This proposal will work as a complementary document to help outline the specification and implementation pathways for the recently approved “Freeze All non-Platform Grant Spending".
Abstract
This proposal outlines a clear pathway towards the implementation of the proposal aforementioned, specifying its timing, better defining the definition of Facilitation squads, and budget percentage allocation.
Motivation
The approval of the “Freeze All non-Platform Grant Spending” binding proposal has been an urgent measure, driven by community sentiment following multiple submissions and resubmissions of previously revoked and rejected proposals.
Furthermore, the primary objective of this proposal was to enact a freeze on grant spending for anything other than platform grants, to enhance and prioritize the technical capabilities of the Decentraland ecosystem throughout 2024 or until a proposal to reverse this decision is approved. The rationale behind this policy is that this is an intent to streamline focus, hoping to eliminate distractions and stress within the DAO, and allowing the prioritization of platform development.
The proposal functioned as a means to establish a policy and, although the proposal’s spirit was distinctly articulated and garnered substantial community support, some gray areas needed to be clarified before implementing the changes. Consequently, the author and other community members recognized the necessity for an additional complementary proposal to outline these specifications.
Specification
Freeze Grant requests for all categories, except Platform and Core Units.
No new Core Units will be deployed. Only Governance Squad, Grant Support Squad, and Facilitation Squad will be eligible to apply in those categories for the remainder of 2024.
Reduce the Core Unit budget to a maximum of 10% from its current 15% allocation of the quarterly budget.
Leave the Platform budget at 50%, as was just passed.
The remaining 40% would go towards the DAO treasury and will not be considered part of the Grants Program budget allocation. Therefore, it won’t be considered an unspent budget when it comes to other proposals looking to use unspent grant money for different purposes. (i.e. Treasury Diversification).
Impacts
The outlining and definition of the implementation pathway for the Grants Freeze recently approved will allow more predictability and transparency. It will also set the expectations of all community members regarding the Grants Program till this measure is replaced or revoked.
By reducing the allocated budget for Grants we will be able to save money from the DAO treasury.
By focusing our spending on Platform-related grants we will empower builders in the Decentraland ecosystem to keep creating the technical foundations of the DCL infrastructure and tooling.
By maintaining but reducing the Core Units budget allocation we will ensure the continuity of the DAO operations while optimizing the investment.
Implementation Pathways
All grant proposals that were created while the binding Governance proposal voting period was open (From Jan 26, 2024, 2:18 AM UTC to Feb 9, 2024, 2:18 AM UTC), will be considered valid. The approved Grant proposals will be funded.
All grant proposals that were created after the approval of this binding Governance proposal, would not be considered valid. Therefore, even if the proposal was approved by the community it won’t get funded by the DAO.
The Governance Squad will suspend the creation of proposals from other categories that are not Platform or Core Units immediately.
Once the budget allocation for the Core Units category is determined by the approval of this (or another) binding Governance proposal, the Governance Squad will update the quarterly budget allocation for the remaining categories.
The Grant Support Squad will update the Grants Program Documentation and onboarding following these definitions.
Conclusion
It is in the best interest of the long-term health of the Decentraland ecosystem to look towards building strong foundations. By aiming the Grants Program on platform improvements, we will hopefully be able to invest and solve the technical issues we’re currently facing, to enable a better experience and lower the barriers of entry to our decentralized virtual world.
Hiding behind an alt account isn’t exactly going to do anything besides further undermining the credibility of Decentraland as a platform or the DAO as a meaningful orgnization.
Been in DCL since early 2020, and fully believed in the project since the 2021 music festival. This is my only DCL account so you are wrong on assuming that I’m an alt. Besides the first part, those are just reposts of the original comments I made on the passed governance proposal that I deleted out of respect for Fehz and ginoct. Since this updated proposal at least includes GSS and Governance Squad, thought it would be best to remove them to minimize conflict and focus on improving the DAO with reforms. Regardless, the grant freeze is still a bad idea because a budget reduction would have the same effect of preserving MANA in the treasury without shutting down funding for all content creation during a bull run.
Yeah, all I did for a while was just walk around and explore random parcels. No need for a name or getting involved with DAO politics. I just loved the idea of an open world on the blockchain where you can find random cool stuff people built. I’ve become more active in the DAO because I feel strongly about doing what I can to help.
So you are new to participating in the DAO but also happen to remember a comment on a grant from an account banned from participating in this forum before you joined it?
I looked through your profile and noticed you made the grant freeze poll 3 weeks after getting a 45k grant rejected. I also read the comments on Blockchain Social’s grant and saw that you said you were jealous. It’s actually pretty funny how you think I’m an alt, but will stop responding to that nonsense. Whether the grant freeze idea is based on jealousy or not, it is still a bad business strategy for DCL during a bull run… just answer this one question:
How is shutting down all funding for game development and user generated content going to bring more players into DCL?
so you just happened to make a new wallet and everything 100 days ago despite being active in DCL exploring random parcels since 2020? Ethereum Transactions Information | Etherscan
I have been observing the work of dao for two months. I concluded that dao as a management structure is completely ineffective, and the main reason is the greed and selfishness of people. The concept of decentraland as a virtual and free world is very good, but money is a big temptation. Therefore, I am convinced that after the treasury is empty, this project will disappear-(unless the dao is taken over by some corporation.) I do not blame anyone and do not want to offend, this is my personal opinion.
How can I get funding to create contents for Nifty Island without a grant? This is wrong! Considering top delegates think it’s ok to get a grant to make something for other platforms emergency action is needed.
I support stopping the grants, but I think we should stop them completely, not just a little bit.
I also want to point out that it’s not fair for committee people who will benefit from continuing to submit grants to vote for this proposal. It seems like they are saying yes to it because they can keep submitting their own grants.
Also, if we only have half the grants available for the platform, that means there are fewer grants and less work to do. So, it doesn’t make sense for the committee to only cut their budget a little bit, like 10%. It would be better to cut it by half, like 50%.
Lastly, when a grant proposal gets to the final step of being approved, we should talk about it with lots of people from the platform. This talk should happen in a special DAO X space. Right now, many DCL citizens are not involved in these important decisions. We need them to take part to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and the process is fair.
To be fair, the reduction in the number of grants reducing workload only applies to the Grant Support Squad.
Also, the Core Unit budget was reduced by 33% from 15% of budget to 10%
I agree that any GSS or Core Unit Grants submitted in 2024 will have to do an effective job of communicating the value they are contributing in order to gain the needed community support to pass.
As for the Facilitation Squad members voting in support of this proposal, they are going to be the ones who have to do the bulk of the work of seeing these fixes through.
The Facilitation Squad are also already covered by the passed proposal to continue being paid and submitting grants, so there is no conflict of interest for them in voting for this proposal.
