AllocationSince 2018

Quadratic Funding

A democratic funding mechanism that matches community contributions quadratically, amplifying the impact of many small donors over few large ones.

Pioneered by: Vitalik Buterin, Zoë Hitzig, E. Glen Weyl

Suggest Edit

How It Works

1. A matching pool is established by sponsors 2. Community members donate to projects they value 3. Matching funds are distributed based on the formula: (√c₁ + √c₂ + ... + √cₙ)² 4. Projects with more unique contributors receive proportionally more matching 5. Results are calculated and funds distributed at round end

Deep Dive

Quadratic Funding (QF) is a mathematically optimal way to fund public goods in a democratic community. It was proposed by Vitalik Buterin, Zoë Hitzig, and E. Glen Weyl in their paper "Liberal Radicalism." The core insight is that the number of contributors matters more than the total amount contributed. A project supported by 100 people giving $1 each receives more matching funds than a project with 1 person giving $100. This creates strong incentives for projects to build broad community support rather than just seeking a few large donors.

Advantages

Democratically allocates capital based on community preferences
Mathematically optimal for funding public goods
Resistant to plutocracy - one whale can't dominate
Creates incentives for broad community building
Transparent and verifiable

Limitations

Vulnerable to sybil attacks without identity verification
Requires a matching pool sponsor
Complex to explain to newcomers
Can be gamed through collusion
Favors well-known projects over new ones

Apps Using This Mechanism

Gitcoin Grants Stack

The easiest way to run a grants program

Grants Stack is a decentralized, modular protocol for running grants programs. It enables communities to fund their shared needs through quadratic funding, direct grants, and other mechanisms. Built on the Allo Protocol, it has distributed over $60M to open source projects since 2019. GG23 (December 2024) distributed $1.2M+ across 235 projects in the core rounds.

PlatformActive

$60M+ funded

EthereumArbitrum+5

clr.fund

Permissionless quadratic funding

clr.fund is a protocol for permissionless quadratic funding using MACI (Minimal Anti-Collusion Infrastructure). It provides bribery-resistant, private voting for democratic capital allocation. The protocol enables anyone to run a quadratic funding round without central coordination.

PrimitiveActive

$2M+ funded

EthereumArbitrum+1

Giveth

Building the Future of Giving

Giveth is a zero-fee donation platform connecting donors directly with verified for-good projects. The GIVbacks program rewards donors with GIV tokens for supporting verified projects. Giveth supports projects on Ethereum, Gnosis Chain, Optimism, Polygon, Base, and other networks with fully transparent, traceable donations.

PlatformActive

$10M+ funded

EthereumGnosis+5

Octant

Public goods funding, powered by staking

Octant is a participatory public goods funding platform built by the Golem Foundation. 100,000 ETH is staked and the rewards fund public goods projects. Users lock GLM tokens to participate in allocation decisions. Octant runs 90-day epochs; Epoch 9 is currently active as of late 2024. Each epoch typically distributes $1-2M to selected projects.

PlatformActive

$15M+ funded

Ethereum