Origin able to spend up to 1,000,000 DOT from the treasury at once.

big_spender

Rejected

Hi Polkadot community!

Since the vote of confidence for this proposal has been rejected nearly unanimously from the onset of voting, Trace Alliance is revoking this opportunity in order not to consume further resources on our side, the partner side, or those of Polkadot community.

We wish the Polkadot community impactful success with other adoption activities.

World’s Gymnastics on Polkadot

MarketAcross is a PR agency that has worked with Polkadot and its ecosystem for three years. They are requesting 165K USDC to continue providing PR support for 4-5 months. Their proposal includes:

1. Writing at least 120 unique articles and 30 amplifications on platforms like Reddit, Quora, and YouTube.
2. Highlighting their work since January 2024, including over 325 unique articles for Polkadot and its ecosystem teams.
3. Supporting Polkadot 2.0 and JAM.
4. Using their submission form to help ecosystem teams share their news.
5. Following their methodology to maximize PR results, including exclusivity, proper form filling, giving enough time, and live promotion.
6. Providing public relations, content marketing, growth hacking, and strategy services.

MarketAcross has worked with many projects in the Polkadot ecosystem and other blockchain companies. They aim to help Polkadot-relevant projects get media coverage for their news and announcements.

We’re happy to say we’re ready to apply to continue providing the Polkadot ecosystem the PR support it deserves :)

**Our new proposal: We’re requesting 165K USDC (~150K Euro equiv. based on the Euro/USD rate of 1.00 Euro = 1.10 USD).**

Deliver at least 120 unique articles (not including syndications, press release distributions, wires, etc.) over 4-5 months or less.

Deliver at least 30 different amplifications on Reddit/Quora/YouTube (or extra articles).

We’d like to highlight the work we’ve delivered since January 2024 and continue building momentum towards Polkadot 2.0 and JAM.

After passing [Referendum 247](247) (topped up our budget once, since) we have **delivered over 325 unique articles, not including syndications, to Polkadot as well as 45+ Polkadot ecosystem teams** since January 2024, including but not limited to: [Hydration](https://hackernoon.com/polkadot-allocates-$144m-to-support-defi-growth-through-hydration-project), [Bifrost](https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/66bb3eec13ba2f69bb369648/), [EasyA](https://cointelegraph.com/news/easy-a-announces-one-million-devs-ecosystem), [Talisman](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/01/04/protocol-latest-tech-news-crypto-blockchain/), [Tanssi](https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/web3-investors-back-moondance-labs-and-tanssi-to-tune-of-6m), [Polimec](https://cryptoslate.com/first-decentralized-web3-funding-parachain-polimec-goes-live-on-polkadot/), [Polytope](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/02/21/protocol-latest-tech-news-crypto-blockchain/), [Subquery,](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/06/11/protocol-village/) [Mandala](https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/66601f6d5b1f00784df1af57/), [Archisinal](https://watcher.guru/news/polkadot-announces-major-partnerships-in-july-2024), [Unique Network](https://cryptobriefing.com/forever-has-fallen-game/), [Polkadot Blockchain Academy.](https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/polkadot-expands-academy-with-online-program-to-train-web3-developers-3593977)

There are many more, **including constant PR pushes around general [Polkadot narratives](https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-one-blockchain-turned-to-real-decentralization-to-refocus-on-its-development-efforts) + [JAM](https://www.forbes.com/sites/nimrodlehavi/2024/06/09/analyzing-vitalik-buterin-and-gavin-woods-ethprague-fireside-chat/) (see the list below).**

[**Click here to see the coverage we’ve been able to land so far.**](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D6UsnKPj8DTcpPgIA0Shvpf1h8h-6yKg/view?usp=sharing)

We’ve landed organic news coverage based on ecosystem collaboration in publications such as Forbes, Coindesk, Cointelegraph, Decrypt, Investing.com, The Street, and The Defiant and more.

We created a submission form for people to properly share details about their upcoming news so we can get in contact and help them out:

**MarketAcross’s Polkadot submission form:**

 [https://forms.gle/ndbsfq3UmQGyoTgV8](https://forms.gle/ndbsfq3UmQGyoTgV8)

Once an ecosystem team fills out the submission form, we immediately get in contact to follow up and understand the scope of the given news story that was submitted. Please keep your Polkadot friends in mind and have them contact us if they have upcoming news we can help with in case this referendum passes.

Below, you can find the MarketAcross methodology that ensures maximized PR results:

1.  **Don’t ‘kiss & tell’** - If you have a newsworthy story, don’t write about it on your blog or tweet about it - come to us first! Journalists expect a level of exclusivity when it comes to publishing news. Once something is published on social channels, it can reduce the news value of your story for reporters. You can tweet or publish your news after a journalist publishes an article.
    
2.  **Fill the form correctly and thoroughly** - To find the story's strong points, we need to know as much as possible about it, even if you think it’s irrelevant.
    
3.  **Give us enough time** - it’s better to give us at least a week's notice; we need to draft an announcement, prepare a pitch, and start talking to the media - it takes time. The more time we have, the better results we’re gonna get.
    
4.  **We’re LIVE - Go Go Go!** - now it’s time to blast your social channels, repost the stories, give shoutouts to the publications that covered you, etc.
    

We’ll review this with you and hold your hand through the process, but we think sharing here in the open will be helpful.

The goal remains for every Polkadot-relevant project/parachain/company to know they have access to organic media outreach for any news or announcements that are Polkadot-relevant, and we’d love the community’s help spreading the word.

**About MarketAcross:**

Starting in early 2020, we represented Kusama and Polkadot for almost 3 years and still run three nodes as part of the 1KV program.

We spearheaded Polkadot's PR and content marketing, working closely with Parity and the Web3 Foundation. We've also worked with significant parachains, like **Astar (ongoing + last two years), Moonbeam, Acala, Centrifuge, Kilt, Manta, Parallel Finance, Polkadex,** and many others.

In addition to Polkadot, we’ve worked with **Binance, Crypto.com, TRON, Polygon (we worked on the Matic to Polygon rebrand), Tezos, eToro, Consensys, Bybit, Cardano, NEAR protocol, Fantom, dYdX**, Stacks, TON, Pyth, Avalanche and many more.

**As a success-based agency, we guarantee deliverables, allowing clients to control the volume and velocity of campaigns - we’ve been executing and over-delivering on the campaign to provide value and stick to a specific timeline - that’s why we specifically estimate proper timing for the campaign (around 4-5 months)**

[**Snippets of our work for Polkadot (Articles, Reddits promotions, social amplifications, etc.)**](https://marketacross.coveragebook.com/b/7d10de7c9588d47a)

**Case studies:**

[https://marketacross.com/clients/](https://marketacross.com/clients/)

**Deck/presentation:**

[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vIzhQOik5FXaBskU\_C\_zN-u9GvhWin2I/view?usp=drivesdk](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vIzhQOik5FXaBskU_C_zN-u9GvhWin2I/view?usp=drivesdk)

**One-pager:**

[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kuzMyczGkZLJvMxvgGzdf6PdDo5cFMJ-/view?usp=drivesdk](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kuzMyczGkZLJvMxvgGzdf6PdDo5cFMJ-/view?usp=drivesdk)

**The new proposal includes:**

-   **Public Relations:**

-   -   Manage PR announcements around specific products, partnerships, breaking news events, new hires and general news for Polkadot and the ecosystem.
    -   Positioning and messaging strategy for specific press releases and announcements.
    -   Media outreach - Identifying relevant publications for each news announcement and actively pitching reporters to secure maximum and optimal coverage.
    -   Expert commentary - Positioning Polkadot core contributors or Parity/Web3 C-level executives as experts by commenting on viral stories or topics aligned with our overall strategy.
    -   Press releases—Strategizing, drafting, and distributing news announcements you have with a guarantee for a minimum number of hits.

Examples:

[https://cointelegraph.com/news/easy-a-announces-one-million-devs-ecosystem](https://cointelegraph.com/news/easy-a-announces-one-million-devs-ecosystem)

[https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/6667243bbe13212164f49b4e/](https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/6667243bbe13212164f49b4e/)

[https://decrypt.co/225531/polkadot-indy-500-crypto-racing-sponsorship](https://decrypt.co/225531/polkadot-indy-500-crypto-racing-sponsorship)

[https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/polkadot-launches-decentralized-funding-protocol-polimec-3448039](https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/polkadot-launches-decentralized-funding-protocol-polimec-3448039)

-   **Content Marketing and Thought Leadership** 

-   -   Publish deep dives and reviews about core products/projects & solutions.
    -   Publish deep-dive comparison posts with top competitors.
    -   Pitch op-eds for grander narratives where the Polkadot brand takes a bigger footprint.

Examples:

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/02/05/polkadots-path-to-decentralization-latest-insights/?sh=4721edb87539](https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/02/05/polkadots-path-to-decentralization-latest-insights/?sh=4721edb87539)

[https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/innovation/jam-the-ethereum-killer-weve-been-waiting-for-](https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/innovation/jam-the-ethereum-killer-weve-been-waiting-for-)

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/nimrodlehavi/2024/06/09/analyzing-vitalik-buterin-and-gavin-woods-ethprague-fireside-chat/](https://www.forbes.com/sites/nimrodlehavi/2024/06/09/analyzing-vitalik-buterin-and-gavin-woods-ethprague-fireside-chat/)

-   **Growth hacking and social amplifications**

-   -   Reddit and Social Amplifying the media hits on Reddit to create virality. Getting more eyeballs and amplifying our top articles through our vast Reddit network - we guarantee to upvote to at least the top 5 on any top subreddit we would choose to go for. We have the power and resources to make stories go viral on Reddit, whether they are PR hits or blog posts. Our network of influencers, high-karma accounts, and content will make sure our posts get excellent traction in subreddits such as /r/cryptocurrency, /r/ethtrader, and /r/bitcoin.

Examples:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/Polkadot/comments/1de9jie/analyzing\_vitalik\_buterin\_and\_gavin\_woods/?rdt=44855](https://www.reddit.com/r/Polkadot/comments/1de9jie/analyzing_vitalik_buterin_and_gavin_woods/?rdt=44855)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/Polkadot/s/vLktXEgJ1F](https://www.reddit.com/r/Polkadot/s/vLktXEgJ1F)

-   -   In specific storylines and angles – we would use our YouTube connections to push specific narratives (Not KOL or influencer marketing), pitching editorial stories when we see an opportunity.

Examples:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzV1Y2UfOBI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzV1Y2UfOBI)

[https://www.youtube.com/live/oyWl-Sqp8EE?si=pI83ulaS\_PKyn9pW&t=2552](https://www.youtube.com/live/oyWl-Sqp8EE?si=pI83ulaS_PKyn9pW&t=2552)

-   **Strategy, campaign management, and reporting**

-   -   Advisory— We provide feedback, optimize, and implement solutions for ongoing matters, whether PR or marketing relevant and provide access to biz-dev opportunities through our network.
    -   Designated account managers - will be there for anything and everything.
    -   Moderation and reports - ongoing reports of coverage we’ve managed to secure.

We hope to be a continued force behind Polkadot. Even though it’s a different playing field right now than when we started in 2020, we believe supporting ecosystem projects by giving them access to “free” Polkadot-relevant news announcements is one of the main goals in decentralizing the marketing efforts through OpenGov.

**Aside from pushing Polkadot's narratives and on-going developments (Jam, decoded etc.) We believe that Polkadot could only be as big as the projects building in the ecosystem, and we’re happy to provide services to support the community and Polkadot as a whole.**

We are happy to answer any questions or provide any further information, you can always reach out to us for anything and everything! @marketacrossadmin or @Marketacross on TG.

Sincerely,

Elad Mor

Co-Founder & CEO @ MarketAcross

MarketAcross is proposing to provide PR support to the Polkadot ecosystem for 4-5 months or less, delivering at least 120 unique articles and 30 amplifications for a price of 165K USDC (~150K Euro equiv.). They have previously delivered over 325 unique articles to Polkadot and its ecosystem teams. The proposal includes managing PR announcements, content marketing, thought leadership, growth hacking, social amplifications, strategy, campaign management, and reporting. MarketAcross guarantees deliverables and has worked with other major blockchain projects.

Polkadot ecosystem ‘open for all’ organic PR & media campaign

Polkadot Music Events Initiative (PMEI) has proposed a plan to bring the music industry onto the Polkadot network. They want to use blockchain technology to help the music industry, which is worth $100 billion. PMEI has a contract with Billfold, a company that helps with payments at live events. 

