Abstract

This proposal outlines essential revisions to the SSV Network's Grants Program and its associated committee, the Grants Committee (GC), in response to the strategic shift. The document details changes to the GC's mandate, composition, and decision-making framework, focusing on optimizing strategic grant acquisition and evaluation while transferring day-to-day logistics to the SSV Foundation. Furthermore, the proposal seeks to standardize the compensation structure across DAO bodies affecting the Operator Committee.

Motivation

Ever since its inception, the Grants Program has been instrumental in the SSV Network's unprecedented early-stage growth. Up until the 26th of November 2025, the Grants Committee has evaluated 176 applications, funded 71 grants (59 completed, 12 in progress) across categories, and has so far committed ~$4.1M USD.

Back in June 2024, the Grants Committee announced a pivot in its strategy (hereinafter: “Strategy”). In light of lessons learned during execution, the practical implications of the new strategy for day-to-day operations, composition, budget, and decision-making are being considered, and a revision of the program and its committee is proposed to streamline its execution.

Furthermore, to ensure consistent DAO operations, the Operator Committee's compensation is proposed to be standardized and aligned with that of other DAO bodies. Eliminating the outdated price floor, which uniquely affects the Operator Committee, is essential to streamlining calculations and establishing a unified compensation philosophy across all DAO committees.

Proposal Particulars

• Abstract
  • Motivation
  • Proposal Particulars
    • Grants Committee
    • Composition
    • Grants Allocation
    • Grants Specifications
    • Budget
    • Member Admittance and Discharge
  • Operator Committee
    • Compensation

Grants Committee

If this proposal were to pass, the Grants Committee (hereinafter: “GC”) will renew its composition, policies, overall mandate, and transfer its existing day-to-day logistics to be executed completely by the SSV Foundation, while the GC will retain the decision-making power, primarily the following:

1. Decide on Grants and Micro-Grants and their Milestones, and transfer the day-to-day logistics of the Grants program to the SSV Foundation

2. Decide on Bug Bounty Payments and transfer the day-to-day logistics of the Bug Bounty program to the SSV Foundation

3. Promote the acquisition of new strategic grants by developing and implementing acquisition programs, policies, and an execution framework

4. Shape the framework for evaluation, maintenance, and acquisition of strategic grants and transfer the day-to-day logistics of the Grants program to the SSV Foundation.

In addition, the GC shall have the express discretion to outsource any part of its mandate to the SSV Foundation, as deemed necessary for operational efficiency and program execution. Any delegation of duties beyond the above shall be documented publicly by the GC, allowing the Committee and the DAO to retain ultimate oversight and decision-making power over the strategy, while transferring additional operations, specific decision-making, review processes, or other logistical components to the Foundation. The GC retains the right to revoke this additional outsourcing at any time, and such decisions may be overridden by the DAO through voting.

Composition

This proposal suggests that the composition of the GC will be the following:

• @Jon (Lead)

• To be announced after recruitment (Member)

• SSV Labs (Member)

As of the passing of this proposal, the individuals mentioned above will remain the only members of the GC. The involved entities shall nominate an individual to represent the entity and announce its voting address.

The GC member will receive compensation of 500 USD, and the designated lead link will be paid 750 USD, denominated in SSV on a monthly basis, based on a 30-day trailing average, calculated on the 1st day of the following month. SSV Labs remains uncompensated.

Grants Allocation

The GC is chartered with strategically allocating its annual budget to accelerate the maturity of the SSV Network by addressing critical ecosystem gaps not covered in the official SSV Network Roadmap as part of the new Strategy.

The GC issues open Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for identified problems/gaps, negotiates terms with candidates, and reports progress transparently.

The GC adheres to a rigorous, clear pipeline for all strategic initiatives:

1. Research: Identify critical needs and define the problem statement.
2. Spec: Develop a detailed specification that forms the basis of the RFP.
3. Ship: Publish the RFP, evaluate responses, negotiate terms, and partner with the selected candidate for execution.
4. Feedback Loop: Monitor implementation, evaluate results against the spec and milestones, and use insights for future program design.

Grants Specifications

The specification and mechanics of the Grants Program outlined in DIP-5 “Grants Specifications” remain intact with the following modifications according to changes presented in the proposal:

The Grants Committee shall have full authority and discretion to:

[...]

6. Set its internal working procedures. Nonetheless, a decision on a successful grantee or bug bounty recipient will be made according to the following tiers:

I. Any commitment for a grant or bug bounty worth of up to US $5,000: by a single Committee member.

II. Any commitment to a grant or bug bounty worth between US $5,000 to US $15,000: by two Committee members.

III. Each Committee member can approve up to four grants or bug bounties worth up to US $5,000, or be a part of four duo grant or bug bounty approvals for a commitment of US $5,000 to US $15,000, during a calendar yearly quarter. After the calendar year's quarter expires, the Committee members can approve grants and bug bounties in the previously described fashion again.

IV. Any commitment to a grant or bug bounty worth more than US $15,000: approval of all Committee members.

[...]

Budget

The GC will have all of its projected yearly budget at its disposal according to DIP-26 and taking into account the reassignment voted by the DAO in [DIP-42] SSV Foundation business development budget. Budget not spent in a particular year will not carry over to the following year.

The remaining pre-DIP-5 budget Tokens will be revoked at the end of calendar year 2025, leaving only the budgets presented in DIP-26 (and its deduction in DIP-42) as the sole sources of sponsored grants going forward.

Member Admittance and Discharge

The GC shall use the following method for member admittance and discharge, which would allow for a much more efficient GC and reduce member-related DAO proposal overhead:

Replacing one existing member with another can be done by a ⅔ majority of the members of the Committee, subject to informing the community at least seven (7) days prior to such a vote, thus allowing the community to express its non-binding will.

If a member of the committee informs the Committee about their wish to be discharged from the Committee, a replacement can be voted in by a simple majority. The validity of such a vote is subject to informing the community no more than seven (7) days after the vote on its results.

If any or all seats were to become vacant for any reason, the SSV Foundation will perform the duties of the missing seats. This does not mean that the Foundation can remove members from the GC. If the GC were to become inoperable due to a lack of members, the Foundation will choose the new members of the GC. Inoperable means that the majority, 2 or more members, resign, leaving the GC unable to achieve a quorum.

A DAO’s vote for replacing, adding, or discharging a member or amending the structure of the committee is binding and overrides any decision made by the Committee or the SSV Foundation.

Operator Committee

Compensation

This proposal seeks to immediately remove the clause in DIP-36 that establishes a $10 USD price floor for SSV when calculating the monthly compensation for the Operator Committee (OC) members.

The $10 SSV price floor policy was introduced under different market conditions to ensure compensation stability. However, this policy is now outdated and creates an inconsistency within the DAO, as the Operator Committee is the only standing committee currently operating under this specific compensation floor.

The clause in the "Budget" section for the Operator Committee, which states: "If the price of SSV were to drop below 10 USD per SSV, the committee members would only be compensated as if the price of SSV were 10 USD per SSV," will be removed from DIP-36.

The policy change will take effect for the monthly compensation payment cycle in which this proposal passes.