User guide - Ways to participate in Project Catalyst
Written by @ElliotHill of the Cardano Foundation
You may have recently read that the next funding round on Project Catalyst will make a staggering US$1m available for projects and ideas building and launching on Cardano. The fourth fund to become available on Catalyst, Fund4 ideas are now open for submission via Ideascale, which we will examine later in this article.
If you didn’t catch it, we recommend you watch the Project Catalyst Town Hall that aired on 17 February 2021, which outlines some of the latest initiatives around Catalyst Fund4. But before Fund4 gets underway, Fund3 voting must be concluded.
Here, we’re going to explore how you can participate in Project Catalyst and vote in Fund3. This guide is aimed at beginners, so if you’re a veteran voter and proposer, you will probably already know a lot of this information! Nevertheless, you may find it helpful to read on and discover how you can register for voting through Daedalus or Yoroi during Fund3.
Let’s get started with Ideascale, and how it is used for submitting Catalyst proposals and participating in discussions.
The Project Catalyst Ideascale
Project Catalyst’s Ideascale portal is where the Cardano community’s ideas come to life. Here, users can browse active campaigns, participate in discussions, and put forward their own ideas for feedback and voting from the community.
Built around ‘Active Campaigns’, the Project Catalyst Ideascale contains several categories of proposals that idea-makers and entrepreneurs can explore when building a proposal. These include categories like ‘DApps and Integrations’, ‘Local Community Centers’, ‘Developer Ecosystem’ proposals, and more. There are separate funds available for each category, and some categories already have well over 100 active proposals.
Within each active campaign, you can find a campaign brief. This is a short explainer of what proposals should include, how to meet the requirements of the campaign, and some guiding questions for proposals. You will also find a stage flow that guides you through the timeline of each campaign.
If you click on ‘Browse Ideas’, you can see a list of other proposals that community members have already created. If you’re thinking of submitting a proposal, this is a great way to see what goes into a successful proposal and how you can position your proposal for maximum traction. For voters and community participants, this is also where you can join discussions or upvote your favorite proposal.
Soon, voting will be possible natively through the Daedalus and Yoroi wallets. Let’s discover what this process will look like when it’s live, and the steps you can take to get ready for it today.
Voting through Daedalus or Yoroi
Work is underway to make voting on Catalyst proposals even easier. In the future, all users who meet the ₳3,000 threshold will be able to vote on proposals through the Daedalus or Yoroi wallets, from IOHK and EMURGO, respectively.
If you wish to participate in voting during Catalyst Fund3, then the time to register is now.
You must register to vote and link your Project Catalyst app to your ada wallet address. Below, we are going to explore the steps to do this in Daedalus, but it’s a similar process in EMURGO’s Yoroi wallet.
Make sure you download the official Catalyst Voting app through the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store.
Before you begin, head over to the iOS app store or Google Play app store and download the Catalyst Voting app. To make this process easier and safer, you can scan the QR code provided in the latest version of Daedalus or Yoroi using your smartphone, which will take you directly to the download location.
You will then need to register and confirm your voting power through Daedalus or Yoroi. Let’s do this step-by-step.
Step 1 - Register for Fund3 voting
Once you have downloaded the app, you can begin the registration process within Daedalus or Yoroi. In Daedalus, select the wallet you wish to vote with using the dropdown menu. Remember, you need at least ₳3,000 in your chosen wallet address to be eligible to vote. Don’t worry if 100% of your ada is delegated—you can still use a delegation address to register to vote, and it won’t affect your delegation rewards.
Once you have made your selection, click ‘Continue’. The next screen will prompt you to accept the network fees required to validate your voting registration and enter your spending password. Once you are happy with your choice, click ‘Submit registration transaction’.
Step 2 - Wait for confirmation
You will now have to wait for confirmation of your approval transaction on the Cardano blockchain. This can take up to five minutes depending on current network capacity. Please be patient and do not close Daedalus, as you may have to start the process again.
Once the transaction has been confirmed, you will move to the next step, which prompts you to create a four-digit PIN to access Catalyst voting through your associated app. Please set a memorable PIN as, without this, you will be unable to vote!
Step 3 - Save your QR code!
This is one of the most critical steps. Once your transaction has confirmed, you will be prompted to save the QR code you are shown, with the option to download it as a PDF.
It is imperative that you keep this QR code in a safe place. Without it, you will not be able to participate in voting once it’s live. You may wish to keep this lightbox open during the next steps. Once you have saved your QR code and memorised your PIN, tick the checkboxes asking for your confirmation and click ‘Close’. This concludes the Daedalus and Yoroi parts of Catalyst voting registration.
Step 4 - Validate through the Catalyst Voting app
The steps in the Catalyst Voting app are more straightforward, but no less important. Take your time and make sure you register properly!
You are now just a few short steps away from being registered to vote!
Open up your Catalyst Voting app on your smartphone. On the home screen, as shown in ‘step one’ of the image above, you will see a prompt to ‘Scan Voting QR Code’. Clicking this will prompt you to scan the QR code you generated in Daedalus or Yoroi—this is why it’s important to save it!
Next, the app will ask you to ‘validate’ your QR code by entering the PIN code you created in Daedalus, shown in ‘step two’ in the above image. Enter this, and then click ‘Decrypt and set access code’. On the next screen, if you entered all your credentials correctly, you will receive confirmation that registration is in progress and your PIN is set.
Registration will be complete for Fund3 on 5 March 2021. Now click ‘Got it’, where you will be taken back to the app’s home screen. Here, you should see that your status has changed, and the app will say ‘Once voting starts you will receive your voting power.’ Congratulations! You are now registered for Fund3 voting.
No matter your role, you can get involved
Remember, voting on proposals is simply one way to participate in Project Catalyst. As Charles Hoskinson remarked during his introduction of the Catalyst Townhall on 17 February 2021, we are creating a new form of governance—and there are plenty of ways to get involved.
If you don’t meet the ₳3,000 threshold, you are still free to take part in discussions on Project Catalyst’s Ideascale, as well as upvote the proposals you are most passionate about—increasing their visibility and chances of receiving votes.
Thank you for being part of one of the most important processes and community-led governance projects in the entire blockchain space. Your active participation directly drives the adoption of Cardano, and no matter what your role in this process is, you are a valued and integral part of our ecosystem.
Read more about Project Catalyst here:
