I know, very meta, right? So what is "Proof of Care"? If you have visited Quantstamp's token sales page and joined their whitelist, then you may already know what I'm talking about. If not, then let me see if I can explain. Quantstamp is, according to them, 'the first decentralized smart contract security-audit platform'. They aim to create an automated auditing process that is scalable and cost-effective. There is a lot to get excited about with Quantstamp. Unlike a lot of great ideas out there in the crypto space, Quantstamp is a great idea that is not only very much needed, but can be put to use immediately. In fact, Quantstamp has already used their security verification protocol to audit a recent ICO (Initial Coin Offering) called Request Network. So unlike a lot of great ideas out there in the crypto space, we don't have to wait for years to see what Quanstamp can do. They can literally hit the ground stamping, as it were, giving smart contracts the Quantstamp of approval!
Needless to say, I was very excited about participating in the token sale for Quantstamp when I heard about it. And when I joined their Whitelist, I discovered something very intriguing. The Quantstamp team is distributing their presale tokens based on their proof-of-care philosophy
Here's the CEO of Quantstamp, Richard Ma, discussing "Proof of Care":
Rather than distributing presale tokens based on, say, how much you're contributing, they're distributing it based on the quality of your proof-of-care for Quantstamp. On top of that, it's not even about social proof (i.e., how many Twitter followers you have), it's about the genuineness of your proof-of-care.
- Caring level 1 ($3M): 1 ETH = 10,000 QSP (unchanged)
- Caring level 2 ($4M): 1 ETH = 7,000 QSP
- Caring level 3 ($4M): 1 ETH = 6,000 QSP
Proof-of-care is quite fascinating to me! It's a great way to essentially crowd-market Quantstamp by encouraging others to get the word out about Quantstamp. Of course, there are a lot of ICOs that have used crowdsourcing to market their ICO. So that's not too unique. what I do find unique about Proof-of-care is that it's about producing interesting, fun, informative content about Quantstamp, rather than just sharing a referral link. And what I really appreciate about proof-of-care is that it provides an even playing field, based on how much you're willing to contribute to Quantstamp in terms of your thinking and content, rather than how much you're willing to contribute in terms of funds. Whether or not it actually will work, I think it is a very clever way to minimize as much as possible those who participate in ICOs just to flip them for a quick profit.
Proof-of-care shows me that the Quantstamp team really cares about what they've developed and they want those who invest in them to also care just as much. This is a team that is in it for the long haul, trying to do something to help the advancement of blockchain technology, rather than taking advantage of the unregulated ICO space to scam investors. So I think actually their proof-of-care philosophy is what makes me even more excited about the long-term prospects of Quantstamp, because it's an indication that this team is in the crypto space to do good, genuine work, not just to make a ton of money and disappear! I am anticipating great things out of Quantstamp and it's the best ICO I've seen in the month of October by far!
Just in case the Quantstamp doesn't count writing about "proof-of-care" as proof-of-care, here is my contribution to proof-of-care: