Simple Summary

A 6 month trial version of a Grants Working Group to support Ecosystem Development, Research and Analysis projects for the 1inch network.

Abstract

This proposal aims to establish the 1inch community grants working group, focusing on Ecosystem Development, Research, and Analysis projects. The trial version of the program will operate for six months and will be jointly administered by members of the foundation and the recognized delegates.

Motivation

The DAO has tried to allocate funds from the 1inch Community treasury over the past year. This Grant allocation strategy was found not to be as effective due to the following factors.

• Lack of reporting and accountability from the grant recipients

• Collective liability protection on the DAO and its members for funded initiatives.

• The DAO is unable to react in a timely manner to misconduct or failure of delivery by the grant recipients.

• Lack of accountability/ point of contact for the funds allocated and to be assigned

The proposal seeks to foster the growth of the ecosystem by supporting relevant projects while addressing some of the issues highlighted earlier. It will implement a rigorous approach to filtering applications, which will be assisted by the legal and technical experts at the 1inch foundation. It will also implement milestone-based payments for any approved grant applications. Streaming payments ensure that funds are distributed progressively and can be revoked if milestones are not met, thereby enhancing accountability and reducing risk.

Specification

The proposal establishes a Community/DAO-owned Grants Program with a 6-month duration, operated through a working group of 5 members elected by the 1inch DAO through Snapshot voting. The 1inch DAO will oversee the overall program and will be assisted by experts from the foundation to aid in decision-making and enforcing accountability. The program will have the ability to distribute grants in the following categories:

Research and Analysis

Ecosystem Development.

A separate grants category will be created on gov.1inch.io to administer the program publicly. This public platform will allow:

Applicants to make posts about grants

• The community to weigh in on any requests received

• The Grants Working Group to announce their decision

• Approved applicants to post updates on their process

• A clear and transparent process for administering grants

Grants Working Group:

The Grants Working Group of the 1inch DAO grants program shall consist of 5 members with a multi-sig with the Grants Working Group members as signatories. The main goal behind establishing a Grants Working Group is to conduct a qualitative and quantitative screening of projects, thus ensuring the sustainable growth of the 1inch ecosystem.

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Once the this proposal is approved, the grants funds currently secured under the Operations multisig will be transferred the newly formed Grants Working group multisig.

Operational Specifications of the Grants Working Group(GWG):

The WG shall have one Steward and 4 Reviewers,

The Steward is responsible for

• Organising the schedule and ensuring the smooth functioning of the WG

• Communicating internally and externally about the grants process.

• Scheduling payments for grantees

• Approving/rejecting whether the GWG should review any grant application.

• Accounting expenses and monitoring milestone deadlines

• Creating a final report on the grants program at the end of the 6 month term.

The Reviewers are responsible for

• Vetoing approval/rejection decision made by the Steward via a super-majority vote

• Reviewing all applications in a timely manner.

• Processing applications and posting feedback for applicants in all internal and external tracking tools and communication channels.

• Communicating with the foundation experts

• Assisting the steward with reporting, accounting and other tasks which may require group effort.

• Hold the program accountable for its goals and objectives

Elections to the Grants Working Group.

The 1inch DAO elects members of the Grants Working Group through a Snapshot Vote. The Grants Working Group members serve a six-month term and can resign at any time by giving one month's notice. The Grants Working Group is expected to set internal governance guidelines and KPIs and adopt measures to have a transparent environment. The Grants Working Group can not unilaterally change the specifications of the grant process without following the established governance guidelines.

Recalling a Grants Working Group: If the DAO realises that the Grants Working Group or any individual member isn’t fulfilling their duties, a motion to recall the grants committee shall be put in and follow the guidelines established in the proposal lifecycle.

Responsibilities of Grantees

• Following the proposal guidelines and governance process of the 1inch DAO

• Answering questions raised by the community on the forum.

• Adhere to the 1inch DAO grants terms and conditions.

• Communicating promptly with members of the Grants Working Group

• Follow the legal processes laid out by the 1inch Foundation

• Posting regular updates on the state of execution of their projects based on predefined milestones and timeline

Responsibilities of the 1inch Foundation

The 1inch Foundation will assist the Working Group with their legal and technical expertise whenever requested.

Genesis Grants Working Group

The Genesis Grants Working Group will consist of five members: three from the foundation and two recognised delegates elected by the DAO. Compensation for all members is included in the existing compensation mechanisms.

The Genesis members will be

• Grants Steward: DAOplomats LLC - DAOplomats.eth

• Reviewer: Jordan Reindl, 1inch Foundation – roundelephant.eth

• Reviewer: Natalia, 1inch Foundation – nattop.eth

• Reviewer: Kenechukwu Eze, stablelab.eth

• Reviewer: Belac, 1inch Foundation

Project funding lifecycle

Projects that are interested in getting funded shall create forum post on the 1inch DAO forum under the grants category.

The GWG has a 7 day working days to acknowledge a request of ask the project to provide additional information incase of incomplete submissions. The criteria and method for funding are up to the discretion of the Grants WG.

If accepted for review, the GWG may request additional information and/or documentation from the project before making its decision. The GWG will publicly communicate its decision in reply to the grant request.

If a grant request is accepted, the project must fulfil all the legal requirements laid out by the legal team and publicly communicate the project status according to predefined milestones and timelines. A failure to do so may result in funding being paused or legal action in some instances.

Rational

This proposal won’t significantly impact any of the protocols the DAO manages. It establishes a social committee to make quality decisions on project funding, simultaneously reducing the issues highlighted in the motivation section. The Grants WG will significantly reduce the burden from the 1inch Foundation on grant activities while empowering the community to administer the grant process

Conclusion

If this proposal passes, the DAO will establish a Grants Working Group to assist the DAO in processing grant requests.