Q4 2023 Grant Recipients
Grant Recipients & Completion Status
Submission | Completion Status | Award Amount (USDC) |
---|---|---|
DAOstar & Metagov Grant Innovation Grant | ![]() |
40k |
EIP-7212 Development and Advocating by Clave | ![]() |
35k |
Ethereum Follow Protocol | ![]() |
50k |
Gashawk | ![]() |
50k |
Revoke.cash | ![]() |
50k |
Rotki | ![]() |
50k |
Smooth: Dappnode’s MEV Smoothing Pool | ![]() |
25k |
Total | 300k USDC |
Note: At their request, the final payment for revoke.cash final is pending. Project is in good standing.
Recipient Descriptions
A list of selected grant recipients is below.
DAOstar & Metagov Grant Innovation Grant
The Metagovernance Project (a.k.a. Metagov) is an interdisciplinary research collective that includes DAOstar.
DAOstar is the standards body for DAOs with 80+ member organizations. It has championed the adoption of the EIP-4824 standard, which will enrich the on-chain information availability of governance contracts, making it easier for existing and future DAO tools to interact with the contracts seamlessly.
Their large grant milestones combine both research and technical deliveries, which may have broad applications for the entire community of DAO-governed protocols.
Award Information
The total award is 40k USDC.
The first tranche 12,5k USDC will be paid immediately. The remainder will be awarded following the completion of milestone one. To maintain eligibility for future grants, they will need to fulfill both milestones irrespective of any funding delivered.
Milestones
The following milestones are expected to be delivered and evaluated during the next six months. Updates for these will be provided on working group calls.
1. Research:
- Interview at least one grant operator from 3 grant programs (tentative list pending availability and interest: ENS, Arbitrum Foundation, Arbitrum DAO, Public Nouns) and a core contributor from 3 grant stack providers (Gitcoin Grant Stack, Charmverse, Questbook). Please note that we may have to adjust the specific programs based on their availability and interest in partaking.
- Take notes on each discussion, and record and transcribe the conversations.
- Perform the research needed to commence the synthesis of the study.
- Technical
- The initial round of feedback and revisions on the grant metadata standard from organizations such as ENS, Gitcoin’s Allo/Grant Stack, Charmverse, Guestbook, Optimism, Arbitrum/Arbitrum Grants DAO, Ethereum Foundation, DFINITY, etc.)
- Overview of the desired shared database and common app idea, including initial feedback, so that we can start crafting roadmaps and timelines for this work
Advancing work on EIP-4824 adoption through ENS text records**:** Based on community feedback, we’ve designed and developed an alternate path for EIP-4824 adoption using ENS text records. A proof-of-concept of the adoption path and the indexing framework will be submitted for public review on the ENS DAO forum.
2. Research:
- Completion of the synthesis and writing for the 6 programs above
- Presenting the outputs to the ENS community (or producing a forum post) to provide more focused feedback
- Technical
- Host a workshop at ETHDenver to co-work and advance on the technical and impact measurement working groups, including using up to USD 2.5k equivalent for ENS to sponsor the event.
- Have the standard published and ideally piloted or adopted by at least 3 organizations (hoping it will be closer to 10 organizations)
- Have a roadmap in place for a shared database and for a common grants app.
- Provide a clear, public-facing overview of the state of the grant’s innovation efforts and the roadmap for each step.
- Advancing work on EIP-4824 adoption through ENS text records**:** based on feedback collected, the adoption path will be implemented. This will ensure that: (i) given the ENS name of a DAO, a pre-populated daoURI will be generated using the DAOstar register service (DAOstar) and, (ii) daoURIs hence published as ENS text records will be indexed and displayed the DAOstar explore page (DAOstar).
Related Project Links
Website: https://metagov.org
Twitter: @metagov_project
Github: DAO Star
EIP-7212 Development and Advocating by Clave
After introducing the first integration of secp256r1 verifier precompile in the OPStack, Clave team is working on standardizing it by EIP-7212 (now known as RIP-7212) with its design, development, and advocacy.
Nick Johnson mentioned the value of integrating the secp256r1 curve in June 2023. This EIP-7212 work, now RIP-7212, is exactly the caliber of work that the Public Goods Working Group would like to support as it deploys a technical implementation with broad applicability to the ecosystem.
Award Information
The total award is 35k USDC.
The first payment of 17,5k USDC to be paid immediately. The remainder will be awarded following the completion of the second milestone. To maintain eligibility for future grants, they must fulfill both milestones irrespective of any funding delivered.
Milestones
The following milestones are expected to be delivered and evaluated during the next six months.
1. "Preparing helper libraries for various implementations
- A Solidity wrapper will be prepared for interacting with the integrated precompiled contract.
- A library will be developed to enable Secure Enclave to be used in React-Native applications.
