Deadline for Nominee Statements is Friday 23:59 UTC.
Alignment Statement
I believe in the vision of Ethereum as a decentralized platform that enables anyone to build and use applications that run on a global network of nodes. I think that Ethereum has the potential to transform many aspects of society.
I also think that Rocketpool is very aligned with the ethos and values of Ethereum. I support Rocketpoolās mission to make staking accessible, secure, and fair for everyone.
Conflict Statement
I do not have any conflicts of interest that would affect my role as a GMC member. I do not work for or have any affiliation with any other project or organization that is related to or competes with Rocketpool.
However, I do own some other liquid staking and restaking tokens for diversification purposes. These tokens are not significant in amount or value compared to my ETH, RPL, and rETH holdings. I do not intend to use them for any malicious or unethical activities that would harm Rocketpool or its community.
I am a NodeSet Node operator as well.
Identity Statement
I am a 32 year old software engineer in the US. I work a 9-5 but I have enough time to dedicate a few hours a week to this position.
I have been a node operator with Rocketpool since a few months after it went live. The video that Joe made with staking on a Raspberry Pi gave me the confidence to set up my own machine.
I have been following Rocketpoolās development since before it went live and have been impressed by the talent it has attracted.
I am not working in the cryptocurrency industry at the moment, but I am very passionate about it. I have met many people from the Rocketpool community and other Ethereum communities at ETH Denver.
I am active on the Rocketpool Discord, mostly in trading and the node operator channels. I am also active in The Daily Gwei Discord to keep up with all things happening in Ethereum. I listen regularly to The Daily Gwei, Bankless, Rocket Fuel, and The Weekly Orbit to keep up to date with all things Ethereum and Rocketpool.
Contribution Statement
I ran for the GMC last year and was not elected. However I joined the GMC when Joe stepped down and was able to contribute for the better part of this year. I filled in my decision sheets in a timely matter, participated in town halls and GMC discussions, attended calls with applicants, and discussed among other GMC members how to best utilize the GMC to better the growth of Rocketpool. It took me a bit to get up to speed but I am now comfortable and feel Iāve taken on a larger role. By seeing how more senior members of the GMC conducted themselves and with several of them not running for the next term, I feel I can step up even more to fill their shoes.
My contributions to Rocketpool have mostly been as a community member spreading the word and engaging in discussions across Rocketpool and The Daily Gwei Discords. Additionally I have participated in some beta testing, volunteered at ETH Denver, and assisted a friend in becoming a node operator along with being a node operator myself.
Preferred Subcommittee: Development
With my software background I believe this would be the best fit for me.
3 Likes
Alignment
Iāve been a member of the Rocket Pool community since August 2020, took part in the early betaās and launched my first minipool shortly after launch. I have spent countless hours in the server getting to know many people of the community. In 2023 I had a pretty rough year and took some distance from the community, but lately I feel like getting more involved again. I have met with many people of the community in real live in Denver, Istanbul, Amsterdam and Brussels. Some of them have become real friends over time.
In terms of protocol allignment, I have always and will always support Rocket Pool. My node has been chugging allong for multiple years now going through all the upgrades. I also try to educate intersted people around me about Ethereum and staking, of which I convinced some of the to try Rocket Pool!
Conflict statement
I donāt hold any significant amount of other LSD tokens or their governance tokens. Thereās also no confict of interest in my professional life. I am also a Nodeset node operator and run Constellation minipools, not sure if that is a conflict statement or an allignmentā¦ 
Identity statement
I am 28 years old, live in Belgium and have a degree in Product Development. My name is Kevin but I prefer Kevster as my online identity.
In my professional life I am self employed doing various projects. Current main time comitment is running a makerspace and working part-time in a local project.
Contribution statement
Besides discussions and giving my opinion in the Discord server I donāt feel like I made a lot of contributions recently. I hope to change that by being in the GMC!
