AIP-379: Thank APE - Phase II: Amplifying a Movement

[thrivegiraffe]

Proposal Name: Thank APE - Phase II: Amplifying a Movement

Proposal Category: Ecosystem Fund Allocation

TEAM DESCRIPTION

ThriveCoin

Thank APE is powered by ThriveCoin and the Thrive Protocol.

We have supported ApeCoin at scale through 2023 - funding more projects for the DAO than the entire AIP process combined (more below). In addition to our work with ApeCoin, we support Arbitrum, Optimism, and others. We are trusted by more than 150k contributors, ~60% contribute value across ecosystems.

We have scaled platforms and protocols to support millions of users, and we are funded by OG web3 VCs, including HashKey Capital, Youbi Capital, BitScale, Continue Capital, Lightning Capital, and Gaingels - early investors in many of the leading L1, L2, and DeFi blockchains and protocols.

Most importantly, we are Apes and OG members of this community. Our first significant community-wide deployment was this one - Thank APE. Our work together with you is personal: this is our community. We are committed to achieving extraordinary results for you; for us.

10 members of our team directly support Thank APE - some of us full-time and the rest daily. Additionally, we currently have 16 more team members continuing to build and improve underlying infrastructure that continuously improves the quality of our work.

Thank APE Board

The Thank APE board includes well-respected, OG members of the ApeCoin community. They have worked tirelessly with the ThriveCoin team to create immense value for ApeCoin.

The Thank APE board’s primary responsibility is to gather feedback and data from the community and make board-level decisions about implementation, rules, contribution paths, contribution types, reward amounts, and validations.

The board has standing meetings twice a week for a few hours, and they work on Thank APE specific projects throughout the week. Current board members include:

ABSTRACT

ApeCoin must create value now. To do that, we must attract, fund, and coordinate the best talent to address our DAO’s biggest needs. Speed and accuracy matter. Trust matters. Automation and decentralization matter. Utility is essential.

Thank APE - Phase II is a one-year initiative that proposes to:

• Continuously sense into the biggest needs and opportunities for ApeCoin DAO
• Attract, fund, and coordinate the best talent to quickly respond to those needs
• Incentivize community members to engage and support value-creating projects

Initially funded nearly a year ago, Thank APE has attracted, funded, and coordinated more talent to create value for ApeCoin DAO than the rest of our DAO AIP process - combined. And we’ve done it with less than 0.4% of the treasury.

Thank APE’s Motivation: We are Apes. Our motivation is to create enormous value for ApeCoin DAO - by rewarding and recognizing valuable decentralized contributions to our DAO. We’ve been doing this since our first Thank APE Proposal AIP-124 passed almost a year ago.

Our motivation - combined with our tech and expertise, and your partnership - has helped support significant accomplishments since we launched in April of this year. We’ve done it all through a bear market, decreasing ApeCoin value, and wide-ranging coordination problems in the DAO:

Recently, big proposals have passed that reflect a shared realization that we must create more value now. Examples include AIP-297, AIP-304 , and AIP-317 - all of which are seeking to shake things up and help build value in new, big ways for our DAO.

While the impact of these proposals isn’t yet known, the DAO recognized they we must invest to ignite an ecosystem whose future depends on us. Thank APE is proposing another big bet - one that, we believe, addresses the biggest need in the DAO:

We must create greater value, utility, and efficiency in our DAO now.

To do that, our Thank APE - Phase II will support effective decision-making and allocation of resources - and attract, fund, and coordinate top talent that quickly addresses the biggest needs in the DAO.

• Our DAO has passed some proposals - but few have created significant impact yet.
• Our DAO has organized into various groups - but much is still left to be desired.
• Our DAO has built some things - but not enough people use them and none generate revenue.

Thank APE has already been a consistent force in ApeCoin DAO fixated on solving this massive need. We’ve funded and coordinated the building of hundreds of projects creating value in alignment with the feedback of our community and the needs of our DAO.

Background: Our ApeCoin community was founded with a simple mission of driving culture forward into the metaverse. This mission requires building a thriving ecosystem around our culture and community.

A year ago, we had a treasury war chest valued in the billions. Today that same treasury is valued at a fraction of what it was. This is largely because the DAO has generally had a hard time consistently attracting top talent to contribute to our ecosystem.

There is a simple reason for this: Passing an AIP in our DAO environment is hard. It requires that a builder also be a diplomat and a salesperson, not get paid for months, and - at times - put themselves in the crosshairs of public misinformation campaigns from people with their own interests.

