ApeCoinDAO,
In September 2023, the Governance Working Group (GWG) initiated a mission to broaden our scope and deliver significantly more value to the ApeCoin DAO community than what was originally outlined in our charter. This required a considerable amount of vision, time, hard work and trust from the community.
To reach this goal, we met with as many ApeCoin DAO constituents as possible, aiming to raise awareness about our proposal and all of its newly planned initiatives. Countless Zoom calls and active networking at various in-person events, including the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto and even a quick flight out to the Elite Apes’ two-year anniversary in Hong Kong, graciously hosted by my good friends Jason Au and Steve. During this visit, I had the opportunity to meet with key figures from the Mocaverse ecosystem, who have also become great friends that I look forward to connecting with every time I’m back in that region.
With that said, as we bring the first budget cycle of my Stewardship with the GWG to a close and gear up for an even more impactful next cycle full of new initiatives, I want to express my gratitude. Your confidence in us played a pivotal role in shaping the success of AIP-317 and motivation for this report, which I’m proud to share.
I also wanted its contents to provide important insight into the overall workings of the Governance Working Group, and able to be used as a reference point for those curious about what we do.
AC
Basis of Preparation and Disclaimer
Please note that this report is only a presentation of information, and any statements contained within it do not provide any advice, representation, warranty, certification, guarantee or promise relating to the subject(s). No representation or warranty of any kind (whether express or implied) is given as to the accuracy and completeness of this report, and no party should rely on the content in it for making any decisions, whether financial, legal or otherwise. The report and its content have not been reviewed, approved, endorsed or registered with any regulator or governmental entity. Any party relying on the report does so entirely at their own risk and shall have no right of recourse against the APE Foundation, its supervisor, its directors, employees, professional advisors or agents (“Relevant Parties”), the Governance Working Group or Ape Governance WG DAO LLC.
None of the Relevant Parties accept any liability or assume duty of care to any third party (whether it is an assignee or successor of another third party or otherwise) in respect of the report. The information included in this report has not been audited, or be construed as a distribution, an offer to sell, an advice or a solicitation to buy any products or services. Any past performance, projection or forecast is not necessarily indicative of the likely performance of future results, and the Relevant Parties undertake no obligation to update, supplement or amend any statement that may become inaccurate or incomplete after the date on which this report is first published.
Governance Working Group Background
On July 1st, 2023, the Governance Working Group formally initiated its activities following the selection of two additional Stewards in accordance with AIP-239. Our group operates with the objective of providing impartial and objective governance oversight, aligning with the guidelines outlined in AIP-1, AIP-137, AIP-138, AIP-200, AIP-239, and AIP-240.
Currently comprising a six-person team, we play a pivotal role in the day-to-day operations of the ApeCoin DAO with responsibilities that span project management, program development, election facilitation, and various stages of the AIP process. Additionally, we’re entrusted with establishing effective governance guidelines and initiating community engagement initiatives.
Importantly, we also facilitate elections, which involves a variety of duties and seamless coordination to assure the execution of a fair and transparent selection process.
The composition of the GWG includes up to three Stewards, three Facilitators, and one Secretary, each assigned specific duties within the framework of their governance mandate.
It is also important to note that in the spirit of true decentralization, the Governance Working Group operates as grant recipients on behalf of the ApeCoin DAO community and does not represent the APE Foundation.
Governance Working Group Stewards
GWG Stewards play a pivotal role in the ApeCoin ecosystem, contributing significantly to the operational backbone of ApeCoin DAO through comprehensive support and day-to-day project management. In this important role, we ensure initiatives are being executed, provide operational assistance and coordinate with a team of Discourse Facilitators and Secretary to foster smooth collaboration.
Beyond these foundational tasks, GWG Stewards actively contribute to the ongoing enhancement of the ApeCoin DAO ecosystem. We conceptualize, develop, and manage various programs while also taking charge of budget drafting, publishing, campaigning, and implementation. Stewards also exercise third-party oversight to ensure that contracted service providers align with the DAOs operational needs. Engaging with stakeholders and delegates is also key. Furthermore, we establish (and manage) community committees, contract and conduct research and development, oversee outgoing Discord messaging, and prepare detailed transparency reports like this.