Here are the key points about the proposal:
- They are asking for $1.133 million to pay for the contract with Billfold, marketing, and legal expenses.
- The plan is to bring 3 million users from Billfold to Polkadot.
- These users will make 4.5 transactions each per year, which means 22.5 million transactions per year on Polkadot.
- Billfold is a payment system for live events, like selling food, drinks, and merchandise. They want to use Polkadot to make their payments faster and more secure.
- The proposal will help Polkadot grow by adding more users and transactions.
- PMEI's goal is to help music companies use Polkadot to solve problems with traditional finance.
- The team behind PMEI has experience in the music industry, web3 technology, and software development.

If the proposal is approved, PMEI will start working on integrating Billfold into Polkadot and marketing the project. They expect to finish the project in about eight months.

Executed

**Growing the Music Vertical on Polkadot: Onboarding Billfold** (revised prop from 989)

a PMEI proposal

Requested USD: $1.133M

Please see milestones and technical doc [HERE](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aPZjgUy3UsI3m03_xtt_hku0xbySIgDlGsAbzHr_xqg/edit)

With community and DV feedback, we have updated this proposal from prop #989 to request in stables and to split into two smaller tranches, focusing first to onboard Billfold.

The team behind {bash} events, PMEI (Polkadot Music Events Initiative), is a web3 foundation supported BD agency and DF grant recipient that is focused on bringing active users to Polkadot through the music industry vertical. We are leveraging decades of our music industry experience and relationships to strategically bring in millions of users and billions of dollars in transactions.

The music industry is a $100B industry which functions primarily on paper intensive processes - mostly in excel spreadsheets and manila envelopes (we’re not joking). Music is absolutely prime for change and blockchain can be a large component of that evolution.

**Key Points on Proposal**

-   This prop covers the financial obligations under contract terms for Polkadot’s integration with Billfold, marketing expenses and legal expenses. Nothing goes to the PMEI team.
-   We are only onboarding Billfold in this prop
-   3 year contract term
-   Will drive 3 million accounts for loyalty rewards and use of USDC on Polkadot for concession payments
-   Direct Polkadot branded marketing to all users of the Billfold platform

**Tell me more...**

This proposal is solely to cover costs to fulfill our financial requirements for a contract that will bring 3M+ of Billfold’s existing user base to Polkadot. Based on Billfold’s repeat and expanding customer base, we will see 4.5+ transactions per user on average annually. Each new user will automatically be added to Polkadot which means a potential total of 5M+ new Polkadot users across the contract term. That means 22.5M transactions per year.

**So as Billfold grows, so does the number of users and transactions on Polkadot.**

This is an incredible case of blockchain solving an issue where web2 falls short. This deal also brings hundreds of millions of dollars in transaction volume through Polkadot in gradual steps.

If you are unfamiliar with Billfold, please visit their website [HERE](https://www.billfold.tech/) to learn more.

In short, Billfold is a vendor payment system for live event concession sales (alcohol, soft drinks, merchandise). What sets them apart is that they streamline concession sales by using a single tap feature at the point of sale and groups transactions to reduce time spent on checkout and reduce banking fees. Billfold is running $150M in annual transaction volume with massive brand partnerships which will greatly impact the usage of the Polkadot network.

**Billfold believes in web3 and in Polkadot’s ability to provide the speed and security necessary to handle the current and future volume.**

[HERE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CDIhfB0Jj0&t=1s) is a video outlining Billfold’s value prop and current operation.

![](https://i.ibb.co/PFdd1ks/Billfold-User-Flow.jpg)

**The nature of this deal does not allow us to execute on these commitments without full funding in advance. A traditional milestone approach is based on building tech and presenting repos for review. In our situation, we are funding Billfold for the acquisition of their users and the chance to create a long, ongoing relationship with Polkadot.**

**ROI for Polkadot**

In basic terms, the CAC is $0.33 per user TO BEGIN WITH. Every new user added to Billfold will automatically get and transact with a Polkadot wallet- so the CAC only decreases with each new user.

**ROI for Billfold**

Why else is this so incredible? Because Billfold can benefit from a blockchain solution that optimizes their business. Currently, Billfold’s dashboard provides every vendor (ie. bar vendor, merch vendor, food vendor, etc.) with an itemized list of concession items that are tracked and transacted on, with basic databasing and fiat rails, making it hard to verify and transparently share data with artists and brands. With Polkadot user wallets, this data is clear and verifiable so that an artist or brand can query data to identify loyal customers and reward that audience. This all happens on Polkadot. Beyond that, a vendor could already be working on tight margins, and in territories with volatile foreign exchange rates, this can mean a tremendous loss in revenue should the local currency shift out of their favor between payment settlements. USDC payouts solves this for every vendor on Billfold, and its powered by Polkadot.

**Users need intuitive experiences for mass adoption of web3**

If we agree that more active users on Polkadot is conditional for success, then this deal is a homerun for the ecosystem. These are repeat, lifetime users that are top-of-funnel and will have the chance to learn about and engage with Polkadot tech through extremely positive brand deposits. On average these users are transacting 4.5 times per year through Billfold’s current business, and they are in the process of making a larger global push to capture a far more significant piece of the market. It’s not a stretch to think that transactions can scale 10x from here.

In addition, every PoS unit and receipt will have Polkadot advertising baked in to reinforce the fact that Polkadot is what powers and secures their experience. That means each user has a great experience and sees the Polkadot logo, over and over and over again. This is directly marketing to users that are USING the tech. Simple, straightforward and impactful marketing.

**More on PMEI’s Mission**

PMEI is helping music companies use Polkadot. Polkadot products create highly optimized experiences within already successful web2 businesses- particularly in music and events. It’s important that we drive web3 products to solve real problems caused by traditional finance. Solving these problems breaks down barriers and creates an easy, web3 entry point for people in their everyday lives. This not only creates great success stories for other companies interested in leveraging web3, but it also drives organic growth for Polkadot.

**More on Billfold**

Billfold has 3 million active users through their point of sale (PoS) product, generating $150M+ in annual transaction volume. They will be integrating crypto with the help of the Polkadot Music Events Initiative and community approval of these onboarding terms. This Billfold deal onboards an established web2 company that will scale the music industry vertical on Polkadot, adding 3 MILLION active users and progressively transitioning $150M+ in annual transaction volume through Polkadot-based USD stablecoins.

PMEI is spearheading a new and exciting initiative with our business development and onboarding partners at Transistor that will onboard these two companies into the Polkadot ecosystem. Billfold and Radiate are some of the most forward-thinking names in electronic music events, and are excited about the prospect of launching products on Polkadot to further solidify their leading position as music event technology providers.

**This proposal will cover the cost to integrate and market the following:**

-   Onboarding 3 Million active user accounts via Polkadot (substrate) custodial wallets
-   Streamlining crypto native payments for those users through web3 PoS solution: including, but not limited to, live events and sporting events
-   Polkadot activations via loyalty reward tools for brands, venues and artists
-   Marketing strategy centering the Polkadot brand across physical PoS systems and digital receipts in Billfold activated venues

**Why vote aye on this?**

-   We already have LOI’s in place and defined scope Billfold. We are weeks away from finalizing a contract which will be executed upon successful passing of this prop. If for ANY reason, a contract is not signed for either party, the dedicated funds will be returned to the treasury. We have signed a contract with web3 foundation to ensure this happens and there is accountability on our end.
-   We will onboard the current 3M active users over a period of 3 months + every additional user that uses Billfold We are gradually transitioning their payment settlement to USDC on Polkadot resulting in organic volume and growth of transactions
-   Anybody creating an event can now use this tech moving forward to run their events and any entity can activate these users via their Polkadot wallets to market and interact with fans and the artists

Proponent: Polkadot Music Events Initiative

Beneficiary: Polkadot Music Events Initiative Multisig Address: 15nKYvAm8Yu9QVK65JWrhfyabhHkWywg21X9gX4GFJo3v4cT

Proposed Start Date: Oct 15th 2024

NOTE: PMEI is managing this project to ensure that proper technical integrations are delivered. These components will also be used in the context of {bash} events beyond our current onboarding flow and tech stack.

These components will also be available to other event organizers and marketing orgs can have elevated tools for streamlined use of web3.

ANY project can benefit from this in Polkadot. ANY team can build on and customize these tools. This makes the funnel for onboarding wider, and the engagement and web3 education MUCH easier and more accessible.

**Deliverables**

The initial user onboarding will be completed within a 3 month timeline from when the deal finalizes.

The full scope of this integration is expected to be completed within an eight month timeframe. This would put the completion date, including payments, around June of 2025. Getting to contract signature(s), creating user onboarding infrastructure, and a built PoC for borderless payments using USDC on Asset Hub are the initial stages and are anticipated to be done by 2024. Marketing will begin as soon as user onboarding has launched.

Technical documentation and further timeline expectations can be found [HERE.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aPZjgUy3UsI3m03_xtt_hku0xbySIgDlGsAbzHr_xqg/edit?usp=sharing)

Budget Requested USD: $1.133M

Billfold Integration $ 1,018,000 -this is the cost to acquire users through Billfold and move forward with the integration. This pays Billfold, nothing goes to PMEI whatsoever.

Legal $ 75,000 - includes software licensing agreement and negotiation, compliance costs 

Marketing/ PR $ 40,000 - We are working with a top tier marketing agency to broadcast the completion of this integration to build positive sentiment around Polkadot and its ability to solve real world problems.

Project Management Fee - **0%** (we are not charging an agency fee for this. Now that we have been granted funds for DF, this sits within our purview)

_The costs to integrate will not be used for any operating expenses for the PMEI team as we are a DF funded initiative_

Who’s on the team? PMEI

Miami - Expert full stack developer in Polkadot and Kusama known for their work under Moonbeans and across the Moonbeam ecosystem. Miami is the lead Developer for {bash} events.

Spencer Zabiela - Lead for {bash} events with deep ties in the music industry. Spencer is driving business development, bringing Billfold and Radiate together under this enterprise onboarding deal.

Sam Ruberti - Sam Ruberti has been developing full stack applications for over fifteen years. He was a Senior Rust Developer on the ink! team at Parity and has built full stack software for many companies, including Bloomberg, Peloton, and Clear, with a heavy focus on distributed systems, microservices, security, and user-facing web applications. He joined the Web3 space in 2017 and has launched numerous dApps, tokens, DeFi platforms, and NFTs on various chains.

Jaclyn Francis - Formerly at Tidal (Jay-Z’s HiFi music streaming platform recently acquired by Square/Block), Jaclyn is also part of the PMEI/ {bash} team and will be managing the digital ticketing experience for live music venues and artists using the RA platform.

**Additional Support**

Transistor - Transistor is a blockchain research and development firm focused on Polkadot adoption in the United States founded by Peter Mauric and Yoon Kim. Transistor will be supporting this onboarding effort with business development, key partner integration and development work. Peter led multiple teams and initiatives in the development of Ethereum and launch of Kusama and Polkadot’s success while at Parity Technologies and the Web3 Foundation from 2017-2022. Yoon Kim is a Polkadot ICO investor who worked at the highest levels of Wall Street tech banking and hedge funds throughout the Web 2.0 era.

Exiled Studios - Exiled Studios is a gaming studio focusing on developing low touch, high reward games. Exiled focus on algorithmic and low touch strategy games allows time poor, ex-gamers a way to enjoy gaming without the effort. Exiled is currently building the Exiled Racers gaming platform on top of the Moonbeam (Polkadot) blockchain.

**Summary**

Please see milestones and technical doc [HERE](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aPZjgUy3UsI3m03_xtt_hku0xbySIgDlGsAbzHr_xqg/edit)

Budget: Requested USD $1.133M

More on the PMEI team here.

Contact Manager of the Funds PMEI team: [hello@polkdotmusic.events](mailto:hello@polkdotmusic.events)

Recipient DOT Address: 15nKYvAm8Yu9QVK65JWrhfyabhHkWywg21X9gX4GFJo3v4cT

More Information [www.polkadotmusic.events](http://www.polkadotmusic.events)

PMEI proposes to onboard Billfold to Polkadot for $1.133M, covering contract terms, marketing, and legal expenses. The deal will bring 3M+ users to Polkadot and drive billions of dollars in transactions. The proposal covers the cost to integrate and market onboarding 3 million active user accounts via Polkadot custodial wallets, streamlining crypto-native payments, and loyalty reward tools for brands, venues, and artists. The initial user onboarding will be completed within a 3-month timeline from when the deal finalizes, and the full scope of this integration is expected to be completed within an eight-month timeframe.

Growing the Music Vertical on Polkadot: Onboarding Billfold

StakingRewards.com is a platform that helps people invest in staking, which is a way to earn rewards by participating in the proof-of-stake blockchain networks. They want to work with Polkadot, another blockchain network, to make it easier for people to stake their tokens and support the network.

Here are some of the things they plan to do:

1. Create a special app for Polkadot that will let people stake their tokens and connect with different validators.
2. Help people keep track of their staking rewards and manage their investments.
3. Suggest staking strategies that can help reduce risks and support the network's decentralization.
4. Rank validators based on their performance and how well they contribute to the network's decentralization.
5. Support new projects, called Parachains, that are built on Polkadot.

