This post is by John Forsyth. John is a non-technical enthusiast for cryptocurrencies and decentralized autonomous organizations. Follow him here for more content about DAOs and cryptocurrencies.
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Introduction
If you haven’t heard about Bisq, it is one of the few truly decentralized, non-custodial exchanges in the crypto space.
Since its launch in 2016, Bisq has done more than 22,000 trades in volume and has many trading pairs including altcoins and fiat currencies.
There is no central figurehead, and Bisq is taking measures to reward and incentivize its growth and development by making use of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Read about Bisq DAO here.
This is where BSQ comes in.
What is BSQ?
BSQ is the coin used for compensating contributors in the Bisq DAO. It is actually real bitcoin with a few extra parameters that make it a “colored coin”. This “coloring” allows the Bisq application to recognize these bitcoins as BSQ.
As of this moment, the only way to acquire BSQ is by being a contributor. Upon DAO launch, people can purchase BSQ from contributors and become BSQ holders.
What is BSQ used for?
It can be used for several things like voting and asset listing, but it’s ultimately meant to be the incentive mechanism for growing Bisq in a decentralized manner while compensating anyone who wants to contribute to Bisq.
Take note that the Bisq DAO is a meritocracy which means that anyone who works to develop and grow Bisq is eligible for compensation.
Compensation is done by submitting a compensation request, and BSQ holders decide which compensation requests are approved or disapproved.
For instance, I am writing this blog for the launch of Bisq’s new blog initiative, and I plan on submitting a compensation request at the end of the month to hopefully earn my first BSQ.
Pretty cool huh?
What is a Compensation Request?
I’m glad you asked. We all want to earn crypto, don’t we (especially bitcoin :))?
A compensation request is how you earn BSQ. You simply submit a request for compensation to the network after you’ve performed a valuable service for Bisq.
This is not a faucet.
Faucets distribute small amounts of crypto to new users based off of donations from other people.
A compensation request is what you will use to ask the network of stakeholders for payment once you’ve performed any sort of meritocratic service for Bisq.
Here’s a sample of what your compensation request may look like:
This compensation request is from Aruna Surya. Aruna launched the blog initiative for Bisq and has contributed to the editing of blog posts as well as the organization of the blogging process.
Refer to the actual compensation request here on GitHub.
As you can tell, it lists everything that is required for the voters to take your request into consideration.
As you can probably guess, you must bring something of value to Bisq BEFORE you submit a compensation request.
Different Ways to Earn BSQ
So, what is it that you think you can offer Bisq to earn BSQ?
Think about what any other organization needs to survive and thrive. In the case of Bisq, it may be programming in Java, writing, creating videos/animations, etc.
So consider what your skills are and what you could potentially offer to Bisq.
How can you help grow it?
Perhaps you could bring new users to the platform by hosting a weekly meetup group where you can teach others about Bisq.
Maybe you can publish videos of yourself making your first Bisq transactions in order to show others how easy it is to use.
Do you speak a language other than English? Translate the Bisq documentation in your native language and request compensation! Translation is a HUGE need in the cryptocurrency space because it is global in nature.
There are a multitude of different ways you could earn BSQ, so get creative!
If you’re not sure whether the Bisq community would approve your idea of contribution, there’s nothing stopping you from reaching out to the community and simply asking what they think.
Join the community and ask questions. Find out what’s needed and where you could offer your skills.
Earning BSQ by Taking on Roles
There are in fact other ways to earn BSQ besides offering your own creative expertise.
Just like most other cryptocurrency projects, there needs to be a fair amount of nodes running as well as people maintaining the github repositories.
Some of these duties are described in the “Roles” section of the Bisq documentation.
These roles are all subject to change in the future and once the Bisq DAO is implemented, anyone can propose new roles and have the stakeholders vote on it.
Specific roles vary based on the specific requirements of the responsibility at hand, but most responsibilities are organized into the following types of roles:
-
Maintainer
According to the Bisq documentation, "a maintainer is a contributor responsible for enforcing process in a given Github repository."
Some of the duties of a maintainer include:
- Merging and/or closing pull requests after sufficient review.
- Tagging releases.
- Assigning priorities to incoming issues and keeping them organized.
This role is largely about maintaining the GitHub in an organized and timely manner.
-
Operator
"An operator is a contributor responsible for keeping a given resource (like a pricenode) running and functioning normally."
Some of the duties of an operator include:
- Keeping the given resource online, up to date and functioning normally.
- Maintaining backups as appropriate.
- Reporting on any incidents.
This role is largely about maintaining the GitHub in an organized and timely manner.
-
Administrator
"An administrator is a contributor responsible for managing a given resource (like the Slack channel)."
Some of the duties of an administrator include:
- Responding to change requests.
-
Moderator
"The moderator is a contributor responsible for enforcing process and standards in a given communications channel."
Responsibilities include:
- Ensuring discussions are on topic and civil, keeping the trolls at bay.
- Posting important announcements in a timely fashion.
As mentioned earlier, these are the current roles for now but we are likely to see more roles added as Bisq grows, the DAO is launched, and the proposals start rolling in.
Conclusion
I get so excited when I think about Bisq’s way of governance! You don’t need permission to contribute and you can earn based off of the merit of your work.
Personally, I would love to see this mode of working become more widespread as we venture further into the 21st century and continue moving away from permission-based systems to permissionless models.
Everybody has something different to offer, so it’s just a matter of focusing on your own expertise.
So what are you waiting for?
Get to work and start earning!