# Octant FAQ

The organization leading Octant is Golem Foundation (opens new window), which was created from the Golem compute project (opens new window). You can read about this transition in this post (opens new window).

# Why do you use the GLM token?

The GLM token (opens new window) is the native token to the Golem ecosystem. The community crowdfunded the project in 2016 (opens new window) with an ETH-GLM swap.

# Can we use another token?

At this time GLM is the only token you can use to engage with Octant.

# Where do I get GLM tokens?

That might depend on your jurisdiction, but GLM is widely available on most exchanges, decentralised and otherwise. You can view all of the markets where you can acquire GLM here (opens new window).

# How is Octant funded?

Golem Foundation stakes 100,000 ETH from its own treasury and allocates a part of the staking rewards to the Octant reward pool.

# How is the size of the Octant reward pool determined?

The amount of ETH rewards transferred by the Golem Foundation to Octant is determined by the fraction of the entire GLM supply locked by Octant users. The total supply of GLM is fixed at 1 billion. The more GLM is locked in the Octant contract, the higher the amount of the Foundation’s staking rewards that will be turned over to the Octant community for distribution.

# How are User Rewards calculated?

There is a linear relationship between the amount of GLM locked by a user and their User Rewards. For example, if you lock 1% of the total GLM supply, you get 1% of the staking reward.

# Are there any fees associated with locking, unlocking, allocation decisions, and withdrawals?

Locking, unlocking, and rewards withdrawals happen on-chain; therefore, there are gas fees involved in executing them. Allocation decisions are conducted off-chain and are free. You can change your allocation decision as many times as you wish while the allocation window is open, without incurring any financial costs.

To ensure tamper-proofing and transparency of the allocation decisions, we provide access to our server code in open-source form (opens new window) and will share the voting results after closing the allocation window. This will allow the results of the allocation process to be reproduced locally and compared with those received from us.

# Can I unlock my GLM tokens at any time?

Yes, Octant’s GLM time-locking mechanism is non-custodial. You are in full control of your funds. You can unlock your GLM at any time. Please note, however, that if you unlock your GLM before the current epoch ends, you will not be able to claim your User Rewards or allocate any funds to your favorite projects.

# What happens if I lower my lock-in before the end of an epoch?

If you lower your lock-in, your user reward will be calculated in proportion to the smaller amount. You need to have at least 100 GLM locked-in throughout the whole epoch to be eligible for User Rewards.

# Can I propose a potential Octant beneficiary project?

Yes, absolutely. The process for this is outlined here.

Please note that being shortlisted as a potential beneficiary is just the first step to receiving funding. To attract donations, public goods projects included in the funding round will need to engage with the Octant community, promote their projects and missions, and actively contribute to vibrant discussions.

# Are there any limits to the number of eligible projects to which one can allocate rewards?

You can distribute your user rewards between as many eligible projects as you like.

# What happens to the funds donated to projects that don’t pass the funding threshold?

ETH rewards allocated to projects that didn’t pass the funding threshold will go back to the Golem Foundation and will be used for restaking. You can check the current status of your shortlisted projects in the Allocate view of the Octant app. You are free to change your allocations as many times as you like before the decision window closes.

# What happens if I miss an allocation window?

If you neither donate nor claim your user rewards before the allocation window ends, the funds will be transferred to the Golem Foundation and used for restaking. Please consider signing up for the Octant newsletter (opens new window), joining our Discord (opens new window), and following us on Twitter (opens new window) to make sure you never miss an allocation window. We’ll be using these channels to inform our community about all upcoming dates of interest. Octant’s allocation windows are two weeks long, so if you follow our reminders, you should have plenty of time to make your allocation decisions.

# Is there a test version of the Octant app I can use before committing my funds?

Certainly! You can access a test version of Octant on the Sepolia Testnet (opens new window). To give it a spin, add Sepolia to your Metamask wallet (opens new window) using the instructions from this guide (opens new window).

To proceed, you'll need TestGLM. Acquire them by visiting our Etherscan Faucet (opens new window), selecting the Contract tab, then Write Contract followed by Connect to Web3. You'll be prompted to connect your Metamask wallet. Note: To get TestGLM, your wallet should contain some Sepolia ETH, available for free from the Sepolia Faucet (opens new window).

After connecting your wallet, select thesendMeGLM function and choose Write. Metamask will ask for transaction approval. Upon confirming, you'll shortly receive your TestGLM. To display them in your wallet, manually add TestGLM to your wallet by selecting Import tokens and entering the token contract address 0x71432DD1ae7DB41706ee6a22148446087BdD0906 and token decimal: 18. Now, you can launch Octant (opens new window), and start testing.

# Octant is using its own staking solution, where can I read more about the technical aspects of this?

We are solo staking (opens new window). Our current setup utilizes a geth and nimbus client pair, and our system runs on a number of hardened Qubes OS (opens new window) boxes which enhance security through isolating the network stack from clients, among other techniques. We leverage widely-used monitoring tools, including prometheus, grafana, and beaconchain, to keep an eye on system performance and maintain optimal operation.

# How can I check the status of Golem Foundation's validators?

At the moment, the easiest way to check the status of our validators is by using the beaconchain API (opens new window).

Chose the /api/v1/validator/eth1/{eth1address} option, click on the "Try it out" button, enter the 0x4f80Ce44aFAb1e5E940574F135802E12ad2A5eF0 address and click "Execute" to see the list of our validators.

We are working on our own validator endpoint that will make this information much more easily available to the Octant community.

# Has Octant undergone a security audit?

Yes, our smart contracts were audited by the Least Authority (opens new window). The auditors did not identify any issues in the current design and implementation of Octant's smart contracts. You can read their full report at the Least Authority website (opens new window).

# What’s the role of the community in Octant?

We see the development of Octant as an interactive, participatory process. We will continuously seek ways to improve the platform's design, consulting our choices with the community. In the first stage of the project, Octant users can engage in the following activities:

funding public goods projects through individual allocations,
proposing eligibility criteria for potential donation recipients,
submitting potential donation recipients,
proposing experiment designs and governance mechanisms.

# How can I get involved in the Octant community?

The quickest way to become involved in the Octant community is by joining our Discord (opens new window). You can engage with other community members there, ask questions, submit proposals, and discus governance ideas with like-minded people.

# What if my question isn’t answered in the FAQ?

If you are still not sure about some issues related to Octant, please visit https://docs.octant.app site, where you will find extensive user documentation. Feel free to engage with us on our Discord (opens new window) as well.

To contact Golem Foundation use the email address listed at this site (opens new window).

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