They also plan to make the staking process better by:

1. Getting more validators from different places to make the network stronger and more secure.
2. Making the staking process easier and more user-friendly.
3. Telling more people about Polkadot and getting them to use the network.
4. Helping validators work better and keep the network safe.

They have a budget of 100,000 Euros to make this happen and have planned it out in three steps:

1. Research and planning: 15,000 Euros
2. Testing the app: 35,000 Euros
3. Launching the app with all the features: 50,000 Euros

They are excited to work with the Polkadot community and make staking better for everyone. They also made some changes to their plan based on feedback from the community, like adding a badge for validators and supporting different staking options. They hope this will make their proposal even better and more helpful for Polkadot.

**Edit:** Based on the community feedback, a proposal update has been added at the end the original proposal below.

**Staking Rewards Stake App integration & Ecosystem Partnership**

![](https://i.ibb.co/GHpc1yj/Bildschirmfoto-2024-08-19-um-10-26-08.png)

**Executive Summary**

**About:** [StakingRewards.com](https://www.stakingrewards.com/) is the premier staking aggregator and tooling platform dedicated to the staking economy. It equips investors, analysts, and industry participants with a comprehensive suite of tools and insights, enabling them to optimize staking investments and stay abreast of the evolving landscape of proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain networks.

**Purpose:** The purpose of the integration with Polkadot is to provide native staking capabilities on stakingrewards.com that enhance user experience, foster decentralization of the Polkadot network, and offer additional staking ecosystem tooling. The goal is to build the official [Stake App](https://www.stakingrewards.com/stake-app?input=ethereum-2-0&output=staked-ether&type=liquid-staking) for the entire Polkadot ecosystem. This integration will also support onboarding existing and upcoming Parachains for a fraction of the costs.

**Scope:** The scope of the project includes developing a dedicated Polkadot staking integration optimized to provide an exceptional staking experience for the Polkadot community, encompassing the entire staking user flow from start to finish.

**Benefits:** The integration will provide significant benefits to Polkadot users by offering a more streamlined and efficient staking experience.

**Introduction**

This proposal supports the Polkadot Ecosystem in their efforts to decentralize Polkadot infrastructure by providing additional staking tools to enhance community staking activities and the greater Polkadot ecosystem.

**Integration Features**

With years of experience optimizing the staking flow for users on StakingRewards.com, we have developed a comprehensive staking app that fully enhances the user experience. The app includes the following features:

![](https://i.ibb.co/BCR0Hym/Bildschirmfoto-2024-08-19-um-10-24-17.png)

**Native Staking Capabilities:** Users can connect their Polkadot wallet and stake to a chosen validator or liquid staking protocol directly through stakingrewards.com. This happens through an integration into the Staking App. Users will be able to stake with any or multiple validators in a single transaction.

![](https://i.ibb.co/GdgQ9jY/Bildschirmfoto-2024-08-19-um-10-22-13.png)

**Advanced Monitoring:** Real-Time Portfolio & Reward Tracking [Terminal](https://www.stakingrewards.com/terminal) for Both Retail and Institutional Users to monitor staking positions across multiple validators.

-   Claim & Restake Rewards Button
-   Undelegate + Redelegate Flow

**Curated Staking Strategies:** Allows users to stake with pre-configured sets of validators to minimize correlated slashing risks and promote decentralization.

**Risk Optimized Validator Ranking:** Highlights validators that promote network decentralization through delegation.

**Parachain Support:** Thanks to Polkadot's modularity, Parachains can be supported at a fraction of the cost following mainnet integration as many components can be reused.

**Impact on the Project**

**Enhance Decentralization:** We will work towards decentralizing the validator network by attracting more validators from diverse backgrounds and geographical locations, thereby increasing the network's resilience and security.

**Improve Staking User Experience (UX):** We recognize the importance of a seamless and intuitive staking experience. Our project will focus on developing tools and interfaces that simplify the staking process and provide users with greater control over their staked assets.

**Increase Adoption:** Through targeted marketing efforts, community engagement initiatives, and strategic partnerships, we aim to increase awareness of Polkadot's benefits and drive adoption of its network and services.

**Onboard More Validators:** We will actively recruit and onboard validators to participate in the Polkadot network, expanding the validator pool and further decentralizing network governance.

**Enhance Validator Tooling and Verification:** By providing validators with robust tooling and verification mechanisms, we aim to improve their operational efficiency and ensure the integrity and security of the Polkadot network.

**Integration with Staking Data API:** We aspire to integrate Polkadot data into the Staking Rewards API, enhancing the visibility and accessibility of Polkadot staking opportunities to a wider audience, including institutional investors such as Grayscale.

**Commercials and Milestones**

**Milestone 1 - Research Methodology Development**

-   All relevant data is defined and accessible
-   Risk metrics for optimized validator ranking are clear and a sample calculation with relevant parameters is provided
-   €15.000

**Milestone 2 - Staging & Testing**

-   The Stake App is integrated in a staging environment
-   Thorough testing is conducted
-   Engage with the community for additional feedback community
-   €35.000

**Milestone 3 - Stake App GoLive including all key features**

-   Seamless Staking capabilities
-   Risk Optimized Validator rankings
-   Advanced Staking with multiple Validators at once
-   Advanced Monitoring of staking positions
-   €50.000

**Total amount requested:** 100.000 EURO (114.000 $USDC)

**Conclusion** In conclusion, this proposal seeks to integrate Polkadot with the Staking Rewards platform, enhancing the staking experience for its users while promoting decentralization and adoption within the Polkadot ecosystem. By developing a dedicated Stake App, we will provide native staking capabilities, advanced monitoring tools, and curated staking strategies that cater to both retail and institutional users. The requested funding of 100.000 Euro (114.000 USDC) will be allocated across three key milestones, ensuring a robust and efficient implementation that aligns with Polkadot's long-term goals.

We look forward to discussing this proposal with the community and welcome your feedback before moving forward with an on-chain proposal.  
  
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_  
  

**Edit 12.09.2024:**

**Proposal Update: Response to Feedback and corresponding Adjustments**

**Background:**  
Before submitting our proposal to governance, it was posted on the discussion forum from August 19th to September 5th. During that period, there were no comments, so we moved forward to governance.

Once in governance, we received valuable feedback that raised important considerations we hadn't initially addressed. As a result, we are revising the proposal to incorporate these insights.

**Key Feedback:**  
[@TMC](../user/TMC): Highlighted the lack of governance capabilities in the proposal.

[@saxemberg](../user/saxemberg): Addressed concerns regarding the ranking logic for Polkadot Validators (currently based on VSP & AUM). 

We deeply appreciate the constructive dialogue and encourage continued community engagement to ensure this proposal adds significant value to the Polkadot ecosystem.

**Proposed Adjustments:**

1.  **New Badge for Validators:** We will introduce a "Decentralized Node Program" badge in the Polkadot Validator section, signaling participation in the 1KV program. This aims to further decentralize the Polkadot Validator set and support Community Validators in particular.
2.  **Ranking Criteria Update:** We will shift to an objective & neutral, performance-based ranking system. Validators will no longer be ranked higher solely based on VSP status. Instead, metrics like Era Points will be used to calculate validator performance. Additional feedback from the community on this change is welcome. Do not hesitate to leave a comment.
3.  **Support for Nomination Pools:** Beyond staking to individual validators, we will integrate nomination pools to enhance staking flexibility.
4.  **Transparency on Treasury Funding:** We will explicitly indicate that the integration into the stake app is funded by the Polkadot Treasury with a clear note: “This page was funded by the Polkadot Treasury.”
5.  **Governance:  
      
    (Included) Governance Information:** We can commit to including basic governance information as part of this proposal. This will include features such as voting prompts or a feed with proposals. At a minimum, we will inform our users about the existence of governance and their ability to vote.  
      
    (**Not Included)** Governance Features in Staking Terminal: Governance capabilities will be integrated into the Staking Terminal to foster participation. However, this requires further scoping and will be part of a separate proposal once the App integration is finalized.
6.  **(Not Included) Verification for all Polkadot Validators:** We are open to verifying (VSP) all Polkadot Validators. If there is community interest, we can submit a separate proposal to implement this.

**About Staking Rewards:  
**With 150,000–200,000 unique monthly users, StakingRewards is a key platform for staking across multiple ecosystems. Increased exposure of Polkadot staking and governance here will significantly benefit the ecosystem.

Our staking API is widely used by major industry leaders, including Grayscale, Coinbase, Kraken, and Bloomberg. Additionally, the Staking Summit, an annual gathering of key players from across the industry, offers further opportunities to elevate Polkadot’s presence in global staking discussions.

Each year, we host the largest global Staking Summit, bringing together key industry players, including foundations, home and enterprise stakers, liquid staking protocols, builders, and investors. Moving forward, we will explore opportunities to integrate Polkadot into the summit to drive further adoption and innovation.

**Further Engagement:**  
We look forward to ongoing discussions and are confident that these adjustments address key feedback, enhancing our proposal's value. We hope this revised proposal encourages your support! Any additional feedback or suggestions are greatly appreciated and welcomed. 🙌

StakingRewards.com proposes to integrate with Polkadot to provide native staking capabilities, advanced monitoring tools, and curated staking strategies for the Polkadot ecosystem. The requested funding of 100,000 Euro (114,000 USDC) will be allocated across three key milestones. The goal is to build the official Stake App for the entire Polkadot ecosystem.

Staking Rewards Partnership - Stake App & Terminal Integration

WagMedia is a content creation and media hub that supports storytellers in the Polkadot ecosystem. They have been active since 2021 and focus on quality content and impact. In the past 5 months, they have published 26 weekly newsletters, opened 41 content bounties, and retroactively rewarded impactful content. They also have a website and X account for media publishing and aggregate all content. WagMedia has had a significant impact, with some content receiving up to 120,000 views and being shared by Polkadot and its teams. Many ecosystem agents and initiative leaders started their journey with WagMedia. They aim to continue serving as a content creator hub and evolve into a media hub that curates content from Polkadot creators. They request a one-year budget to continue their services, upgrade their website, and sustain growth on X.

**About us:**

WagMedia is a content creation and media hub that has been nurturing and incentivizing storytellers within the Polkadot ecosystem since 2021. We connect the dots, taking ecosystem ideas, products, and solutions from “So What?” to “Why Should People Care?” through supporting and nurturing content creators and ecosystem agents.

![](https://i.ibb.co/qMWpSgM/unnamed.jpg)

**Adaptation and Evolution:**

WagMedia continuously adapts to the needs of the ecosystem and paradigm shifts of the general crypto landscape, refining its approach in each treasury request. Starting as a simple tipping mechanism for content and translations on Discord, WagMedia now focuses solely on quality and impact over quantity, nurturing content creators to become ecosystem agents and long time contributors to the ecosystem.

**What We Delivered in 5 months:**

-   **Weekly Newsletter:**  A comprehensive [newsletter](https://thewagmedia.com/newsletter) with 26 published editions, featuring stories thats showcase WM content generation and rise awareness about the polkadot ecosystem. A selection of featured stories that raise awareness  include: [The Moonbeam way](https://thewagmedia.com/post/dots-etf-ectively-on-the-way-1716850613205), [Time for Hydration](https://thewagmedia.com/post/bring-on-dot-liquidity-1718732892138), [DOTcentralized funding (Polimec)](https://thewagmedia.com/post/dot-way-forward-1722290276913), [Ready for Awesome Ajuna](https://thewagmedia.com/post/ready-steady-dot-1723067397681), [Wud is going on (WUD)](https://thewagmedia.com/post/dot-wud-it-take-august-4th-to-august-10th-1723589173211), and [the LAOS Report](https://thewagmedia.com/post/reporting-about-dot-1715117127497).
-   **Content Bounties:** On average, we opened **2 content bounties** each week, totaling **41**, **+180** content written. Notable content from our bounties, featured in stories from our newsletter, includes The [Bounty-Hive](https://thewagmedia.com/post/dot-is-ded-eggshilarating-1712494918000), [Backing Content](https://thewagmedia.com/post/a-dot-2-back-1715796015841), [Define DOT Content](https://wagmediaweekly.substack.com/p/define-dot-and-make-changes-june), [Wag Content](https://thewagmedia.com/post/kolkadot-1720525494690), and [Gud Content](https://thewagmedia.com/post/ah-defining-dot-1724256292070)
-   **Retroactive Rewards:** We retroactively rewarded the most impactful Polkadot content monthly, with a total of **+30** payouts. Averaging **$104.655** per post. Check out the featured story from our newsletter about retroactive content here.
-   **Website and X Account:** We aggregate all content on [our website](https://thewagmedia.com/) and leverage our [X account](https://x.com/thatMediaWag) for media publishing, memes, and entertaining material. See: [Gavliator](https://x.com/thatMediaWag/status/1793644584322371841) by Turingmachine, [Polkadot: where you define the rules.](https://x.com/thatmediawag/status/1819697695847793061?s=61&t=1RpmaG7bX9D08YhEvaIbwg) Our X account also publishes threads and x articles derived from the news and featured stories in our newsletter.
-   **Monthly Reports:** We published +10 detailed reports on OpenGov, treasury, [DeFi](https://thewagmedia.com/creator/TheOyster), and the broader ecosystem.

