Well, I didn’t expect this to pass, so I spent a couple of hours making a better version. Would hate for no one to get a chance to read it.
Hopefully everyone learned a valuable lesson: Core Units should participate in giving feedback on proposals they don’t like when they get millions and ten+ Million of VP in support Poll and Draft stages, and I should still try to write a decent prop even if I’m frustrated none of the core units are giving meaningful feedback.
Well, the grand experiment rolls on.
BINDING GOVERNANCE PROPOSAL
Freeze majority of Grant Program Spending [resubmission]
Title
Freeze majority of Grant Program Spending [resubmission]
Summary
Stop spending mana on anything other than improving the platform’s technical capabilities or Core Units dedicated to addressing the systemic issues plaguing the Decentraland DAO.
Abstract
Consensus in the community is that while we all believe in the platform’s future, it has yet to become Ready Player One and the Metaverse of our dreams.
This proposal aims to freeze grant spending on anything other than platform grants to improve the technical abilities of DCL for the entirety of 2024 or until the systemic issues that plague the DAO are addressed and a proposal to reverse the freeze is enacted.
The last Grant Program freeze saw the creation of the current Budgeting System ([DAO:520c3a3] DAO Grants Program - Budgeting System) and Grant Categories and Requirements (Grants Program | Decentraland Documentation), as well as the foundation for what went on to become the Grant Revocation Committee.
Throughout this freeze, we will review what has worked and address the areas that continue to fall short.
Motivation
There is great concern in the dao around sustainability, effective use of resources, and the very system of governance we use to determine how to spend our finite resources.
Since voter fatigue is a genuine issue, it only makes sense to pause the majority of grant spending to allow the community to focus on addressing the current core issues.
Not only do we need to define Grant Categories better and stabilize the foundation of our DAO Grant Program, but we also need to come together and make a good-faith effort to address how our governance voting works. Whether that means implementing a quadratic voting system or eliminating delegation is a conversation for another day. What is important is that we reduce the noise in the room and focus on fixing fundamental issues in the governance process.
It simply does not make sense to continue using a system we all agree is broken and not generating meaningful results while we attempt to fix it. Fixing your boat’s hull is easier when it isn’t actively taking on water.
Specification
- Freeze Grant Categories, excluding Platform and Core Unit.
- No new Core Units. Only Governance, 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 7.5% from its current 15% of the current budget, but never more than $100k (I was going to make it a flat 5%, but after discussing with Fehz, I want to leave wiggle room in case MANA drops, as it appears that community consensus is those teams are doing valuable work, and we will need them to help see us through this process.
- Leave the Platform budget at 50%, as was just passed.
- Save the remainder and do not consider that “unspent budget” when it comes to other proposals looking to use unspent grant money for different purposes.
- Increase voter threshold requirements from a simple majority to a 75% support threshold.
While Grants are Frozen:
- Better define existing categories.
- Create a DAO Price Guide; shout out to Maryana, who first suggested this, but create a document that defines what is considered acceptable to spend on things like development, wearable creation, blog posts, etc. Ideally, the Grant Support Squad will take the lead on this since they should have little going on in the 2nd half of 2024 if this is to pass. Still, it would also be ideal if the community, which is so quick to criticize governance they don’t like, took an active role in creating solutions instead of simply pointing out problems. But if neither the GSS nor the community is interested in taking the lead on this issue, I’m more than happy to continue having the world’s saddest hobby and spending my free time thinking about improving the DAO Grant Program.
- Focus on solutions to the current governance process and voting system. While to some, this means eliminating delegation, and to others, it means finding a way to give a voice to those who currently spend a great deal of time working in Decentraland but do not have a sizeable amount of VP, we can spend this time focusing on discussing solutions to the agree upon issue that the voting system is broken and not generating the results anyone is happy with.
- Increasing the Voter threshold from a simple majority to 75% will make it much more difficult for low-effort Platform grants to receive funding and should have no impact on Core Unit grants that historically have received overwhelming support.
Impacts
Reducing the Core Unit Category from 15% to 7.5% of the current budget with a quarterly cap of $100k should not have a meaningful impact as the only existing squad to request more $100k in their last renewal was the Governance Squad, and they stated that in the future, they would be focusing on maintenance grants that would be much cheaper going forward. By reducing that category budget and stating there will be no new units formed, we can significantly decrease the chances for others to attempt to take advantage of that category for personal gain.
Eliminating other grant categories will not impact what the DAO can fund. It will simply require the bidding and tendering process, making it more difficult for individuals to “drain the dao” without allowing others to come and do the work for a lower price.
Creating a DAO Price Guide will help the community identify flawed grants early, the GSS will freeze them sooner, and the Revocation committee will have an objective tool when deciding how to take action.
Attempting to fix the systemic issues with the DAO Voting can only strengthen us in the long run. However, it is undoubtedly a daunting task that will almost certainly leave a good portion of the community unsatisfied with the chosen solution.
Implementation Pathways
If and When this Prop passes
- All existing PASSED can run their course.
- Active grants submitted after this proposal will also be considered invalid.
- No new grants can be submitted, and any existing grants being voted on, other than Platform Category Grants or future Core Unit Grants for Facilitation Squad, Governance.
Conclusion
It is in the best interest of Decentraland and DAO’s long-term health to focus on building a solid foundation. By concentrating all of the Community energy on solidifying that foundation, we can remove much of the noise, distraction, and bickering plaguing the DAO.