<aside> ℹ️ In this page, you can find extended information about the Vocdoni FPoS.
</aside>
Our current protocol implementation, which is based on a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) blockchain, has been highly successful in addressing the needs of non-high-stakes elections in the traditional world. However, as the importance of citizens’ voices continues to grow, especially in high-stakes situations, the need for a secure voting protocol becomes increasingly crucial. Our proposal seeks to advance in privacy and security of digital voting, ensuring that it is ready to meet the demands of these challenging moments. Additionally, the web3 space requires an e-voting trustless infrastructure that can guarantee censorship-resistance, a critical requirement in the current context.
To achieve this goal, it is essential to enhance compatibility with Web3 and achieve decentralization. However pure Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism may not be suitable for an E-Voting blockchain network like Vocdoni as it may lead to centralization, lack of accountability, and security concerns. Specially for targeting the web2 world, not familiarized with pure token-based governance. It’s important to acknowledge that voting is a critical aspect for society.
We believe that a better choice for such a network would be a new federated or hybrid consensus mechanism that balances the need for decentralization, accountability, security, and control in a voting context: Federated-Proof-of-Stake (FPoS).
In FPoS, contributing to the validator set is not open to everyone, but rather a federation of selected parties. The authority, which could be a DAO or similar entity, set the details of the federation including the power to approve new validators, determine rewards mechanisms, and enforce network security and decentralization. In addition, validators are required to stake a certain amount of value, providing an incentive for good behavior and ensuring a sustainable reward system. However, if they act maliciously, the protocol or authority has the power to slash their stake.
By balancing decentralization and control, FPoS might offer a more secure and stable network compared to pure PoS or PoA. It provides an extra layer of security to prevent potential external attacks and instills confidence in consumers of the blockchain.
The Vocdoni protocol supports gasless zkSnark anonymous voting and other features such as secret-until-the-end, quadratic/range voting, vote-overwrite and much more. In order to enhance web3 compatibility, we plan to introduce changes that will allow a Vocdoni account to link Ethereum accounts, delegate voting power to one or multiple actors and to generate verifiable and reproducible censuses out of any web3 information. However there is a missing piece: the election results execution on Ethereum based networks in a truly verifiable manner.
To fill this gap, the Vocdoni team has designed a solution based on zkSnarks technology: the zkBridge. A mechanism that allows for the execution of verifiable results on EVM networks. It works by sending information from Vochain to Ethereum using a zkRollup validity proof. This proof batches a list of block headers which are signed by the Vochain validators and demonstrates the validity of a series of state transitions. With this proof on Ethereum, any content living in the Vochain state can be then uploaded and verified by a smart contract.
However, for the zkBridge to be secure and trustworthy, it is essential that the Vochain network has a highly decentralized and incentivized consensus mechanism such as FPoS, to ensure the validators are incentivized to maintain the security and validity of the network. And the results can be reliably and securely transferred to Ethereum.
One of the Vocdoni’s main objectives of this proposal, is to bring the value of traditional organizations into the Aragon ecosystem. To achieve this, Vocdoni proposes the creation of the Aragon Vocdoni Token (AVT), a utility token that serves as a representation of ANT within the Vocdoni network. This token is essential for any organization, be it web2 or web3, to initiate elections and engage with the Vochain network.
The issuance of Aragon Vocdoni Token (AVT) will take place on the Ethereum blockchain within a Smart Balancer Pool, governed by the Aragon DAO. The pool might accept different assets such as ANT, ETH or DAI. Organizations from the traditional web2 world that wish to adopt the voting protocol can easily obtain AVT through Vocdoni’s secure and user-friendly payment gateway.
A portion of the AVT used in Vochain transactions will be burned, while another portion will be rewarded to the network’s validators. This mechanism will drive the Ethereum AVT pool’s value to accumulate in the form of Aragon Network Token (ANT).
The Aragon DAO will have the discretion to determine the best use for this accumulated value, which could include reinvesting in the project, paying for external contributions to the protocol.
To find a solution that meets the needs of both web2 and web3 communities while ensuring a strong reputation, we propose utilizing the Aragon network as the governing entity for the federation. The Aragon DAO (or a subsidiary of it) might have the responsibility of approving validator candidates who meet the requirements set by the DAO and also have a certain amount of AVT staked, which can be penalized if needed.