Top builders don’t need to put themselves through that kind of pain. They can fund their projects in easier ways than our AIP process provides. For example, ThriveCoin is funded by well-recognized web3 VCs, all of which provided an easiest, less stressful path than passing an ApeCoin AIP.

Thank APE has been changing this.

Through Thank APE, top builders have been able to quickly and easily contribute to ApeCoin DAO in ways that are aligned with the biggest needs of our DAO. The impact is that we’ve attracted thousands of new contributors that has resulted in hundreds of new projects for ApeCoin DAO.

[EDIT: To get a sense of how well Thank APE has functioned in Phase I, please look at the many stories shared in comments below.]

This is just the beginning. With Phase II, we are doubling down on everything that’s worked, making our tech even more accessible and extensible, and focusing all of our energy on attracting greater builders from across our ecosystem to build with ApeCoin!

With Phase II, we are proposing to take a bigger role in helping our ApeCoin community create greater value, efficiency, and utility now. Our shared future requires that we get this right.

BENEFIT TO THE APECOIN ECOSYSTEM

ApeCoin must expand the size of our talent pool and continue to create more and more value now. This requires being faster, better, and bolder.

Thank APE is proposing to expand our role as a trusted party in maximizing value creation for our DAO - and doing it in a way that ensures greater utility, value, and efficiency across our decentralized community. The benefit to the ApeCoin ecosystem will be:

• Greater community-wide clarity about the biggest needs of our ecosystem
• Quick, precise funding of decentralized talent to address our biggest needs
• Incentives for members to use and engage projects addressing our biggest needs

We expect to predominately serve three areas of known ecosystem needs (the details of which will be further clarified in the continuous Sense process described below):

• Tech builders: e.g. development teams, developers, etc.
• Culture builders: e.g. influencers, artists, writers, events, local communities, etc.
• Small businesses: e.g. online and offline merchants, service providers, etc.

** If ApeChain is funded, we intend to be a strong support for onboarding and building on ApeChain.

** We intend to give special consideration to projects that drive revenue for the ApeCoin ecosystem.

PLATFORMS & TECHNOLOGIES

Platforms and Technologies

Thank APE uses ThriveCoin and Thrive Protocol Technology, and integrates with dozens of protocols and platforms via API or by reading on-chain data. Below is high-level overview of the existing tech and our ApeCoin development priorities for the next six months:

Thank Ape Platform and Technologies - via ThriveCoin and Thrive Protocol

• Surfaces valuable contributions across platforms and protocols
• Enables commitments to a broad range of contributions
• Multiple layers of bot and bad actor protection - at scale
• Protocol and application layer validation of contribution activity
• Claimable contribution rewards at the end of a season; donation capability
• On-chain attestations (thank you notes) for all contributions
• Accessible contribution and contribution data, leaderboards

Thank APE Development Priorities - 2024

• Open Thrive Protocol supporting all developer activity
• Vastly increased scope of validations capability
• User segmentation with badging for different contribution types
• Reputation score based on contribution history and data
• Dashboard with all core metrics accessible by the community
• Dozens more partner integrations - focusing on ApeCoin builders
• Improved reward claiming - faster, cheaper, more flexible
• Improved speed and scale - constant infrastructure improvements
• ** (if passed) extensive ApeChain support

STEPS TO IMPLEMENT & TIMELINE

Thank APE - Phase II is a one-year initiative that proposes to:

• Continuously sense into the biggest needs of ApeCoin DAO
• Attract, fund, and coordinate the best talent to quickly respond to those needs
• Incentivize members to use / engage projects addressing those needs

To achieve this, we will deploy resources in three phases - Sense, Respond, Grow

1. SENSE

2. RESPOND

3. GROW

** ThriveCoin and the Thrive Protocol provide the support protocol and application layer for Thank APE, as we have done for the past year.

** The Thank APE Board and ThriveCoin (engineering, custom integrations) provide ongoing support and coverage, as we have done throughout Phase I.

OVERALL COST

We request 4.2M APE for a 1-year deployment. Like with Phase I, the proposal is 100% Performance-based.

• 80% of requested funds allocated back to the ApeCoin community for value-creating contributions.
• 20% allocated to service provider fees.