Community Discourse Facilitators
Discourse facilitation is a critical GWG initiative that encompasses a variety of responsibilities, such as creating Draft Analysis Reports (DAR) and performing various administrative duties. They act as a liaison between AIP authors and the APE Foundation, Special Council, and Cayman administration, facilitating Q&A sessions on their behalf and playing a crucial role in maintaining the official ApeCoin DAO Discourse platform as our moderation team responsible for reviewing user profiles and posts, troubleshooting technical issues, and implementing format and automation updates. Furthermore, Discourse Facilitators put in a considerable amount of effort in keeping the community informed on AIP implementation by providing regular updates and publishing their Facilitator Notes on Discourse, which are updates outlining all of the important ongoing work that they do.
DAO Secretary
The Secretary position is another GWG initiative that encompasses a diverse set of responsibilities crucial for the overall smooth functioning of the DAO. Their duties range from scheduling internal meetings and producing meeting agendas and minutes to publishing certain types of progress reports. In addition to these core tasks, the Secretary actively participates in other Working Group meetings as well, and serves as a general aid to their respective Stewards. They manage the DAO calendar, ensuring that key events and deadlines are organized and communicated effectively, and play a central role in publishing monthly transparency reports, keeping the community well-informed about the DAO’s progress and activities. Beyond this, the Secretary also assists Stewards in the implementation of initiatives and general execution tasks.
We also have some exciting new deliverables for the Secretary we will get into on our next budget.
Legal Council and Advisory Services: Meta Law
A significant shift introduced by the Governance Working Group during this cycle was the establishment of independent legal structure. In collaboration with Bing, from Metalaw, the GWG established a DAO LLC nonprofit that can accommodate revolving Managing Members based on electoral results, advisory boards and community committees.
Establishing a structure like this offers various advantages, including the flexibility to explore economic sustainability initiatives. Additionally, the nonprofit is equipped to hold assets such as online accounts.
Our collaboration with MetaLaw also extends to the careful examination of each contract we enter and strategic planning for various components of the AIPs we propose. This partnership aims to lower the associated risks of decentralized environments and enhance the overall efficiency of our initiatives.
Website Revitalization: Solidity.io
Initially contracted to fulfill our desire to present the community with a revamped apecoin.com website, the proposal didn’t consider potential concerns that the APE Foundation may have had regarding the safety of our community and the foundational nature of pivotal brand elements like the ApeCoin website.
It is for these reasons that despite having complete trust in the Solidity.io team, we prioritized peace of mind for the ApeCoin DAO community and pivvoted toward building a apecoingwg.com website, where we could have more control.
This new site boasts several noteworthy features, including translations in five languages, a carousel showcasing partner projects, direct links to the AIP Draft Template, ApeCoin voting options, submission forms for the Community Governance Improvement Program, an impressive governance dashboard and recently created Gitbook, which hosts a variety of technical documents related to the DAO and our Working Group. Furthermore, the site links to the ApeComms Twitter account and features the Secretary’s Bulletin Bored blog which provides weekly updates on DAO ongoings.
Governance Dashboard: Nodeblocks
One of the most enjoyable initiatives is the creation of an ApeCoin DAO governance participation dashboard built by Nodeblocks, who developed the apecoin.com treasury tab and recently had AIP-383: The Public Bored pass with their co-founder and important DAO contributor @MemeBrains leading the charge. This dynamic dashboard offers a range of essential metrics, including average participation, total proposals, unique wallets, and more. Notably, users can actively participate in voting directly through this dashboard, providing an engaging experience for community members who choose to explore it. Furthermore, by downloading the site to your mobile homescreen you can opt in for push notifications when AIPs go live… Really cool stuff.
You can access the dashboard through apecoingwg.com or directly at vote.apecoingwg.com and dashboard.apecoingwg.com.
Economic Sustainability Study: AvantGarde
In response to a declining token price and uncertainties surrounding the Working Group structure at the time, the GWG felt that it was crucial to introduce a research and development component into our budget with the goal of providing options to the community on ways we could mitigate overhead and lengthen the runway the broader DAO has with its treasury.
To tackle this, we initiated a Request for Proposals (RFP) process to contract the services of a third-party treasury management firm, and in the end, AvantGarde (AG) was selected to take on the role.
This comprehensive report explores a variety of forensic metrics and outlines actionable strategies and sustainable practices for Working Groups and DAO as a whole.
