Public Nouns

closedEnded a year ago · Onchain

Expanding Public Nouns through Bankless Academy’s Open Source & Scalable Web3 Education

Abstract

We are requesting 5 ETH to support ongoing development at Bankless Academy while bringing awareness to Public Nouns as a real-world example of decentralized funding for open source digital infrastructure and public goods.

This grant will be used to:

Develop an interactive Community Lesson about Public Nouns, featuring a case study, social quest, and onchain certification.
Launch a 30-day content and outreach campaign to introduce Public Nouns, with continued visibility through Bankless Academy’s platform, social channels, and live activations.
Maintain and extend the ongoing development of the Bankless Academy platform as an open-source public good, including NFT deployment for lesson badge, quest integration, Dune analytics, Envio indexer, and general infrastructure.

How Does This Initiative Support Public Goods?

Bankless Academy is an open-source public good providing free, scalable web3 education to learners, builders, and mentors around the world. Since launching in 2022, the platform has reached over 80,000 unique learners across 190+ countries, with content translated into multiple languages and actively used by university clubs, community groups, and onboarding events worldwide.

This initiative will:

Introduce Public Nouns as a real-world example of NFT-based funding for public-benefit projects.
Maintain and improve the learning experience, including infrastructure and interactive, onchain educational tools.
Support long-term public goods education, enabling more individuals to understand, engage with, and replicate sustainable funding models.

By funding this proposal, Public Nouns will contribute to the creation of a high-quality, ongoing educational resource that clearly explains its mission and approach. The case study will remain freely accessible on Bankless Academy, providing continuous visibility to new learners as they begin exploring web3 and impact-focused coordination.

How is it non-excludable?

Once published, the Public Nouns case study on Bankless Academy will be freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection, without paywalls, logins, or subscription barriers. There is no restriction on who can learn from the content, and it is designed to remain open and accessible in the long term. The educational resource will be available to the public indefinitely, regardless of who funded or created it.

How is it non-rivalrous?

The lesson can be used by any number of people simultaneously without reducing its value to others. One person completing the lesson does not limit or diminish another person’s ability to do the same. Broader use improves the value of the resource through community engagement, social proof, and discussion. It is designed to scale without requiring additional resources for each learner, making it a classic example of a non-rivalrous good.

Why does it need funding right now?

This is an opportunity to connect an recognized and active web3 learning platform with a current funding model that deserves wider recognition. Public Nouns is already supporting useful work, but it still needs visibility. Most people entering web3 today don’t encounter examples like this unless they’re already deep in the space.

Bankless Academy can provide that visibility on an ongoing basis. With thousands of learners visiting the platform each month and regular outreach across multiple channels, we are well-positioned to present Public Nouns as a live example of how NFT-based funding can support open-access initiatives.

Funding this now allows us to:

Document and share the case study while Public Nouns is actively supporting projects.
Feature it in our current growth phase, including scheduled events and content releases.
Ensure the lesson is integrated into both our digital library and in-person activations moving forward.

Impact & Deliverables

Public Nouns Community Lesson, Case Study & Onchain Certifications (2 ETH)

Title: “Public Nouns: A Public Goods DAO Experiment”
Covers how pNouns funds public goods thanks to its governance structure and impact NFTs.
Includes interactive features: knowledge checks, social quests (X or Farcaster), and onchain certifications.
Encourages learners to explore & engage with Public Nouns and mentors to consider supporting by acquiring a Public Noun, if possible.

Content & Outreach (1.5 ETH)

Launch a targeted 30-day campaign featuring educational content, coordinated social media posts, and a dedicated newsletter to introduce the Public Nouns case study to thousands of learners.
Permanent placement of Public Nouns within the app and integration into Bankless Academy’s ongoing content pipeline, ensuring sustained visibility through newsletters, lesson cross-references, and seasonal campaigns.
Feature Public Nouns in community activations at Ethereum events, where Bankless Academy is able to run IRL workshops and onboarding booths.

Infrastructure & Operations (1.5 ETH)

Publish the lesson on Bankless Academy with full Knowledge Checks and Quest.
Design and deploy the NFT certification, including metadata, artwork, and smart contract setup.
Set up the social quest, integrated into X or Farcaster.
Track learner activity through onchain analytics, using Dune and the Envio Indexer Monitor platform engagement with standard metrics (traffic, completions, time on page).
Contribute to shared infrastructure costs, including servers, databases, email, newsletter tools, and quests.
Provide learner support via email and the “Explorer Customer Service” for user guidance and follow-up.

Expected Outcomes

This project will deliver a permanent educational case study on Public Nouns, expanding awareness of its funding model and real-world contributions. By integrating the lesson into Bankless Academy’s platform and outreach, we’ll drive engagement with NFT-based public goods funding while strengthening the Academy as a reliable, accessible learning resource for web3.

Feedback Loop

Bankless Academy has built-in mechanisms to track how learners engage with our content. For this project, we will use a combination of onchain and offchain data to assess reach, participation, and overall impact.

What we’ll measure:

Lesson completions
Certificate mints (onchain proof of completion)
Participation in social quests (e.g. posts, shares)
Traffic sources and time spent in the lesson
Learner feedback via post-lesson surveys
Wallet activity and engagement via Dune and the Envio Indexer

How this creates a feedback loop:

Metrics and insights will be shared with the Public Nouns team at the 30-day mark, and will be publicly available for further follow-up.
Engagement data through will help determine whether additional case studies or follow-up content should be developed.

This process ensures the content remains active, visible, and accountable—not just published, but consistently evaluated and refined based on real usage.

Recipient Address

0xe1887fF140BfA9D3b45D0B2077b7471124acD242

Amount in ETH