SnowBridge, a trustless cross-chain bridge designed to connect Polkadot with Ethereum, is currently seeking approximately $6 million in DOT tokens funding from the Polkadot community. The firm’s proposal outlines that the funds will be used to ensure SnowBridge’s long-term success, align the team’s incentives with the Polkadot community, and provide financial guarantees for the bridge’s users.
According to the proposal, SnowBridge is specifically seeking 999,568 DOT, which is equivalent to $5,797,500. The funding includes an immediate payment of 191,379 DOT (approximately $1.2 million) and a two-year vesting of 323,275 DOT (nearly $1.9 million). Additionally, 161,637 DOT ($937,500) will be paid out over three months, with the remaining 53,879 DOT ($312,500) disbursed monthly from September 2024 to February 2025.
SnowBridge has emphasized that the funding is crucial for enhancing user insurance and maintaining the bridge for future growth and adoption. The firm stated that the proposal finalizes payments for completed engineering milestones, operating costs, and team incentives for 2024. It also introduces additional incentive alignment controls and medium-term insurance guarantees for the bridge.
The request for funding comes after the completion of a two-week test period for the Ethereum-Polkadot bridge, which utilizes first-party signatures from validators on both networks to ensure transparency, permissionlessness, and auditability. The initial version of the bridge supports ERC20 asset transfers, with plans to incorporate arbitrary messaging in the future.
Colorful Nation, a Web3 ecosystem agent, has recommended that SnowBridge establish an insurance fund to address any potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited on the platform. The firm highlighted the importance of having a ‘voidspend’ mechanism in place in case the bridge experiences any security issues. Additionally, Colorful Nation emphasized the need for “compelling liquidity incentives” to encourage the transfer of Ethereum assets such as WETH and WBTC to Polkadot.
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