PIP-34: Ecosystem Development and Testing Grant Allocation

Ecosystem Development and Testing Grant Allocation (April 2026 onward)

Summary: 2.1 This proposal approves the allocation of grant-funded budget to support development and testing activities relating to the Panther Protocol ecosystem. 2.2 It authorises the DAO Council to engage independent contractors, agree monthly scope, deliverables and budgets, and approve payments within defined limits. 2.3 The funding supports development and testing only. It does not fund, and must not be construed as funding, the deployment, operation, hosting, monitoring, service provision, or continued availability of any live instance of the protocol or any interface or access point.

Background 3.1 Ongoing development, testing and quality assurance are desirable to improve protocol quality, security and usability. 3.2 Consistent with ecosystem roles: (a) Panther Protocol Foundation may provide discretionary grant funding and does not direct or control development activity. (b) The Panther Protocol DAO determines priorities, engages contributors and coordinates development activity. 3.3 This proposal aligns funding with that structure while maintaining a clear distinction between development activities and the operation of any live system.

Scope of Activities 4.1 Grant-funded budget may be used for: (a) smart contract and protocol development; (b) testing, quality assurance and validation; (c) bug identification, reproduction and reporting; (d) development, review and implementation of fixes; and (e) technical analysis and design input. 4.2 All activities are: (a) performed by independent contractors engaged by the DAO; (b) coordinated by the DAO Council; and (c) not directed or controlled by the Foundation. 4.3 For the avoidance of doubt: (a) no funding is provided for deployment, operation, hosting, ongoing operational support, monitoring, or service provision in respect of any live system; (b) no contractor is obliged to deploy, operate, host, monitor, or provide ongoing operational support for any live instance; (c) no contractor is responsible for uptime, availability or performance of any system; and (d) any interaction with deployed instances is limited to testing, debugging, validation or observation and does not create responsibility for those deployments.

Nature of Engagement 5.1 The DAO may engage contributors as independent contractors to perform development and testing services. 5.2 Contractors are independent and are not employees, agents or partners of the DAO. 5.3 The DAO may agree objectives, priorities, deliverables and budget caps. 5.4 The DAO does not assume responsibility for how any third party deploys, publishes, operates or uses software. 5.5 Contractors are responsible for determining how to perform their services and are not subject to direction or control as to the manner of performance. Initial Budget (April 2026) 6.1 Testing (NH): 1,600 United States Dollar Coin (USDC) 6.2 Development (BP): 60 USDC per hour, capped at 34 hours (2,040 USDC) 6.3 Development (AI): 37.50 USDC per hour, capped at 60 hours (2,250 USDC) 6.4 Total initial allocation: 5,890 USDC.

Ongoing Budget Framework 7.1 Monthly budgets shall be set by the DAO Council. 7.2 Scope and caps shall be agreed in advance. 7.3 Adjustments may be made within available funding.

Mandate to the DAO Council 8.1 The DAO Council is authorised to: (a) engage contractors; (b) agree scope, deliverables and budget caps; (c) review work and approve invoices; (d) authorise payments from available funds; (e) manage priorities and contributor relationships; and (f) request and receive discretionary grant funding from Panther Protocol Foundation or other grant providers, and manage such funds in accordance with this proposal.

Funding and Payment 9.1 Payments are made from grant funding provided at the discretion of Panther Protocol Foundation. 9.2 No guarantee of current or future funding is given. 9.3 No allocation creates any obligation on the Foundation to fund or continue funding. 9.4 The DAO expects to make payments for approved work in the ordinary course, subject to funding.

Reporting 10.1 The DAO Council shall publish a monthly summary including: (a) contributors engaged; (b) work performed; and (c) funds allocated and spent.

No Operational Responsibility 11.1 For the avoidance of doubt: (a) the DAO determines priorities, coordinates development, and may facilitate access to software interfaces or access points; (b) the DAO does not provide custody, exchange, brokerage, transmission or other regulated services; (c) the DAO does not assume responsibility for uptime, availability or performance of any protocol instance or interface; and (d) the DAO does not undertake to operate, maintain or support any system as a service provider to users.

Governance Boundary 12.1 Nothing in this proposal: (a) authorises the Foundation to direct contributors or operate any system; or (b) creates responsibility for any live deployment.

Rationale 13.1 This structure: (a) preserves the Foundation’s non-operational role; (b) maintains separation between development and operation; (c) avoids responsibility for uptime or system availability; (d) enables flexible contributor engagement; and (e) aligns funding with DAO-led coordination.