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The Spammening Reward for Amforc
Requested Amount: 45,000 USDT
Beneficiary: 1eGtATyy4ayn77dsrhdW8N3Vs1yjqjzJcintksNmScqy31j (Amforc)
Summary
The Spammening was a collaborative effort between Amforc and Parity Technologies. It happened in various phases, culminating in the public spammening stress test which resulted in the Polkadot ecosystem obtaining very solid TPS benchmarks on a live network.
You can see a recap of the main event of the spammening here.
Prior to the main event of the spammening, other stress tests were carried out on the Polkadot and Kusama relay chains. You can see evidence of the spammening over on Subscan:
Funds for carrying out the spammening were approved under Polkadot referendum #1169 and Kusama referendum #456. It should be noted that Amforc received no compensation for their time involvement in this project. This referendum fixes that and rewards Amforc for their time, efforts, initiative, planning, coordination, and execution. Amforcs' scope was primarily focused on the relay chain spammening.
The amount proposed in this referendum is the same size as a previous ecosystem agent tip proposed under referendum 135, which was approved via OpenGov.
Details
The Amforc team carried out the following tasks as part of their efforts:
- Structure and concept for relay chain Spammening
- Proposal preparation
- Fee mechanism research and testing
- Script for distribution, transactions, and collection of funds (their own implementation because the Python library was too slow)
- Coordination with other stakeholders (a lot of back and forth because at the beginning, some people from parity and eco were against it)
- Multiple test runs, on Westend and coordination with Parity. Each run on Westend, Kusamas and Polkadot required the setup of their own dedicated 18 RPC nodes.
- Identified various problems: RPC nodes are not capable of handling the publication of many txs at once; while the relay chain didn't halt completely, Amforc was basically able to disrupt all parachains since they were unusable (meaning block time went up really fast); fee increase mechanism doesn't trigger as defined in spec
- Back and forth with parity due to the found issues and multiple runs, so that they can troubleshoot
Closing Thoughts
The Polkadot DAO should reward ecosystem agents whose initiatives bring value to the Polkadot ecosystem. It is clear that Amforc’s involvement in kickstarting and participating in the spammening was extremely valuable for the ecosystem.
I personally am looking forward to the next iteration of the spammening on Polkadot. P.S. wen Elastic Scaling?
Comments (10)
Requested
Proposal Passed
Hello,
Due to the lack of response to the questions asked, the vote will be changed to NAY
Many thanks for your proposal, Leemo!
We have carefully reviewed your application and are pleased to share our assessment below, prepared using our standardized evaluation methodology.
Summary of our analysis
■ Impact on the Ecosystem
The proposal indirectly enhances Polkadot’s long-term development and relevance by rewarding Amforc for "The Spammening," which demonstrated scalability with 128,184 TPS, fostering innovation and adoption. It addresses an incentive gap for unsolicited contributions, promoting ecosystem vitality. Its impact is significant but indirect, relying on future contributor engagement.
■ Governance Compatibility
The proposal indirectly enhances Polkadot’s long-term development and relevance by rewarding Amforc for "The Spammening," which demonstrated scalability with 128,184 TPS, fostering innovation and adoption. It addresses an incentive gap for unsolicited contributions, promoting ecosystem vitality. Its impact is significant but indirect, relying on future contributor engagement.
■ Cost-Benefit Ratio
The 45,000 USDT is proportionate to "The Spammening"’s benefits, enhancing Polkadot’s scalability reputation and incentivizing future contributions. The budget aligns with prior tips, though the lack of cheaper alternatives slightly limits cost optimization. The expenditure delivers value by supporting ecosystem growth and governance resilience.
■ Transparency and Traceability
The proposal clearly communicates its purpose, detailing Amforc’s tasks and past metrics like 128,184 TPS, with robust documentation via X posts and Subscan charts. Budgets and work packages are well-specified, but timelines are omitted, and no future reporting is planned, typical for retroactive tips. On-chain transparency ensures traceability.
■ Record and Credibility
Amforc has a strong track record, with reliable validator operations and the successful execution of "The Spammening," supported by public references. Their contributions are verifiable, and they have already delivered the proposed outcomes, ensuring high credibility. Their project portfolio is focused but impactful.
Conclusion
🔹🔷🔹 vonFlandern 🔹🔷🔹 has therefore voted with: ** AYE **
Our methodology aims to analyze and evaluate OpenGov proposals objectively, effectively, and transparently, establishing clear decision-making foundations for our votes while making our process visible to the community.
For a deeper dive into our evaluation, please see the detailed report here.