for your valuable feedback.

I envisioned this research work as a collective community effort, originating from the DAO to make it more effective in outreaching to key stakeholders of micro/digital nations and blockchain-based states. The ultimate goal is to drive more integrations to Kleros and grow our ecosystem.

You’re right that this proposal, in its original form, doesn’t ask for funding or smart contract changes, so it doesn’t make much sense to put it to a DAO vote. I do, however, see significant potential in this research and outreach work, especially given its strategic importance for Kleros’s growth and positioning.

Based on all your input and the current needs for a DAO proposal, I would like to introduce a budget and a reward mechanism to proceed with this initiative.

Updated Details for the Proposal:

  • This proposal now seeks a budget of 5,000 USD worth of PNK to fund the research and outreach work. The PNK will be sourced via a direct transfer from the Kleros Governor contract (0xe5bcea6f87aaee4a81f64dfdb4d30d400e0e5cf4)
  • This will be a collective research effort; anyone from the community can join and participate. Valid contributors will be rewarded equally from this pool of funds.
1 Like
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The proposal has been put to vote.

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This proposal is submitted a second time for voting , as the snapshot strategy was updated to include PNK on Arbitrum but by error it was not taking into account PNK on Mainet. All parameters are now correct. We apologize for the inconvenience.

10

Also agree with Kleros Cooperative’s position. The proposal should be submitted through the existing Fellowship program channel.

If you are really keen to see something like this happen through the DAO, then you should resubmit and,

  • Name a coordinator, publish a Gantt-style timeline, and agree to escrow funds with milestone releases
  • Define roles (lead author, researchers, editors) with % splits tied to deliverables
  • Commit to peer review by at least two previous Fellowship researchers before final payment
  • Provide explanation for why the existing Fellowship PNK cap is inadequate