Below is an overview of how we expect to allocate funds for Phase 2 over one year (final allocations clarified during ongoing Sense processes, which all community members can influence):

3.36 million APE allocated back to the community in the form of rewards. Includes:

• 1.68M to Tech Builders
• 1.18M to Culture Builders
• 500k to Small Businesses
• 336k to Emerging Opportunities

840k APE allocated to ThriveCoin, Thank APE Board, and other support services. Includes:

305k - Protocol and Platform Design & Development

• Product Architecture, Design, and Management - 70k
• Backend Development Support - 90k
• Dashboard / UI Development Support - 50k
• UI/UX Design - 10k
• QA - 20k
• Admin Dashboard UI Development - 25k
• Smart Contract Development - 20k
• Smart Contract Audit - 20k (third party)

400k - Deployment Support, Partnerships, Community, Legal

• Community Project Manager - 60k
• Integrations / Contributions Specialist - 60k
• Community Relations / Support - 60k
• Community Management / Moderation - 60k
• Data Analyst - 40k
• Funding Allocator - 60k
• Event Management - 40k
• Legal - 20k

75k - Hosting Costs

• AWS Infrastructure Costs - 60k
• Blockchain Indexing / Data Storage - 15k

60k - Thank APE Board Members not part of the APE Foundation

LAST THOUGHTS

Now is a critical moment for all of us at ApeCoin. We must together create the value we wish to see in our DAO - so that we grow our status as leaders in a space we’ve together pioneered.

During 2023, Thank APE has taken a leading role in inspiring thousands of people and hundreds of projects to create value for ApeCoin. When much of the DAO world has been quiet, we’ve actively pushed to go bigger, help more, and create enduring value for ApeCoin.

Thank APE - Phase II proposes to build on the work we’ve done. We are doubling down on what’s worked, learning from what hasn’t, and adding enormous new capability along the way.

We believe in the future of our ApeCoin community. We look forward to continuing to work hard for you and our community - and to honoring your hard work. We are excited to hear your thoughts and feedback as we prepare to create enormous value for ApeCoin DAO with you in Phase II.

Thank you. Thank APE!

[thrivegiraffe]

Hi, I’m Daniel (aka ThriveGiraffe), founder of ThriveCoin and one of the creators of Thank APE. Thank you in advance for reading our proposal, and for sharing any feedback. It means a lot to me and to us.

If you have questions or suggestions that go beyond a reply, please at anytime reach out to me, any member of the board, or any member of our ThriveCoin team. We love our ApeCoin community, and we love collaborating with you!

[BoredApeG]

I have had the pleasure of being involved with Thank APE since its planning inception. While there are many AIPs still left uncompleted, Thank APE has grown to be in my opinion the most impactful AIP to date. From its inception to implementation, Thank APE has demonstrated a level of strategic thinking, innovation, and collaboration that set it apart from any other AIPs. I encourage the community to help us shape this next phase to be the most impactful and beneficial to the ApeCoin ecosystem!

[0xWebMoss]

I must begin with a massive Thank you to the Thank Ape initiative and team. You have been a shining light on dark days and a beacon of hope for me in 2023.

I joined the DAO earlier this year, coming in from the Scaling Ethereum EthGlobal event with my project The Ape Inn. Sadly it never made it, which is fine, not many do, but the team and initiatives that ThankApe put forward have made it all worth while in the end.

I’m closing the year off as top contributor for Season 4, which is a very proud achievement that I hope others will see, and recognise as a way to accomplish great things in this amazing ApeCoin community.

I would like to personally thank my pink Ape Angel @Halina.eth who has always been kind, helpful and supportive. We all love you , never change, you will inspire many more who come to the ApeCoin family.

@Apewhale, you’re a legend ser and an inspiration to me, your acts of kindness, generosity and support is how everyone should be.

If I missed anyones name, forgive me, the entire ThankApe team is phenomenal, the greatest, you’ll see.

Again I say thank you, I look forward to the next chapter and seasons so I can give back to our wonderful community.

God bless you all, my full support is unwavering and look forward to more.

Regards
Craig Moss

[Halina.eth]

As a Thank APE Board member since before Season 1, it’s been an honor to witness and help drive the impact Thank Ape has had on the community. My time working with the ThriveCoin team has also given me insight into how this team acts with speed towards strategic goals & learns from each deployment to create more impact.

Not only does Thank APE reward DAO contributors for their hard work, but it also brings in fresh talent from our broader ecosystem. These individuals become core contributors, igniting new ideas and infusing optimism with their fresh perspectives.