**Impact:**

Many of the WAG creator’s content have had significant reach, with notable pieces receiving between **20,000** and **120,000** views. These have been leveraged by Polkadot and its founders, parachain teams and their official accounts.

-   [A megathread about the future of Polkadot–JAM](https://x.com/EmilKietzman/status/1781085529611661512) by EmilKietzman: 115K views, 850 Likes
-   [Polkadot updates, changes, direction](https://x.com/mrkusama/status/1814660945634820109?s=46&t=w6Lx2_7W6OffmtSBDHsQwA) by Pablo 56K views, 693 Likes
-   [Decoded takes](https://x.com/gbacix/status/1811811327268028798?s=46&t=8OHoQS5WYvVJ6O_n5G4B0g) by Gbaci: 40K views, 376 Likes

[Check out +30 written posts, among many, that stand as the main highlights from the past 5 months.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fhswWQAxeGHTkfvyCD9Fq3KTCsZULJ-B7lZtWzorY20/edit?usp=sharing)

**Our Hidden Contribution:**

Many current ecosystem agents and initiative leaders began their journey with WagMedia, including:

-   [Csaint](https://x.com/csaint02): Once a Kusamarian and WAG member, now a member of the Polkadot Editorial Board (EB).
-   [Jay](https://x.com/GldnCalf) and [Pnin](https://x.com/BalanceBorn): Former WAG members, now Jay leading the Kusamarian and Pnin works for it.
-   [Cris.pap](https://x.com/Cris_Pap8): Formerly with WAG, now founder of OGTracker.
-   [Jeeper](https://x.com/xcjeeper): Former WAG contributor, now part of the DF-funded OpenGov.watch team.
-   [John Rhodel](https://x.com/johnrhodelb): Formerly with WAG, now working on a Brazilian BD initiative funded through OpenGov.
-   [Jimmy Tudeski](https://x.com/stakenode_dev): A Polkadot OG and validator who contributed to WAG for a while before taking a DV role.
-   [Gbaci](https://x.com/gbaciX): Author of Polkadot Beginners, continues contributions through WAG.
-   [Goku](https://x.com/0xgoku_): Started as a content creator, now a team member of WAG and the Polkadot EB.
-   [Pablo](https://x.com/mrkusama): Long-time WAG contributor and also contributor to Kusamarian.

[And many more who have been either became ambassadors or team members of various ecosystem projects.](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16izZpBeoevWN5GE2YiasGIStlFh6LIrz_e0KMkkZpmM/edit?usp=sharing)

**Our monthly audit reports for every expenditure:**

-   [WagMedia 2024 Data Report Volume 1: Through March 24, 2024](https://thewagmedia.com/post/wagmedia-2024-data-report-volume-1-through-march-24-2024-1724705852585)
-   [WagMedia 2024 Data Report Volume 2: March 25 - April 24, 2024](https://thewagmedia.com/post/wagmedia-2024-data-report-volume-2-march-25-april-24-2024-1724706015764)
-   [WagMedia 2024 Data Report Volume 3: Recap of 1st Half and April 25 - May 24](https://thewagmedia.com/post/wagmedia-2024-data-report-volume-3-recap-of-1st-half-and-april-25-may-24-1724706133077)
-   [WagMedia 2024 Data Report Volume 4: May 25 - June 24, 2024](https://thewagmedia.com/post/wagmedia-2024-data-report-volume-4-may-25-june-24-2024-1724706198565)
-   [WagMedia 2024 Data Report Volume 5: June 25 - July 24, 2024](https://thewagmedia.com/post/wagmedia-2024-data-report-volume-5-june-25-july-24-2024-1724709440241)

[WagMedia website](https://thewagmedia.com/audit) provides detailed content evaluation and reward audits. On-chain reward distributions can be found [here](https://report.wagmedia.xyz/) (Treasury: DOT - OpenGov 365, and USDT - OpenGov 365).

**Our Goal:**

We aim to continue serving as a content creator hub, nurturing ecosystem agents, and incentivizing them to organically tell the stories of Polkadot. Our value loop:

![](https://i.ibb.co/LCdpzWv/unnamed-1.jpg)

**Looking Forward:**

We aspire to evolve into a media hub that curates content from Polkadot creators, inspiring agnostic audiences everywhere. Our content will remain:

-   Entertaining
-   Witty
-   Approachable
-   Factual
-   Data-based
-   Authenticated

We are committed to enlarging the options for creators and teams to access content and retroactive tips, as well as enabling teams to open their own bounties. We have built a simple and minimal website to narrow down the steps to access WagMedia and plan to make it even more user-friendly in the next phase.

**One-Year Budget Request:**

**![](https://i.ibb.co/xqkyWXs/unnamed-2.jpg)**

[Brief budget info here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nJQ08XU9rfuMJQsoZgU_HqcvxvbJPj9dlFoWixC7HTk/edit?usp=sharing)

For:

-   Continuation of all existing WagMedia services.
-   Upgrading the website to make it more accessible, becoming a one-click tip request hub for creators.
-   Sustaining growth on X, maintaining an educational and entertaining tone.

**Was everything Pink?**

Nope. Challenges: WagMedia is primarily about creators, and it’s deeply satisfying when a creator is nurtured well enough to step up and make their own impact beyond WAG within the ecosystem. This is the ideal scenario when there is a constant emergence of new creators. After all, our value grows when there is starfish-like growth. However, we’ve noticed a stagnation in the number of new creators approaching Polkadot over the past year. Not just Polkadot, but also due to the prolonged market conditions and general sentiment changes in the crypto landscape. Still we adapt and keep on focusing on rewarding the best content rather than recycled or low-impact content, with tips ranging from $450 to $0.50.

Despite these challenges, during this period we have incentivized and kept prominent figures to write about Polkadot. We believe that if you see engaging, impactful content within the ecosystem, it’s likely written by a WagMedia creator.

![](https://i.ibb.co/ZBHbHWZ/unnamed-3.jpg)

You can read the **full proposal** [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nJQ08XU9rfuMJQsoZgU_HqcvxvbJPj9dlFoWixC7HTk/edit?usp=sharing).

Questions and feedback are welcome, and we look forward to hearing those.

[WagMedia Discord](https://discord.gg/jPqAEb2X4H)

[WagMedia Twitter](https://twitter.com/thatMediaWag)

WagMedia proposes to continue nurturing and incentivizing content creators within the Polkadot ecosystem through weekly newsletters, content bounties, retroactive rewards, and a website. The one-year budget request is $1,500,000 for upgrading the website, sustaining growth on X, and continuing existing services. The main challenge is the stagnation in the number of new creators approaching Polkadot.

WagMedia - Collective Content Creation for 52 Weeks

- The Polkadot Blockchain Academy (PBA) is planning new programs called PBA6 and PBA-X to train more people.
- PBA has already helped over 400 developers and entrepreneurs learn about Polkadot in the past 2 years.
- The goal is to help thousands of new learners and offer different types of educational content.
- The proposal asks for funding for a 6-month plan to support this new training.
- A new online program, PBA-X, will start with its first group in January 2025.
- There will be two tracks: one for DApps and another for Protocol.
- PBA aims to work with universities to share its content and support former students in their careers.

Polkadot Blockchain Academy proposes to create and execute PBA6 and PBA-X, an online version of PBA, to educate thousands of potential contributors to the ecosystem. The proposal requests funding for a 6-month activity to deliver an advanced in-person cohort, a scalable online program, a new DApps track, a written syllabus, university partnerships, and continuous learning initiatives for alumni. The first cohort of PBA-X is planned for January 2025. Details in the proposal linked below.

Polkadot Blockchain Academy; PBA-X production and launch, Wave 6 production and execution. September 2024 to the end of March 2025.

Centrifuge has proposed a plan to support the long-term sustainability of the Polkadot Treasury by deploying 1.5M USDC into real-world assets to earn stable yield, grow Polkadot TVL, and bolster RWAs within the Polkadot community. This investment would follow the Web3 Foundation's investment in the Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund. The proposal aims to manage Polkadot's funds responsibly and support growth and long-term stability. The investment will be fully managed using XCM, directly depositing from the Polkadot treasury into the pools on the Centrifuge parachain. The Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund invests exclusively in U.S T-Bills with a maximum maturity of 6-months, focusing on maximizing interest rates and minimizing price and duration risks.

_9/10/24 Update: Centrifuge updating this initial USDC deployment to 1.5M from 3M_

_Centrifuge’s main priority is to execute on the goals listed below in the original referendum, without impacting short-term spending. Over the last 24hrs, members of the community voiced concerns about the following ‘big spends’ after us potentially not being able to receive funds due to a lack of USDC. We are changing this proposal so that the foundation sends back 1.5M USDC immediately if this referendum passes so this threat is mitigated._

_Centrifuge is committed to working with the community to be the long-term treasury partner helping preserve the DAO treasury in earning yield on idle funds and empowering RWAs on the network, and is happy to cut the initial ask to accommodate other near-term opportunities. We believe a next step following this referendum would be to propose small incremental stablecoin deployment into Centrifuge overtime to further eliminate stablecoin shortages and build strong reserves as the amount of stablecoins coming into Asset Hub continues to grow._

_It’s also important to note that the beneficiary wallet listed is the Polkadot Community Foundation multi-sig wallet - in no way is Centrifuge involved as an added layer of risk in being responsible for sending back the 1.5M._

_The updated instructions for the foundation are listed at the bottom of this referendum._

This proposal is aimed at supporting the long-term sustainability of the Polkadot Treasury. We propose that the newly formed [Polkadot Community Foundation](../treasury/820) on behalf of the DAO, deploy USDC into real-world assets to earn stable yield, grow Polkadot TVL, grow the treasury, bolster RWAs within the Polkadot community and support a leading parachain, Centrifuge. This investment would follow the investment that the **Web3 Foundation made in January** of this year into the Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund. This is also a strong marketing opportunity for Polkadot as it begins to engage in RWAs, specifically being a talking points at this years [RWA Summit](https://www.rwasummit.io/) this October at the flagship event in NYC.

This proposal is for 1.5M USDC to be deployed into Centirfuge’s T-Bill pool, Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund. This referendum resulted from the [previous discussion](../post/2393) about onboarding the Polkadot Community to Centrifuge.

The investment will be fully managed using XCM, directly depositing from the Polkadot treasury into the pools on the Centrifuge parachain.

This proposal is important for Polkadot to manage its funds responsibly and support growth and long-term stability. Having a mix of different assets that don't all move in the same direction is crucial for public organizations like DAOs and endowments to earn strong returns over time.

![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfjHX9oX1pD3gniDahIgJ-bFWPNwwO06UlQKf6vrT90t3UWn6kRl0WVx7fGeRTTiyG6bPBDFUqMb0qBj2h5tgteZjasgySPLLuS0p6LA-4ocIql5ry25lIDU02A-XHox_kWn0PsCXVM4XoQdxus2uAjS9GY?key=fj1g456z0bCM-8ENVUnFdQ)

Quick Links:

-   [Centrifuge app](https://app.centrifuge.io/pools)
-   [Centrifuge website](https://centrifuge.io/)
-   The Defiant: [Polkadot’s Web3 Foundation To Invest $1M In On-Chain Treasuries](https://thedefiant.io/news/defi/polkadot-s-web3-foundation-to-invest-usd1m-in-on-chain-treasuries)
-   [Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund Deck](https://centrifuge.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/QmSPNN2QsqBB9MkiifWQi55iVZ2CLicq7X6EezZwB98uLE?format=)

Grayson - BD & Research at k/f (Centrifuge contributing organization): [grayson@k-f.co](mailto:grayson@k-f.co)

Ivan Postavskyy - Centrifuge Governance Facilitator: @ImdiorCKZ (Telegram)

Anil Sood - Cofounder at Anemoy Capital (Centrifuge-native asset manager): [anil@anemoy.io](mailto:anil@anemoy.io)

Ryan Haczynski - Centrifuge Ambassador and DAO Active Contributor: [ryan@luckyfriday.io](mailto:ryan@luckyfriday.io)

### About Centrifuge

Centrifuge is the largest protocol built on Polkadot rails, and operator of the Centrifuge parachain. Founded in 2017, Centrifuge is one of the original and most sophisticated real-world asset protocols, having financed $600M+ in assets, and with $300M in current TVL. Some of our previous work includes working alongside Web3 Foundation, MakerDAO, Aave, BlockTower Capital, and GnosisDAO.

