Followup grant for Subcoin

[liuchengxu]

Project Abstract

Since completing the initial grant, I have been actively addressing the challenges identified in the previous phase (see my contributions to Substrate in this period here). With additional efforts and guidance from the Parity team, I’ve made progress on the critical OOM issue detailed in #2376 (comment). I’m confident we can resolve the remaining obstacles in this follow-up grant, ultimately achieving the full vision of Bitcoin Fast Sync.

This follow-up work will also deliver a dedicated CLI tool that enables downloading the UTXO set snapshot compatible with Bitcoin Core without running a regular full node, offering a streamlined option for Bitcoin users and broadening Subcoin’s appeal.

Grant level

• Level 1: Up to $10,000, 2 approvals
• Level 2: Up to $30,000, 3 approvals
• Level 3: Unlimited, 5 approvals (for >$100k: Web3 Foundation Council approval)

Application Checklist

• The application template has been copied and aptly renamed (project_name.md).
• I have read the application guidelines.
• Payment details have been provided (Polkadot AssetHub (USDC & DOT) address in the application and bank details via email, if applicable).
• I understand that an agreed upon percentage of each milestone will be paid in vested DOT, to the Polkadot address listed in the application.
• I am aware that, in order to receive a grant, I (and the entity I represent) have to successfully complete a KYC/KYB check.
• The software delivered for this grant will be released under an open-source license specified in the application.
• The initial PR contains only one commit (squash and force-push if needed).
• The grant will only be announced once the first milestone has been accepted (see the announcement guidelines).
• I prefer the discussion of this application to take place in a private Element/Matrix channel. My username is: @_______:matrix.org (change the homeserver if you use a different one)

[PieWol]

Hey @liuchengxu,
sorry for the delay first of all.
thank you for the follow-up application. I like the idea of subcoin and the fact that you are building this on substrate. Usually we only fund projects that try to enhance and build within the Polkadot ecosystem. Yet as a showcase project for Substrate we were able to fund the first application for Subcoin. I don't think we will be able to further fund it's development though. Have you explored all possible options to get funding from the Bitcoin community? I'd assume this would be the better place to finish up the Subcoin network. Especially as the OOM issue is currently listed as a non-goal of this application, even though this would probably be the most helpful improvement for the Polkadot-SDK. I hope you understand my view. Please rest assured that I really like your previous work on Subcoin in the scope of our Grants Program.

[PieWol]

I'd love it if we were able to find a way for a follow-up grant through focussing on the improvements to the Polkadot-SDK by resolving the OOM issue with fast-syncing. I also appreciate all the time and effort you put into the draft PR after finishing your grant, trying to solve this issue. I hope someone from Parity will take his time to review and provide feedback 🙏.

[liuchengxu]

Especially as the OOM issue is currently listed as a non-goal of this application

@PieWol There is a big misunderstanding here. The OOM issue is promised to be resolved as part of the delivery, please do not forget to read the link at https://github.com/w3f/Grants-Program/pull/2436/files#diff-07c3b0ab56d858beac3add432ac373b100249778a21ee809eeabbb4cc48145ddR103. The non-goal is the corresponding PR to polkadot-sdk is not guaranteed to be merged within the timeline of this grant as the PR review from polkadot-sdk maintainers could be way too slow (I have several PRs already pending for weeks). In other words, the work will be done for Subcoin's sake, but not guaranteed to land in the polkadot-sdk master branch within the period of this grant, while we commit to contributing to polkadot-sdk beyond this grant.

Have you explored all possible options to get funding from the Bitcoin community? I'd assume this would be the better place to finish up the Subcoin network.

I agree. The main idea is to first build something truly usable and then we can promote it to the Bitcoin community, but this is hindered by the obstacles remaining from the initial grant. This follow-up grant aims to resolve these challenges to implement the full fast sync as the first usable product.

[liuchengxu]

I have adjusted the milestones by swapping milestone 1 and milestone 2 so that there could be more time for the polkadot-sdk maintainers for the review work. @PieWol Let me know if you have any further questions.

[PieWol]

Hey @liuchengxu ,
thanks for your efforts in making this application more appealing to us by prioritizing the substrate fast sync issue.

I have another funding route I would like to propose to you. You have demonstrated with your previous grant that you are very capable and dedicated. This is a great position to convince the treasury to fund your project. This way you could probably get the funding needed for the fast-sync issue while the remaining funds needed to further develop subcoin could be gathered from the bitcoin community. What do you think?

[liuchengxu]

@PieWol Thank you for considering an alternative funding approach. Given the progress we've made on this application, I’d prefer to build on our existing efforts rather than start from scratch with a new route.

If it would make this grant more feasible, I’d be happy to narrow the focus to address just the Substrate fast sync issue, as this represents the continuation of the work done under the initial grant. The UTXO snapshot download tool could then be pursued separately in another route. Let me know if this approach aligns better with your requirements!

[PieWol]

Hey @liuchengxu ,
I don't see the treasury route as a reason to start from scratch. Of course you would need to write a little proposal to fill in the general audience thats voting on OpenGov but you can reference this very application and thus reuse all your previous efforts.

I wouldn't suggest this route if I weren't very confident that you can secure funding through the treasury.
Please understand that treasury funding is preferred by the committee as this allows us to get the most out of the budget we have for our Grants Program.

[liuchengxu]

@PieWol Thank you for the clarification and your confidence in securing funding through the treasury. let's go for that route then. I will prepare a treasury proposal that references this application and incorporates the previous work done (writing a funding proposal is never fun :P)