Leading deployments like Thank Ape’s grant rounds with Nouns Prop House has been immensely fulfilling. Seeing builders uplifted and empowered through Thank Ape’s recognition and support has been truly inspiring.

ApeCoin DAO thrives by supporting its builders. Thank APE has proven its power and impact. Let’s continue evolving together to empower even more builders!

-Halina.eth

[Apewhale]

Serving as a ThankApe Board Member since May stands out as one of the proudest milestones in my web3 journey. I’ve had the pleasure of transitioning from a contributor to now serving as a Board member along @BoredApeG, @Feld, @Halina.eth, @foxSlightly, and @SeraStargirl, contributing to steering initiatives based on community feedback.

Having been a holder of APE since its inception, my engagement with ThankApe, particularly through their collaboration with Boring Security, has been key in opening my eyes to what the DAO is capable of.

It’s especially gratifying to observe contributors from all over the world finding a meaningful place within the DAO through ThankApe. ThankApe has been a valuable resource for granting rewards of all sizes without having to go thru the sometimes daunting AIP process.

My aspiration is that the wider DAO recognizes the positive impact brought about by this AIP.

[AnnieRawrz]

Thank you for this initiative to continue the Thank Ape program.

It would be an understatement to say that I’m grateful to have had the chance of participating in the Thank Ape movement since season 1. @Apewhale pulled me into it in April.

I joined to make a few bucks, and stayed for the community. Everything Thank Ape came up with was so inspiring and encouraging.

It has been life changing for me to say the least.

Since I joined Web3 in 2021 I have been actively participating in several projects. It has been exhausting to constantly push, but I did it anyway for many many months. Some paid a little, most of them were unrewarding though.

My heart beats for this space. I’m a passionate builder and contributor. I want to shape Web3 and help projects thrive wherever I can.

Thank Ape has made exactly that possible and it’s been incredibly rewarding for me which I’m so thankful for.

In the past 6 months I have made literally life changing money thanks to the Thank Ape program. Without going too much into personal details, it brought me a huge step closer to my dream of starting a family.

Not only that, I shaped the ApeCoin DAO.

These are a few of the things that I have done - and Thank Ape made it possible:

• In June there has been an art contest that I was one of the winners of. My artwork was about a concept design for a mascot. That concept art lead to an AIP which successfully passed and now ApeCoin will have its own little mascot called Apekin, all thanks to one inspiring art contest hosted by Thank Ape.
• In August I introduced the Delegate Group Ambassador Program that connects AIP authors with big, influencal delegates to improve communication and the overall success rate of AIPs, supporting builders and visionaires to make things happen.
• In September I improved a bunch of the Discord channels to make them much more clean and professional looking, including graphics, neat formatting and an overall better user experience. This has also been one of my winning entries for the Thank Ape builders contest hosted in August.
• Also one of my winner entries for the builders contest hosted back in August was a Web3 security webcomic in collaboration with Boring Security featuring Apekin - the ApeCoin DAO mascot. If the pilot comic is a success, I would make an AIP about a whole webcomic series to not only foster the connection between the ApeCoin DAO and the Boring Security DAO, but to also educate about Web3 security in a fun and relatable way, all whilst spreading the ApeCoin brand.

You see, I’ve been busy. And I would looove to continue and expand my success story.

Again, I can’t possibly express my gratitude towards the Thank Ape program and I would love to see it continue so builders like me get rewarded for improving the ApeCoin DAO one contribution at a time.

Lots of love goes out to the team @Apewhale , @SeraStargirl ,@Halina.eth , @Feld , @BoredApeG , @foxSlightly for working tirelessly behind the scenes and making all this possible. Thank Ape has been a huge stepping stone for me.

I’m forever grateful.

Annie

[jackie]

Great to see the next stage of ThankApe! 100% support!!

ThankApe has been an amazing force building the ApeCoin culture bottom-up by empowering the little guys - builders and creators in the trenches. Prop House voting rounds have been great ways to know fellow builders and talents in the ApeCoin community. I really enjoy participating ThankApe’s Prop House series and can’t wait to see more great things ThankApe bringing to the community.

My personal wish list would be:

1. ThankApe becomes a platform for new and indie-level ApeCoin builders and creators.
2. There are more showcases for past grantees.
3. ThankApe voting delegate (voices from the trenches)

[CEOofWeb3.0]

Seems like a no brainer, Imho. It’s commendable all that you’ve done for the ecosystem. There are still a lot of things which we can do, but hey It’s never too late to do something good.

