[EP14][Executable] Funding True Names Ltd

DAO-Wide Archived Proposals
1
Status Executed
Discussion Thread Discuss
Votes Onchain

Description

Provide for the funding of True Names Ltd. for the continuation of the ENS Protocol.

Abstract

True Names Ltd (“TNL”) developed the Ethereum Name Service (“ENS”) protocol, continues to manage the development of the ENS Protocol and solely focuses on this project. Incubated at the Ethereum Foundation in 2017, TNL spun out in 2018 with the charge of designing and deploying THE next generation naming service. TNL is now a growing team of web3 enthusiasts from across the globe working together to support the ENS Ecosystem that now has a passionate community that has registered over 1 million ENS names and uses more than 500 integrations.

In 2021, TNL initiated the creation of the ENS DAO with the goal of 1) furthering the development of the ENS Protocol and 2) funding public goods projects.

In consideration of the work completed thus far this calendar year and the work in the months and years to come, per Article III of the ENS Constitution, True Names Ltd respectfully requests an evergreen grant stream that will allow the organization to continue the development and improvement of the ENS Protocol. For Calendar Year 2022, this request will amount to $4,197,500 USDC which is equivalent to a daily stream of $11,500 USDC. In Q1 of each year, TNL or the ENS DAO may make requests to alter and/or terminate this evergreen grant stream.

TNL 2022 Budget Summary

TNL 2022 Budget Summary
TNL 2022 Budget Summary548×597 101 KB

Responsibilities of TNL

  • Developing and maintaining the ENS Protocol

The development team at TNL is highly skilled, passionate, and solely focused on supporting the ENS Protocol. In addition to writing code, our team regularly presents and educates at conferences, engages in business development activities, and supports our integration partners.

  • Growing the protocol through integrations and managing partnerships

With additional support and funding from the ENS DAO TNL intends to increase the number of integrations, increase our support and onboarding of integrations, and deepen ENS relationships in the web3 ecosystem. This work will directly increase the value and functionality of ENS names.

  • Public Education on the ENS Protocol

TNL will develop and deploy an ongoing education program to educate the masses on web3 and the importance of .eth domains to the future of web3. We will provide education to the public at large and to current and future integration partners.

  • Marketing, communications, and PR of the ENS Protocol

TNL will engage in marketing and PR activities in order to 1) increase brand awareness; 2) increase the number of integrations; 3) increase the number of domain registrations.

  • Maintaining ENS DAO IT infrastructure

We will continue to support the ENS Protocol through maintenance of the ENS website, official Twitter account, Discord, etc. We will also support other ENS Protocol infrastructure.

  • Submitting Quarterly Reports to the ENS DAO

As an ongoing practice, TNL will deliver a formal quarterly report to the ENS DAO to share areas of progress, areas of challenge, and solicit feedback from the ENS DAO.

Where we’ve been…

Over the past year, TNL has:

  • Launched the ENS DAO, which required creating
  • Launched the ENS constitution auction and claim site
  • Created the Name Wrapper contract
  • Updated the .eth controller contract
  • Created the Universal Resolver contract
  • Deployed the Exponential Price curve contract to combat gas wars and create price discovery for expired names
  • Created the CCIP-read specification in partnership with Chainlink
  • Updated the ENS manager to v3
  • Created Thorin, a new design system for the new ENS manager, as well as the wider ecosystem
  • Updated ENSjs to v3
  • Created the metadata service

Where we’re going…

Over the next year, TNL will:

  • Move the ENS manager v3 to beta and launch
  • Deploy and launch the Name Wrapper contract
  • Deploy the new .eth controller contract
  • Allow DNS names to be imported to ENS gas-free
  • Move Thorin to beta and launch
  • Move ENSjs to beta and launch
  • Continue integrating CCIP-read and foster adoption across the ecosystem
  • Continue improving the metadata service
  • Add other features to the Universal Resolver and deploy
  • Launch ability to register ENS names with fiat currency
  • Deprecate ENS manager v2, and migrate to v3
  • And more to come!

Excerpt from the ENS DAO Constitution

Article III. Income funds ENS and other public goods
Any income generated to the ENS treasury is to be used first of all to ensure the long-term viability of ENS, and to fund continuing development and improvement of the ENS system. Funds that are not reasonably required to achieve this goal may be used to fund other public goods within web3 as ENS governance sees fit.

Specification

We request that the ENS DAO stream a daily grant of $11,500 USDC to coldwallet.ens.eth backdated to January 1st, 2022.

