Name (or Topic/Theme) of Proposed Round:
Token Engineering the Superchain
Descriptor:
This round aims to advance the Optimism (OP) and broader Superchain ecosystems by funding high-impact token engineering projects. We prioritize initiatives in tooling, research, education, social infrastructure, and consulting. Successful projects will show impact potential, feasibility, and alignment with OP’s goals. Top grantees will be eligible for a follow-on Retroactive Funding round to reward their impact. More detail on these integrated grant rounds can be found here. We value projects that advance the field of token engineering.
Social Handle:
@tecmns
Eligibility Criteria:
The eligibility criteria include:
1. Advance Token Engineering: Projects must advance token engineering within one of the following categories: tooling, research, education, social infrastructure, consulting.
2. Contribute to the Superchain: Projects must contribute to the growth and development of Optimism or the broader Superchain ecosystem. Applications must include the following elements:
- Description of the long-term vision for impact
- Specification of short-term goals and milestones within the scope of the grant
- Agreement to participate in TEC’s impact evaluation process leading to the Retroactive funding round in November (detailed below in “Impact Assessment Plan”)
3. Project Credibility:
- Summary of project’s existing work with relevant links
- Verified Github and/or Twitter account
- Brief bios of the project’s team members
4. Returning Grantees:
- Updates on the work accomplished since their last grant
- Self-assessment of the effectiveness of their use of that funding
These criteria ensure that selected projects are relevant to the OP ecosystem and token engineering, have a clear plan for short-term and long-term impact, and have demonstrated previous work and expertise.
Round History:
We’ve been a Community Round since the Gitcoin Beta round last year, so this will be the fifth time we have run a Gitcoin Grants round.
Team Running This Round:
We have a team of six (6) people who will focus on supporting the operation of the round. Five out of the six team members have experience running Gitcoin Grants rounds. We’ll also have a dedicated group of token engineering advisors who will help in reviewing the grantees. Team members include:
- Round Operator: Monika, [Bio: Round Operator], [Experience: Monika is an experienced program manager with a background in leading technical projects and strategic initiatives. ]
- Programs Lead: Jade, [Bio: TQF Analyst], [Experience: Jade is a seasoned analyst and nonprofit professional with experience in political campaigns and grant management and research, including aiding in Token Engineering Grants Round 5 distributing a $50k matching pool across 32 projects.]
- General Support: Gideon, [Bio: Former TEC Steward, Current Advisor], [Experience: Gideon is a seasoned entrepreneur and strategist with a background in marketing and product development at Microsoft and as Executive Director of Groundwire, a nonprofit consulting firm.]
- General Support: Bear
- Events Coordination: Nate
- Social Media Coordination: Efra
Alignment with Gitcoin’s Mission and Essential Intents:
This round aligns with Gitcoin’s mission and essential intents by providing critical funding to build, fund, and protect what matters to the TEC community: ensuring the trustworthiness of blockchain systems. Our round helps attract and strengthen Gitcoin’s ties with the expertise and skills of the token engineering community, contributing to boosting the intent of network effects. The TEC’s dedication to catalyzing token-engineered public goods aligns with Gitcoin’s commitment to positive change.
This round is the first time for the TEC to focus on accelerating the adoption of token engineering in web3 ecosystems, which is where it is needed the most. By choosing this round as a Community Round, Gitcoin would play a critical role in building networks between this new engineering discipline and Optimism and the broader Superchain.
This round also supports Gitcoin’s spirit of innovation, by continuing to build on our Tunable Quadratic Funding and by integrating it with a follow-on Retro round as a mechanism for incentivizing actual impact by grantees.
Anticipated Size of the Matching Pool:
- We have a total of $50K available for both the QF and Retro rounds in this integrated grant-making campaign. Of this, we are currently dedicating $10K to the QF portion in hopes of receiving Gitcoin Community Round matching. If that does not happen, we may reallocate a larger portion of that $50K to the QF round.