My early contributions to Rocket Pool are making video content and educating the wild west of Reddit. Besides that I was involved in many community efforts such as POAP content/distribution and volunteering at ETHDenver.
My prefered subcommittee is marketing at the moment because I feel like thatās where I have the most knowledge. However I want to get more involved with research as a personal interest.
3 Likes
Alignment Statement:
Iāve had the privilege of serving on the GMC since its inception. This experience has been immensely rewarding and has provided me the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to the RP community. Together with my fellow GMC members, we have been instrumental in establishing foundational processes for managing and reviewing grant applications. I anticipate that the coming year will be pivotal for RP with the launch of the Saturn upgrades. While it is essential to support and fund deserving applicants, we must also exercise financial prudence to safeguard the GMCās treasury for future protocol needs, ensuring that we have sufficient funding reserves to support the mint rETH campaign.
Identity Statement:
I work at a public institution of higher education in the US and have been a proud node operator since Rocket Poolās inaugural launch (Stage 1). I am deeply aligned with the core principles of Ethereum and actively engage in discussions focused on its design and future enhancements.
Contribution Statement:
My dedication to the Rocket Pool community remains steadfast. I co-host RP community calls and have served as a Rocket Scientist for several years, mentoring many along the way. This role has deepened my understanding of the protocol, enabling me to assist others with node-related issues. I have represented our community in various forums, including discussion panels and interviews. On the research front, I have authored papers and introduced a procedure that pairs the Aegis Key with RP nodes, enhancing the physical security of home-based staking nodes.
Additional Information:
I fully recognize the significant time and effort the GMC role requires. However, I believe Rocket Pool and its community deserve the dedication of committed GMC members. If re-elected, I am ready and willing to contribute to any of the GMCās subcommittees.
3 Likes
Alignment Statement
I run minipools from home, stake RPL, am an RP delegate, and hold rETH. I am monetarily aligned with all major stakeholders in the RP ecosystem.
Conflict Statement
I have received compensation from the GMC in the past and may do so in the future, although this will be called out to reduce any conflicts of interest. I am not substantially involved with any competitors to Rocket Pool. I am also an RP delegate.
Identity Statement
I have a background in science, engineering, cryptography, software development, and data analytics. I started to be involved in Rocket Pool ~2 years ago, and in that time have been involved in and learned about the technical aspects of how RP functions, tokenomics rework, governance, research and data analytics, RPIP writing, and documentation. In my professional experience I have also managed people and projects.
Contribution Statement
The main mindset I aim to bring the GMC is reliance on data to make decisions. I will be pushing for metrics with which to compare projects more objectively as well as to assess how they are performing. The GMC of the past will differ from me in that I may vote against projects that are not able to measure their success and will be substantially more in favor of research projects that give us higher quality data. My belief is that good decisions come from good data and the way I show up will reflect this.
Additional Information
None
Preferred Subcommittee:
Research.
While I could fill in for Development, we have a great number of very capable candidates in this area. I could learn Marketing, but do not have much experience in the field.
4 Likes
It has a been a total pleasure to serve on the GMC over the past two years. Simply put, this is a time in which I donāt have the bandwidth to properly fulfill the role of a GMC member. I will keep the nomination as a backup option for the community. If elected, my contributions would be minimal until early next year.
Thanks to everyone participates in Rocket Pool governance, especially my GMC crew. You are all an inspiration!
4 Likes
Alignment Statement
I want to see Ethereum flourish and become the platform for decentralised and democratised systems and public goods. As such I am not a fan of the ācrypto-casinoā or āVC-captureā.
Rocketpool supports the Ethereum ethos by democratising home staking and enabling small ETH holders to be part of the validator network. For this reason, I think maximising participation in staking (i.e. Node operators) is paramount, and more important than just maximising TVL for its own sake.
Conflict Statement
Having recently left 9-5 employment, I have no company affiliations. Even though my last employer was the dominant credit card company, I would be happy to see them disrupted by a fairer system!
