Hey all - I wanted to share details for me personally as part of our passing the torch tradition, and also what this means for the Gitcoin ecosystem at large. The tl;dr is that I will be stepping out of all official interactions I have with Gitcoin and will be taking over as co-lead of the Passport Business Unit as we work to spin out the business unit. Read on for more details and sappy stories with lots of appreciation!
Gitcoin entering its endgame
As I posted a couple months ago, Gitcoin is entering its endgame, and I want to make sure the DAO doesn’t have a CEO. As a result, much of the soft power that was accruing to me needed to be diffused in the new BUs, and Ecosystem Collective. At the same time, there are very real requirements that the Gitcoin Foundation both needs to meet, but then also advances for the DAO. @deltajuliet will be taking over as interim Executive Director (until such time a token vote can ratify the new Exec Director), and she will lead the Gitcoin Foundation. I will let her chime in with more on the details of her role shift, and the timing for an election/formalization of the new ED.
Passport Future
I have worked with @owocki for years to build out & design a proof of personhood approach that was pluralistic by default. He believes in the power that anti-sybil technology creates, and I believe in the power that non-doxxing reputation can bring to the world. On this quest, we wanted to ensure any solution we built protected users’ privacy while enabling them to prove they are unique humans. We launched Passport years ago after many hours were spent combing through usage data to prevent sybil attacks on our Grants Program.
Today, Passport has evolved a bunch, and Passport.xyz is live (more updates coming soon!). I am excited to narrow my focus to this opportunity where Passport enables web3 citizens to build reputation and prove they are unique humans - combating the sybils and bad actors. I have internalized the need for Passport to decrease user friction, and for us to lead with more data analysis - your voices have been heard and we will keep improving this. Co-leading the Passport team is an honor and I am elated they will have me back (again, and again!).
The road behind and path ahead
I joined Gitcoin when we were a small team in Consensys. @owocki, Joe Lubin (and @kriak.eth) afforded me the opportunity to grow the Gitcoin team, and work to support our spinout and success. Three years later, I am immensely grateful and proud of what we have accomplished:
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Spun out of Consensys
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Fund raised to capitalize the organization that would launch the DAO and Protocol
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Launch $GTC and seed the DAO with a compelling purpose
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Build the decentralized Gitcoin DAO with legal rails for longevity
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Complete the treasury diversification to ensure stability during the bear
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Scaling the protocol and GMV (this is where we are now!)
My cup is full, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many amazing leaders and team members, lots of whom are now off and leading other organizations too! The alumni network of Gitcoin is stronger than most. So many great people have contributed to Gitcoin and have helped grow this team, the magic of the mission, and this community have made Gitcoin a household name in Web3.
I plan to stay connected and participate in the governance of Gitcoin. I also plan to advocate for Gitcoin’s continued decentralization (through the work the Ecosystem Collective is doing) and expansion of GTC utility.
This community is one of the best in the space, and is generally interested in changing the world for the better. I will always be trying to green pill degens and turn them into regens with moonshot bots, comic books and trading card games. Thanks for the opportunity to make a difference.
