In order to keep the application threads clear of discussions (to make it easier for committee members to read and score them), please use this thread for any and all questions and discussions of round 16 period of grant, bounty, and retrospective award applications.
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Just realized I missed round15 and have brought shame upon my family, oops.
Bounties
None. 
Retros
Scaling Analytics for the Rocketpool Community
added Sep8
Yes, fund. Compare with RA062304, where I received $3k for work where LST comparison dashboard is the headliner. While mine had a few other tidbits, this work is decidedly better than mine was and easier to build with (eg, add new LSTs, support contract changes within an LST, etc).
I’ll also note that DrWorm and I have both taken a step back on Dune, so titey has been largely soloing (with some feedback from DrWorm). I say this mostly to note that if we want to attract community members to dashboard work, it could use a boost if anything.
Grants
Blockworks Research <> Rocket Pool Saturn Upgrade Coverage
This proposal makes no attempt to demonstrate value. How many people does it reach? Are they different people than we reach anyways? How motivated are they to do X?
Given no contextualized metrics, I’ll use anecdote. I spend a lot of time in cryptoland. I searched my history and have opened 2 blockworksresearch articles in the last 3 months, I suspect for less than 10 minutes each. They were fine context. I don’t think I can justify close to the price point for this.
Cyfrin Updraft <> Rocket Pool: Accelerate Growth of Rocket Pool’s Node Operator Community and Drive Protocol Adoption with Targeted Developer Education
One of RP’s strengths is already onboarding NOs that care to be NOs. There have also been video courses on such – they can get out of date easily, and the bigger issue might be getting views at the right time in a potential NO’s journey.
On the dev side, we could use some integration tips for devs. I don’t think that looks at all like a course. It would probably look like instructions on checking availability to mint/burn and doing that. A stretch would add a fallback (cowswap, 1inch, balancer, etc). Something essentially copy pastable would be way more useful, and dramatically cheaper. (I’ve written the mint/burn thing more than once to partners).
Rocket Pool Governance Analytics Dashboard
This proposal makes no attempt to demonstrate value, and perhaps misunderstands activity. We’ve had 12 votes this year – monthly reports sounds like quite a lot. I agree some basic tools would be useful – delegate vote share over time, are delegates voting on each proposal, eg. Should track both on and off-chain. I’m struggling to think of more things that we’d want. Given past community dune work, I suspect this could be done in the high hundreds to low thousands range if we prioritized it with a bounty.
AlphaGrowth Proposal to GMC
added Sep8
Of the noted partnerships, the one that sticks out to me as valuable is Kraken. The IMC gets many more requests for partnerships than we are able/willing to support on the available budget. Kraken is interesting b/c they don’t have a staking solution and if rETH were their main staking offering that could be quite interesting (they would get alignment bona fides and an offering; we would get an additional market) (note I mean once we have supply; maybe Saturn 1).
I agree this has large overlap with my understanding of work that @G-rant and @maverick do. One benefit is the claimed visibility, as BD efforts are a bit of a black box right now.
I think I mostly lean against at the price point shown.
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Rocket Pool Saturn Upgrade Coverage
@BlockworksResearch
To better assess the potential impact, could you provide more detailed analytics on your user base and engagement? Specifically, I’m interested in audience demographics, historical performance metrics from similar campaigns (views, clicks, shares), your distribution reach across channels, and any benchmarks for driving outcomes like new node operators or increased rETH demand.
Grants
Blockworks Research
Never heard of them. They also can’t spell Rocket Pool properly.
It doesn’t sound like they’ll be doing any research, just summarize the Saturn upgrade and present it as research while in fact it’s just paid marketing.
In that case they should tell us about their readership and how big their reach is and what results we can expect from them. Their Twitter account has 29k followers and I looked at some random top-level tweets and they got like 3k views which doesn’t seem a lot? We could get way more exposure by paying a shitcoin influencer. They also want the payment upfront which doesn’t inspire confidence.
I don’t think we’ll have problems attracting node operators when we can launch minipools with 4 ETH and no RPL. $45k is quite a lot for 3 fluff pieces that will get 3k views each while the RPL price is so low. Skip it for now.
Cyfrin Updraft
We already have plenty of educational materials. Official docs, Rocket Pool School, Rocket Pool University, Bankless garbage we have funded in the past, etc.
Also $200k would be the highest ever funding for a project.
On the other hand, I remember this guy and his mega Solidity course and it was great and very high quality. So the asking price actually seems fair, unlike other outrageous asks.
But their non-flagship videos seem to get only 3-5k views on YouTube. Node operator course would also be only ready in March 2025 if we assume no delays.
A bit torn here. We don’t need more of this stuff. But they produce very high quality stuff and could be some useful marketing.
