ENS Public Goods Working Group: Funding the Decentralization Research Center (DRC)

🏛️ Public Goods
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Summary

The ENS Public Goods (PG) Working Group has committed $150,000 to support the Decentralization Research Center (DRC) in 2025. With external matching funds they’ve raised separately, this equates to $300,000 in total funding dedicated to advancing decentralization advocacy and policy engagement.

Why Advocacy Matters

Decentralization has faced regulatory and political scrutiny throughout the existence of our ecosystem, and given the current alignment between Congress and the administration, the next two years will be pivotal for shaping policies that determine the future of open, permissionless systems like ENS. Historically, decentralized communities have underinvested in advocacy, while centralized entities have poured significant resources into shaping regulations to their advantage. This imbalance creates tangible risks, including:

  • Regulatory uncertainty that stifles innovation and ecosystem growth
  • Conflation of decentralized protocols with centralized entities, leading to misinformed policies
  • Limited understanding among policymakers about the benefits of decentralization for privacy, security, and user autonomy
  • A growing influence of well-funded centralized actors, which threatens the core principles of Ethereum

The DRC plays a crucial role in bridging this advocacy gap by ensuring that policymakers, regulators, and industry stakeholders have access to accurate, research-driven insights about decentralization.

Why ENS is Supporting the DRC

The DRC is a research-driven advocacy organization dedicated to educating policymakers, regulators, and other stakeholders about decentralization’s value. It was founded to combat the growing political and regulatory challenges that decentralized protocols face.

DRC’s Key Initiatives:

  • Policy Engagement & Education: Hosting events, working groups, and briefings with regulators to deepen their understanding of decentralized technologies. Including their upcoming Decentralized Tech Summit in DC, which will feature key policy stakeholders in crypto and include SEC Crypto Task Force lead Commissioner Hester Peirce as the keynote.
  • Research & Reports: Hosting summits at high-signal academic institutions, including Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, University of Tokyo and University of Toronto, and producing in-depth analysis on the impact of decentralization across economic, political, and technological dimensions and using them to inform and influence policy, for instance, their recent report on how policymakers should think about defining decentralization.
  • Coalition-Building: Uniting projects and leading stakeholders who share an interest in incentivizing decentralization across blockchain projects to ensure decentralization remains a key consideration in regulatory discussions
  • Shaping Legislative Outcomes: Actively working with lawmakers to ensure emerging regulations reflect the distinct nature of decentralized protocols versus centralized service providers. This includes recently submitting recommendations to the SEC on rulemaking that are supported by a broad range of foundations, VCs, and builders in crypto to incentivize decentralization among crypto projects.

Given ENS’s commitment to open standards, user control, and decentralized governance, this funding is a strategic investment in ensuring a policy landscape that protects the principles underpinning ENS and similar public goods.

Next Steps

The ENS PG Working Group’s contribution, combined with external matching funds, will provide the DRC with the resources to continue its critical work in the coming years. We will work with the DRC to share quarterly updates on advocacy impact, ensuring transparency and accountability in how these funds contribute to shaping a favorable regulatory environment for decentralization.

By actively supporting research-driven advocacy, ENS is taking a proactive stance in securing a future where permissionless innovation can thrive.

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Amazing! Was the $150k meant to be matching non ENS related funds or any other reasoning behind that number?

Any impact on their work so far outside of the linked thread about definitions of terms?

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Since I have been made aware of some concerns regarding my name appearing under the “Affiliates” section of the DRC website (not team members), I wanted to clarify my relationship (or lack thereof) with the organisation to avoid any misconceptions about conflicts of interest or active involvement.

In 2022, I was invited to be a Fellow at the DRC (at that time the DAO Research Collective, and focused exclusively on DAOs). My work in governance was the basis for the original ask by the organisation. The fellow/affiliate page is a relic of that v1 of the DRC and is on their list to be updated. The original ask framed the role as non-committal, requiring no active participation, meetings, or formal engagement. The intent, as communicated at that time, was to build a network of DAO thinkers and researchers as a signal of credibility and to loosely connect those working in the space.

At no point did I have an active role in the DRC’s operations, decision-making, governance, or funding processes. I did not contribute research, participate in working groups, receive compensation, or engage in any discussions about the organization’s trajectory beyond this initial prompt in 2022.

My name will tend to be included in many early lists - one issue with being in this space for so long is that I have “touched” a lot of projects, but this does not translate into active involvement beyond initial and presently passive association.

To reiterate: I have no conflict of interest regarding the DRC, nor do I have any financial or strategic stake in their work. My position here is strictly neutral, and my perspectives (in ENS governance and beyond) have always been and remain independent.

I hope this helps clarify any questions - I am a proponent of direct, open communication and I am happy to address any other concerns.

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