BTS Holder Approved Project Funding

BitShares is self-funded and self-sustaining so that BTS holder approved funding directs where to spend blockchain budgets. The budget is a reserve pool of 876 million BTS (June 2019) that grows with the collection of transaction fees. Each day, the blockchain was* authorized to autonomously spend up to 432,000 BTS (hard limit), which at current market rates is enough to hire a small team to maintain the network for years.

*Since 10th September 2020, with the 5.0 core release Bitshares blockchain doesn’t fund work by its reserve pool anymore. This was due to the network being depleted as a result of plutocracy and state-corporate crime between holders and businesses on top of the blockchain. As the previously generous hard-limit on the fundings, blockchain has authorized a limit of 1 BTS per day to prevent further exploitation and extraction of the reserve pool. Since Sept 10th 2020 until today then, is the only period since inception of BitShares that the reserve pool has increased instead of spent funds.See also Sustenance of Blockchain funds.

The network’s ultimate goal is to collect more from transaction fees than it spends through paying witnesses and workers. Delegates (committee) can adjust the transaction fees and referral commission rates to ensure that the network remains sustainable. By charging appropriate fees and distributing the income in an effective manner, BitShares-powered networks can grow, even while others struggle. Normal users pay the current going transaction fees (fixed fees, but adjusted by the committee periodically) while Life Time Members get an 80% vested refund on fees and future referrals.

A worker is a paid position elected by the BTS holders to fund new blockchain infrastructure, features and dApps. A Worker’s “smart contract” specifies a start date, an end date, a daily pay rate ($BTS), and a vesting period for receiving their pay. The daily budget payout is 270,926 BTS (June 2019) and it depends on the current size of the reserve pool (with a hard limit on 432,000 BTS). It is paid to workers sorted by net BTS holder approved, and when the daily budget runs out, all subsequent workers are considered inactive.

Workers typically engage the whole community to campaign BTS holders to vote for their proposal. Once in action, progress is public to the BTS holders and community, possibly along with an escrow service acting in proxy for the funds. This applies an additional layer of reassurance, with professional reviews of work undertaken. All BTS holders have the opportunity to review workers, follow links published to their descriptions, GitHub pages, and accounting, and make decisions whether to vote for them.

Each worker can specify a vesting period for funds received. This optional vesting period assures BTS holder approved projects have a long-term commitment, by preventing the worker from selling the received funds immediately.