Origin of Eden
For most the word Eden conjures a biblical garden inhabited by Adam and Eve, but for software engineer Daniel Larimer Eden is a community that joins together to participate in EdenOS smart contract driven, on-chain fractal governance elections. In Larimer’s book More Equal Animals he outlined his goal of securing life, liberty, property, and justice for all and on May 13, 2021, he kicked off this process by self-funding the first political playoff where Chris Barnes reigned as his premier Satoshi. Larimer initially gained recognition in 2014 with his launch off BitShares and bitUSD the first trustless cryptocurrency pegged to the American dollar. Bitshares uses delegated proof of stake (DPoS) for faster transaction speed. In 2016 he went on to build Steemit a community based upon his premise that all value creators deserve a share of profits before transitioning in 2017 to his role as Block.One (B1) CTO where he worked on the development of EOSIO. EOSIO gained a great deal of attention following the largest Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in history drawing in $4.2B USD. It was no surprise to see Larimer yet again pivot, resigning from B1 in 2021, and for his fans to follow him into Eden on EOS and act as participants in his potentially game-changing experiment.
Political Playoffs, Fractal Governance, or the Up-Vote Election Process
Eden elections attract an interesting cast of characters. The majority seem centered around fractal governance seizing the opportunity to reimagine principles they feel are lost in the American two-party system, while others strive to promote their project or simply earn the cash prize. The election process is referred to as Political Playoffs, Fractal Governance, or the Up-Vote Election Process. In this process the entire group or community is broken down into smaller 4-to-6-person virtual breakout rooms where they debate the merits of who should advance to the next tier. To date these elections have had 3 tiers but in Larimer’s book he outlines how his process could be used to scale all the way up to the American Presidential election. The winner of each tier is awarded an EOS token prize which increases as one reaches the top chief delegate tier. Earnings are intended to enhance the EOS ecosystem and be spent on the platform each member is running on although sometimes that does not happen. It is up to the community to hold elected delegates to their word. The consequences of not following through on promises are to be reflected in future elections by the community failing to advance members who haven’t lived up to their commitments. All rounds are recorded on-chain and captured on videos that are uploaded to the decentralized interplanetary file system (IPFS). However, with community members broken into small groups not everyone takes or has the time to educate themselves on the promises all delegates have previously made nor has the time to ensure they fulfill said promises.
Who Can Participate
The elections are open to all Eden members and aside from proof of life and agreeing to the Bylaws there is no minimum qualifications or resume required to take part. Breakout rooms are under strict time constraints with participants having approximately 45 minutes in total to each describe the platform they are running on. It is challenging to vet the participant’s background, knowledge-base and project within such a short time. Reputation may precede ability, and in these elections, the nice guy doesn’t always finish last. To date we have seen an inability to decision make result in an impotence towards fund distribution, and some funds even going towards Ukraine war relief, which certainly was not part of the delegate’s platform. Good intentions do not always make for an efficient use of capital distribution forcing an unintended dilutive strain on the larger group. The participant size remains smaller than Larimer aimed for and subsequently the talent pool is somewhat limited. Bright spots include former chief delegates such as the cryptocurrency heavyweight Brock Pierce, Michael O’Sullivan from Bywire News, Helios’ Chris Barnes, EOS Costa Rica Block Producer Edgar Fernandez, Brandon Lovejoy of the EOS Network Foundation, the well-respected developer Aaron Cox of Anchor Wallet/Greymass, and Node One’s Hahn Ryu. With a growing community there is sure to be even more bright stars entering the race.
In More Equal Animals Larimer discusses a goal of making everyone more equal but not before the cavate of obtaining one’s independence. Eden participants range in age and experience and as such they are not all at equal points on their journey towards said independence. The loudest or kindest participants may not have the business experience to manage a large budget and efficiently distribute capital expenditures. The onus is on each person to understand both their abilities and limitations when choosing to run in Eden elections. This is not a place for career politicians but instead a chance for talented leaders to add value into the ecosystem. Tiers provide options for all, as a level one delegate does not hold the same responsibility or budget size of a chief delegate. Like any employment opportunity it is irresponsible to assume a position one is not qualified to undertake and in a decentralized organization to thine own self you must be true.
Upcoming Election
On October 8th the next election is scheduled to take place and as the community broaches this milestone together it is paramount they learn and grow from the collective experience. Over the last 18 months many leaders have emerged. Participants governed by self-interest have exposed themselves and members unable to make clear decisions have been revealed. In the spirit of always being prepared it would serve the community to consider what qualities it takes to move this community forward on the path to achieving a common goal. Daniel Larimer seems to have stayed true to his track record, moving on from Eden to work on the latest idea he has coined Fractally, and even more recent venture Psibase. He has not entirely left Eden yet but through his lack of participation it appears he has cashed out his interest failing to deliver on the critical bylaws he promised, making the future chief delegate choices even more paramount.
Election participants might consider homing in on questions ahead of the upcoming election. The original Satoshi provided the community with some direction in this area. Chris Barnes suggests first discovering why their proposal and subsequent use of funds is good for the EOS ecosystem. Determine if the candidate can clearly articulate the scope of the proposal. Listen to see if they outline a roadmap that provides a timeframe of deliverables along with checkpoints that can be used to gauge progress and adherence to the general plan. Ask for a clearly defined set of key performance indicators (KPI’s) that will be used to measure the success of this proposal. Ensure that if the proposal requires others to do work that they have obtained quotes and a commitment. Since the election process has tiers ask how the candidate’s business plan moves forward if they only make it through round one. Check by what means each candidate intends to receive funds. Do they have a business set up or are they doing this as an individual? Investigate if they considered the tax implications of this funding. Will the movement of funds be tracked and documented to show that the funds are being used as promised and facilitate community auditing? These are some important points that will assist members during the voting process throughout the various tiers.
How to Join
Larimer set the stage and watching the Eden experiment play out is enlightening for fans of alternative governance. If you are not yet an Eden member but interested in blockchain technology, EOS, or fractal governance why not learn more about this organization and determine if you too can add your talent to the decentralized community. The best place to learn more, introduce yourself, and join this community is through its public Telegram Channel.