Roads and Bridges: Funding Our Digital Infrastructure (Panel)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td3FsdAjypU&list=PL3C6eF-zu5AYohNL1ZgOBqlwwJ29x-lTO&index=30

1. panel overview

• speaker
  • Scott Moore (Public Works / one of the founders of Gitcoin)
  • Cheeky Gorilla (Protocol Guild core contributor)
  • Shinya Mori (moderator: research and public funding systems at Frum Ventures and other firms)
• theme
  • "How to support the funding of public goods in virtual currencies, especially ethereum."

2. focus on public goods brought about by virtual currency

• Open source projects like Ethereum are "infrastructure that anyone can use," but the challenge is that maintainers/developers are not adequately compensated
• Government and traditional grants have been insufficient in the past, but there is a growing movement to "support public goods" through virtual currency mechanisms and community culture

3. background on Gitcoin and QF (Quadratic Funding)

• Gitcoin Adopts Quarterly Quadratic Funding (QF) to Expand Matching Funds for Community Giving
• QF is a system in which a large matching amount is determined by "how many people have supported the project, even in small amounts".
• Successful examples include Uniswap, Optimism, Tornado Cash, and other leading projects that have received initial support and grown significantly.

How Protocol Guild works

• Protocol Guild is a mechanism that provides long-term financial incentives for developers and researchers (approximately 180 people) who support the core protocols of Ethereum
• Donation and vesting of native tokens (e.g., for 4 years) to help core developers continue to develop ethereum instead of going to other companies' offers.
• Self-curation method: parties involved in the process build consensus to add or remove members.
• However, since there is a limit to the number of members, the possibility of another guild, such as the "Tool Developers' Guild," is being discussed.

5. the dilemma of supporting public goods

• Focusing on inclusivity can support a large number of projects in a decentralized manner, but risks including noise and low quality projects
• Focusing on exclusivity can more accurately support key developers, but may be too narrow in scope and result in oversights.
• Quadratic Funding and Protocol Guild are complementary to each other as a broad and limited solicitation type, respectively.

6. future prospects

• The "guild" format allows for efficient incentive allocation by allowing a small group of people to self-curate in a focused area.
• In addition to Ethereum Core development, there are moves to establish guilds in other areas such as ZK technology and tool development
• Public goods financing is still being explored, with numerous experiments underway, including Gitcoin and the Protocol Guild

How to get involved with the Protocol Guild

• Non-engineers can also contribute by helping to run the Protocol Guild (operations, fundraising, public relations coordination, etc.)
• As with the core developers, "building long-term relationships" is essential for the continuation of operations

summary

• The emergence of virtual currencies has brought renewed attention to the question of how to support global "public goods"
• Broad QFs like Gitcoin and centralized support measures for core developers like the Protocol Guild complement each other
• Financial incentives to prevent core development from leaving and reliable self-curation are keys to the future.
• Public goods financing efforts are still in their infancy, exploring sustainable mechanisms through much experimentation and learning

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