Clear DefinitionsQuadratic Voting
1 min read
Pronunciation
[kwah-drat-ik voh-ting]
Analogy
Think of buying votes at increasing prices so that casting many votes to reflect strong preference costs exponentially more.
Definition
A voting mechanism where participants purchase votes with credits at a cost equal to the square of the number of votes, allowing them to express the intensity of their preferences.
Key Points Intro
Quadratic voting balances majority rule with minority preference intensity.
Key Points
Cost function: cost = votes² enforces rising marginal price
Preference expression: allows intensity representation
Sybil resistance: requires identity verification to prevent abuse
Sum of credits: limits total votes per participant
Example
Gitcoin Grants uses quadratic voting to allocate funds, letting users spend credits to support projects proportionally to their interest.
Technical Deep Dive
Participants receive a budget of voice credits. When casting v votes on an option, they pay v² credits. The system tallies votes, and results reflect weighted sums. Implementations may use zero-knowledge proofs for privacy and on-chain tallying via smart contracts.
Security Warning
Without robust identity checks, attackers can create multiple identities to game the voting system.
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