Rocket Pool Governance Analytics Dashboard
I am not sure if they even realize that Rocket Pool uses Snapshot, custom pDAO on-chain voting and that there’s also oDAO that’s voting on their own different on-chain proposals.
$50k seems quite a lot for reading some on-chain data (and Snapshot API) and creating a dashboard. In comparison, Rocketscan got like $70k. On the other hand, once they realize this is not just some standard OpenZeppelin Governor stuff they’ll probably want even more.
But I must say their dashboards for Optimism and Safe look decent. And since Rocketscan is dead there’s no nice dashboard that shows governance stuff in one place.
If this gets funded it should be open source.
AlphaGrowth
Seems better and more professional than the Blockworks crap.
Sounds like outsourcing some of the work that the Rocket Pool team (Mav and Grant) should already be doing?
They’ll create a list of potential partnerships and integrations, set up meetings and then what? Someone needs to implement it.
Feels like this will be another OpenUX, a shiny report but nothing practical. But maybe worth giving it a shot.
Retros
Scaling Analytics for the Rocketpool Community
Never saw this. Seems useful. It’s open source. Pay him.
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Thank you very much for your detailed feedback. From the outset, we also want to emphasize that our proposal aims to accelerate onboarding new Node Operators and boost the adoption and awareness of Rocket Pool and rETH through education and DevRel support. This addresses all of the GMC goals, specifically focusing on making it easier and more attractive to become a node operator, operate a node, mint rETH, hold or use rETH, and improve the quality of life for the protocol and its community.
We really appreciate that you raised all of the concerns, as they highlight exactly why we designed our proposal—to address these challenges and help Rocket Pool overcome them effectively.
Allow us to address each point:
#1 “One of RP’s strengths is already onboarding NOs that care to be NOs.”
Our goal in featuring Rocket Pool in the Node Infrastructure is to expand beyond the current pool of NOs or those already inclined to join. As the largest Web3 developer education platform, we are positioned to reach new developers and incentivize them to become active participants in the Rocket Pool ecosystem. Our courses simplify complex processes to ensure a smooth transition from exploration to active engagement. This will create a continuous pipeline of skilled NOs, contributing to the decentralization and growth of Rocket Pool.
#2 “There have also been video courses on such – they can get out of date easily, and the bigger issue might be getting views at the right time in a potential NO’s journey.”
We’re glad you mentioned this, as it’s a challenge we’ve also observed. As outlined in the “Our Commitment and Key Deliverables” section, we emphasize Ongoing Content Updates and Maintenance. Web3 evolves quickly, and we’re committed to ensuring regular content updates that reflect Rocket Pool’s latest developments.
The key to adoption is to engage new developers or NOs early in their journey. By featuring Rocket Pool in our flagship Node Infrastructure course – where developers also learn to build their own node and deploy their own L2 – we’ll reach a significant audience early in their journey. New NOs will get hands-on experience through our courses and be able to quickly apply the skills they acquire and become Rocket Pool NOs.
Additionally, experienced NOs from other ecosystems will engage with Updraft for updated knowledge. Once they learn about Rocket Pool, we’ll attract skilled and seasoned NOs to join the Rocket Pool’s ecosystem. The educational content will also be shareable with our existing NOs as Rocket Pool evolves. We’ll handle updates, so the Rocket Pool team can stay focused on the roadmap and innovations.
#3 “Something essentially copy pastable would be way more useful, and dramatically cheaper”
While a “copy-pastable” script is essentially cheaper, it doesn’t foster deep understanding or innovation. The goal for the Core DeFi course is to empower developers to build innovative solutions on top of Rocket Pool. Our content provides not just step-by-step guides, but also the math, the codebase, and the context for how things work. This enables developers to confidently solve integration challenges and innovate with Rocket Pool, driving long-term growth and adoption of both Rocket Pool and rETH.
In the upcoming Core DeFi course, we’ll be walking through the top DeFi protocols, including lending and borrowing, oracles, stablecoins, liquid staking protocols, perpetual markets and more. Rocket Pool will represent the liquid staking protocol modules, solidifying our position as the leading liquid staking protocol that developers should integrate and work with.
#4 “We already have plenty of educational materials. Official docs, Rocket Pool School, Rocket Pool University, Bankless we have funded in the past, etc.”
While existing educational resources are valuable, Cyfrin Updraft is unique for a few key reasons.
- Our instructors are respected professionals in the Web3 developer community, with over four years of experience creating high-quality content that has educated more than 100,000 developers.
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Patrick Collins: One of the top blockchain engineer and Solidity educators worldwide, with more than 6 million views on his courses and ~160,000 subscribers across platforms. Former Developer Advocate Lead for Chainlink Labs.
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Tasuku Nakamura: an expert in Solidity and Vyper, is the creator of “Solidity by Example,” one of the most trusted Web3 resources that has taught thousands to build secure, scalable smart contracts.
