Proposal Name: public goods funding for ETHGlobal hackathons and Gitcoin grants
Proposal Category: Public goods funding
@maariab, with support from @azeem at Gitcoin
Timing for ETHOnline and September’s Gitcoin sessions are passed us. This AIP will go towards funding the next sessions for ETHGlobal and Gitcoin seasons.
ETHGlobal is expected to occur in the next few months. Gitcoin will launch in December.
Costs remain the same.
Abstract:
This AIP provides for $200,000 in APE to fund hackathons and grant programs for people building for ApeCoin. The funding will be distributed across three initiatives: Ethereum Foundation’s upcoming ETHOnline hackathon, a dedicated Gitcoin ApeCoin ecosystems grant program, and Gitcoin’s Change program.
Participating in these initiatives gets ApeCoin more visibility and encourages developers to build for this community. It also serves as a way for ApeCoin to support public goods and other communities.
Motivation:
The current AIP process makes it difficult to vet and fund a large number of potential contributors and projects in an effective way. By leveraging existing trusted ecosystems like ETHGlobal and Gitcoin, ApeCoin DAO can efficiently scale support for developers and contributors who want to build within the ecosystem.
By participating in these programs ApeCoin also has the opportunity to fund public good efforts within the broader crypto ecosystem. The space is still so early that we need to encourage open source building that others can leverage. We need to encourage continued innovation and building in the space, and this is an opportunity for us to support those contributors who are pushing us forward.
I am requesting:
- $45k to participate in the ETHOnline hackathon ($35k sponsorship fee + $10k in prizes)
- $100k for funding a dedicated Gitcoin ApeCoin ecosystem program (deck)
- $50k for funding Gitcoin’s Climate, DEI, and Advocacy program (deck)
- $5k to donate to another community at ETHOnline. We can match funding, sponsor a prize pool, or donate it to cover expenses for low-income community members.
Rationale:
By participating in ETHGlobal hackathons and creating a Gitcoin ecosystem fund, ApeCoin is participating in the collective efforts that will continue to push the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem forward. There are many L1s and DeFi protocols that already participate, but participation from the NFT community is still relatively nascent. Grant funding will encourage developers to build new applications for the NFT community, which should be a major objective of ApeCoin DAO.
ETHGlobal is the Premiere Ethereum hackathon organizer and has run over 30 hackathons around the world and online since 2017. These events have generated over 3500 projects and distributed over $3M in prizes to the developer community. ETHOnline is ETHGlobal’s flagship hackathon of 2022.
Gitcoin empowers communities of builders to connect and work together to create the future of the open web. Their ecosystem rounds provide an opportunity for Web3 projects to advance open source efforts in their own ecosystems. Gitcoin has funded $65M+ of open source software to date.
The goal of this funding is to increase awareness and adoption of ApeCoin. Success will be measured by the volume and quality of the programs that are built. We will work with Gitcoin and ETHGlobal to provide key metrics to the DAO post-hackathon.
Specifications:
ETHOnline: https://online.ethglobal.com/
Largest hackathon of the year, runs for the entire month of September. Funding will cover $35k sponsorship fee and maximum $10k prize pool. The hackathon prompts and prize distribution will be finalized in collaboration with the ETHGlobal team closer to the event. You can look at examples of how the program is set up here: https://ethglobal.com/events/ethmexico/prizes
We will also be able to select one item for the swag bag. I’d like a community member to select the item and coordinate the logistics (I’m hoping @herb will be down)
Once the proposal passes, ETHOnline will send us an invoice, and we can remit payment via wire or tokens. Invoice will specify payment details.
ETHOnline hackathon winners will be selected by ApeCoin representatives, including me (Maaria) and up to 4 ApeCoin holders who want to participate. Community members interested in participating should message me.
Gitcoin ecosystem fund: buidlbox
Requesting $100k to fund an ecosystem grant program to run from September 7th to 22nd. Gitcoin grants are awarded to developers building open source tooling that further develops the ApeCoin ecosystem. Also requesting a $50k allocation to the Gitcoin Change initiatives (Climate, DEI, Regulatory Advocacy and DeSci) to further public good.
Requesting $5k be held back to support another community participating in ETHOnline. These funds will not be transferred / requested until the cause is identified. If a cause is not identified by the end of ETHOnline (Sept 30), the funds will remain in the treasury and will be available for other DAO initiatives.
Eligibility:
Applications for the are open to anyone who meets the following eligibility criteria:
- The Grant must support or directly advance the ApeCoin or NFT ecosystem
- The Grant may not have any form of quid pro quo that has financial value (a scenario in which a user gets some additional unique benefit/award in return for their donation)
- The Grant owner must be directly affiliated with the project; the funds must go to the project; and the funds must be used for the purposes stated in the Grant’s details.
- The Grant should be focused on accomplishing the following for ApeCoin:
- Usability - improving the user experience
- Community - growing the ecosystem
- Tooling - improving the developer experience
- Governance - building tools and enhancements for governance
- DApps - applications integrating ApeCoin
- The project should not have its own token or have raised VC funding (matching funds are reserved for the aspiring projects!)
- The Grant should be open source
ApeCoin DAO will hold the discretion on which grants are eligible for matching on Gitcoin, and which projects are awarded prizes at ETHOnline.
I will participate in the judging for ETHOnline. Up to 4 other APE holder who want to participate and judge can join me. Please reach out to me if you’re interested in participating.
Steps to Implement:
- After AIP is passed, ETHGlobal will send us an invoice for $45k that we can pay via wire or $APE. Payment specifications will be available on invoice.
- $100k in APE sent to Gitcoin Grants Multisig: 0xde21F729137C5Af1b01d73aF1dC21eFfa2B8a0d6
- $50k in USDC or ETH for the Change program sent to Gitcoin Grants Multisig: 0xde21F729137C5Af1b01d73aF1dC21eFfa2B8a0d6
- Remaining $5k will only be requested if we identify an ETHOnline community to donate to. Payment information TBD.
Timeline:
Both programs are running in September so we need to finalize funding asap. Once funding is finalized I will confirm ApeCoin’s participation in both programs so we can finalize any necessary paperwork and remit funding.
Team:
- Maaria is coordinating logistics and will not be paid. 100% of funding will go to the programs
Overall Cost:
$200k
This includes: $45k for ETHOnline hackathon, $100k for a Gitcoin Apecoin ecosystem grant program, $50k for Gitcoin’s Causes program, and $5k to be donated to another community for ETHOnline (this funding will only be called if a partner is identified)
APPENDIX:
- ETHGlobal sponsorship program
Proposals submitted to the AIP Ideas category can be vague, incomplete ideas. Topics submitted here are not required to be submitted as a formal AIP Draft Template, however, you may still use the template if you wish.
