Grant Application: RFP CoW Value Distribution Mechanism

Grant Application: RFP CoW Value Distribution Mechanism

Author:

leuts.eth on behalf of Aragon

About Us:

Aragon powers protocols with products and services designed to manage capital, governance, and ownership at scale. Aragon was founded in 2017 and has helped secure over $40 billion in TVL working with projects such as Lido, Polygon, Curve, and Taiko.

Description:

CoW DAO is commissioning a research-backed, governance-compatible design for how net profit accumulated in the Managed Treasury can be managed and distributed to COW tokenholders.

This vote exists to ratify the CoW Grants Council's decision to onboard Aragon as the chosen service provider to fulfil the RFP for the Value Distribution Mechanism RFP. Aragon was selected amongst six applications, three whom were shortlisted, and after a thorough review by the Grants Council.

Aragon will deliver three artefacts aligned to the RFP ● Research Report: benchmark of 10+ comparable programs, with a decision framework and a shortlist of 2–3 finalists ● Design Proposal: finalist mechanism specifications, value-flow diagrams, parameter schema and guardrails, and scenario/sensitivity modelling ● Communication Plan: Value Flow Map narrative and CIP-ready materials to support governance discussion

This engagement is research and design only. It does not include implementation or legal work. However, it’s important to note that Aragon is a leading player in building this exact infrastructure and thus could provide the entire solution, reducing risk, costs, and time.

The entire proposal can be found here.

Type of Proposal:

Total Fixed Fee across 3 deliverables with a single due date

Timeline (aligned to the RFP)

March 1–Mar 14, 2026: research + design execution ● Kickoff and input lock ● Benchmark research and synthesis with interim Core Team review ● Draft finalists, diagrams/spec artifacts, and initial modeling ● Optional interim forum update if the steward/coordinator elects to publish interim materials

Mar 14–Mar 31, 2026: review and iteration ● Core Team + community feedback window ● Finalise the three deliverables for publication

Funding Request:

Total fixed-fee of $75,000 split across deliverables as follows: ● Research Report fee: $35,000 ● Design Proposal fee: $35,000 ● Communication Plan fee: $5,000

ETHEREUM Chain Address:

0x9c25a6b1bf3F6Fd2F68a62169c043045C2460482

Terms: By submitting this grant application, I acknowledge and agree to be bound by the CoW DAO Participation Agreement and the CoW DAO Grant Agreement Terms.