- On-chain use-case of the EIP by ERC-4337 account abstraction smart contracts adaptable to key management with Secure Enclave and similar hardware elements using the secp256r1 will be developed."
2. Moving the EIP into the RIP progress and following up with the L2 and sidechain teams.
- Publish the proposal as an RIP
- Follow-up of integration decisions, client implementations, and hard forks
- Plan discussion meetings with rollup teams to speed up their integrations.
Related Project Links
Forum Discussion: EIP-7212 on Ethereum Magicians Forum
Github: Ethereum RIP-7212
Twitter: @getclave
Ethereum Follow Protocol
The Ethereum Follow Protocol (EFP) will be a simple social graph protocol for Ethereum accounts, native to the Ethereum ecosystem, that complements and strengthens the existing web3 identity stack, including ENS.
“Organically, a web3 identity stack has emerged in the Ethereum ecosystem over the last few years, with things like ENS (usernames and profiles), SIWE (authentication), NFT pfps (avatars), your other NFTs (group membership), your onchain history, and more. A key component that’s missing is a social graph for Ethereum accounts.” - @brantlymillegan
The working group believes that this project will make a significant positive impact on the existing social layer of Ethereum. We are excited to see development on the EFP, especially by a passionate team holding a track record of involvement in Web3 innovations such as ENS and SIWE.
Award Information
The total award is 50k USDC.
The first tranche 20k USDC will be paid immediately. The remainder will be awarded following the completion of milestone one. To maintain eligibility for future grants, they will need to fulfill both milestones irrespective of any funding delivered.
Milestones
The following milestones are expected to be delivered and evaluated during the next six months. Updates for these will be provided on working group calls.
1. Deliver the EFP smart contracts and document for open feedback.
2. Indexer created and working. The Indexer is an off-chain program that monitors on-chain for updates and keeps all EFP data in a database for fast retrieval.
Related Project Links
Website: Coming Soon
Twitter: @rotkiapp
Mirror: “THE PATH TO WEB3 IDENTITY”
Launch Partner Announcement: https://x.com/BrantlyMillegan/status/1719132715281207330
Gashawk
As a non-custodial service, GasHawk aims to help users and institutions optimize their transaction costs during periods of high and volatile gas fees. They currently provide minimized transaction costs, eliminate stuck transactions, prevent transaction failures and ward off front-running or sandwiching. GasHawk is a MEV-resistant, gas rebate RPC layer with the capacity to grow its product offerings and add value exponentially.
Since their launch in November of 2022, they have onboarded over 4,000 individual users, processed tens of thousands of transactions and saved on average 30% for our users and institutions on every transaction. GasHawk has accumulated over 11k followers on Twitter and has an active discord and common ground community.
Gashawk is a prior recipient of Public Goods Small Grants, with a portion of the funds given back to users through gas rebates.
Considering the existing cost savings and broad applicability to the Ethereum and Web3 ecosystem, the working group is proud to provide this grant, which will support the development of further functionality with Gashawk.
Award Information
The total award is 50k USDC.
The first traunche 20k USDC will be paid immediately. The remainder will be awarded following the completion of milestone one. To maintain eligibility for future grants, they will need to fulfill both milestones irrespective of any funding delivered.
Milestones
The following milestones are expected to be delivered and evaluated during the next six months. Updates for these will be provided on working group calls.
1. A browser extension that will make the GasHawk UX much smoother – as it will directly operate next to the user’s browser wallet.
2. Webhook functionality: We call your server back when we submit your transaction, so there’s no need for polling the status/re-submitting the transaction.
Related Project Links
Website: https://www.gashawk.io
Twitter: @gashawkio
Dune Dashboard on Gas Fees: https://dune.com/hildobby/Gas
Revoke.cash
Revoke.cash helps affected users stay safe against smart contract risks and scammers by providing a dashboard that they can use to keep their token allowances in check. It also protects users by providing a browser extension that warns users about these common phishing scams.
This service provides valuable resources for wallet maintenance for those practicing self-custody of their cryptocurrency assets. The wallet health indicator and including NFTs in the token approvals will improve revoke.cash’s functionality further.
Award Information
The total award is 50k USDC.
The first tranche 20k USDC will be paid immediately. The remainder will be awarded following the completion of milestone one. To maintain eligibility for future grants, they will need to fulfill both milestones irrespective of any funding delivered.
Milestones
The following milestones are expected to be delivered and evaluated during the next six months. Updates for these will be provided on working group calls.
1. “We recently launched pricing information to provide more insight into value at risk from token approvals. Because of complications, we didn’t include NFTs in this release. So we also want to extend pricing information/value at risk metrics to NFTs on multiple chains.”
2. “We also recently launched ‘Wallet Health’ information to give users an indication of the overall health of their wallet regarding token approvals. We want to extend this functionality to provide risk scores for individual approvals and extend individual and global scores to multiple chains.”