At the study’s initiation, ApeCoin DAO lacked investing and revenue-sharing capabilities, and none of us were expecting the impending ApeChain developments. Keeping this in mind, AvantGarde collaborated with us effectively, keeping the study current and exploring potential ApeChain sequencer revenues, stablecoin yields, and ETH staking. Keeping this in mind, it quickly became evident that sustainable treasury management deserved our primary attention based on many factors that we encourage you to explore by reading through the report.
It should also be noted that initial cost estimations were lower than what most groups participating in the RFP process were seeking, which led to minor adjustments to the study’s scope to help better align with industry precedents while still getting the information and recommendations we needed.
The GWG has since cultivated a strong working relationship with AG, and we are eager to utilize the data found in this 47-page document to formulate a strategic plan moving forward.
You can read the full report here: Avantgarde Research - ApeCoin DAO Economic & Treasury Sustainability Study.pdf - Google Drive
The RFP we put up here: Request for Proposal: Economic Sustainability Study and Roadmap
And AvantGarde’s winning proposal: AvantGardeRFP.pdf - Google Drive
Discord and Discourse Bots, Security and Tooling: JonHQ
During the DAOs first major transitional phase, when we parted ways with the Cartan Group as our Cayman administration, a community-assembled group called Working Group 0 emerged to undertake a variety of critical responsibilities to aid in the handover.
Beyond just maintaining the DAO’s functionality, they played a important role setting new standards, introducing the Working Group structure, and establishing the ApeCoin DAO community Discord server. During this period, Jon from Boring Security was recruited for the safe setup and ongoing security and maintenance of the server. Since then, Jon has provided us with nothing but A-1 services and given us no reason to look elsewhere up to this point.
Gitbook: Technical Document Hosting
Another AIP-317 OKR was to release ApeCoin DAO governance documentation on Gitbook, covering various aspects of the ApeCoin governance structure. This encompasses AIPs, decision-making processes, voting mechanisms, community engagement guidelines, Working Group details, key initiatives, and more.
Special appreciation goes out to @Amplify for providing us with the strong headstart we never knew we had until logging in to start its development. All of this being said, the current team has also done a great job building it into what it is today, which has become an excellent resource that we now intend on pushing regular updates to.
You can access our official Gitbook GWG document repository here: docs.apegwg.com
Bookkeeping and Accounting
Initially budgeted for external handling, the GWG decided to take on certain tasks in-house, which contributed to the discovery of inconsistencies during a retrospective examination of our quarterly and budget-end reports. In the process, instances of suboptimal practices related to contract maintenance and general best practices were identified. Recognizing the importance of addressing these issues, we plan to establish a far more stringent protocol whereby all Stewards will be mandated to review each incoming and outgoing document meticulously, ensuring a comprehensive and standardized approach to document management within the group. The DAO Secretary will also become more involved with these processes, and our team is currently looking into software solutions to enhance our overall accounting efficiency.
2023 Special Council and Working Group Elections
One of the first undertakings that the Governance Working Group was tasked with was to facilitate Special Council (SC) and Working Group (WG) elections. While this responsibility has transformed into a collaborative effort involving various teams at the DAO, the GWG remains central to its process.
From initiating the call for nominations to uploading profiles on Discourse and co-hosting Twitter Spaces, the GWG closely collaborates with SC and our Cayman administration to offer our support wherever it’s needed.
It’s worth noting that during the last election cycle, we facilitated over 50 nominees spanning four categories in two rounds, where ultimately, the community selected three new Special Council Members two Metaverse Working Group Stewards, two Marketing and Communications Working Group Stewards, and one Governance Working Group Steward.
Heartfelt congratulations are extended to everyone who gave it their all, and a special acknowledgment to those who secured positions. It really has been a treat to welcome such talented people to ApeCoin.
So to @Hazel @Airvey @bigbull @CypherGlaze @David_Crypto @popil and @Linstro.eth we’re thrilled to have you on board. And to @BoredApeG we’re all proud to see you become the first Special Council Member in the history of ApeCoin DAO to be elected for a second term.
Job well done, peeps!
Community Governance Improvement Program
The Community Governance Improvement Program (CGIP) has quickly become one of our most rapidly growing initiatives. Initially conceived to gather process improvement ideas from the community, the program has undergone a significant evolution during its beta stage into what it is today. We’ve also expanded the program to allow community members to reach out and provide us with a list of their skill sets, which will enable us to reach out to them first when we require service providers.
