Bounty Name
STAR Initiative (rETH Incubator)
General Information
What is the nature of the proposed bounty?
Individuals or groups (*intermediaries ) are tasked with locating DAOs, treasuries and similar interests (organizations ) holding ETH and through the forums/discords/direct contacts encourage these institutions to mint rETH. In return, the intermediaries get rewards related to how far along the Path to Mint (PtM ) the organizations get.
Why are you writing this bounty proposal?
To create an active approach engaging DAOs, treasuries, and organizations to increase rETH demand.
The rETH Incubator submission written by @drdoofus can be found here.
The purpose of this post is to present a detailed pricing proposal for consideration and methods of implementation by the GMC.
Benefit
<please enter N/A where appropriate>
| Group | Benefits |
|---|---|
| Potential rETH holders | Increases the accessibility and credibility of rETH as a staking option. Seeing large DAOs and organizations adopt rETH can encourage individual stakers to trust and engage with the protocol, boosting adoption. |
| rETH holders | Increased demand for rETH, potentially improving its liquidity and market value. It can also strengthen the perception of rETH as a stable and reliable staking derivative. |
| Potential NOs | Growing rETH demand validates Rocket Pool’s ecosystem, offering assurance to new entrants considering running a node. |
| NOs | This will likely indirectly increase the value of the RPL token by removing protocol growth bottlenecks. Most NOs hold the RPL token. |
| Community | Fosters active engagement within the Rocket Pool community by empowering individuals to participate in a structured and incentivized outreach effort. |
| RPL holders | This will likely indirectly increase the value of the RPL token by removing protocol growth bottlenecks. |
Which other non-RPL protocols, DAOs, projects, or individuals would stand to benefit from the bounty being successfully completed?
N/A
Work
What steps would be entailed in completing the bounty? Do successful examples of such work exist elsewhere? What skillsets or knowledge will be required?
This initiative is based on the previous rETH initiative - Staking ETH with Rocket Pool Organization and Outreach (SEWRPOO) started in 2021.
History
SEWRPOO was an initiative started by Dr Doofus in 2021 to generate rETH investments in the Rocket Pool protocol. It was run from a simple google doc and through the discord on a volunteer basis. The idea was to leverage the vast knowledge and connections in the community to connect to DAOs (and other organizations) who were sitting on ETH reserves and convince them to mint rETH.
While going through these organizations’ forums, we saw many instances of Lido representatives already there and getting great success at bringing votes to the forums to move treasury funds to stETH. They were much more organized, but we did make headway and found many members of these various DAOs were sympathetic to Rocket Pool’s cause.
Results
Rocket Pool was really in its infancy (from the point of view of being established on mainnet), so we encountered some resistance from organizations that wanted more “stability”. We were also much less organized than Lido and there was some confusion about our messaging. However, we were beginning to break through.
We had success with NounsDAO and Nexus Mutual (14k ETH) and were just getting started.
Suspension
The initiative fell into disuse when the deposit pool became chronically full and we realized it was not likely to empty anytime soon or for very long. At that time, pushing to mint rETH was at odds with protocol goals as bringing organizations to Rocket Pool just to have them not able to mint reflected poorly on us. Our time was better spent elsewhere.
Details for STAR Initiative
In short, resume SEWRPOO, with improvements based on previous experience and with the addition of rewards. Individuals/groups of intermediaries will search out organizations and make or attempt to make inroads that lead to rETH minting. We want many hands feeding the machine.
Pitfalls from the previous initiative and how we can avoid them this time
Reluctant Volunteerism
Issue
Last time we relied on volunteers to do the leg work.
Thus we relied on the community motivating itself for free.
Solution
We now have a functional GMC and funds to reward any attempts on the Path to Mint.
Overlapping Endeavors
Issue
There was a non-professional vibe we gave off when multiple people reached out to the same group. In one instance we petitioned a DAO that Mav was already talking to.
Solution
Use a central source of information, like the Google Doc from last time and require its use (last time we were too informal) in order to get rewards. We will also likely rely on the GMC or a special subset of the GMC/community to be in charge of oversight (the Oversight Committee).
Content Confusion
Issue
There was some confusion last time in how we presented to some DAOs. We were still in the stage where we were pushing Rocket Pool was good because RPL was good insurance (to be fair, knoshua was arguing that wasn’t true even back then). We also had the issue that a DAO was open to hearing us and we weren’t ready with material to give them.
Solution
Use boiler plate text and get Oversight Committee approval before each step. We should have something of a standard marketing spiel with plots and numbers to spring on forums when they are willing to engage.
