CIP Proposal - Scheduled Distributions

droplister · January 15, 2018, 11:00am

Right now, DEX orders have block heights that define when they expire. If an order goes unfilled, the previously escrowed value becomes available again. I’m interested in a similar feature for distributions.

This feature would allow asset owners to schedule future distributions by committing to a block height. But, unlike orders, once scheduled distributions could not be canceled.

I think this could be used in interesting ways:

Issuance Lockup
Founder Vesting
Automated Distributions

Since new issuance of the asset getting the distribution, after the initial scheduling, but before actual distribution, could make scheduled distributions underfunded and therefore invalid, it probably make sense to restrict this to LOCKED assets.

Snorlax · January 16, 2018, 4:00am

Do you have a formal CIP in draft?

droplister · January 16, 2018, 7:25pm

No I do not have a formality CIP drafted. I do not believe any of my many CIP proposals has reached a level of consensus or input that justifies the CIP #.

I have however launched a project which would greatly benefit from this feature: bitcorns.com. If I could simply commit all of the planned future distributions than this would be totally trustless.

droplister · March 12, 2018, 8:14pm

I have taken the time to create a first draft of this CIP here:

github.com

droplister/cips/blob/master/cip-0016.md

<pre>
CIP: 16
Title: Scheduled Dividends
Author: Dan Anderson <me@dananderson.org>
Discussions-To: https://forums.counterparty.io/t/cip-proposal-scheduled-distributions/4449
Status: Draft
Type: Standards Track
Created: 2018-03-12
</pre>

## Abstract
Allow dividends to be scheduled to activate on locked assets, by defining future block height and escrowing funds.

## Specification
Mirroring the approach used by orders and order expirations, this CIP extends dividends to include an optional activation index. As part of this improvement, a dividend_activations table will be utilized, as well as, a new dividend status equal to 'pending.' These three changes, combined with new validation rules and message encoding, constitute this feature.

### Effects of CIP
After this change, when an activation index is not provided, dividends will be distributed, as they have been, immediately. However, when an activation index is provided, the quantity needed to fund that distribution will become escrowed and those funds will not be distributed until the current block height equals the given activation index.

**Important to note:** Unlike orders, which can be canceled before their expiration index, scheduled dividends cannot be canceled. **Also important to note:** Recipients of the scheduled dividend will be calculated at the time of activation, not before.

This file has been truncated. show original

I have not yet submitted it to the official CIP repository, please review and submit feedback.

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CIP Proposal - Scheduled Distributions

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