Builder DAO

Automating Auction Settlement for Builder DAOs: Introducing Comet

UI mockup: https://i.imgur.com/PcWhRXP.png (uses Lil Nouns for demo purposes)

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tl;dr: Requesting 25 ETH to develop and maintain a tool to automate auction settlement for DAOs built with Nouns Builder.

Core Issue: Settlement is an essential but often overlooked part of the auction lifecycle. In smaller communities, auctions can remain unsettled (accidentally or intentionally) for long periods, leading to stalled membership and revenue for the DAO.

Solution: A tool to automate auction settlement with user-configurable rules to ensure that auctions are settled efficiently.

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Overview

In June, I won a Prop House round and wrote a script to settle Lil Nouns auctions ending in 9 when certain conditions were met (wallet transactions). The DAO noticed that these auctions tended to stall longer because settling costs were higher than others, but with the script, auctions (ETH and membership) continued to flow at a predictable pace. After the success of this experiment, the wallet used by the script was refunded. 

Nouns Builder DAOs that allocate founder rewards will likely experience similar issues with manual settlement. For this reason, I propose developing and maintaining Comet. The tool is inspired by my experience with Lil Nouns and a recent Twitter Spaces conversation with Prof Werder of JusttheFlamingo DAO, who expressed her frustration with manual settlement. (See her Prop House submission on the topic)

Investing 25 ETH in this project can ensure that Builder DAOs experience a smoother auction lifecycle as they focus on growing their communities.

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Roadmap

Initially, Comet will use three inputs to determine whether to settle an auction:

• Auction number
• Time unsettled
• Current gas price

The criteria for Lil Nouns were:

• Auctions ending in 9
• Unsettled for more than 15 minutes
• Gas <= 35 gwei

Flow chart of sample Lil Nouns logic.

Phase 1 - MVP (1-2 weeks)

Deliver a web app using custodial wallets to trigger settlement. Why custodial? It allows for quicker shipping and iteration. The downside is that it requires a high level of trust, so there are better long-term solutions.

Phase 2 (3-6 weeks)

Deliver an updated web app and smart contracts to manage user funds trustlessly. 

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Deliverables

• Comet web app, for interacting with smart contracts
• Smart contracts verified on Etherscan
• Github repo with open-sourced code
• Full documentation

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Builder

Hi, I'm Badu Blanc. Nouncillor, Prop House winner, and the nounish builder behind CLOUDNOUNS. In previous lives, I worked in strategy in fintech, led business intelligence in private equity, and built internal tooling at startups.

Feel free to ping me on Twitter or Discord to answer any questions.

• discord: badublanc.eth#6417
• twitter: @badublanc