Spam – the bad kind
Issue
At times, too many hands were at work. It could look like brigading or cult behavior in the discords and forums. There were also times the RP contingent could appear too pushy.
Solution
Truly, I believe some of that was due to being so new and hungry/desperate. However, having official procedures about who the intermediary to the organization will be and reminding others to let them take the lead will remedy this.
Organization
-
Discord
There will be a dedicated GMC channel for the initiative. From that point, participants can onboard new members, guide them through the process, and provide progress updates. I do not recommend using the main Rocket Pool Discord because we have limited permissions. -
Oversight Committee
The oversight committee will be responsible for approving the CRM, process implementations, graphics and marketing materials, and verifying rewards within the central record. I recommend keeping the committee lean, with 3–4 members. Willing GMC members should be prioritized, and if they are unavailable, candidates from the wider community can be considered. Additionally, I suggest implementing a straightforward member replacement process to ensure active participation, as the effectiveness of the committee depends on the engagement of its members. -
CRM
A framework for customer relation management will be built in for maximum collaboration and efficiency among the program’s participants. I recommend consulting with Dr Doofus, on his previous tools and seeing where improvements can be made. -
Central Record
A log will be maintained for all successfully achieved tiers, capturing details such as the individual, the organization, the date, and other relevant information.
Costs
How much do you think the completion of this bounty worth to Rocket Pool (in USD)?
-
Overseer (recommended) - $8,000
Hire an individual to oversee the entire initiative and manage updates to the CRM. This individual will receive a monthly payment of $1,000 and will be responsible for making continuous improvements to the process and ensuring smooth operations. I suggest inquiring about Dr. Doofus’s availability for this role. If the GMC does not deem a dedicated individual necessary, I am willing to incorporate these responsibilities into my current schedule as Administrator. -
Marketing Package (recommended) - $1,000
Hire a graphic designer to build materials for the intermediaries to use during their communication. -
Rewards - $200,000
A 0.5% incentive (see Tier 5 below) would amount to $40,000,000 worth of rETH minted (minus the rewards from other tiers)
Total: $209,000
How much work will be needed to verify this bounty has been completed? What skillsets or knowledge will be required?
Rewards Structure
Path to Mint (rewards structure)
The key to generating community involvement will be the tiered rewards along the Path to Mint. There are, as of now, five tiers starting at identifying prospects and leading to rETH minting.
I believe we should deviate from the standard reward tiering systems in which rewards monotoically rise as tier increases. In this case I would not over reward at late tiers (except perhaps the final rETH minting) and rather reward highest at tiers 2-3 (where the organization’s voting body is engaged).
This is for a couple reasons:
- Practically - Our intermediaries can work effectively enough to get them to the forum post. It is then perhaps beyond their abilities to force a vote to pass even though they have done all they can do to that point.
- Pre-emptively - It is daunting to go from contacting a DAO to hoping the mint rETH in order for all your work to be rewarded. It might prevent people from even starting the process.
We will encourage much more outreach if the rewards happen sooner in the process.
This system is based on first hand knowledge of a corporation that wanted to increase patent applications for their employees. When bonuses were tied to submitting patents rather than being awarded the patent, patent applications went way up and resulted in more awarded patents than they had gotten by just giving bonuses for awarded patents. When people were paid for trying, more tried and more success was obtained.
Tiers
- Identify a unique organization with a treasury/funds worth reaching out to in regards to minting rETH. You can request to be the intermediary or another can be assigned.
- If you are assigned as intermediary, find the relevant contact at the organization and get information on how to proceed with requesting they mint rETH. Using the boilerplate guidance, engage their community/leadership in lead up to a vote.
- Official vote is proposed
- Vote is approved
- rETH gets minted
Rewards (first guess)
- Tier 1 - $10
- Tier 2 - $100
- Tier 3 - $50
- Tier 4 - $50
- Tier 5 - 0.5% of rETH mint
At each stage, the central record must be updated and approved by the Oversight Committee.
Is this bounty repeatable?
The bounty is an ongoing reward structure until the GMC decides to terminate it or it expires.
Are there any reasonable circumstances under which this bounty should be withdrawn? Should it expire?
The bounty will expire in 8 months from its inception.
Conflicts of Interest
Does the person or persons proposing the bounty have any conflicts of interest to disclose? (Please disclose here if you are a member of the GMC or if any member of the GMC would benefit directly financially from the successful completion of the bounty).
I am the GMC Administrator. I do not expect compensation for any work I do on this project.
Will the applicant, or any protocol or project in which the applicant has a vested interest (other than Rocket Pool), benefit financially if the bounty is successfully completed?
No