To date, we’ve received a total of 36 submissions and have rewarded 15 of them! The submissions span a range of quality contributions, including translating documents, data gathering and analysis, creating graphics for Twitter threads, producing engaging governance-focused video content, Discord and Discourse enhancements, introducing the Tempchecks concept (for which we’ve initiated a GWG Snapshot), and even organizing a month-long ApeCoin-focused Twitter Spaces + in-person hackathon program in India.
We’re also establishing an effective system with our DAO Secretary Vulkan to operate the program with us. Exciting developments, to say the least!
You can check out more in https://apecoindao.nodeblocks.io/proposals/apechain-selection-of-proponent-to-build-apechainDiscord
Or fill out the forms here:
Governance Communications
Governance communication holds a significant importance to us. Important to recognize that without effective messaging, the growth of our ecosystem, voting participation and the amount of AIP submissions face obstacles.
During this cycle, the Governance Working Group took significant steps to address this area by initiating our own Twitter account, providing weekly GWG updates on the ApeCoin main (Twitter) account, issuing weekly Discord update announcements, and making a notable hire through the Community Governance Improvement Program — @LOR3LORD, who creates some really great video content. The objective with those is to make governance fun again for those who may find some of our activities otherwise dry.
Furthermore, our longest-standing Facilitator, Lost, who also serves as the ApeComms frontman, hosts Twitter Spaces three times a week from the ApeComms account. And during election cycles, that count increases more than double in the final rounds. He’s also a weekly guest on other big-stage Spaces, like our friends over on the Pukecast.
Meanwhile, DAO Secretary Vulkan dedicates substantial behind-the-scenes efforts to working on his own news source, the Bulletin Bored, which doesn’t receive nearly the visibility that it deserves. So, keeping all of this in mind, we added tabs on the apegwg.com site to help funnel more traffic to him.
Collectively, these efforts are aimed at improving the accessibility of ApeCoin DAO governance and will continue to be an area that we prioritize for ongoing development.
GWG x LOR3LORD video content:
The Ape Assembly
The Ape Assembly, established under AIP-239 to streamline elections, faced challenges early on due to a lack of clear direction and an unspecified monthly budget of $10,000.00 that may have divided community members based on how they felt it should be spent.
Originally intended to empower Trust Level 2 Discourse community members, the program also created uncertainty among Stewards.
Ultimately, due to a significant decrease in participation, the initiative was terminated on November 18th, 2023.
Global Community Committee
This initiative continues to achieve significant success on a monthly basis, with the exception of last December when we chose to give people time with their families during the holiday season.
Conceptually, our mission was to create a unique platform where ApeCoin DAO voting delegates could designate a representative to participate in group discussions on important APeCoin and ApeCoin DAO topics.
During these sessions, we bring on guest speakers to present and engage in meaningful conversations with the delegates. In our most recent meeting, we hosted members from the LayerZero team to discuss ApeChain interoperability and provided AvantGarde with a platform to present some of their sustainability study findings. We also introduced two members of the Open Campus team to our community for the first time, a group that we are excited to share more about in the coming weeks.
Furthermore, recognizing the success of these meetings and desire to attend, we’ve expanded participation to include non-delegated voters upon request as well as those who might be curious about forming their own delegations.
These calls typically last 1 - 1.5 hours and attract between 25-35 guests. Feel free to check out our last meeting’s agenda and minutes below, and if you’re interested in attending feel free to reach out!
Tempchecks
Although this initiative was introduced only recently, it definitely stands out as one of our most uplifting programs to date.
Originating as AIP-366 (that nearly passed), which was written by one of the DAOs most dedicated contributors @LiveFast9986, we ended up collaborating through the Community Governance Improvement Program and helped refine the idea into a more manageable version that we could help him establish.
The premise is straightforward: create a platform for AIP authors to present their proposals to voters in a non-binding way, allowing them to gauge community sentiment before deciding how far they want to proceed in our current proposal process.
Through this (CGIP) program, we were able to successfully establish a dedicated Governance Working Group Snapshot space where we replicated all of the voting strategies from the primary ApeCoin voting Snapshot for a seamless additional avenue for both AIP authors and voting constituents.
You can find these at tempchecks.apegwg.com
By February 28th develop and publish governance documents on 
Key Result 3: Provide the ApeCoin DAO community with a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative website traffic and performance report within three months from launch
