Conviction scores for new addresses/users fail to initialize+bootstrap in ERC20ConvictionScores _updateConvictionScore() because a new users numCheckpoints will be zero and never gets initialized.
This effectively means that FairSide conviction scoring fails to bootstrap at all, leading to the failure of the protocols pivotal feature.
When Alice transfers FSD tokens to Bob for the first time, _beforeTokenTransfer(Alice, Bob, 100) is triggered which calls _updateConvictionScore(Bob, 100) on Line55 of ERC20ConvictionScore.sol.
In function _updateConvictionScore(), given that this is the first time Bob is receiving FSD tokens, numCheckpoints[Bob] will be 0 (Line116) which will make ts = 0 (Line120), and Bobs FSD balance will also be zero (Bob never has got FSD tokens prior to this) which makes convictionDelta = 0 (Line122) and not let control go past Line129.
This means that a new checkpoint never gets written, i.e., conviction score never gets initialized, for Bob or for any user for that matter.
FairSides adjustment of Compounds conviction scoring is based on time and therefore needs an initialization to take place vs Compounds implementation. Therefore, a new checkpoint needs to be created+initialized for a new user during token transfer.
fairside-core (FairSide) confirmed:
