ShapeShift

Summary: This is a proposal for ShapeShift to commission an initiation of coverage report, via the Messari Hub. This would serve to better inform the crypto ecosystem what ShapeShift is building and why it matters.

Abstract: In an effort to scale the amount of quality, long-form research for the community, we are proposing ShapeShift commissions research reports through their existing membership in the Messari Hub. This would provide a comprehensive overview of the protocol and how it fits into the broader crypto landscape. The report will touch on major key performance indicators and fundamental metrics comparing them to competitors while also discussing the token mechanics and any value accrual mechanism.

These reports would live as free resources on Messari and would be distributed through our newsletter (210k subscribers) and various social channels.

Motivation: Crypto suffers from information overload. The number of innovative projects is increasing at an exponential rate making it difficult for even the most active participants in the space to stay informed. While projects can help provide information on how the protocol works, there is substantial benefit from analysis contextualizing how it fits into the broader crypto landscape.

There are several research firms (Messari included) that have analysts writing about projects they find interesting that then live behind a paywall. However, we believe given the open-source nature of crypto there should be more freely available research which is why we work with over 100 DAOs and grant programs to fund quality research as a public goods initiative.

Specification: The report will follow our “Initiation of Coverage” format that we have done for several projects including:

Perpetual Protocol https://messari.io/article/perpetual-protocol-nobel-prizeworthy-derivatives Notional Finance https://messari.io/article/notional-finance-borrowing-and-lending-at-fixed-rates-in-crypto Anchor https://messari.io/article/return-to-jekyll-island-the-rise-of-anchor-protocol?referrer=category:hub Before getting started, we will send over a report outline to members of the team to see if there are any areas in particular they think we should delve into more. After that our team will complete the report which will live as a free resource on our site and be distributed through our newsletter (200k subscribers) and various social channels.

The total cost will be an upfront payment of $25,000 payable in stablecoins.

Benefits: The benefit of the report would be increased knowledge and awareness of ShapeShift for the larger crypto community. The exposure ShapeShift would receive through this report would help attract more users, developers, and investors who are more likely to allocate time and money to provide value to the overall network after being more abreast of the material developments going on.

Drawbacks: The only drawback of this would be the cost and whether or not the community thinks the use of funds would be better spent elsewhere.

Proposal: We propose that ShapeShift commissions an initiation of coverage report that provides a comprehensive overview of the protocol and how it fits into the broader crypto landscape. The report will touch on major key performance indicators and fundamental metrics comparing them to competitors while also discussing the token mechanics and any value accrual mechanisms.

The total cost will be an upfront payment of $25,000 payable in stablecoins.

Vote: A vote “for” this proposal indicates you are in favor of spending $25,000 to commission an initiation of coverage report via the Messari Hub.

A vote “against” this proposal indicates you are NOT in favor of spending $25,000 to commission an initiation of coverage report via the Messari Hub.