CoW Protocol Grants Program (CGP)

Simple Summary

This snapshot vote is based on this CIP discussion on the forum. The purpose of this CIP is to gather support within the community to pass a vote to allow the formation of a CoW Protocol Grants Program (CGP). The mission of the CGP is to provide funding to help grow the Cow Protocol ecosystem and drive utility and demand for the $COW token. The primary areas of growth for the CoW Protocol under this proposal are defined as:

• CoWmunity Growth
• User interface and User experience (UI/UX)
• Decentralization
• Solvers
• Dev. Tools (SDK)
• Other/misc.

A more detailed description of each category can be found in the CIP forum discussion. As a grants program is a subjective process that cannot be easily automated, the proposal calls for a committee of 6 members to review proposals and deliver an efficient, predictable process to applicants. This proposal aims to formalize the creation and funding of the GrantsDAO. The first grants phase is currently specified as 6 months. The GrantsDAO would allocate a total funding of 600K xDAI and 600K COW tokens.

Motivation

The mission of the CGP is to provide valuable resources to help grow the CoW Protocol ecosystem. Through public discourse and inbound applications, the community will get first-hand exposure to identify and respond to the most pressing needs of the ecosystem, as well as the ability to support innovative projects expanding the capabilities of the CoW Protocol. By rewarding talent early with developer incentives, bounties, and infrastructure support, the CGP acts as a catalyst for growth and helps to make CoW Protocol a hub of activity for DeFi.

Specification

The GrantsDAO will be managed and executed by a sub DAO (referred to as the GrantsDAO). The GrantsDAO will effectively be coordinated from a Gnosis Safe multisignature wallet (Safe #2 from the schematic). The controllers/signers of this Safe are equal to the committee members. Funding for the GrantsDAO is proposed to be sent to a multisignature wallet controlled by both the CowDAO and the GrantsDAO (Safe #3 from the schematic), with a 1-of-2 signature threshold. While CowDAO is not envisioned to actively get involved with GrantsDAO proposals, this setup facilitates a replacement of the GrantsDAO’s committee members if CowDAO redeems such action necessary.

• Safe #1 => CowDAO Safe (Gnosis Chain) - View Gnosis Safe
• Safe #2 => Grants committee Safe (Gnosis Chain) (5 out of 7) - View Gnosis Safe
• 3 CoW team members (specified below)
• 4 Community members (specified below)
• 5 out of 7 signing threshold
• Safe #3 => GrantsDAO Safe (Gnosis Chain) (1 out of 2) - View Gnosis Safe
• This Gnosis Safe with the allocated grant funds is controlled by the CowDAO and the Grants committee. This Safe shall have a signing threshold of 1 out-of 2 where both DAOs are a signer.
• Owner 1 = Safe #1
• Owner 2 = Safe #2

The grants committee will have a distribution of 3 core team members and 4 community members, making a total of 7 committee members. Safe #2 has been already created and will function as the Grants committee Safe and has 7 signers with a signing threshold of 5 out of 7. The specified committee members:

4 community members:

• @netrunner.eth - 0xc95Fda8A94437c1B936169b62858F13aE0386307
• @Kubesqrt - 0x386b4ba873a4f423ca28a4df1b2347ca949ced0e
• @Chim9 - 0xF44217A8b6b3f258BFFEaD635c226528aa516aea
• @mfw78 - 0x0F641723997145715d23c0129b96041011d26666

3 CoW team members:

• @middleway.eth - 0xa11da8b2d9a7883eb636d7de426025e5fd9fda1a
• @Master_CoW - 0x76ba9825a5f707f133124e4608f1f2dd1ef4006a
• @fairlight - 0xCA55E77Ec514B5BD05B3b2B56f106Ba2Fe593A9f

All committee members have provided a brief description of their background on the CIP forum discussion. The 4 committee members from the community will each individually receive a stipend of 5000 COW per month (30K COW for this 6 months grants period) for their work and commitment to the GrantsDAO. The 3 CoW team members will not receive any stipend.

Each committee member has an assignment term of 6 months after which the program is up for review again by the CowDAO. This limits the CowDAO’s engagement to twice yearly. In any scenario where a committee member/signer needs to be replaced from Safe #2, this needs to be arranged by the committee themselves. Meaning that the committee would initiate a Safe signer replacement transaction from within the Safe and have it signed off. Before doing so, this needs to be transparently communicated through the required channels.

The GrantsDAO can be overruled at any time by an emergency proposal from the CowDAO (e.g. inactivity of 1 or more committee members). Which can result in revoking the GrantsDAO as the signer of the Gnosis Safe with the allocated grant funds.

The assumption is that 600k in xDAI and 600K in COW token worth of funding seems appropriate, relative to the expected size of the treasury that $COW token holders are entrusted with allocating. Prior to the end of the 6 month proposed grants period, a new CGP Proposal should be tabled by this community using data collected from the CGP to assess the program and inform its next phase.

The committee is expected to perform proper management of the grant funds. The funds do not need to be spent in full within the 6 months period. Any unspent allocated grant funds within the 6 month period shall be kept in the GrantsDAO as a buffer unless decided otherwise by the CowDAO.

If the vote passes, the CowDAO shall create and sign transactions which will fund Safe #3 (already created) with 600K in xDAI from Safe #1 and 600K in (bridged) COW tokens from the CowDAO main net Safe.

Rationale

By funding and setting up a GrantsDAO with a committee:

• We provide direct incentives to further grow the CoW Protocol ecosystem;
• Will be able to attract the right talent with aligned interests to tackle and solve any existing or future (complex) challenges for the CoW Protocol
• Further drive the utility and demand of the $COW token and thus all $COW token holders;

Voting

• A quorum is proposed that would require 35M (v)COW tokens required to vote Yes, and anyway more Yes than No votes, in order for this proposal to pass
• If the vote passes, the CowDAO shall prepare and sign all the required transactions which will:
• Fund Safe #3 with 600K xDAI (View Tenderly simulation)
• Fund Safe #3 with 600K COW tokens bridged from the CowDAO main net Safe (View Tenderly simulation)