Active PIVX Scholar

[Andre]

.

 

[PIVX Labs]

Thanks for submitting your (first, I assume) proposal! Welcome to the PIVX DAO.

Right off the bat, I'm curious of a few things:
- The site mentions that all data is decentralised, i.e: stored on the blockchain (the PIVX blockchain, I assume), could you explain how this works and show a practical example? A technical breakdown would be appreciated, as well as TXIDs to data-retention transactions relevant to the platform, like OP_RETURNs or Shield Memos.
- None of the links or buttons in the Footer work, which is very odd.
- The domain "pivxscholar.com" has only been registered for a month, which suggests this is extremely new: either a demo (non-functional currently), or a clone of an existing site.

I'd appreciate your transparency for these bits.

- JSKitty

 

[PIVX Labs]

IPFS is a good usecase for such data (albeit, IPFS is not blockchain, and the website specifies data is stored on a blockchain, hence my query), where does PIVX uniquely fit in to this proposal, aside from funding it's development and paying it's researchers for peer-reviews?

Since there are no publication fees, how do you plan the platform to sustain itself? As of current, it looks like you'd be rewarding researchers with PIVX without having any inflows to sustain said rewards - no fees, no sustanance, it seems as if the DAO would be funding research that has no relevence to PIVX as a platform and community, rather altruistically, in the hopes it simply brings us traffic from a niche research community?

Lastly, curious about the 'Pivx Scholar Inc' in the footer, is this an incorporated business? If so, could you provide registration details?

- JSKitty

 

[Andre]

More proof

 

[PIVX Labs]

1)Where did I mention blockchain?
2)Pivx is used for payment, which is stated twice in the proposal. Researchers accept donations made in Pivx. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the intended use of Pivx—as a monetary system for payment?
3)The website is still in development, most of the content is a demo, and the proposal and video reference this, I don't understand the fixation on this. However, you will notice from the milestone that this proposal is focused on outreach and user onboarding.
4)There is no funding for "research" this is funding an "outreach" campaign to onboard researchers. The last part of the proposal clearly outlines the benefits for Pivx. This is a consumer product meant to utilize Pivx as a monetary system, not to showcase technical prowess.
5) I wouldn't classify 7 million research papers published each year as niche.
6)Given all the benefits listed, how could the DOA supporting this be purely altruistic?

Please take the time to read the proposal and watch the video. It seems like you are mentioning things already addressed by the proposal and bringing up things not mentioned at all like blockchain. Could this just be a communication issue, is English your first language?

> 1) Where did I mention blockchain?
On your website, the ambigous wording of "the blockchain" is why I assumed it was referring to the PIVX Blockchain.

> 2) Right, I was primarily thrown off by the mention of storing user data (which I presume would be accounts and such) on the blockchain, until you clarified it would be IPFS (in which case the above disclaimer is slightly misleading).

> 3) The 'fixation' rather is, I will not back a proposal to fund a platform that, functionally, does not exist yet. It needs an MVP, currently, you're showing a web page hosted on Linode that someone could knock together in 24h with ChatGPT. I am well in my realm to be suspicious of such a short-notice proposal for a platform that is a placeholder. Scammers re-sell website templates all the time and add a little JS. A simple MVP, even if very barebones (it is our own work methodology - MVP first, funding later), it would be something tangible.

> 4) Fair enough.

> 5) Unless you have the networking and contacts to attract said researchers en-masse, the community for "Pivx Scholar" in particular is what I'm referring to as niche, you mentioned partnering with universities, but which ones in particular - and do you have contact with them in an authoritative manner? We have PIVians that have actively tutored classes on the topic of PIVX, as an example of practical connections. There has been none explicitly proposed here.

> 6) Until there is a userbase of your platform, this is a shot-in-the-dark style proposal. I'm not sure if that's the intent, but for an ideal proposal, you should have some form of MVP and an interested userbase. I can point to any statistic of 'community' and exclaim building a product they will use, but until they're actually using it, the 'benefits' outlined are entirely theoretical and unproven, the DAO would have to take that chance by funding the platform's development and marketing upfront before any tangible evidence of usage or growth is displayed.

Really, my concerns can simply be condensed down to:
- MVP: it needs to be usable, even to the most barebones extent (a buggy, mess of a platform is better than a webpage with some JS).
- Sustainability: which requires sufficient usage (for said fees and ad revenue).
- Market acceptance: even with the above figured out, building a good product, it may still not be received (perhaps simply from involvement with crypto, unfortunately, many academics are generally behind in this field and thus may be turned away from using a research platform with crypto as it's primary monetary medium) - do you have data supporting your platform's development?

I am probably seeming quite harsh, but it is out of necessity in keeping the DAO safe, it's a grifter's market today, if you have an MVP - that alone puts you in the top 5%, and I'd be willing to give a shot at backing your proposal (as well as providing developer support from PIVX Labs at no cost to you), a quarter-built product is better than a shiny blueprint.

 

[Eric_Stanek]

Sorry. OP has failed to fully explain how this benefits PIVX. Bullshit detector triggered immediately. Kitty/Labs asked very good questions that I would have asked too - but I was too busy with Thanksgiving dinner and family. Point being though ... the answers don't mitigate my concerns at all - in fact they amplify them.

Hard pass for me. Sorry.

 

[Eric_Stanek]

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