TEMP CHECK – GG24 Investment Committee
As Gitcoin evolves into the 3.0 era, I am considering establishing an Investment Committee that can strategically invest in apps and infrastructure Gitcoin itself uses. The idea is to align our treasury with ventures that directly strengthen our ecosystem, while also creating upside for Gitcoin’s long-term sustainability.
Initial Structure
- Budget: 500k GTC earmarked for GG24 (future rounds TBD based on outcomes).
- Committee: Top 3–5 Gitcoin Stewards (or their chosen delegates).
- Criteria:
- Founding team we deeply believe in.
- Clear venture-scale path (defined as ≥10x upside for Gitcoin) including hair on fire problems, network effects, founder we believe will stick with it, intent to tokenize.
- Demonstrated direct relevance to Gitcoin’s mission and stack.
Strategic Positioning
We already know a priori that capital allocation and crowdfunding apps are going to be a major wave in Ethereum, but we don’t know when (yet).
Gitcoin is uniquely positioned to serve as both the curator of that deal flow and the incubator of that wave.
By backing the right projects early, Gitcoin can shape the ecosystem’s trajectory, attract aligned founders to build alongside us, and eventually package this growing market for traditional capital (Wall Street, family offices, VCs) as the sector matures.
This could generate 1x - 1100x upside in some cases if we’re lucky/good ( Gitcoin Grants 1.0 itself is proof of this, having started at 0 in 2018 and growing into a unicorn over the next 5 years )
Potential Upsides
- Financial Sustainability: Potential to turn treasury assets into growth capital, helping Gitcoin become more self-sustaining.
- Ecosystem Synergy: We back projects we actually use, creating tighter integration and network effects.
- More funding for the most highest upside projects - Aside from just fair fees, this is a way we can fund the Gitcoin ecosystem.
- More signal about the highest upside projects. By making allocation decisions about these apps we will build the muscle for finding them and co-creating them together.
- Talent & Innovation Magnet: Signals that Gitcoin is not just a grants allocator, but a patron of the best new apps in Ethereum/Web3 infra.
- Governance Alignment: Stewards already immersed in Gitcoin’s mission guide capital toward aligned builders.
Potential Downsides
- Conflict of Interest: Blurry lines between being a funder, a customer, and an investor could raise questions of fairness.
- Execution Risk: Venture investing is high-risk and could result in treasury losses if not managed carefully (or if were unlucky).
- Focus Dilution: Running an investment committee may distract Gitcoin from its core grant-funding mission.
- Governance Pressure: Community may question whether investment decisions reflect collective will or steward preferences
- Legal Structure: Need to research how to structure so compliant.
Next Step
This post is a temp check to gauge whether the community supports exploring such an investment committee for GG24. Feedback will shape whether we proceed with a more formal proposal, including safeguards to minimize conflicts of interest and maximize Gitcoin’s upside.
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