I have no meaningful crypto investments other than ETH and RPL. I do have some staked CRO to keep my tier of Crypto.com credit card and associated benefits.
Beyond my support of Nodeset as a Constellation Node Operator, I do not feel I have any conflict of interests that would prevent me from executing duties impartially as part of the GMC.
I do spend some time overseas however, however I necessarily need to maintain connectivity to monitor my nodes, so will be able to make availability for GMC.
Identity Statement
My whole career was in software development, originally as a developer, then architect and for the last 15 years as a business analyst. My employers were several small startups as well as international corporations such as Reuters, Intel and Visa.
I have been a passonate follower of Ethereum since the ICO (although I didnāt participate!). I lost a few dollars in the DAO hack, learned a lot, and then continued my crypto education via a Masters degree in Blockchain and Digital currencies at UNIC. I now participate in EthGlobal online hackathons when possible.
I have been a Rocketpool Node Operator for about 2 years and currently trying to spin up Nodeset Constellation validators.
Contribution Statement
I was a keen supporter and participant in the Saturn 0 initiative (#ETH only LEB8s).
Being newly retired from paid employment, I have found that I have the time and energy to pursue my passions - Ethereum, Rocketpool (and now Constellation) are high on the list.
I confess that I rely on RocketFuel (thanks Waq) to extract meaningful information from the noise of #Trading, so you may not have seen much of me there. Governance and #Research, #supportā¦ are where I prefer to loiter.
Preferred Subcommittee:
āDevelopmentā
My early years of employment were as a developer and I have always worked closely within the development team, most recently as a business analyst forming the bridge between stakeholders and the development team. I have also dabbled in smart contract development as part of the Masterās degree program and various hackathons.
I believe that my extensive experience of delivering software projects and general understanding of Ethereum/Blockchain landscape would be of value to the Development Subcommittee.
4 Likes
Alignment Statement
Iāve been around the Rocket Pool ecosystem for a good few years now and consider it my home in crypto. Iāve been in the crypto space for about 9 years, mainly holding ETH with some BTC and alts for diversification. I like to stay on top of the community and get caught up on the overnight chatter in #trading each day. Rocket Pool aligns with my views on decentralization and efficiency, and Iām keen to contribute to its continued success while keeping a close eye on getting the best value from the resources we have.
Conflict Statement
Iāve received GMC bounties for helping in #support, but thereās no conflict here. I use other ecosystems but donāt hold significant amounts of LSD tokens or governance tokens outside of Rocket Pool. My alignment is squarely with the protocol and its long-term goals. That said, I reserve the right to use other tokens to diversify my holdings and might even run validators on CSM (donāt shoot me). I am a current Nodeset operator.
Identity Statement
Iām over 50, with a long career in IT, mostly focused on networking, security, project management, and leading teams. Iāve always been the type who values getting things done efficiently, on time, and within budget. I donāt like waste and always try to make sure resources are used where theyāll make the biggest impact. This can mean Iām the grumpy ānoā guy ā you need more of those, right?
Contribution Statement
Over the years, Iāve been involved in different parts of the Rocket Pool community, whether itās contributing to discussions in #trading or supporting governance decisions. My background in IT and project management gives me a solid foundation for evaluating grant proposals and making sure weāre funding projects that bring real, measurable value to the ecosystem. Iād especially like to focus on development-related projects that enhance the tools and infrastructure around Rocket Pool.
Additional Information
Iām ready to commit the time and effort needed for the GMC role and believe in making sure every grant dollar is spent wisely. I work a 9-5 in a GMT timezone, but Iām also a late-night guy, so no issues joining calls during a good part of the day.
My first choice for a subcommittee would be Development, but Iād also be interested in helping in Research as well. Marketing isnāt something I know much about, but Iām happy to help if needed.
4 Likes
Alignment Statement
Iām invested in Rocket Pool and Ethereum both in time and money. I care about the cypherpunk decentralised version of what this space has to offer and am willing to fight for it, at least with where I spend my time and effort.
