[Proposal]: Disengagement of Avantgarde as Treasury Asset Manager

Summary This proposal recommends that Gitcoin DAO formally disengage Avantgarde Finance from managing Gitcoin treasury assets and conclude the current treasury management arrangement in an orderly and cooperative manner.

The decision reflects a strategic shift in how Gitcoin intends to manage treasury assets in 2026 and beyond, rather than a judgment on Avantgarde’s general competence or intent. The DAO’s needs, tooling, and risk posture have evolved since the original proposal was approved, and continuing with an intermediary-managed structure no longer aligns with Gitcoin’s strategic direction.

Context The original Avantgarde engagement was approved to:

Activate idle treasury assets to earn yield

Extend runway via DeFi strategies

Introduce professionalized treasury management and reporting

Reduce opportunity cost of idle capital

These objectives were reasonable given the context at the time. However, the assumptions underpinning that decision no longer hold.

Rationale for Disengagement

1. Yield Without Intermediaries Is Now Feasible Gitcoin no longer requires a delegated asset manager to access conservative DeFi yield. Since the approval of the original proposal, the ecosystem has matured:

Battle-tested protocols now support DAO-native, non-custodial deployment

Risk-managed yield strategies can be executed directly by DAO-controlled infrastructure

The marginal value of an intermediary relative to fees and complexity has declined

In short: we can achieve comparable or better outcomes without an asset manager in the middle.

2. Strategic Alignment With 2026-Era Funding and Treasury Models Gitcoin intends to explore next-generation funding and treasury primitives (including Octant-style mechanisms and adjacent models) that explicitly minimize intermediaries.

Maintaining a manager-controlled treasury structure:

Constrains experimentation with new funding metas

Introduces coordination and permission overhead

Conflicts with Gitcoin’s long-term preference for credibly neutral, protocol-native systems

Disengagement creates strategic flexibility that the current arrangement does not support.

3. Reporting and Transparency Are Insufficient for Tokenholders Despite being “on-chain auditable,” the current reporting experience has proven inadequate in practice:

It is laborious for DAO participants to determine current positions and exposures

Treasury state is not easily legible to tokenholders without specialist tooling

Governance participants cannot quickly answer basic questions like “where is the money right now?”

4. Loss of Operational Continuity The original point of contact and relationship owner on the Avantgarde side has moved on. Given the complexity and sensitivity of treasury management, this materially weakens continuity and increases coordination risk.

Rather than re-establishing context under a changed team structure, the DAO prefers to reset its approach.

5. Intentional Strategic Reset This disengagement is part of a broader “new year, new systems” reset:

Re-evaluating assumptions made during earlier market conditions

Simplifying treasury operations

Reducing dependency on third-party managers

Aligning treasury mechanics more closely with Gitcoin’s core values

This is a forward-looking decision, not a retroactive critique.

Proposed Actions Terminate Avantgarde’s mandate to manage Gitcoin treasury assets

Coordinate an orderly withdrawal of funds from managed strategies, minimizing disruption and unnecessary costs

Return all assets to DAO-controlled wallets or governance-approved infrastructure

Conclude the relationship amicably, with professional courtesy and no attribution of fault

Gitcoin thanks Avantgarde for their work and collaboration to date. This proposal reflects an evolution in Gitcoin’s treasury philosophy rather than dissatisfaction with any single party. The DAO believes this transition positions Gitcoin to better experiment, iterate, and lead in the next phase of public-goods funding.

Decision Yes - disengage Avantgarde Finance and return all managed assets to Gitcoin’s treasury

No - keep Avantgarde Finance engaged as Gitcoin’s treasury asset managers

Abstain - choose not to vote on proposal.