tldr;
There are ~$60,000 leftover in an old Ecosystem Development DAO dating back to 2022. This proposal seeks to raise awareness, gather community support, and trigger the transfer of these funds into Potlock to fund the Nearing Matching Fund round.
About the Ecosystem Development DAO (ED DAO)
The Ecosystem Development DAOdates all the way back to the Eric Era (circa 2022) and was setup by the NEAR Foundation to fund a range of community programs including the Guilds Program and the (original) Degens.
Despite the DAO in its name, the ED DAO was really an offshoot of the NEAR Foundation, wholly controlled by NF. One of the earliest experiments in decentralisation in the ecosystem.
The DAO became inactive as NF transitioned payouts of community funding in-house (for KYC purposes) and was later forgotten as Marieke moved to reform all Community funding (fast forward to NDC).
At the time the DAO became inactive, the funds in it were not worth much. But years later, the leftover balance currently sits at ~$60,000.
About Potlock (Quadratic Funding & Matching Pools)
Potlock is one of the more recent and most promising experiments in community funding as it allows for direct funding of projects from anyone and for ‘Pots’ which are spacing matching rounds where individual contributions get amplified.
To date Potlock has had the following Pots:
- [Completed] Creatives , sponsored by Creatives DAO (3,039 N, ~$22,000)
- [Completed] Africa Public Goods, sponsored by NEAR Foundation (766 N, ~5781)
- [In Progress] NEAR Retroactive Builders, sponsored by NEAR Foundation (7397 N ~55,778)
- [Upcoming] Open Source Software, sponsored by NEAR Foundation (5379 N ~$40,562)
- [Upcoming] AI Public Goods, sponsored by NEAR Foundation (10,989 N ~$82842)
- [Proposed] Nearians (For Individuals), looking for a Sponsor
Proposal
This is a simple proposal to rescue the leftover funds from the old Ecosystem Development DAO and put them towards the funding of current community initiatives. In particular, the latest Nearians round on Potlock which is currently unfunded and looking for Sponsors
Reasoning
As we can see, most of the current funding rounds are being sponsored by NEAR Foundation. The NEAR Foundation set up the Ecosystem Development DAO back in the day for a very similar purpose (fund community initiatives) and it only makes sense to make use of funds leftover in the ED DAO (or they would be lost forever?).
Nearians round is unique in that it funds individuals. We have some top tier contributors who are not attached to any project in particular and who have historically had a hard time securing funding. NDC has already signalled they are not interested in funding it. Let the Nearians who have been here for years rescue old funds and unlock funding for their well deserving peers!
Alternative Proposals
That the money should be rescued and put to use should not be controversial. What the best use of the funds may be is open for discussion. I propose funding the Nearians round, but other alternative include:
- Funding a Marketing Matching Fund on Potlock
- Increasing the funding for one of the existing, upcoming Rounds (i.e. Open Source)
- Send all assets back to NF
- Send all assets Community Treasury
- Other (please respond in comments)
Next Steps
- Gathering feedback and securing community support and NF buy-in
- Track down the Council members in that DAO and notify them of the community support and desire to move those funds
- Create a proposal that would send assets from DAO into Nearians Matching Fund (or other use as it may be ultimately decided)
Current ED DAO Council Members
- davidmo.near - still employed at NF, easy to contact and liaise with
- thegrace.near - former NF employee, but in close relationships and good terms with current NF leadership. We saw her at Eth Denver. Wallet active, claimed staking rewards as recently as march.
- zanaislami.near - I believe she is also a former NF employee, unsure how to contact her.
I believe it would be possible to move this proposal forward with @David_NEAR and @Grace support.
Tagging for visibility - @illia @eaglelex @plugrel @odin @Dacha
Disclosure of Conflict of Interest: if money is allocated towards Nearians or Marketing matching fund rounds I would likely stand to benefit financially as I will be nominating myself and/or my podcast respectively for these rounds (irrespective of the source of funding).
