- Author: Callum Gladstone (Fire Eyes DAO), Wildfire DAO.
- Status: Discussion
- Type: Governance
- Implementer: N/A
- Sponsor(s): N/A
- Link to Temperature Check Poll: N/A
- Created Date: 10/17/2022
- Summary: Establish a governance RFP framework and allocate $250,000 USDC and 2.5m $RARE towards governance improvement RFPs.
Abstract:
SuperRare’s journey towards decentralization including the RARE launch and beginnings of community ownership and network direction had a positive impact on the growth of the protocol and community, but this growth has faltered in recent months based on a number of factors (RARE price down, core team over-allocated on time/resources, community participation not being sufficiently incentivised, etc.)
Given the willingness of community members to contribute to the development of more robust and streamlined governance processes and funding mechanisms, as well as many other kinds of non-technical contributions; This SIP looks to formalize a framework for community members, service DAOs and other network participants to be compensated for their contributions to the SuperRare DAO.
Motivation:
Fire Eyes and Wildfire believe that for governance to be effective over the long term, there need to be some kind of incentives in place for those contributors who are putting time and energy towards building out and participating in community governance. After observing and contributing to the SuperRare community and ecosystem since before $RARE launch, and especially watching the evolution of SIP: Can The Devs Do Something we believe that it will be valuable for a similar framework to be put in place for the ideation, development and implementation of more effective governance processes, token/value mechanisms, and community engagement mechanisms.
This SIP comes after the proposition of a Wildfire Proposal and subsequent feedback around it being supported, but requiring the implementation of a framework to process proposals like this in order to maintain a high level of commitment, accountability and output from contributors.
Specification:
A ‘Governance Fund’ will be instantiated, alongside an RFP framework which will set out the guidelines for contributors to put forth proposals to carry out various taks for the DAO around governance, incentives, marketing, community growth and more. We anticipate the primary focus areas for outcomes of proposals going through this framework to be:
- Governance processes and mechanisms
- RARE token mechanisms
- Community participation incentives (artist, collector, contributor)
- Outreach and exposure initiatives
We propose an initial fund of $250,000 in ETH/USDC, and 2.5 Million $RARE. This represents ~3% of the total ETH/USDC treasury, and ~0.1% of the $RARE treasury. These numbers are intentionally conservative as to ensure that the DAO is exposed as little as possible to any potential failure state of the governance funding initiative.
Following discussion and iteration stemming from this proposal, we plan to develop a solid RFP framework which will allow community members to put forth proposals to a governance sub-committee and receive approval for RARE/ETH/USDC grants. Taking inspiration from ENS Small Grants and NounsDAO NSFW, this framework will allow for the process from proposal to funding and project completion to be as frictionless as possible.
Proposals to the ‘SuperRare Governance Fund’ (name pending) should follow a standardize framework, outlining the motivation, specification, pros/cons and cost of the project. This will then be submitted to a committee which can then provide feedback, assess whether the project and its cost is beneficial to the DAO and ultimately submit to the $RARE Snapshot space to decide to approve or deny the proposal.
With regard to the control of funds and decision-making over RFP processing; we envision a sub-committee being gathered which includes members of the existing governance council, the SuperRare Labs core team, and trusted community members. This committee would have control over the ultimate direction and movement of funds (held in a multisig) and would act on behalf of the wider community based on Snapshot polls in terms of approving RFPs.
- This structure and the process for storing, moving and allocating funds is yet to be finalized. We plan to consult with SRLabs as well as the wider community in order to define a process which is secure and representative of the SuperRare community.
Benefits:
The allocation of these funds will:
- Allow SuperRare Labs to hand off certain aspects of governance and ecosystem development to community members and organizations, improving the velocity of governance and community growth.
- Allow community members to become contributors and agents of the DAO in a meaningful way, as well as receiving compensation for their work.
- Allow for more ideation and collaboration both between SRLabs and the community, as well as between different community actors and service DAOs.
Drawbacks:
- The allocation of funds towards governance initiatives means that they can’t be directed towards other initiatives.
- There is the possibility of collusion with or governance capture of the decision making group leading to funds being directed towards unworthy and/or malicious projects or actors.
Outcomes:
After ideation and feedback on this discussion proposal, Fire Eyes DAO, Wildfire DAO, SuperRare Labs and any other interested community members will define the grants approval process in further detail and begin the scoping and solicitation of RFPs under this framework.
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