- Funding address: https://optimistic.etherscan.io/address/0x690ab933C5082049d20E53B21Dd37F9A346C8B47
- Although we don’t expect additional funding from sponsors for the August QF round, we’re securing alternative funding sources for the retro round through token engineering firm sponsorships and Optimism community partnerships, while also evaluating Superchain, Celo grants, and Ethereum Support Program for sustainable future funding.
Advisors for This Round:
We’ll invite our previous round advisors to join us again for the upcoming round:
- Jeff Emmett - Former TEC steward, writer, researcher at BlockScience
- Phil H – DAO governance, Mangrove
- Vasily - Ph.D. researcher and token engineer, PowerPool
- YGG Anderson - Former TEC steward, data scientist at BlockScience
- Lisa Tan - Token engineering economist, author at Orus and Economics Design
- Enti - Former TEC round operator, GG17, 18, 19. Researcher at Wonderland
- Pati - Community building, formerly at Token Engineering Academy, now the MĹ«
- Octopus - Open-Source Educator and Mathematical Researcher
- Tam - Former TEC steward, Commons Stack co-founder, OP badgeholder
Funding Mechanism:
We are using Tunable Quadratic Funding (TQF) for our initial round to integrate token engineering expertise and Optimism representation into the fund allocation process, ensuring the most impactful projects are supported. This will be complemented by a Retroactive Funding round, using Gitcoin’s EasyRetro on Allo Protocol, in November to reward projects based on their milestone achievements and demonstrated progress.
Reason:
TQF leverages community intelligence to efficiently allocate funds, supporting high-potential projects. It incorporates values important to the token engineering community by including signals of token engineering expertise and stake in the Superchain (OP delegates and badge holders). The Retroactive Funding round incentivizes milestone achievement and continuous improvement within the OP ecosystem. This dual-funding approach maximizes the likelihood of success and impact.
Community Size and Engagement:
Our community consists of 795 token holders, 6,183 followers on Twitter, and 2,000 Discord members.
Tangible metrics from our past round (GG20) indicating the strength of our community include:
- Over 60 applications, out of which 32 projects were selected for the round
- 1,619 donations
- 554 sponsors
- Total of $9,365.14 crowdfunded
Source: Gitcoin | Explorer
Type of Projects to Fund:
We aim to fund projects dedicated to driving the adoption of token engineering within the OP ecosystem. This includes initiatives in education, tooling, research, social infrastructure, and consulting. We are specifically seeking projects that are committed to tracking and reporting their impact in the Superchain. By coupling this QF round with a follow-on Retro round, we provide additional incentives for meaningful participation and impact.
Estimated Number of Eligible Grantees:
In our first three rounds, the number of grantees ranged from 15-20, while last round the number of grantees increased to 32. This round has a more specific focus on Optimism and Superchain ecosystem development through token engineering, therefore we are expecting the number of grantees to be around 5-10.
Impact Assessment Plan:
We plan to run a TEC Retro round, using Gitcoin’s EasyRetroPGF, open only to previous TQF round grantees who meet a predetermined performance threshold. TEC will work closely with grantees to provide feedback on their milestones and impact goals, ensuring they are meaningful and achievable. Grantees will use Karma to track progress against the milestones and goals included in their application. This impact assessment process will measure and evaluate their success, determining the Retro round awards.
Additional Considerations:
Community members should consider the integration of TE projects with the OP ecosystem and the potential for significant impact on both token engineering and the broader blockchain community. The TEC is committed to innovation and experimentation, being one of the first communities to tie a Quadratic Funding (QF) round with a Retroactive Funding round using Gitcoin’s tools.
We are dedicated to evolving the Tunable QF process, building on Gitcoin’s pioneering work with Quadratic Funding. This approach embeds token engineering expertise into the QF voting signal, extending the impact of Gitcoin’s Allo Protocol. Additionally, we are focused on exploring the templating of our novel allocation mechanism - TQF to allow for any community running a QF round on Gitcoin to experiment with their own signals.
Potential Conflicts of Interest:
No conflicts of interest. All round operations team members will ensure transparency and fairness in the selection and evaluation process.