The decision by Polkadot to look inward and utilize community members for detecting and reducing scams is commendable.
With the rising cases of criminal activities in the crypto and blockchain ecosystem, the anti-scam initiative has no doubt yielded positive results. Since the bounty started in March to October 2022, a total of 5524 sites have been discovered. This statistic shows the successful first iteration of the initiative.
Polkadot is a blockchain protocol that connects chains and allows users to send data/values across incompatible networks. For instance, this protocol allows you to share data between an Ethereum and Bitcoin network or a Solana and Ethereum network.
The Polkadot protocol uses the DOT token for staking and governance. Furthermore, the protocol is fast and scalable as it deploys parallel blockchains or para chains to take the bulk of processing demand off the main blockchain.
The protocol has a main blockchain called the "relay chain" and multiple user-created parallel chains. Similarly, some connecting layers and bridges allow the transfer of value and data between blockchain networks.
Interestingly, over 14,000 messages have been transferred between chains across 135 messaging channels since the network was launched. Recently, it hit an all-time high in development activity.
Polkadot created incentives to reward individuals in the community who detect scams. They said these individuals are security-minded and have effectively safeguarded its ecosystem.
It rewards community members with bounties paid in USD coins (USDC).
According to the platform, the bounty is managed by general curators. These general curators are three community members and two from the W3F anti-scam department.
However, they revealed that, with time, community members of the blockchain would take over the exclusive management of the bounty.
Furthermore, it tasks its community members to detect and take down scam sites, fake social media profiles, and phishing apps. Similarly, they extend the service to protect their Discord servers from raids.
As part of the initiative, the community members create educational materials for users to stay updated on ways scammers can devise. Similarly, the anti-scam dashboard serves as the central hub for all anti-scam activities in the Polkadot ecosystem.
Furthermore, Polkadot says the initiative keeps encouraging participating members to discover ideas for expanding anti-scam activities in the ecosystem. Significantly, the USDC coin bounty motivation has helped secure the ecosystem and equipped community members with anti-scam tools.
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