Conflict Statement
I have been a many-times applicant and several-times recipient of GMC grants. I donāt have any competing affiliations that might lead me to undermine Rocket Pool or the GMC. I am a NodeSet node operator, but I believe they are aligned with Rocket Pool.
Identity Statement
I like to build stuff on computers - with particular specialities in Ethereum and mechanised logic (theorem proving). I live in London and work part-time as a barista. Currently the main things Iām working on are Verifereum and VrĆ¼n.
Contribution Statement
I made a bunch of things for Rocket Pool already, collated in this message Discord
Additional Information
I probably donāt have time to be on the GMC. I would seek to fulfil my responsibilities as efficiently and productively as I can if elected, but I would not expect to be able to go above and beyond.
Preferred Subcommittee
Probably Development or Research
4 Likes
I really appreciate the nomination and am very grateful for the time I got to spend with the GMC. However, I will withdraw my name from consideration this round. Fortunately we have many many amazing candidates this year!
5 Likes
Most of my statement will be the same as last year
Alignment Statement
I live and breathe Rocket Pool. Most of you will know me as the face of Rocket Fuel, a daily news show about everything happening in the Rocket Pool community. Through that, I have gained the trust and respect of the community, and I work tirelessly to help Rocket Pool be the most amazing protocol aligned with Ethereum.
Conflict Statement
I have some conflicts. The vast majority of my crypto worth is in RPL and Eth, but I was given an āOGā allocation of tokens of the Diva Staking protocol. I have technically one of the bigger voting delegates on that protocol, but I am not interested in governance of that protocol in the slightest anymore. I have always, and will continue to, put Rocket Pool first.
Rocket Fuel is significantly funded by the GMC, but I have never let my grant impact my work.
Identity Statement
I have met more than a hundred people from the Rocket Pool community in person, and a lot of those people know my name. People have my phone number and even know my home address (please donāt wrench me!).
Discord: waqwaqattack
Reddit: Reddit - Dive into anything
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/waqwaqattack
Wallet: waqwaqattack.eth
Contribution Statement
I am extremely proud of the way I have contributed to the GMC in the last two years. On top of the GMC work, My work with Rocket Fuel means that this protocol is something I contribute to every single day. It is through that work that I have the honour of being one of the biggest vote delegates in the community. I take voting in pDAO matters extremely seriously, and I have not missed a single vote.
Additional Information
I am around everyday and available in the community and for GMC work for many hours each day.
Preferred Subcommittee
I am currently on the Marketing subcommittee, and I feel this is where my work on the GMC will be most impactful going forward.
4 Likes
(basically a regurgitated from my statement last year)
Alignment Statement
I have been here for quite a long time. Not as long as the āOGā OGs, like astoneta, but since the second wave OGs who came here at the end of 2020/beginning of 2021 to beta test on the test networks. I did briefly disappear to spend time on CryptoHoots, but that was in support of Rocket Pool members LFO, Silence DoGood and RPLGrime.
Rocket Pool is one of the most well thought out and innovative projects Iāve seen on a blockchain. That is what got my attention and brought me here. What has kept me here is the remarkable community.
I suppose, in the end, even though I believe very much in the Ethereum ethos, I am better described as pro-Rocket Pool than anything else. I want this project to succeed and the people here to have opportunities to flourish.
I asked to not be voted for last term. I ended up as the first alternate and did, in fact, end up joining the GMC a couple months into the term when kentphilly had to step down. It was a bit more work than I expected, but very worthwhile. There are some items carrying over that I would like to see to the end, so I am running again.
Anyone running should be willing/able to dedicate the time. I feel like I was a very active participant this term.
Conflict Statement
I run a NodeSet Node, but believe we must always do what is best for Rocket Pool first and foremost. I have no affiliation with anything else crypto.
