Introduction
Web3 projects are often unique with marked differences compared to those of web2. The biggest aspect of web3 which is often blockchain technology promotes various principles like decentralization. Power is often not concentrated in web3 projects. Instead, all stakeholders of the project participate in community governance. Other aspects of web3 like tokenization encourages creating value for any special activity or skill.
However, there is one feature of all major web3 projects that is often not frequently discussed. That feature is called bounties. Many web3 projects often include bounties in their tokenomics and it remains an enduring feature throughout the lifetime of a web3 project. So in this presentation, we want to talk about this:
- Getting to know web3 bounty programs
- Common tasks for Web3 bounties
- The value of bounties in web3
So let us begin by looking at the first item on the list.
Getting to know web3 bounty programs
Bounties in web3 are token incentives or rewards given to participants in a web3 community for completing some specific tasks. The very idea of web3 bounties stem from the core principle of decentralization. Web3 teams use bounties to get the community involved in the project. Instead of hiring specialized teams to complete some tasks, bounties are created and community members are invited to do those tasks to earn the bounties.
Web3 bounties leverage the skills, time and resources of other people to get the work done. It allows community members to become active participants in a web3 project. Each person receives a bounty or reward which is equivalent to the work done. The more work is done, the more bounties are awarded.
Web3 bounty rewards come in different forms. Some bounties are rewarded with points. Each task would have points attached to it. Once it is completed, the points are claimed. There are other bounties that are assigned specific token rewards. The amount of token is clearly stated and anyone that completes it earns the tokens. Still, other bounties are rewarded with privileged access to a premium product. Some bounties also offer discounts for a particular product. Overall, bounties usually present some type of rewards to those that completed the tasks.
Common tasks for Web3 bounties
Each teams for web3 projects usually decide what tasks to create bounties for. They also determine the nature and amount of rewards to give. Each project in web3 is also unique and usually have many tasks to complete. But generally, there are certain tasks bounties are created for. They include, but is not limited to the following three:
- Promotion/Marketing: If a new web3 project or feature is launched, it often needs participants to use it or join the project. Most web3 teams leverage their existing community to help them with marketing.
Participants in promotion bounties are often asked to do tasks that will help spread the word about the project. They might be asked to refer friends, share project information on their social media pages, join live presentations, write articles about the project, comment on articles about the project, etc. Every task that must be done under promotion bounties are aimed at creating awareness for the project.
A very good example of a promotion bounty is the ongoing Zealy campaign to onboard 10k new users to Hive. There are similar campaigns too being carried out by other teams in web3.
- Bug bounties: Each web3 team wants to make sure that the code used to run their project is the most secure and not vulnerable to cyber attacks. In order to continuously improve the security of their project, they create bug bounties.
Bug bounties offer huge reward to anyone that will find coding errors or vulnerabilities in the project. While the offer is open to everyone, not everyone could participate due to the technical nature of this type of bounty. Blockchain programmers are often the main participants here. They review the code of the project and try to find any loopholes from which an attack could happen. When they find it, they report to the organizers. If their claim is established, they win the bounty.
- Engagement bounties: Project owners usually love to create a kind of buzz for their project articles. So they often like to have lots of engagement under any social media publications about that article. Engagement bounties are created to reward users that engage with project articles.
Engagement articles might expect participants to make a rich comment on the article. It might involve other things like to share, like, or quote the article. Users thus receive bounties based on the amount of engagement they perform under the articles of the project.
The above are just examples of popular bounties created by web3 teams. Like I said earlier, there could be many others. Each team decides what to include in bounties and how much to give away.
The value of bounties in web3
Bounties are invaluable to web3 teams, little wonder that you see them in almost every tokenomics. Below are some of the value that bounties bring to every web3 project:
1. Achieve decentralization: A decentralized project aims to make everyone get involved. There should be no single point of absolute control and participation. While there is always a team that coordinates activities, each member should have the opportunity to participate in as many activities as they could.
So a web3 team that wants to create that sense of belonging should be looking into bounties. They should not do every activity by theirself. Instead, they give users the opportunity to contribute or add value to the project. When everyone participates in bounties, they become a huge part of the project.
2. Leverage: Each web3 community is made up of people from all walks of life. Sometimes, there are professionals in it too. Some of the work that needs to be done require such professionals. For example, a web3 community might include a digital marketing expert, project manager or a blockchain developer. By creating bounties, the team is able to leverage the professional expertise of its community and save the cost they would have incurred hiring the task out to a third-party.
Apart from leveraging skills, they also tap into the circles of their users. Referrals help web3 teams to grow their userbase. Promotion bounties thus help the team to gain new users from the friends and connections of their community members. That is a form of direct marketing which is cheap and often effective.
3. Reward: Bounties also create a reward system for active participation. When users see these huge rewards, they are move to stay active and support the team to achieve its goals. Hardworking members of the community are this rewarded for their efforts. For those that are not so active, they have a motivation to do so.
Rewarding users bring out the best in them. When a bounty is created and users gain from the rewards, it pushes them to try and do more.
Conclusion
Bounties remain important to every web3 team. They achieve a lot by offering rewards for tasks. Through bounties, everyone is given the opportunity to be valuable to the project. They have a chance to get rewarded for their skills and connections. They feel the overwhelming power of decentralization. More is achieved with bounties than without them.