### Centrifuge’s History with Polkadot

Centrifuge was launched on the substrate in July 2021 as a live network on Polkadot. In 2022 Centrifuge secured a 9th parachain slot on Polkadot in the second batch with 5,435,161 DOT raised from 27,101 contributions. That was the highest participation in the 2nd batch! In November 2023, Centrifuge successfully self-funded a new lease via para ID3353. In addition, the Web3 Foundation invested into the Anemoy LTF pool.

Centrifuge successfully delivered 2 grants for Polkadot Community:

-   Substrate Go API client — [Completed](https://github.com/w3f/Grants-Program/blob/master/applications/index.md#:~:text=Substrate%20Go%20API%20client)
-   Substrate / Ethereum Bridge — [Completed](https://github.com/w3f/Grants-Program/blob/master/applications/index.md#:~:text=Substrate%20/%20Ethereum%20Bridge)

Centrifuge is building on Polkadot for several reasons:

-   Scalability: Polkadot’s parachain architecture offers scalability, allowing Centrifuge to handle a large number of transactions efficiently.
-   Interoperability: Polkadot’s interoperability enables seamless communication between different parachains and blockchains, which is crucial for the liquidity and RWA tokenization.
-   Security: Polkadot’s security features enhance the trustworthiness of Centrifuge’s platform.
-   Cost-Effective Transactions: Transactions on the Centrifuge chain are notably inexpensive, fast, and easily adjustable when compared to the Ethereum network.
-   Efficiency: Fine-tuning and endless possibilities with upgrading and improving existing infrastructure.
-   Decentralization: All parachains on Polkadot are independent which makes this system fully decentralized.

Centrifuge leverages Polkadot’s infrastructure to make real-world assets more liquid and accessible in the DeFi space.

### Why RWAs are Beneficial to the DAO

This proposal is aimed at growing the Polkadot treasury by earning yield on idle stablecoins. Diversifying the treasury in stable, yield bearing assets will better position the DAO to meet long-term liabilities, and overall support the longevity of the treasury. Additionally, this is a major step on behalf of the DAO to support real-world assets on Polkadot.

![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeThNh6DotHOwHxfDbWKkoO2wgncwuuy4bhMz_EUIC7zuSZd0_FTesP-3zxnlDNxtCypCJYYnbbNS2VBu9kv_AYe2ZjbwO6zgio23RycL6elOjGKld-BXYZu5jefoDaeLT5rNiITks2ukwQ49rLtInpRIfM?key=fj1g456z0bCM-8ENVUnFdQ)

### Investment Details

**_TVL Accrued to the Parachain_**

Centrifuge’s parachain is a Substrate network purpose built for the Centrifuge protocol. Not only would TVL accrue to the chain, but there would emerge a great commercial partnership opportunity around marketing RWAs on the network.

**_T-Bills as the first RWA for the DAO_**

Treasury bills (T-Bills) are short-term debt securities issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury with maturities ranging from a few days to one year. Anemoy focuses on durations less than six-months and the fund earns an average of 5% annual yield. T-bills are considered to carry zero risk because they are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, making them one of the safest investments available. This low-risk profile makes T-bills a popular choice for investors seeking a secure place to earn yield and preserve capital.

Below is a chart showing the yield the DAO can generate by USDC deployed.

![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdIQS8nW_tWpqTUn6Z37yt-I-iTQyiLtD2SWIuUV0rKA6uvPBkVDE_zs7xY-3O238m7Bn3o1EJTaUK-dVn48OPaD0yuJfQtEdndigX2QQQMa4pnEek-jQu62BIjlJzFe3hydfXflDpGYt2dVMtCHq8Lz-g?key=fj1g456z0bCM-8ENVUnFdQ)

**_Increase positive brand sentiment through marketing/ PR_**

The Centrifuge marketing team will promote the investment across earned and social media channels, drawing attention to the long history Centrifuge and Polkadot have together, why we decided to build a parachain and the fact that Polkadot is further investing in their ecosystem and growing their treasury.

![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfyPAs5emux_53clkLT8u1CY-vvCRIHCOlqm2_EgveF10hXfeD3zz0xZ8iLbu6iYrH0tH7-KnkW8F7C3iamd5rBmhqrqRIxU_Imwb2QJENmHwEEpJpAsHZvelKtwrt_TVCCgs7Lq4QwsEabmVTP73UMaBHD?key=fj1g456z0bCM-8ENVUnFdQ)

If passed, Centrifuge would also be proud to share the advancement at the Real- World Asset flagship event this October in New York. [The RWA Summit](https://www.rwasummit.io/) is the premier event series dedicated to the intersection of traditional and decentralized finance, with the largest networks, protocols, and traditional firms all in the one venue for two days. [See here](https://youtu.be/A9NNLzMhrRw) a summary video from last years summit.

### About the Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund (LTF)

The Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund invests exclusively in U.S T-Bills with a maximum maturity of 6-months, focusing on maximizing interest rates and minimizing price and duration risks. U.S T-Bills are held directly by the fund with the custodian and the individual asset holdings can be viewed onchain. The fund is a BVI-licensed fund open to non-U.S Professional Investors.

[View the fund in our app](https://app.centrifuge.io/pools/4139607887)

Below you will find the current asset makeup of Anemoy’s Liquid Treasury Fund as of  8/6/2024.

![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeO46yKevxbJBZ6NKhdZ2mH3Us3Gv-YJX4EZN-2Q_fYVohyRQlwSLyaPraFfhlrAueW3dyxKbOv2cmGd_W27ZYHsJYV74INQQbD_MKGVvTpB6G4zpqT15qboeH-qfb9ArR9bA6exgxRfq6PgsFwA3n2VaqI?key=fj1g456z0bCM-8ENVUnFdQ)

The Centrifuge app takes transparency seriously as a core value to investors. In the assets tab, anyone can see the individual Bills held by the Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund, with the CUSIP securities identification number available.

![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfndZr-16JAWqYl7mPtgfSjFJTgC2RJqkqGpUaS__kqxhFj71r7MCMKcSx1RFP1wUPJxHXLBVEuJ_YQRYqoCFTcXlQSMtxgfrXMJcbLrZGyzxg5AR05XYZRsVx6moegh1tA1kqgCeu2dd4RTVS98Bx66y-K?key=fj1g456z0bCM-8ENVUnFdQ)

Above is a detailed view in the Centrifuge UI of a single T-Bill security.

![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXf-yTjDKpHjvA9a7ZIES8US4LBWgm66y2fxqQxWCuSOE24XYfcdrw_DidpLLtVIgdn2RpdtoiVIXcYDA80yfVqt9jehXrwiPk2EcVEv3LDWBZEpl2XCT5fpqu8A4UDNfxgyts8UWvR7xGa2SkO2L1ir0g?key=fj1g456z0bCM-8ENVUnFdQ)

[Source: Anemoy Deck](https://centrifuge.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/QmdiVxQ9FnM5nSEwPHdtFE6krzPQKy5Y4fwZfHhFvk2zXX)

Benefits of the Anemoy structure include:

-   ‍Instant Liquidity: Anemoy has recently begun offering instant liquidity.
-   Direct Ownership: The tokens serve as direct evidence of ownership of the fund shares, allowing cost-efficient redemptions and providing full legal claims on assets.
-   Investor Protection: Prospective investors adhere to requirements of a BVI-regulated professional fund, ensuring a secure and transparent investment environment well-protected from regulatory risk and sanctions enforcement.
-   Transparency: Centrifuge provides real-time onchain visibility of holdings, returns, and tokenized U.S. Treasury Bills.
-   Ultra-low fees: Fees for the fund are 15bps annually (7.5bps Anemoy management fees + 7.5bps Centrifuge protocol fee).

A list of third-party service providers are here:

-   Primer Broker: StoneX
-   Banking: First Citizens Bank
-   Fund Admin: Trident Trust
-   Fund Auditor: MHA Caymans
-   Custodian of T-Bills: unnamed U.S bank custodian \[name can be revealed privately upon request\]

**_Returning Funds - Liquidity_**

There is no lock-up period for the investment - a redemption / return of funds simply requires aproposal outlining such actions. These actions are for the Polkadot community to decide.

Once a sell order has been passed by the DAO, funds can be returned on the same day.

**_Instructions for the Foundation_**

Once 1.5M or more is in the foundation’s control, they should immediately send this amount back to Asset Hub where the USDC came from. Then the foundation should proceed with the process as originally set out with the remaining 1.5M USDC: 1) Begin KYC/KYB with the Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund and fund administrator 2) Invest into the Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund immediately once investor onboarding is complete to reduce the opportunity cost of yield.

Centrifuge has been in contact with [Autonomous Projects](https://autonomousprojects.co/), who proposed the referenced Polkadot Community Foundation, and now serve as administrators of the foundation.

### Conclusion

The DAO investing into real-world assets, alongside the W3F, provides stable yields, grows Polkadot TVL, diversifies the treasury, bolsters RWAs within Polkadot, and supports a leading parachain, Centrifuge.

T-Bills are a natural first step for the DAO as it looks to target idle USDC earning no yield for the community, and are highly liquid when needed. This is an exciting first step for the community to utilize the newly setup Polkadot Community Foundation, to access real world opportunities otherwise not available to the DAO. Centrifuge is committed to growing RWAs on Polkadot, and would be thrilled to share this development with the broader blockchain community.

WHO: Polkadot Community Foundation on behalf of the DAO, Centrifuge
WHAT: Deploy 1.5M USDC into Centrifuge's T-Bill pool, Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund, to earn stable yield, grow Polkadot TVL, diversify the treasury, bolster RWAs within Polkadot, and support Centrifuge
PRICE/TIMEFRAME/RESOURCES: 1.5M USDC immediately, no lock-up period, no added layer of risk for Centrifuge, fees for the fund are 15bps annually

*UPDATED* Proposal for the Polkadot Community to Earn RWA Yield on Idle Stablecoins via Centrifuge

### SubWallet Proposal Summary

1. **Overview**: SubWallet is a non-custodial wallet for Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems, offering browser extension, mobile app, and web app.

2. **Achievements**: 
   - Supports 150+ networks.
   - Over 1.6 million installs and 800,000+ users from 100+ countries.
   - Active community of 50,000 members on social platforms.

3. **Key Features**:
   - Multi-chain asset management.
   - Built-in XCM transfers.
   - Staking options (Nominate, Nomination Pool, Liquid Stake).
   - Hardware wallet support (Ledger, Keystone, Polkadot Vault).

4. **Integration Highlights**:
   - New Polkadot Ledger app.
   - Polkadot <> Kusama bridge.
   - Polkadot <> Ethereum bridge.
   - Native asset swaps on Asset Hub.

5. **Community Impact**:
   - Contributes to ecosystem growth through comprehensive product suite and marketing efforts.
   - Efficient treasury spending with retroactive funding approach.

6. **Proposal**: Seeks funding from Polkadot Treasury for work done from December 2023 to July 2024. Detailed proposal and costs are available [here](https://subwallet.notion.site/Retroactive-SubWallet-08-Months-Development-6b114811ed4543f58b26c02b6d33c690).

[Retroactive] SubWallet 08 Months Development

TimedOut

Please vote nay

- Chainalysis shared a new proposal with the Polkadot community.
- The proposal includes feedback from the community.
- It aims to help Polkadot grow in the institutional market.
- The goal is to improve compliance and risk management.
- The total cost of the proposal is 6.5 million USDC.
- Payments will be made in three installments over three years.
- The first payment happens when the proposal is completed.

Chainalysis proposes to support Polkadot's institutional market penetration by providing compliance solutions and training programs to ensure compliance best practices. The objective is to increase market capitalization, capture institutional market share, grow global adoption, and maintain a reputation for compliance. The total payment for this proposal is 6.5M USDC, divided into three annual payments. The first payment of 2,166,660 USDC will be made upon proposal completion.

Improved Proposal from Chainalysis to Polkadot

### Polkadot Growth Initiative (PGI) Summary

- **PGI Introduction**: Announced on July 9th in the Polkadot forum, the Polkadot Growth Initiative (PGI) aims to support promising projects in the Polkadot ecosystem.
- **Community Feedback**: The initial concept received over 535 views and 31 replies, leading to improvements based on community input.
- **Investment Threshold**: The investment threshold was raised from 23.33% to 33.33% of a project's funding target after community discussions.
- **Purpose**: PGI is designed to boost project success without lowering the threshold for funding.
- **Benefits**: PGI helps fund projects, increasing their chances of success and benefiting DOT holders through increased block space usage and coretime sales.
- **No Top-Up**: As of August 5, 2024, PGI will not seek additional funding to account for USD payment differences.
- **Co-Investment**: PGI allocates a fixed 10% co-investment in projects that reach the 33% funding target from external investors.
- **Goal**: PGI aims to support the Polkadot ecosystem by funding projects and creating a positive flywheel effect with successful outcomes.

Polkadot proposes the Polkadot Growth Initiative (PGI) to fund promising projects on the platform and increase their success rate. The investment threshold for the PGI is 33.33% of the funding target of a raising project. The PGI aims to increase coretime sales and create a positive flywheel effect. No top-up will be sought for the difference in USD payments.

Polkadot Growth Initiative (PGI)

### Proposal Summary

- **Objective**: Secure a $1 million marketing budget to sponsor 20 global family office summits and investment conferences, aiming to attract untapped capital into Polkadot.
- **Repayment**: The $1 million sponsorship cost will be repaid to the treasury through a 1% revenue-share from capital raised by Harbour Industrial Capital (HIC) at these events.
- **Changes from Previous Proposal**: Introduced a 1% revenue-share model, ensuring a direct benefit to the treasury. The 1% is deducted from HIC's management fees, aligning incentives for both parties.
- **Risk Sharing**: The revenue-share is uncapped, meaning more capital raised results in higher repayment to the treasury.
- **Incentives**: Max and Mario, recently appointed as Head Ambassadors of Polkadot, will organize these events without additional salary, focusing on bringing fresh capital and creating a new Polkadot ecosystem fund.
- **Proof of Work**: HIC has already raised a $10 million Polkadot fund and has a track record of organizing and speaking at Polkadot events.
- **Need for New Fund**: Traditional VCs often overlook Polkadot projects, necessitating a dedicated fund to support ecosystem growth.
- **Target Investors**: Family Offices are seen as the most promising investors due to their familiarity with traditional investment structures and potential for large investments.
- **Budget**: The $1 million budget will cover sponsorship costs for up to 20 events, with costs varying per event. The budget will be used until exhausted, aligning with treasury interests.
- **Revenue Share Model**: 1% of funds raised from LPs will be returned to the treasury quarterly, with transparency reports published regularly.

Harbour Industrial Capital is proposing to obtain a marketing budget of US$1 million to sponsor a series of ~20 major established global family office summits and traditional investment conferences, with the aim of bringing untapped capital into Polkadot. The proposal includes a 1% revenue-share model, where 1% of the capital raised by HIC at these investment conferences from new LPs will be directly returned to the Polkadot treasury. If successfully executed, this US$1 million in sponsorship costs will be repaid to the treasury in full. The proposal aims to create a new large Polkadot ecosystem fund that otherwise would not exist.

Investment Conference Series for Polkadot, with Revenue-share Model for Treasury

- The Polkadot Hub is a new bar and coworking space in Barcelona for the Polkadot community.
- It will combine fun bar experiences with opportunities for working, networking, and learning about cryptocurrencies.
- Barcelona is chosen because it's a lively city and a growing tech hub, attracting many entrepreneurs and businesses.
- The hub will feature a Polkadot-themed bar, coworking areas, and regular events about Polkadot and blockchain.
- Profits will be used to pay staff, buy Polkadot, and expand the hub to more locations.
- Decisions will be made together with the community through a voting system.
- The team behind the project includes Marc and his family, who have experience in the restaurant business.
- People can contact Marc through WhatsApp or Instagram for more information.

WHO: The Polkadot Hub team, led by entrepreneur Marc and his family with expertise in the restaurant business.

WHAT: Create a Polkadot-themed bar and coworking space in Barcelona, offering a unique experience that combines bar culture with business networking and collaboration opportunities.

PRICE/TIMEFRAME/RESOURCES: The project requires an initial investment of 150,000 Polkadots for real estate acquisition, furniture, equipment, licenses, and marketing. The profits obtained will be used to pay staff, cover expenses, invest in promotions, and buy Polkadot for staking earnings. The team also plans to expand with more locations throughout Barcelona or even other parts of the country and the world.

Propuesta de polkadot cafe/coworking

The Polkadot Music Events Initiative (PMEI) has proposed a project to help music companies use Polkadot products for better user experiences and optimized revenue. The project aims to integrate crypto with the help of Polkadot and onboard two established web2 companies, Billfold and Radiate, which have millions of active users combined. This will add four million active users and transition over $100 million in annual transaction volume through Polkadot-based USD stablecoins.

The proposal covers the cost of integrating and marketing the following:
1. Onboarding four million active users via Polkadot wallets.
2. Streamlining crypto native payments for users through a web3 point of sale solution.
3. Polkadot activations via loyalty reward tools for brands, venues, and artists.
4. A marketing strategy centering the Polkadot brand across physical point of sale systems and digital receipts in Billfold activated venues.

The project will onboard the current four million active users over a period of three months and gradually transition their payment settlement to USDC on Polkadot. This will result in organic volume and growth of transactions. The full scope of the integration is expected to be completed within an eight-month timeframe, with the completion date around June of 2025.

The requested budget for the project is 386,546 DOT, which will be used for integration, legal, marketing, and project management fees. The PMEI team consists of experts in Polkadot and Kusama development, business development, and full stack application development. They will manage the project to ensure proper technical integrations are delivered and the components will be open source for other event organizers and marketing organizations to use.

**Live Music on Polkadot: Billfold + Radiate Onboarding**

a PMEI proposal

---

Requested DOT: 386,546

Please see milestones and technical document [here.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AZ-taNztGogMjT2PSf1ZGXG4MtpwqtaXCmLPgZC3b0g/edit?usp=sharing)

**What is this proposal for?**

Our goal as a team is to help music companies use Polkadot products that create better user experiences and optimize revenue. We want web3 products that solve real problems so that we can break down barriers and create an easy entry point for people in their everyday lives. This not only creates great success stories for other companies interested in leveraging web3, but it also drives organic growth for Polkadot. 

We have updated this proposal to be clearer as to what will be achieved and how it will greatly benefit the Polkadot ecosystem. 

[Billfold](https://www.billfold.tech/) and [Radiate](https://www.radiatetheworld.com/), who have millions of active users combined across event point of sale (PoS) and event-specific social engagement products, will integrate crypto with the help of the Polkadot Music Events Initiative and community approval of these onboarding terms.

This deal onboards two established web2 companies that will scale the music industry vertical on Polkadot, adding FOUR (4) MILLION active users and progressively transitioning $100M+ in annual transaction volume through Polkadot-based USD stablecoins.

PMEI is spearheading a new and exciting initiative with our business development and onboarding partners at Transistor that will onboard these two companies into the Polkadot ecosystem. Billfold and Radiate are some of the most forward-thinking names in electronic music events, and are excited about the prospect of launching products on Polkadot to further solidify their leading position as music event technology providers.

**This proposal will cover the cost to integrate and market the following:**

1.  Onboarding 4 Million active users via Polkadot (substrate) wallets
2.  Streamlining crypto native payments for those users through web3 PoS solution: including, but not limited to, live events and sporting events
3.  Polkadot activations via loyalty reward tools for brands, venues and artists
4.  Marketing strategy centering the Polkadot brand across physical PoS systems and digital receipts in Billfold activated venues 

**Why vote aye on this?**

-   We already have LOI’s in place and defined scope for both Billfold and Radiate. If for ANY reason, a contract is not signed for either party, the dedicated funds will be returned to the treasury.
-   We will onboard the current 4M active users over a period of 3 months + every additional user that uses Billfold and Radiate
-   We are gradually transitioning their payment settlement to USDC on Polkadot resulting in organic volume and growth of transactions
-   Anybody creating an event can now use this tech moving forward to run their events and any entity can activate these users via their Polkadot wallets to market and interact with fans and the artists

---

Proponent: Polkadot Music Events Initiative

Beneficiary: Polkadot Music Events Initiative

Multisig Address: 15nKYvAm8Yu9QVK65JWrhfyabhHkWywg21X9gX4GFJo3v4cT

Proposed Start Date: August 15th 2024

NOTE: PMEI is managing this project to ensure that proper technical integrations are delivered. These components will also be used in the context of {bash} events beyond our current onboarding flow and tech stack. These components will also be open source so that other event organizers and marketing orgs can have elevated tools for streamlined use of web3.

---

**ANY project can benefit from this in Polkadot. ANY team can build on and customize these tools.**

This makes the funnel for onboarding wider, and the engagement and web3 education MUCH easier and more accessible.

**Deliverables**

The initial user onboarding will be completed within a 3 month timeline from when the deal finalizes.

The full scope of this integration is expected to be completed within an eight month timeframe. This would put the completion date, including payments, around June of 2025. Getting to contract signature(s), creating user onboarding infrastructure, and a built PoC for borderless payments using USDC on Asset Hub are the initial stages and are anticipated to be done by EOY 2024. Marketing will begin as soon as user onboarding has launched. 

Technical documentation and further timeline expectations can be found [here.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AZ-taNztGogMjT2PSf1ZGXG4MtpwqtaXCmLPgZC3b0g/edit?usp=sharing)

**Budget**

Requested DOT: 386,546

Billfold Integration $ 1,018,000

Radiate Integration $ 538,000

Legal $ 150,000

Marketing $ 70,000

Contingency (and DOT flux) 12%

Project Management Fee 15% (_only on integration costs_, excluding marketing, legal etc.)

\*The costs to integrate will not be used for any operating expenses for the PMEI team\* 

**Who’s on the team?**

**PMEI**

Miami - Expert full stack developer in Polkadot and Kusama known for their work under Moonbeans and across the Moonbeam ecosystem. Miami is the lead Developer for {bash} events.

Spencer Zabiela - Lead for {bash} events with deep ties in the music industry. Spencer is driving business development, bringing Billfold and Radiate together under this enterprise onboarding deal.

Sam Ruberti - Sam Ruberti has been developing full stack applications for over fifteen years. He was a Senior Rust Developer on the ink! team at Parity and has built full stack software for many companies, including Bloomberg, Peloton, and Clear, with a heavy focus on distributed systems, microservices, security, and user-facing web applications. He joined the Web3 space in 2017 and has launched numerous dApps, tokens, DeFi platforms, and NFTs on various chains.

Jaclyn Francis - Formerly at Tidal (Jay-Z’s HiFi music streaming platform recently acquired by Square/Block), Jaclyn is also part of the PMEI/ {bash} team and will be managing the digital ticketing experience for live music venues and artists using the RA platform.

Transistor - Transistor is a blockchain research and development firm focused on Polkadot adoption in the United States founded by Peter Mauric and Yoon Kim. Transistor will be supporting this onboarding effort with business development, key partner integration and development work. Peter led multiple teams and initiatives in the development of Ethereum and launch of Kusama and Polkadot’s success while at Parity Technolgies and the Web3 Foundation from 2017-2022. Yoon Kim is a Polkadot ICO investor who worked at the highest levels of Wall Street tech banking and hedge funds throughout the Web 2.0 era.

Exiled Studios - Exiled Studios is a gaming studio focusing on developing low touch, high reward games. Exiled focus on algorithmic and low touch strategy games allows time poor, ex-gamers a way to enjoy gaming without the effort. Exiled is currently building the Exiled Racers gaming platform on top of the Moonbeam (Polkadot) blockchain.

---

Contact Manager of the Funds PMEI team: [hello@polkdotmusic.events](mailto:hello@polkdotmusic.events)

Recipient DOT Address: 15nKYvAm8Yu9QVK65JWrhfyabhHkWywg21X9gX4GFJo3v4cT

More Information [www.polkadotmusic.events](http://www.polkadotmusic.events)

WHO: Polkadot Music Events Initiative (PMEI), Billfold, Radiate, Transistor, Exiled Studios.
WHAT: Onboard Billfold and Radiate to Polkadot ecosystem, integrating crypto payments, loyalty reward tools, and marketing strategy.
PRICE: Requested DOT 386,546, with breakdowns for integration, legal, marketing, contingency, and project management fee. 
TIMEFRAME: Initial user onboarding within 3 months, full scope integration within 8 months, completion by June 2025.

Live Music on Polkadot: Billfold + Radiate Onboarding

VOTE NAY - ERROR 

**Dot Play** is a project aimed at accelerating the adoption of Polkadot in the gaming industry. They have a team with extensive experience in both gaming and Polkadot, including Game Master Partners and a new team called Questing Party Partners. Dot Play's vision is to make Polkadot the top blockchain solution for games by focusing on high-growth genres, building essential integration tools, and providing business development support. They plan to create a games accelerator for the Polkadot ecosystem using their resources, IP relationships, game studio talent, and tools.

Some of their past accomplishments include being a lead advisor to the Web3 Foundation on the launch of Polkadot, investing in Mythical, co-founding Ajuna Network on Polkadot, and working with Unity and Parity Technologies on the Verified Solution Polkadot SDK for Unity. They also organized meetups and hosted podcasts with top game developers and creators.

