[GIP-194] (Re-vote) Research Initiative Funding

Author: nikitakle

Summary

This proposal suggests onboarding Gregory Melnikov (@gregorymel on Discord and Telegram) as a contributor to Gearbox DAO and initiating a "Research" initiative. Gregory will be a key member of this initiative, focusing on exploring and implementing advanced Account Abstraction technologies to enhance Gearbox credit accounts, making them more versatile and compatible with modern decentralized application ecosystems.

Motivation

Gregory’s expertise in account abstraction and smart contract technologies positions him as a valuable contributor for driving innovation. The "Research" initiative will centralize efforts to explore cutting-edge solutions, ensuring Gearbox Protocol remains competitive.

Main Tasks

1. Research and implement advanced Account Abstraction solutions for Gearbox Credit Accounts.
2. Draft and propose updates to the existing protocol infrastructure.
3. Integrate developed solutions to improve Credit Account functionality.
4. Explore use cases for Credit Accounts in cross-chain infrastructure.

Goals

• Enhance the adaptability of Gearbox Credit Accounts for seamless dApp integration.
• Expand functionality to support broader decentralized ecosystem use cases.
• Advance research into cross-chain applications of Credit Accounts

Expected Results

• Improved usability and compatibility of Gearbox Credit Accounts.
• Broader adoption of Credit Accounts in decentralized ecosystems.
• Development of foundational cross-chain solutions for Credit Accounts.

Compensation

• 5000 USDC per month.
• GEAR tokens as outlined in the previous OBRA proposal.
• Gregory wallet: 0x273e05fe7939bd8c52d897b4b6bc6cc6be139fa8

Retroactive funding request.

Gregory has been contributing to Gearbox AA and Credit Layer research since August, so this proposal also suggests a retroactive grant for that period. The pre-funding was done by DLTXperts (this can be verified with invoices), so they would be the designating party in this case. However, instead of asking for a full grant expenditure, $25,000 should suffice. The address to send the funds to is: 0x5bf8AfeddfE31ab21631A2449040aA3Aa05C86e4