Identity Statement
I am probably one of the older RP members, but I have the body of a person half my age and the mind of someone one tenth my age. I am a non-practicing physicist who graduated from Northwestern University some decades ago with a PhD in Physics and Astronomy, did a postdoc at Boston University and worked for quite a while in High Energy Physics at Fermilab. Not that it is relevant here, but my advisorās advisor won the Nobel Prize and his advisor was extremely instrumental in starting the precursor to the Manhattan Project (but dropped out as it moved from academia to military control). Anyway, where was Iā¦
I am now semi-retired (sort of) but I do some freelance programming among other things. Iāve done analysis for groups at Fermilab, some website work, wordpress (yuck) and database design. I ran a charity for a while. I have two St. Bernards, two teen kids, one wife, all my quail are now dead (cry) and one snake that still always bites me. I am partially doxxed.
Contribution Statement
I am an OG POAP issuer and have been creating/distributing POAPs from the earliest of days, including working on behalf of RP with other groups for co-marketing POAPs. I was honored to create Superphizās āYouāve met Superphizā 2023 POAP. I have also participated on every POAP art canvas, working on getting Rocket Poolās name and logo prominently featured. I also trolled the community on the last POAP I created, but Iām not going to say how (the two words in the POAP description that are capitalized but shouldnāt be give a clue).
I spearheaded the SEWRPOO (Staking ETH With Rocket Pool Organization and Outreach) initiative that has attempted to bring rETH into other DAOs with some success. This might come back to life in some form in the weeks to come under the rETH initiative.
I am the director of Rocket Pool University, an Ethereum Studymaster type course and quiz concept for educating about Rocket Pool in return for ācertificationā. It never really caught on, though. It is written in NextJS 13 with a little Laravel for good measure.
I am running the Rocket Pool merchandise store which will be opening āsoonā.
I have also done a lot of small community building things like create a Rocket Pool fantasy football league, made a bunch of the in-house memes/emojis, and blame things on knoshua.
Mostly, I consider myself an avid supporter of the people of Rocket Pool. I have engaged/helped/bought into many new projects and/or adventures begun by other RP members: from buying rocketeers (and participating in the Rocketeer writing challenge) and logibots, encouraging Kevsterās Belgian Beer NFT and $PEEPEE, helping RPIT fractionalization to writing NC-17 movies and a bonding paper for cryptohoots/ShuffleDAO. I even bought Dybsy tokens. As long as I have ETH, I will support fellow Rocket Pool Peers.
I served one term in the GMC on the marketing committee. I could stay in marketing or go somewhere else.
3 Likes
Alignment Statement
My only interests in crypto are Ethereum and Rocket Pool. I want whatās best for the ecosystem and the long term health of the protocol. Iām a vocal advocate for changes that bring the most benefit to the largest number of users, especially those whose interests align with the success of Rocket Pool.
Conflict Statement
- Iām a Rocket Pool node operator with a significant (to me) stake.
- Iām a NodeSet node operator.
- I work for a traditional finance company with no direct stake in crypto.
- I have a pending (unreviewed/unapproved) grant submission entered on my behalf for Rescue Node contributions.
I consider this minimal or zero conflict of interest.
Identity Statement
Iām a 30-something gent and consider myself a bit of a comedian. Iāve worked in the cybersecurity industry for 13 years and counting, primarily focused on application security program management. Iām generally comfortable in most IT settings given my lifetime hobby with computing.
I value practicality, respect, and consideration. The crypto community can sometimes be incredibly antagonistic, and I try to counter that whenever possible. I believe I bring a good balance to teams (and potentially the GMC) that need to focus on results while maintaining strong interpersonal connections.
Contribution Statement
My most significant contributions have primarily been in the #support channel. In the past six months there has been adequate representation without my assistance, but I still pop in to help when others are unavailable.
I also recently started contributing code to the Rescue Node. Iām working on refining my programming ability to contribute further to the tools that support our community.
Additional Information
I love: sushi, walking around in the forest, being terrible at guitar, and the color green.
In the next decade I hope to become as cool as @Patches or @Steely. I hope I never end up like @Valdorff. Thatās too much.
Preferred Subcommittee
I have no subcommittee preference and would rather contribute where there is a need. While I may not immediately be the most effective in some areas, being bad at something is the first step towards being kinda good at something.
6 Likes
Alignment
Iāve been a member of the Rocket Pool community for quite some time. I would say OG phase 2 is a fair statement. I launched nodes during the RP beta and at mainnet at launch. Currently I only hold rETH.
Overall, I consider RP my online home and was fortunate to spend the last year as a member of the GMC where I believe I contributed meaningfully to the protocol. I feel that another term would allow me to build on my past experience and be effective quickly. I would consider myself a critical voice.
Rocket Pool is also the reason I have my current role at a staking company. While not related to being a GMC member, I have been advocating for Rocket Pool and overall Ethereum decentralization at this company.
Conflict statement
I work for a professional node operator that is a permissioned Lido NO.
I hold some wsETH.
Identity statement
Im an American, infrastructure engineer. I work well on teams, staking is now my full time job, most people seem to like me.
Preferred Subcommittee
No preference
4 Likes
Alignment Statement
My only involvement with crypto is ETH and Rocket Pool. Iāve been part of the Rocket Pool community for over 2 years now and have absolutely loved every minute of it. The jokes, the lively conversations, the bi-weekly meetingsā¦and maybe even a shrimp pic shared to scammers. I truly want wants best for Rocket Pool as I know it aligns so well with ETHās mission of decentralization. I will do my best to move Rocket Pool forward.
Conflict Statement
-I am a Rocket Pool node operator
-I work a 9 ā 5 for a financial institution with no ties to crypto (not for my lack of trying)
-I have received grants in the past, (and most likely the future) for my work in the #support channel
-I may run a NodeSet Node in the future, if they let me 
Identity Statement
My entire career has been in IT. I started out on helpdesk as most do. Within a couple years, I moved to the Server and Storage team where I managed Enterprise SANs, failover clusters, and hundreds of servers. This knowledge and experience provided me with the opportunity to become a manager at my company. While I enjoyed my 12 years on the server and storage side, an opportunity to move into cybersecurity arose that I couldnāt pass up. Iāve been in the cyber security role for 3 years now, and Love it as much as my time with Rocket Pool.
I started out like most buying Bitcoin and learning about it. But my interactions with Bitcoin communities were not the most friendly, specifically when asking questions and trying to learn more. So, as I researched ETH, I loved the way ETH wasnāt scared to admit when there were issues, and also have all these discussions out in the open for everyone to see. I knew this was a community that aligned more with my values and the rest is history.
I found Rocket Pool when I started to learn about ETH staking, but I knew I wouldnāt have the 32ETH required. So when Atlas was around the corner, I did everything I could to get comfortable with the process. I have been running a RP Node since Atlas launch day and its has been amazing.
Contribution Statement
The Rocket Pool community helped me so much when getting started, I wanted to do what I could to give back. This led me to the #support channel, where I now answers as many questions as possible that I know the answer to. And when I donāt know, I bug Halo or Patches as I want to help the person asking the question as quickly as possible.
I also created a handful of YouTube videos when Atlas was launching, showing the entire process of spinning up a Rocket Pool node. I wanted to show people how easy the process was.
Preferred Subcommittee:
No Preference
Additional Information
I do work a 9 ā 5 in the CST time zone, but my evenings and weekends are free to join calls and perform the duties of a GMC member.
4 Likes
GMC nominees: Please do not modify your statements any more.
Voters:
- Please use the statements above to help guide your voting
- If you have questions for the nominees, please ask in GMC Membership Selection 2024-2025
- Note that modified posts show that they were modified (pencil icon at the top right) and you can click in to see what was modified and when