TL;DR
- Allocate $550k to Q1 funding for ongoing Development and Operations
- Allocate $17.1k for Q1 Marketing & Discord support
Background
The main themes of Q4 have been development of the new product’s prototype (which is on track) and preparation of the DAO’s new legal structure, which we expect to be ready for a token holder vote in Q1.
The overall costs the DAO incurred in Q4 have been significantly lower than projected due to
a) unutilized buffers in the budget,
b) lower than expected contributors’ compensation, and
c) optimizations related to software & services costs.
On the legal front, the DAO has filed a motion to dismiss regarding the lawsuit that Cloudflare filed against the DAO in Q3 - and is awaiting judgement on that, which will affect the DAO’s future legal costs one way or another.
On top of that, there will be costs related to establishing a legal entity for the DAO that will have to be paid upfront.
For these reasons, both the legal budget and the buffer were increased compared to Q4.
Product-wise, in Q1 we plan to continue the development within the current direction, and we’ll be hiring a senior Web3 developer to help advance it.
Aside from that, there’s work being done on governance and incentives structures aimed at bringing the pulse back to the DAO, improving its resiliency, and helping the product succeed once it’s live.
Budget
The proposed budget for development & operations for Q1 is $550k:
Compared to the previous Association’s budgets, Q1 2026 represents 2/3 of the Q1 2025 budget - and 1/3 of Q1 2024.
Here’s the consolidated DAO budget for more visibility:
This decision also approves the Marketing & Discord quarterly expenses of $17.1k, which are separate from the Dev & Ops budget.
Vote
- Yes - Approve the Q1 budget as specified above
- No - There’s a better way