One of the decisions I’ve made all year.

[buuvei]

We love this initiative.

[Hazan]

The thankape initiative has to be one of the most interesting part of the Apecoin Dao i will be happy to see it flourish into one of the leading frontier of web 3, where builders who have value can truly call their home.
It’s the already the start of an awesome journey, and I can’t wait to see where it goes!

[mattborchert]

Thank APE is undoubtedly one of the greatest AIP success stories. Keep the hits comin’.

[0xSword]

Hey! I have a couple of suggestions regarding operations next year, particularly around timing of payouts, as well as extensions of deadlines! It would be great if seasonal rewards were paid out quicker, or instantaneous when possible, to prevent any serious contributor from losing faith in the program. In most seasons, extensions have happened in one way or another. Something to be mindful of! Thank you, Thank Ape!

[Apewhale]

Hey Sword. You aren’t wrong about extended of deadlines. Sometimes for one reason or another the team has had to be flexible and pivot and this leads to extended deadlines.

Regarding rewards, that is a claim at the end of each season. The claim window has typically been open for at least 1 month and announcements made for contributors to claim their rewards at their leisure.

[justzb]

Love what ThankApe have been doing and I am in full support for their new phase . Their work has keep us in participation and engaging as a collective community

Kudos to @thrivegiraffe and the team

[srinigoes]

Thank APE has been instrumental in onboarding many people into the Apecoin ecosystem by rewarding participation. The advisory board of OGs understands the community well. This is definitely an AIP I support.

[TheFatherOfAllStorms]

Before all this I have to say we need to fix the timeline on the trademark approval. You have to colab with councils on that Apecoin winners from ThankApe. Right now I was waiting for about 2 month and didn’t get a reward yet because I can’t deploy officially & I feel like wasted my energy & talent besides time while still waiting.

[loowl]

I adore this proposal and wholeheartedly support it! The Thank APE initiative has had a profound impact on the ApeCoin community, empowering builders and contributors in the most inspiring ways. It’s incredible to witness how Thank APE not only rewards hard work but also brings in fresh talent from the broader ecosystem, igniting new ideas and infusing optimism with their fresh perspectives.

As an active participant in Thank APE since Season 2, I have personally experienced the positive influence it has had on the community. It’s been immensely fulfilling to see builders uplifted and empowered through Thank APE’s recognition and support. The program has created life-changing opportunities for passionate builders like myself, enabling us to contribute to the growth and development of the ApeCoin DAO.

I am extremely grateful for the Thank APE program and its tireless team of individuals who work behind the scenes to make it all possible. Their dedication and efforts have been instrumental in shaping the ApeCoin culture and fostering a sense of belonging for builders and creators. Thank APE has truly become a stepping stone for many, and I am excited to see it continue to thrive and expand its impact.

TL;DR:
Thank APE - is one of the greatest tool/service that helps the APE community to grow and increase engagement even by people who doesn’t have hundreds of thousands of $APE or any YUGA-related JPEGs.
Thank you to everyone involved in making Thank APE a resounding success. I fully support this AIP idea - You can count on me

[lexicon0x]

Hey @TheFatherOfAllStorms. I’m sorry about the length of time it’s taken for you to get ApeCoin Foundation approval for the use of the ApeCoin logo. I know it must be frustrating given your deployment seems to depend on it. We’re taking steps to inquire about why Foundation approval is taking so long and will give you an update when we have one. In the meanwhile, instead of using the ApeCoin logo could you just use the word “ApeCoin” in your deployment? That doesn’t require Foundation approval.

Also, if you have any further questions / thoughts, it might be easier to DM Thank APE on X where we can have a more direct conversation about this issue. We appreciate your contributions to the ApeCoin community!

[salmanneedsajob]

I have had the opportunity to get involved in ApeCoin via the prop house initiative by Thank Ape, where we piloted an extremely exciting IRL infrastructure project, The Bored Room at Zo House. Through the experience, I have also gotten to know some of the members of the DAO, which was great, and also got some engagement rewards from the Thank Ape platform. This has me personally interested in learning more about and participating in the ApeCoin ecosystem.

It’s interesting that 80% of the funds requested are allocated back to the community, which is a very healthy request imo. I look forward to seeing how phase 2 plays out and the opportunities it brings to contributors and the ApeCoin ecosystem at large.