Dot Play's strategy is to focus on the largest potential audiences with the strongest engagement, which they believe are key metrics to build brand value for the Polkadot ecosystem over the long term. They plan to evaluate game studios and tool companies, provide feedback, and submit projects for Bounty approval. They also aim to create a dedicated gaming portal within Polkadot, facilitate project onboarding, optimize outbound support for parachain teams, and identify and implement ecosystem solutions to onboard game developers.

The proposed refill of the Dot Play Bounty is 400k DOT into game projects, with a Treasury/Dot Play profit split of 80/20. Their business development will focus on developing a sustainable deal flow, creating a dedicated gaming portal, facilitating project onboarding, and optimizing outbound support for parachain teams.

![](https://i.ibb.co/ZcBqXsf/dotplay-pinks-large.png)

**Overview DOT Play**

Project Name: Dot Play: **Accelerate Gaming Adoption of Polkadot**

Following our successful application to the DFF as the specialized business development arm for Polkadot gaming, along with the establishment of Dot Play as curators of the Games Bounty, we are submitting a new proposal herein. _The details are identical to the original Dot Play bounty, except that we have adjusted the amount requested to 400k DOT from 1 million DOT. This accounts for the 100k DOT that previously existed in the Games Bounty, and provides an opportunity to demonstrate our abilities as responsible stewards of Treasury capital_. Below please find our ambitious road map to create a games accelerator for the Polkadot ecosystem, using our resources and IP relationships, game studio talent, and tools.

**Background and Teams**

**Game Master Partners**

The team has deep experience and expertise both in the gaming industry and in Polkadot. Nicholas Douzinas is Co-Founder of Ajuna Network and Angela Dalton, CEO & Founder of Signum Growth, has a 20-year history in the gaming vertical as an analyst, investor, and board member, including as a seed round investor in Mythical and as board member of the largest esports org, FaZe Clan. She also served as Lead Advisor to the Web3 Foundation on the launch of the Polkadot network.

![](https://i.ibb.co/rF61dTx/Gamemaster.png)

**Our accomplishments before Dot Play**

— Served as Lead Advisor to the Web3 Foundation on the launch of Polkadot from 2019-2024, working closely with regulators to achieve Polkadot non-security status

— Seed round investor in Mythical, named as #1 in blockchain gaming by Blockchain Gamer.biz, and led the business development process to transition Mythical from Ethereum to Polkadot

— Co-Founded Ajuna Network on Polkadot

— Polkadot Play was formed as a collective of parachain teams including Ajuna Network, Astar, Moonbeam, Tanssi, and Unique and open to all

— Successfully worked with Unity and Parity Technologies on the Verified Solution Polkadot SDK for Unity

— Delivered the Verified Polkadot SDK for Unity in collaboration with Unity Technologies

— Organized and hosted many Polkadot & gaming & entertainment meetups at industry conferences

— Hosted weekly podcasts with the top game developers and creators

— Fostered relationships between studios, investors, and partners that have been pivotal to their success

**Queen’s Council (QCs)**

![](https://i.ibb.co/kx40pHg/QC.png)

**NEW TEAM: Questing Party Partners**

We are inviting the previous members of the Games Bounty and others in the community to use your knowledge of Polkadot and your interest in gaming to be eyes, ears and creative brain power for us and our projects. Present ideas at the Game Souk, and if the community votes your idea in, execute on it and get paid for your services. Help us grow, battle and avoid spiked floors and sand traps!

![](https://i.ibb.co/MPGbnB1/ourteam.png)

**Dot Play Signatory Team**

The Dot Play Signatory team will be comprised of five members and will be responsible for the release of funds for successful Qualified proposals. Signatory team members for Bounty:

— Chrissy Hill

— Bill Laboon

— Joe Petrowski

— Angela Dalton

— Nicholas Douzinas

![](https://i.ibb.co/n3mnnTq/signatoryteam.png)

**Vision**

Dot Play’s goal is to position Polkadot as the top blockchain solution for games. We will achieve this by focusing on the highest growth genres and the largest audiences within gaming, by building essential integration tools, and by providing sustainable business development support. Our strategy will provide a new way to create long term sustainability for the Polkadot treasury by entering into revenue share agreements with our target investments, thereby replenishing the Treasury and growing our impact. We have identified top developer studios working at the forefront of social gaming, AI, tools and user generated content (“UGC”) platforms that tap into mass market audiences and highlight Polkadot as the optimal Web3 solution for gaming. Dot Play will serve as a top-of-funnel hub to foster a ‘New Superstars’ community.

**Why Now**

We have witnessed several attempts at blockchain gaming “ecosystem funds” starting with the EOS fund in 2018. All in, we estimate that at least $1 billion has been invested in game developers since this time. Despite having little impact, each time a large gaming fund launches, it shifts the narrative and generally creates a lot of attention for a period of time. The newest such launch - the [Arbitrum Gaming Fund announced on June 10, 2024](https://forum.arbitrum.foundation/t/catalyze-gaming-ecosystem-growth-on-arbitrum/22368/177), a ~$215 million gaming ecosystem fund, including a ~$25m operating budget, to be deployed over three years.

The general approach of blockchain gaming investments is to offer financing to game developers, launch a token and liquidate. This has led to hundreds of short-lived games with low engagement. In fact, most are simple speculation games, similar to meme assets. Immutable X is a good example of a blockchain gaming developer that is making games which are targeted only to the crypto community - this week, the company [announced](https://x.com/0xferg/status/1803384921656008761?s=46&t=OCBkdxSb0b9IkrDtt49iAg) that they had launched more games in the first five months of 2024, at 147 games, than all of 2023. They added that they will launch another 60+ games over the next five months with an estimated 300 [games](https://gam3s.gg/news/immutable-q1-2024-recap-new-games-partnerships-and-surging-activity/) currently available on the network.

Putting Immutable’s announcement in context, Mythical NFL Rivals has created a mass market accessible game called NFL Rivals, which has garnered more than five million players and with a rating that has surpassed Electronic Arts’ 35 year old game, Madden. The Mythos blockchain, with NFL Rivals as a key driver of transactions, reported sales of $22 million over the last 30 days, greater than all Immutable games in total, with sales of $10 million.

[![](https://i.ibb.co/8zxNhnG/dadtadta.png)](https://www.cryptoslam.io/blockchains)

We believe the current environment in blockchain gaming presents an opportunity to emphasize the fact that when potential builders test all available blockchains, they cite Polkadot as the most secure, scalable and resilient platform, with an unprecedented ability to handle high transaction volumes. In fact, Mythical has mentioned many times publicly that, after a full evaluation of available protocols, they chose to build on Polkadot with full confidence that the company would be at the bleeding edge of industry technology and with the best engineering support for a mass market gaming platform.

“_The commitment of Polkadot to innovation, security, and governance provides tremendous development value for Mythical Games. This on-chain ecosystem will not only support the growth of Mythical Games but also help other Mythos partners to strengthen and build their projects_.”

\-John Linden, Founder and CEO of Mythical Games

**Dot Play Bounty**

The Dot Play Bounty will serve as an accelerator for the gaming and entertainment verticals for Polkadot. We believe that establishing a presence early in the highest growth genres within gaming is a differentiated strategy that builds sustainability for the Polkadot ecosystem. We are entering the market alongside Arbitrum’s recent launch. Our hands-on accelerator approach ensures that we can achieve greater results at lower costs.

**Our Network**

The Dot Play network is extensive. As part of Signum Growth, we have made investments in Mythical, Epic Games, Discord, Build A Rocket Boy (Everywhere platform), Sortium, Blockade Labs and GBM, which is the auction mechanism for online and offline applications, built on Moonbeam. Separately, we have an extensive network in the video game and esports industries, which may be tapped to benefit the Polkadot community. In addition, we are a Gold Member of the Blockchain Games Alliance (BGA), the preeminent non profit organization of the blockchain gaming industry, which offers many opportunities to feature Polkadot and educate game developers.

![](https://i.ibb.co/bW1rtfS/partners.png)

**Dot Play Go To Market**

“_We see the future of gaming being secured by Polkadot infrastructure_.”

The Dot Play Bounty aims to capitalize on the shift in the entertainment industry, particularly the convergence of gaming and traditional media, such as movies, TV, and music. We recognize the shift in audience preferences and the increasing appeal of user-generated content platforms like Roblox and Fortnite among Gen Alpha and Gen Z.

The substantial payouts to developers on platforms like Roblox (2023 $740 million) and Epic’s UEFN (Year 1 ended March: $320 million), signals a growing opportunity for creators to monetize their content. Roblox recently announced that 77.7m players visit the game daily, placing Roblox alongside the largest platforms globally.

![](https://i.ibb.co/wBm2zBk/robloxvssocial.png)

The team has been working together since March, in daily meetings to strategize the most impactful way to go to market within the gaming vertical with Polkadot. Our plan is to roll out a multi-faceted go-to-market depending on the game genre, audience and the potential ease of Polkadot adoption in various scenarios. As an overall rule of thumb, we will focus on the earliest stage of game development when we can influence substrate adoption. We have seen in the past, there is significant time and cost friction in “converting” an existing game with a token to Substrate. We will focus on the largest potential audiences with the strongest engagement, which has not been attempted to date. We believe that audience size and engagement are the key metrics to focus on to build brand value for the Polkadot ecosystem over the long term.

**Creating a Games Accelerator in Polkadot**

![](https://i.ibb.co/VMZ5SNk/Polkadot-Play-25.png)

1.  Evaluate a steady inbound flow of game studios or game tool companies each week - studios, independent and AAA games, and tools
2.  Introductory call, led by one or both of the Dot Play managers, with questions prepared in advance by the Gaming Analyst
3.  Follow up to schedule second meeting or if at any point, we decide the project is not a fit for funding, evaluate other paths in Polkadot and communicate to the project
4.  Dot Play team to write strategy memo and build financial model, if enough information exists
5.  Evaluate Technical integration and Tokenomics- Technical Advisory
6.  Evaluate Product Market Fit - Games Advisory
7.  Channel Checks - Gaming analyst to lead analysis
8.  Investor Checks - Dot Play managers to reach out to other investors who have previous experience with the team, if appropriate
9.  Provide feedback to Technical and Gaming Advisory teams for further use in the ecosystem
10.  Submit to Dot Play Curators for Bounty approval
11.  Continued support of the studio and the project to further identify opportunities
12.  Foster collaboration between Polkadot studios and projects, e.g., the IP and studios that are building on Polkadot

**Proposed Refill of Dot Play Bounty:**

Total ask: **400k DOT into game projects**

Treasury / Dot Play profit split: 80/20; Note: Dot Play will not receive any fees as a percentage of the Treasury allocation, but instead will only receive a percentage of successful / profitable outcomes that grow the Treasury. This will create a way to grow the bounty over time by driving new capital back into the ecosystem.

— Tooling and Game publishing operations across projects: $700k

-   Tooling, website hub, including Polkadot Engine SDKs Unreal $475k
-   Game publishing accounting, investment reporting and legal $225k

**Business Development in Dot Play will focus on:**

**Developing a Sustainable Deal Flow**

The primary focus is establishing a robust and consistently replenishing pipeline of opportunities within the gaming sector. This involves proactive outreach and engagement strategies aimed at forging valuable partnerships and collaborations.

**Creating a Dedicated Gaming Portal within Polkadot**

Initiate the creation and deployment of a centralized hub dedicated to serving the gaming vertical within the Polkadot ecosystem. This hub will serve as a hub for relevant resources, information, and networking opportunities tailored specifically to the gaming industry stakeholders

**Facilitating Project Onboarding to Polkadot**

Actively facilitate the integration process for gaming projects seeking to leverage the capabilities of the Polkadot network. This entails providing guidance, support, and necessary resources to expedite the seamless transition onto the platform. Additionally, Dot Play will ensure each gaming project is matched with the most suitable ecosystem partner or partners, offering the best sustainable solution for the project's growth and success

**Optimizing Outbound Support for Parachain Teams**

Efficiently streamline the provision of outbound assistance to parachain teams operating within the gaming vertical. This involves enhancing communication channels, refining support mechanisms, and ensuring the timely resolution of any queries or challenges encountered by these teams.

**Ecosystem Tooling**

Identifying and implementing ecosystem solutions to onboard game developers. Following the successful implementation of the Polkadot Unity SDK, we intend to facilitate the implementation of other solutions such as Unreal Engine and GoDot. In the case of the Unity SDK, the technical solution and implementation were offered by Ajuna Network and the Business development effort has been led by Parity. Dot Play intends to lead these efforts in tandem with ecosystem Teams.

For further reading, our [Dot Play deck is attached](https://dotplay.tiiny.site).