This will be accomplished by approving a dedicated token streaming contract at 0xB1377e4f32e6746444970823D5506F98f5A04201 to spend USDC on behalf of the DAO.

Link to PR: Create EP for Funding True Names LTD by khori-eth · Pull Request #29 · ensdomains/governance-docs · GitHub

13 Likes
2

Thanks for sharing this!
Just quick question, is this a retroactive payment? (Because of the dates mentioned).

This part seems interesting. The ENS DAO IT. It would be nice to have this, somewhere, specified more (maybe it is, I apologize in advance) about the relationship and nature of sections like this one.

I’d think that this is a shared duty in between TNL and the corresponden WG (at least the Discord part).

Also, for the DAO knowledge, it will be of utility to understand who would be the point of contact on TNL for all the points mentioned on the funding proposal.

This is very nice! I think it will add a layer of transparency!
Also regarding that, is there an estimate or spreadsheet that shows the allocation of funds or where does this budget was expected to be spent and how it was spent?

3

It’s retroactive to the beginning of the year, followed by ongoing funding going forward.

Given the WG isn’t easily able to pay directly for things like Discord subscriptions, having TNL continue to pay for these things out of grant funding seems like the lowest friction option.

4 Likes
4

Can you elaborate on this please? Lots of education around ENS has been carried out by DAO volunteers, some without compensation. TNL has a role to play in it but it is also a shared duty. I’d personally like to see it practised.

I’ll urge you to add this to the list of shared responsibilities as well. DAO should also send volunteers to conferences along with TNL staff.

Other than that, ENS is nothing without TNL. Good luck for the next term!

2 Likes
5

This is great, funding TNL is long overdue :slight_smile:

I was wondering if it might be a good idea to attach a 1% royalty to sales of ENS names to put into a fund or wallet dedicated to ENS development to finance this?

It seems like a sensible idea to ensure that development is always funded.

7 Likes
6

I think this should probably be a separate discussion, with revenue for that going to the DAO directly.

1 Like
7

I meant that it would go to the DAO, but to a wallet ear marked for development. I’ll create a temp check for this when I have the time.

8

Oh, Got you! I thought it meant paying the moderators for example and so on.

Thanks for the clarification. I think the only thing missing is the transparency aspect of the funds management and the clarification of how from august onward this tasks will be integrated more with the DAO (who is responsable for any of the points mentioned and how it relates to the DAO) (Maybe this is to be mentioned in a different topic).

We need to empower the autonomous aspect.

9

Ah - yes, we do currently pay moderators out of TNL’s wallet. I would be happy with the DAO taking that responsibility on in future, presuming a stable funding source is made available for them.

6 Likes
10

Agree.

Plus it would be healthy to have someone from the DAOs WG to be part of the moderators team, it’s not only a learning experience but also a good way to connect directly with the DAO/TNL when needed.

Added to clarify: with a subgroup and a budget assigned.

1 Like
11

All current moderators are members of DAO WG’s that I’m aware of. Learn docs, for example.

12

Thanks for all the details!

I think it’s quite obvious that ENS DAO first priority should be funding TNL.

The sum is also not high for an annual budget of an organization, so I fully support it.

3 Likes
13

@vegayp Thanks for your read and feedback! We will add a section on allocation of funds to this proposal.

2 Likes
14

@inplco Thanks so much for weighing in! I agree that both the educational component and conference engagement is/has been a shared responsibility. In terms of the educational component, the grand vision is to work on what could turn into the "ENS Institute or “ENS University” where people can learn about all things blockchain in general and of course ENS in particular. We can become THE destination for web3 onboarding and education. I wonder if this education vision animates anyone else?

3 Likes
15

Totally does. We can start by completing and formally publishing the Learn Docs initiative that the (now dissolved) Community Working Group picked up in Term 1. Check it out here: https://ens.gitbook.io/learn-ens/getting-started/welcome

3 Likes
16

@estmcmxci :raised_hands:t4: Sounds good. Thanks for sharing link!

1 Like
17

I can’t think of any better way for the DAO to help ENS than this.

Happy to see this included in the formal proposal as well.

4 Likes
18

That’s a big cheque to write. I hope it will be cashed :pray:

19

Made a few edits to the draft proposal.

20

Thanks for putting this together and sharing it @khori.eth!
Looks great. It’s cool to see the TNL team growing and continuing to deliver more and more for ENS.
Getting this stream going will be an awesome way to kick off the next term.

Thank you @TNL!

2 Likes