- Our courses are interactive and engaging in nature. We guide developers through a hands-on, code-along journey, ensuring they learn and apply their skills effectively.
- As mentioned before, we continually update our content to reflect the latest advancements, ensuring our audience always has the most relevant knowledge to build something impactful.
- To evaluate the quality of our work, we invite you to sign up for Cyfrin Updraft or check out the revamped Solidity course we relaunched on YouTube last month. The quality of our content is backed by industry leaders, with testimonials available on our homepage. Public feedback is also visible in the comments section of the video mentioned above.
- Our educational materials are featured in the documentation and official handbooks of some of the most widely used tools and technologies by Smart Contract engineers globally.
#5 “Also $200k would be the highest ever funding for a project. On the other hand, I remember this guy and his mega Solidity course and it was great and very high quality. So the asking price actually seems fair, unlike other outrageous asks.”
We understand that the $200k proposal is a significant investment, but it reflects the scope and quality of work we’re planning. Our aim goes beyond just content creation; we’re focused on elevating Rocket Pool’s position within the broader Web3 and developer ecosystem.
In addition to the educational videos and written content outlined in the proposal, if you refer to the “Our Commitment and Key Deliverables” section, you’ll notice that we’re essentially offering Rocket Pool an extended Developer Relations support. This includes managing feedback from developers and sharing valuable insights with Rocket Pool to improve the protocol and its developer tools. Our Developer Experience team will actively engage with the community, ensuring a steady flow of new Rocket Pool node operators and driving broader adoption of both Rocket Pool and rETH.
We’ll also host AMAs and discussions where the Rocket Pool team can directly interact with developers. Additionally, our team will promote the opportunity to become a Rocket Pool node operator, further expanding the network and contributing to the protocol’s growth.
For reference, our team is composed of seasoned professionals with extensive experience in Developer Relations. This includes former roles such as Developer Advocate Lead at Chainlink Labs, Lead Engineer at Chainlink Labs, Lead Developer Experience at Alchemy, Lead Developer at Solarians, and Developer Advocate with backgrounds at Google and Microsoft. For more details, please see the “Cyfrin Team” section in the proposal.
Lastly, to accommodate Rocket Pool’s financial planning, we have offered flexibility in the payment schedule and structure as laid out in the “Cost” section of the proposal.
We hope this clarifies our approach. Please feel free to share any additional questions or feedback. We look forward to collaborating and contributing meaningfully to Rocket Pool’s ongoing success.
We recognize that our proposal may seem to overlap with the some core team’s responsibilities @maverick @G-rant. However, as external partners, AlphaGrowth can take on certain tasks that core team members may be restricted from due to regulatory considerations. By collaborating with us, the DAO can effectively decentralize its workload and mitigate potential risks and enhancing overall efficiency
@Valdorff, we appreciate your interest in the Kraken wallet integration. We’re curious to know if you’ve identified any other potential integrations that you feel are missing from our current list. Your insights would be valuable as we continue to refine our approach
For AlphaGrowth, in fact, Grant and the team sent them to the GMC. See @SSJ2_Spartan’s reply above.
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Thank you, @drdoofus, for sharing this important information 
. The core team is committed to maintaining the protocol’s decentralization and empowering the community to make key decisions. As a preliminary step, @G-rant and the team suggested we present this to the GMC before approaching the pDAO. This approach allows us to gather valuable feedback from the community.
Thanks for the comment, happy to provide some additional context below.
Audience demographics
The Blockworks Research platform is accessible via an annual subscription. The subscriber base is a mix between institutional professionals (primarily hedge funds, venture funds, and asset managers) and highly liquid crypto native individuals, with an approximately split of 70/20/10 institutional, sophisticated retail, and other, respectively. Subscribers in the “other” category may be protocols, third party independent research firms, or public sector organizations. The majority of our readers are in the United States, although we have a growing base of subscribers in Asia and Europe. All of our subscribers rely on us for high quality research, data, and analytics to help them make better-informed decisions.
Distribution across channels
We distribute through our other digital platforms 0xResearch Podcast, 0xResearch Newsletter, 0xResearch X account. We also utilize wholesalers to distribute via the largest traditional financial information and research aggregators for broader reach. Unfortunately, we cannot share specific statistics for each channel, although we recommend reviewing our previous tweets on X here: x.com.
Benchmarks
We do not currently utilize benchmarks for driving outcomes yet, but are open to doing so on a case-by-case basis if the outcomes are reliably measurable.
You could not even tell apart rETH (Rocket Pool Ethereum - liquid staking token) and Reth (Rust Ethereum - node software).
Link to their report that was removed that demonstrated product market fit between rETH and their audience: Reth: Accelerating Base, Optimism and Symbiotic | Blockworks Research
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