Related Project Links
Website: https://revoke.cash
Twitter: @revokecash
Rotki
Rotki is an open-source portfolio tracking, management, and accounting tool that protects your privacy.
Core Features of Rotki:
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Local and open-source: Rotki is a local application that runs on users’ computers, ensuring data privacy and control. It is released under the AGPLv3 license, making it open source and allowing anyone to inspect, modify, and contribute to the codebase.
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Multi-Blockchain and Exchange Support: Rotki supports multiple blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Kusama, Polkadot, Avalanche, and centralized cryptocurrency exchanges like Kraken, Coinbase, and Binance. It aggregates data from these sources, giving users a holistic view of their cryptocurrency holdings.
We are happy to support Rotki in this large grant round. Rotki has been a long-time champion of open-source development. Users should be able to interact with transparent software, specifically when managing their cryptocurrency assets. Adding ZkSync and the ability to track critical upcoming events, such as ENS renewal deadlines, in the Rotki app will add helpful functionality for all users.
Award Information
The total award is 50k USDC.
The first tranche 20k USDC will be paid immediately. The remainder will be awarded following the completion of milestone one. To maintain eligibility for future grants, they will need to fulfill both milestones irrespective of any funding delivered.
Milestones
The following milestones are expected to be delivered and evaluated during the next six months. Updates for these will be provided on working group calls.
1. “Zksync lite support will be added for rotki. This enables the ability to add a zksync lite address and have all its balances queried. The relevant issues in our repository are: Support zksync lite balances · Issue #3617 · rotki/rotki · GitHub and Issues · rotki/rotki · GitHub”
2. "Rotki is decoding blockchain history and creating events that it shows to the user. Some of these events may have time sensitive information, such as renewing an ENS name, or a claim of a token reward etc. The idea is to process them and have a calendar view in the app where all upcoming events that need action at a certain date can be seen. The relevant issue in our repository is: Calendar of on chain events · Issue #7074 · rotki/rotki · GitHub.
Related Project Links
Website: https://rotki.com/
Twitter: @rotkiapp
Github Repo: Rotki is Open Source
Smooth: Dappnode’s MEV Smoothing Pool
dappnode is a decentralized platform allowing users to run their various decentralized applications (DApps) that is simple to use and highly secure and provides users with full control over their data and applications.
As a previous winner of smaller grants, dappnode was selected as a recipient of the Large Grants because we recognize the service dappnode provides solutions that enables simple access to home staking which further decentralizes our networks.
Award Information
The total award is 25k USDC.
The first payment of 12,5k USDC to be paid immediately. The remainder will be awarded following the completion of the second milestone. To maintain eligibility for future grants, they must fulfill both milestones irrespective of any funding delivered.
Milestones
1. "The first milestone targets the mechanisms to provide already existing users with information about the rewards in the pool while at the same time spreading the information about the Smoothing Pool to other validators and potential Solo Stakers in the considering phase (we need to convince them that Solo Staking is not a disadvantaged option vs other options that lead to centralization risks).
- This milestone will consist of an alert system that will include mainly the system to detect the events and spread them out (a monitoring system) that will feed 3 main channels:
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- Public alerts for every reward in the form of a Twitter/X account that automatically posts the rewards so users can comment about the randomness of the rewards and thank the validators to bring revenue to the pool.
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- A telegram bot / channel to follow that every existing user can subscribe to in order to keep track of the pool activity
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- A discord announcements channel that is “followable” from any other server to be incorporated by anyone.
2. The next step to really transmit the idea that Smoothing Pools are tools that directly incentivize decentralisation by directly increasing the APR of Solo Stakers that participate in one is to have an in-depth analytics page that compares revenue of participants in the Smoothing Pool to other subsets of validators - most likely using the “Luck” metric pioneered by beaconcha.in.
- A discord announcements channel that is “followable” from any other server to be incorporated by anyone.
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- Luck is the metric that demonstrates how close are you to the “average” times of block proposal - for example, if now we have 888k validators and a block is proposed every 12 seconds, it means that a validator proposes on average around 3 blocks per year or every 121 days. If you take less than 121 days to propose your next block, you are “lucky”, if not you are “less lucky”.
- It is worth noting that Smooth has a Public Goods Funding Mechanism (Considering Solo Staking as a Public Good due to the resilience that it brings to the network) included where people can donate directly to it to increase the APR of its participants DIRECTLY.
This second milestone will consist on the analytics page that will clearly demonstrate the benefits of smooth and challenge the status quo that “Because honestly, most solo providers are not rational, they’re are not making a business out of it, they just do it for fun, which is great” as Vasily from Lido said. The objective is to be able to prove with data that we can compete with other pools.** "
Related Project Links
Website: https://smooth.dappnode.io
Smooth Dashboard: View it!
Github: dappnode
Twitter: @dappnode