[ARBITRUM] AGV Council Compensation Calibration: Benchmark for Future Council Terms

Summary

This proposal seeks DAO approval for an updated compensation framework for the Arbitrum Gaming Ventures (AGV) Council for the next term.

In order to align AGV Council pay with external benchmarks for comparable advisory and portfolio-oversight roles across DAO, venture, and corporate board ecosystems, we recommend the following forward-looking adjustment to Council compensation packages, beginning with the next Council term:

• Annualized Base Salary: $50,000 USD stipend (up from $30,000 USD) for Council members, and a $100,000 USD stipend for the Investment-Committee seat (up from $80,000 USD)
• Bonus: 60,000 ARB token incentive vested on an accelerated 6-month schedule following the Council term.

These changes are intended as a one-time calibration, not a recurring increase. If approved by the DAO, they will not retroactively apply to the current AGV Council.

Additionally, these changes will be fully funded within AGV’s existing operating budget and require no additional DAO funds.

Rationale

The AGV Council provides sustained oversight of a program deploying 200m ARB in capital. Council members review investment strategies, guide strategic alignment within the Arbitrum ecosystem, and help maintain the integrity of AGV’s operations and budgets.

Currently, AGV Council members are compensated at rates that are below average when compared to comparable advisory and portfolio-oversight positions across DAO, venture, and corporate board ecosystems.

For detailed market comparisons that informed these compensation levels, see the table below:

Table A: Industry & VC Compensation Benchmarks.

| Role Type | Scope & Repsponsibility | Typical Annual Compensation | Structure | Benchamark Source | |----|----|----|----|----| | Corporate Board Members | Strategic oversight, quarterly meetings, minimal operational role | $45K – $90K | USD stipend + occasional equity | NACD, Spencer Stuart | | Board Advisors | Subject-matter expertise, low time commitment, very early stage startups | $30K – $60K | Cash + small equity grant (0.1–0.25%) | PwC, Deloitte | | Startup Advisors (Seed–A) | Hands-on product, GTM, or domain guidance for early-stage companies | $20K – $50K | Cash or 0.25–1% equity, 2–4 year vest (rarely becomes liquid) | Carta, AngelList | | OATs | Independent oversight, reporting accuracy, compliance checks, covers many initiatives, up to 10h a week commitment, diverse responsibility | ~$90K USD + 100k ARB (~$50k) = $140K Total | The bonus payment is vested, with funds released after a 24-month cliff following the term’s end | Arbitrum OAT | | Current AGV Council | Provide oversight and input program performance, operations, and DAO transparency | $30k ($80k for IC member) | USD annualized base compensation | AGV |

This forward-looking adjustment will increase the annualized base salary of each Council member by $20,000 USD, plus grant each member a bonus of 60,000 ARB tokens, vested on an accelerated 6-month schedule following the Council term.

Adjusting Council compensation in this way will set a sustainable baseline for future Council service, while the inclusion of a bonus denominated in ARB tokens directly aligns Council’s contributions with the long-term health and growth of the Arbitrum ecosystem, incentivizing responsible and effective oversight and input.

Process, Implementation & Next Steps

The AGV team, in carrying out its responsibilities under the Foundation Bylaws to manage general and administrative matters of the GCP Program, including finance and human resources, prepared this proposal using industry and compensation benchmarks identified in Table A (above). The proposal was presented to the Council, which provided key input but recused itself from the decision-making process to avoid any conflict of interest. The Foundation Director has reviewed and approved the proposal in its current form. In order to seek tokenholder approval on financial discrepancies between the original GCP Proposal and this proposal, the AGV team and Council now submit this proposal for a DAO vote.

If the proposal passes:

• The new compensation framework will take effect with the start of the next AGV Council term.

## Timeline

• The proposal was resubmitted to the forum on 2nd October 2025.
• The previous vote scheduled on 9th October has been removed from Snapshot.
• Proposal A (Benchmark Calibration for Future Council Members) will be posted to Snapshot voting on Thursday, 16th October.
• Proposal B (Startup-Phase Bonus for Current Council Members) will follow at some point after Proposal A.

Voting Options

This proposal will include the following voting options:

• For
• Against
• Abstain

Should FOR be the majority preference, and the combined FOR and ABSTAIN votes meet at least 3% of the total votable ARB supply, the proposal will be considered approved and may proceed to implementation.

https://snapshot.org/#/arbitrumfoundation.eth/proposal/0xdfdf56e53e2a77968c2c124be9210a5f33cb2261cca00e1d6b04f8bb6dfa626d