This post is intended to serve as a companion to the official documents outlining the Initiatives and Operational Budget, as published and approved by the DAO Council. While those documents provide a broader scope and structure of the plan, this message highlights the decisions that matter most, and why we made them.
Dear Decentraland Community,
I’m writing this post with that strange feeling of being both exhausted and energized just moments after the DAO Council approved the plan and budget I submitted as my first mission as Executive Director of the newly launched Executive Arm.
The first time I published a public update in this ecosystem was over three years ago, when, together with the Governance Squad, we launched the DAO’s transparency tools. In that article, I stated that transparency is not a protocol by-product. Today, I want to build on that principle: transparency is not a side effect of process; it must be a guiding force, one that requires effort to turn endless streams of data into accessible, actionable insight.
With this post, I want to open the doors of the Executive Arm to the entire community. While the DAO Council thread contains the public versions of the approved documents (Initiatives, Operational Budget Ask, and Sequencing), here I want to highlight the most important decisions and the reasons behind them.
From the beginning, it was clear that the Executive Arm had to align with Decentraland’s vision and the DAO’s mission. It must focus on our users and creators, reinforce Decentraland’s role as a protocol, and expand its openness. But above all, it must make Decentraland useful. Because without utility, there are no users. Without users, there are no incentives for builders and creators. And without them, there’s no economic activity, no DAO, and no meaningful project growth.
This plan, and the budget behind it, are tools to change that, to expand our user base, unlock new use cases, and bring back builders and users who have drifted away.
A Team Built to Execute
We’re building a team designed to deliver. From the start, the Executive Arm was envisioned as a smart allocator of resources for strategically aligned community projects. But some initiatives require in-house leadership. And to do that, a team must be formed.
We will:
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Integrate the Protocol Squad into the Executive Arm and expand it with developers, a product manager, and a designer to prioritize the delivery of production-ready clients for mobile and VR.
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Hire domain leads for each of the strategic themes proposed by the Council, people with both technical and operational capacity to manage community projects (Content, development, and community creation) and partnerships.
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Allocate resources to fund marketing and partnership efforts that promote Decentraland and the projects supported by the Executive Arm.
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Explore the creation of an in-house team focused on building in-world experiences, such as games, events, and social spaces.
All job openings will be publicly announced, and we’ll implement a lean hiring process from day one.
Transparency by Design
Transparency isn’t just a buzzword, it’s the scaffolding that supports trust. From day one, we’ve treated it not as a side effect of processes, but as a priority in design.
Every line of code, every project board, every major wallet: public by default. Off-chain payments? Minimized. Documentation? Open and accessible. Our commitment is to share not only what we do, but how and why we do it.
To support this, we’ll publish regular updates on the key projects we take on and host Quarterly All Hands, live, recorded, and open to all. Each year, we’ll publish a full Transparency Report, offering a detailed overview of the Executive Arm’s operations, budget execution, and strategic direction.
And because coordination matters and because Decentraland, as a project, must come first, we’ll work closely with the Decentraland Foundation through an Alignment Team. This collaboration won’t compromise the Executive Arm’s independence, but it will prevent the kind of siloing that has historically limited the success of community projects. The goal is coordination and collaboration, not co-optation.
We know this won’t be perfect. It will take time, and we’ll probably make mistakes along the way, but we’re committed to learning fast and staying as transparent as possible with the community throughout the process.
In short, if it affects the ecosystem, the community should see it and help shape it.
Roadmap Overview
Before diving into the roadmap, a quick note: roadmaps should be living documents. This one is no exception. It was crafted primarily as a one-person effort (with valuable input from the DAO Council and the Protocol Squad), and as such, some details may evolve as we uncover unknowns and bring new talent on board. That said, this outline focuses on the most critical initiatives, particularly those marked as high and medium priority, which I believe will drive the greatest impact in the next 6 to 12 months.
High Priority
Establish Legal and Financial Structure
To operate effectively and responsibly, we’ll set up a legal entity. This will enable us to hire, manage assets, sign contracts, and execute without compromising the DAO structure.
Why it matters: A solid foundation boosts credibility, execution, and long-term sustainability.
Deploy a Treasury Management Strategy
We’ll introduce a diversified treasury strategy to reduce MANA volatility and protect long-term funding capacity.
Why it matters: Stable reserves = reliable execution, even in turbulent markets.
