The Polygon Delegate Incentive Program (DIP) has officially completed its first quarter of operations!
This post is the first of our quarterly program reports, which will be shared with the community at the end of each quarter to highlight key program updates or changes, share outcomes, and the distribution of incentives across active DIP delegates.
With Polygon governance still ramping up, Q1 of the DIP offered a valuable runway for delegates to get acquainted with the community, build their delegations, and grow comfortable with the structure and expectations of the program.
Given that formal voting was not a priority in Q1, the reward distribution for the first quarter of the DIP emphasized awareness creation and the ecosystem engagement outcomes of the program. Posts from the DIP delegates generated over 110k views on X in Q1, with notable contributions such as Diminiko’s mapping of Polygon delegates & Lumia’s DIP introduction helping to drive Polygon visibility and community education. Moving forward, we hope to see even more participation from a broader group of delegates to generate a wider awareness of Polygon topics and governance.
Incentives Distribution
In total, $60,000 USD (in POL) in incentives were distributed among all 16 active delegate groups. A full breakdown of incentive distribution based on their performance across the following three reward categories is included below:
I. Awareness Creation: The top 10 delegates in a given quarter are recognized for their role in driving visibility and engagement around Polygon and Polygon governance. The foremost channel considered here is X, although broader research/content pieces from delegates are still encouraged, and nominal bonus points were awarded on occasion for these efforts.
II. Governance Activity: This category rewards active participation in Polygon’s governance through consistent and meaningful voting. Meeting the >70% minimum voting threshold ensures eligibility for this bucket.
III. Voting Power: Encouraging greater community delegation, the top 10 delegates based on delegated POL voting power are rewarded.
Here are the incentive outcomes for Q1:
| Delegate | Reward (USD) |
|---|---|
| Gosha (Prom) | $6,657.38 |
| Carlos (Aragon) | $1,634.13 |
| Deniz (Lumia) | $12,894.38 |
| Michael (OpenZeppelin) | $3,560.38 |
| John (Node Infra) | $8,560.38 |
| Alexandru (Alchemy) | $703.13 |
| Masha (Everstake) | $703.13 |
| Kimberly (FranklinDAO) | $1,327.13 |
| CupoJoseph (Nifty Chess) | $4,097.38 |
| Akshaan (Blockchain Berkeley) | $1,009.13 |
| Ivan (gateway.fm) | $703.13 |
| Diminiko (BountyBlok) | $8,780.38 |
| Benjamin (CAP Labs / QiDAO) | $703.13 |
| Nick (Factory Labs) | $703.13 |
| Krzysztof (L2 Beat) | $4,490.38 |
| Daniel (Balancer) | $3,473.38 |
*Rewards were paid out entirely to delegates in POL token, based on the average daily price as of the end of the quarter (March 31st).
The above totals additionally reflect the rewards from three special incentive buckets, each of which will be allocated quarterly to one delegate. These rewards are intended to recognize outstanding efforts and contributions from a select few DIP delegates across the following categories:
- Amplifier - Awareness Champion: For the highest awareness creation score in the quarter.
- Beacon - Forum Leader: For the most significant forum contributions in the quarter.
- Trailblazer - Community Contributor: For exceptional community contributions in the quarter.
For this quarter, the special rewards were distributed to the following delegates:
| Award | Delegate |
|---|---|
| Amplifier - Awareness Champion | Deniz (Lumia) |
| Beacon - Forum Leader | John (NodeInfra) |
| Trailblazer - Community Contributor | Diminiko (BountyBlok) |
It should also be noted that although initially conditionally accepted, Aave Chan Initiative has been removed from the program for not meeting the minimum voting power threshold. Additionally, Ignas has opted to drop out from the DIP. Following a review of past assessments and interest form submissions, Tané and Yanshu have been selected to fill the vacant positions based on their strong prior evaluation scores.
Participant Feedback
As this was the first quarter of the program, we felt it was important to actively engage participants and gather early-stage feedback. To that end, we invited all delegates, as well as the Polygon Foundation, to share their reflections and insights based on their experience in the program so far. We will use these insights to inform future improvements to the DIP.
Delegate Feedback
We collected sentiment feedback from delegates for the first quarter of 2025, with ten delegates participating in the assessment. Key findings include:
- Despite no governance voting occurring last quarter with no active proposals, 70% of respondents noted feeling engaged with the DIP primarily through creating awareness content.
- Most respondents found the onboarding process seamless and appreciated the communication quality from both Polygon Foundation and Areta.
- Several delegates noted that while Q1 was positive, they feel their impact could be enhanced through more structured action items and targeted goal setting.
- A few delegates expressed their enthusiasm for continuing to contribute, especially in light of upcoming major proposals hitting the forums, bringing about more deep engagement opportunities.
Polygon Foundation Feedback
Polygon Foundation’s feedback this period was largely positive, noting that it was encouraging to see meaningful delegate participation despite the absence of a voting event. The Foundation expressed interest in observing how delegate engagement evolves and welcomed ongoing feedback from participants moving forward.
Looking to Q2
Looking ahead, the relative weighting of DIP evaluation categories will remain unchanged for Q2. However, as Polygon governance infrastructure advances and voting becomes increasingly active, delegate participation in governance will play a much larger role, and incentive buckets are likely to rebalance to reflect this shift.
We’re looking forward to seeing the incentivized delegates becoming more active as Polygon governance continues growing and coming to life!
Strong awareness efforts from delegates like Deniz, Diminiko, and John helped drive visibility, with over 110k views on X. $60K in POL was distributed across 16 delegates, rewarding engagement, governance readiness, and community impact. Excited to see deeper participation and voting activity in Q2 as governance ramps up! 