Launch production-ready Mobile & VR Clients for Decentraland
We will expand and reshape the Protocol Squad into a fully featured product-engineering team to deliver performant, open-source clients that are production-ready for mobile and VR platforms.
Why it matters: Expanding platform access = more users, more creators, new use cases. All powered by open source tech.
Launch Two High-Quality Games
In partnership with creators and studios, we’ll launch two polished multiplayer games in Genesis City and DCL Worlds.
Why it matters: Engaging games bring people back and set a benchmark for quality content.
Medium Priority
Launch the Creators & Ecosystem Fund
We’ll launch a fund to support builders and creators through direct grants, partnerships, and experimental formats like accelerators. As opposed to the previous Grant program, this will be strategically aligned and technically reviewed by experts in each of the areas proposed.
Why it matters: Empowering creators with resources and flexibility sparks innovation and drives content that makes Decentraland vibrant and relevant.
Organize Community Hackathons
Three themed hackathons across the year to drive experimentation and dev engagement.
Why it matters: Hackathons spark innovation and surface new talent.
Tackle the Empty LAND Problem
We’ll deploy strategies to reduce the amount of empty LAND in Genesis City, widening the opportunity for LAND owners and creators to deploy content in-world.
Why it matters: Reducing visual emptiness revitalizes Genesis City.
Scale the Creators Reward Program
In collaboration with the Foundation, we’ll help scale and eventually transition the program to DAO ownership.
Why it matters: Transparent incentives = creative sustainability and alignment.
Budget Overview
We’ve requested an operational budget of 23.69M MANA to cover the next 18 months. The budget was built using a MANA price of $0.26, which was the average at the time the first draft for the budget was created. Salaries and project allocations are denominated in USD to ensure financial stability and accurate forecasting. As of now, MANA is trading at around $0.33, which means we would need to sell less MANA to cover our operational needs. If the price remains above $0.26 throughout the cycle, additional MANA will remain unspent, effectively extending our runway or becoming available for future initiatives.
This request is rooted in principles the community has already endorsed, particularly the logic behind the latest iteration of the Grants Program, where a 70% spend cap on vested MANA was approved by governance. The 23.7M MANA requested reflects exactly that: 70% of the MANA projected to vest during this 18-month cycle.
But when we consider the full picture: the treasury’s current balance, releasable MANA on the vesting contract, and upcoming vesting, this ask represents just 26% of available resources. It’s a bold ask, but far from reckless.
If we take into consideration the strategic themes proposed by the Council, the budget allocation speaks louder than words. The majority of the funds will be invested in the Protocol Innovation theme, fueling the development of new use cases and unlocking access for new audiences, particularly through mobile and VR. Additionally, 28% of the budget will be dedicated to creating fun and engaging in-world experiences that bring people back to Decentraland for the joy of playing, exploring, and connecting.
More importantly, if we look across strategic themes, 51% of the budget is allocated to community projects. These aren’t vague experiments, they are strategically aligned efforts designed to generate real utility, attract new builders, and expand the protocol. Community projects are at the heart of this plan, and the budget reflects that priority.
This isn’t a blank check, it’s a ceiling, not a floor. Some costs, like legal setup, are one-time expenses. Others, such as hiring, will be phased in gradually. Others, like the Creators and Ecosystem Funds, will be utilized as long as impactful projects apply to receive funds. I’ve set a personal target to execute at least 75% of the funds allocated to community projects. Underutilizing those resources wouldn’t just be inefficient, it would be a missed opportunity.
To protect the Executive Arm treasury against volatility, we plan to hold at least 30% of funds in stablecoins, with the remainder in MANA.
One Last Thing
Let’s face it: “Executive Arm” sounds boring. And don’t get me started on the widely used jargon of “OpCo” in the DAOs ecosystem.
This new entity will be called DCL Regenesis Labs. The name reflects our belief in revitalization. We see this as a lab for experimentation, incubation, and development, working to bring in new users, reinforce the protocol, and help Decentraland become the leading open metaverse.
How to Get Involved
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Join the AMA session in the Townhall tomorrow and leave your questions on this link
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Schedule a 1:1 with me here
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DM me if you have ideas or want to collaborate
The creation of DCL Regenesis Labs is a new beginning, built on execution, openness, and community.
Let’s build. Together.
Gino
Executive Director, DCL Regenesis Labs