Follow us on Twitter at @dotplayteam

Dot Play proposes to accelerate gaming adoption of Polkadot by establishing a games accelerator for the ecosystem. They aim to focus on the highest growth genres and largest audiences within gaming, build essential integration tools, and provide sustainable business development support. They are requesting 400k DOT from the Treasury to fund game projects and will split profits 80/20 with the Treasury. Dot Play will also focus on developing a sustainable deal flow, creating a dedicated gaming portal within Polkadot, facilitating project onboarding to Polkadot, optimizing outbound support for parachain teams, and identifying and implementing ecosystem solutions to onboard game developers.

Dot Play Bounty

- Authena is moving its traceability platform to Polkadot to improve supply chain transparency using IoT, blockchain, and AI.
- This migration aims to meet EU and US regulations while enhancing consumer trust and security.
- Authena has received awards for its innovation in the luxury, pharmaceutical, and food sectors, showing it is reliable and recognized.
- The current platform has issues like high costs and slow transactions, which they want to fix by switching to Polkadot.
- They will create real-time monitoring using IoT devices and showcase their projects globally, including ads at Zurich airport.
- They are asking for 260,000 DOT (around $1.5 million) to help make these improvements.
- The project team includes experts in their field, along with experienced advisors from leading institutions.

Authena proposes to migrate its traceability platform to Polkadot for enhanced scalability, security, and compliance. The project includes integrating Polkadot with Authena's IoT multi-sensor devices, enhancing dApp functionality, and implementing blockchain-based analytics and AI. Authena seeks 260,000 DOT (~$1,528,000) for the project, which includes showcasing real use cases through global campaigns advertised online and at Zurich airport for 52 weeks. Authena has won the GSMA GLOMO Award for Best Mobile Innovation for Web3 and the LVMH Innovation Award for Operations Excellence.

Authena x Polkadot: The Future of Scalable Traceability

Snowbridge, a trustless bridge between Polkadot and Ethereum, has successfully launched and is growing in usage. It is a significant innovation for interoperability in the Polkadot ecosystem. The project has completed 3-4 integrations and plans to increase integrations across all parachains in the coming months. A treasury proposal has been submitted to finalize payments for completed engineering milestones, operating costs, and team incentives. The proposal includes additional controls for team incentives and medium-term insurance guarantees for bridge users. The total amount requested is 505157 DOT and 2812500 USDC, covering audit and operational costs, milestone completion bonuses, post-launch bonuses, and successful operation incentives. The beneficiary address is provided for the payments.

**Launch**

Snowbridge is live! We've been up for ~ 2 weeks, running smoothly since launch, with no issues and usage is starting to grow.

If you're not familiar with it, it's a bridge between Polkadot and Ethereum that is designed and implemented to be fully trustless, with no multi-sig or third party involved. It’s a major innovation for interoperability in the Polkadot ecosystem.

Snowbridge is one of the longest running and most complex public goods project in the Polkadot ecosystem outside of Parity itself, and many teams have eagerly awaited the launch.

We've also already finished off 3 - 4 integrations with other teams, and are expecting to ramp up integrations across all parachains over the next month before a wider growth and adoption program.

If you missed the launch, see more details in our blog announcement [here](https://snowfork.substack.com/p/snowbridge-is-live) and try it out yourself using the app [here.](https://app.snowbridge.network/)

**Treasury Proposal**

With the launch done, we’ve completed all our milestones from our [original proposal in 2022](../referendum/88) and are set up for the long term success of the bridge. In that proposal, our team and the Polkadot community agreed upon our expected milestone payments and incentives which totalled to ~$10 mil worth of DOT.

This proposal finalizes the payments for our 2024 completed engineering milestones, operating costs and team incentives. It also adds additional controls on those team incentives to ensure strong alignment between the team and the Polkadot community, and gives medium-term insurance guarantees to bridge users.

The proposal is long as it documents a lot of the work we've been doing over the last 2 years as well as future plans, but we're looking for any early support, feedback and discussion here before going live with the proposal.

The executive summary of the propsal is copied below, and the full proposal is here:

[https://spinamp.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/QmRSkK7YVbnTDYCsgWhyfvDydtbSi1uyWDbRDrxPvnPzmi](https://spinamp.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/QmRSkK7YVbnTDYCsgWhyfvDydtbSi1uyWDbRDrxPvnPzmi)

(Note: exact numbers will be updated based on the Subscan EMA7 rate on the day of submission)

**Executive summary**

Total amount: 505157 DOT and 2812500 USDC (~5,797,500 USD, based on the current Subscan EMA7 rate of 6.22, with a 5% buffer for slippage)

This is broken down into:

-   Audit & Operational costs: Single payout of 187849 DOT (based on $1,110,000). Paid on execution of proposal
-   Milestone completion bonus: First 12 out of 24 months vesting payouts, covering the period from July 2024 to July 2025. 13221 DOT per month, totalling 158652 DOT. Scheduled for monthly claim, starting immediately. (based on $937,500)
-   3-months post launch bonus: Single payout of 158656 DOT (based on $937,500). Scheduled for claim 3 months after launch.
-   Successful operation incentives: First 9 out of 21 months payouts, covering the period from July 2024 to July 2025. 312500 USDC per month totalling 2812500 USDC.

Beneficiary Address: 129Uxho5oKBz6js8dwjoQLzLjYsEs4ZLBtS7KRotQbunVNfP

This payment covers:

-   Auditing costs (both retroactive and future 2024 costs)
-   Sponsorship for light client relayer costs for 2024 (both retroactive and future costs through July 2025)
-   Already completed engineering and launch milestones
-   The first 6 out of 21 months of successful operation incentive payments, based on the schedule agreed upon in our original proposal, for longer term success in maintenance and development work on the bridge.
-   Medium-term Insurance for users of the bridge and the wider Polkadot community.

Snowbridge, the first fully trustless Polkadot <> Ethereum bridge is live. We’ve completed all our milestones from our original proposal last year and are set up for the long term success of the bridge.

Demo (on Polkadot): [https://app.snowbridge.network/](https://app.snowbridge.network/)

See the Completed Work and Future sections in the full document for a summary of our completed milestones, last year of work and future plans.

Our last successful proposal was in 2022, where our team and the Polkadot community agreed upon our expected milestone payments and incentives. The agreed total milestone payments and incentives totalled ~$10mil worth of DOT.

This proposal finalizes the payments for our 2024 completed engineering milestones, operating costs and team incentives. It also adds additional incentive alignment controls and medium-term insurance guarantees for the bridge. Further details on the payment and incentive structure, see the full document.

A summary diagram of payment flows:

![](https://i.ibb.co/z5KG6Gt/sankeymatic-20240703-184218-1800x1200.png)

The execution is a batch transaction, with spends that are delayed over the next year to cover all 4 payment buckets mentioned. There is a table that specifies the amount, validFrom and days delayed of each spend in a much simpler, easier to read form at the end section of the full proposal, linked above.

Snowbridge, a trustless bridge between Polkadot and Ethereum, has launched and completed its milestones. They propose a payment of 505157 DOT and 2812500 USDC (~5,797,500 USD) for audit and operational costs, milestone completion bonuses, and successful operation incentives. The proposal adds additional controls on team incentives and medium-term insurance guarantees for bridge users. The proposal details can be found at https://spinamp.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/QmRSkK7YVbnTDYCsgWhyfvDydtbSi1uyWDbRDrxPvnPzmi.

Snowbridge Launch and Treasury Proposal

This proposal is to ask for more money because the price of DOT changed and we got 30% less than we asked for. We asked for 167,214.5 DOTs, which was worth $1,585,229.01. But when we got the money, DOT was worth less, so we only got $1,107,026.87. This made us short by $478,202.14. We need this money to pay our workers and suppliers. We are asking for 478,202.14USDC. If we don't use all the money, we will take it out of our next request.

This proposal is to top-up our approved request from OpenGov #584, as due to the fluctuation of the DOT price, we have received 30% less liquid funds. OpenGov Referendum #584 / Treasury Proposal #751 was submitted on 2024-03-18 19:38:12 (+UTC). We requested 167,214.5 DOTs. At the time of conversion, the price of DOT was 9.4802, which translates to a request for $1,585,229.01. The funds were disbursed to the PBA on May 12th 2024, when the price of DOT was $6.6204, effectively making our funding $1,107,026.87 This resulted in a $478,202.14 deficit due to the drop in price of DOT. We did not expect such a level of volatility and our expenses are set in fiat. While we did allocate a buffer for the expenses to be incurred, this large deficit does not allow us to fulfil our obligations to our vendors in Singapore, our international faculty, and our operational staff. We are making a top-up request of 478,202.14USDC. As is the case with all Polkadot Blockchain Academy funding, any unused funds will be deducted from future proposals.

WHO: Polkadot Blockchain Academy
WHAT: Making a top-up request of 478,202.14USDC due to a $478,202.14 deficit caused by the drop in price of DOT.
PRICE/TIMEFRAME/RESOURCES: The requested amount is 478,202.14USDC and any unused funds will be deducted from future proposals. No timeframe or additional resources mentioned.

Top-up of Proposal 751 due to DOT price change

- KAGOME is a C++ version of Polkadot Host that helps make the Polkadot network safer and better by allowing different versions to exist.
- This proposal asks for money to keep improving KAGOME for the next four months after previous successful updates.
- Client diversity is important because it prevents one bug from breaking the entire network.
- KAGOME has added features like new network designs, security upgrades, and a special audit to ensure safety.
- Quadrivium, the company behind KAGOME, plans to develop another client called JAM in the future.
- The proposal includes specific tasks, like security improvements and fixing features that are only halfway done.
- They are requesting 141,395 DOT for the work from Quadrivium and SRLabs.

WHO: Quadrivium and SRLabs

WHAT: Requesting funding for the next 4 months to continue development of KAGOME, a C++ implementation of the Polkadot Host, with additional features such as security improvements, grid and cluster topologies, and disabled validators mechanism.

PRICE/TIMEFRAME/RESOURCES: Requesting a total of 141,395 DOT. Full breakdown available in the proposal.

KAGOME – the C++ implementation of Polkadot Host milestone 3

Marketing Bounty Drama: https://x.com/giottodf/status/1809311849726321033 Reports: https://www.marketing-bounty.com/ https://bit.ly/m/reports It looks like DOT community doesn't like the idea of automatic monthly refills \[ref 822\] so we are going back to one off refills as needed

Refill for marketing bounty number #33 - 500k DOT

Cancelled

![](https://i.ibb.co/1Mm3rrK/dotplay-pinks-large.png)

A new proposal to refill Game Bounty (#38) will be submitted shortly

- The Plaza Smart Contract Tooling project is looking to improve its proposal based on community feedback.
- They realized they should have shared more details about their research and plans earlier.
- The team has been part of the Polkadot community since 2019 and has experience in Web3 projects.
- Their updated proposal includes feedback and aims to explain their goals and connections with other projects.
- Key improvements to the proposal cover the team's background, the importance of their project, and how it fits within a larger vision.
- They encourage people who previously voted against the proposal to review the changes and reconsider their vote.

The proposal is for Plaza IDE, a smart contract editor tool for the Polkadot ecosystem. The updated proposal includes details on the team's background, the context of Web3 and Polkadot, the vision for the tool, and partnerships. Testimonials from industry professionals are also included. No specific price, timeframe, or resources are mentioned.

Plaza smart contract tooling

This proposal is about getting $1 million to sponsor big meetings and conferences for Polkadot, a digital money project. The goal is to find more money for Polkadot projects. Harbour Industrial Capital will organize these events, but other Polkadot projects and people can join too. They want to include many different speakers and make it open for everyone. 

The proposal is improved from a previous one, Ref 731, and now it is more inclusive and cost-efficient. Harbour Industrial Capital has experience in raising money and investing in Polkadot projects. They believe that having a big fund for Polkadot is important to help projects grow and get more money.

Family offices, which are rich investment groups, are a good way to bring more money into Polkadot. Harbour Industrial Capital can help these family offices invest in Polkadot projects easily. They also want to include other Polkadot projects, leaders, and funds in these events.

The budget for this plan is about $1 million, and they plan to organize around 20 events in two years. The money will be used to pay for event sponsorships and other costs. You can read the full proposal by clicking on the link provided.

_This proposal aims to obtain a marketing budget of US$1 million to sponsor a series of ~20 major established global family office summits and traditional investment conferences, which is where we see the greatest opportunity for untapped capital. The Polkadot presence at these conference series will be organised by Harbour Industrial Capital, but will be open to all Polkadot-based projects, ambassadors, VC funds and other ecosystem players who are interested in raising capital as part of this initiative._

_The full proposal can be found [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oTgQ9Cd8jWm8NpTyCxm_xxTaisIHFeVaxs7oUHGIfjs/edit?usp=sharing)._

**Key changes compared to Ref 731**

This proposal is a revised version of [Ref 731](731), which was narrowly rejected during confirmation period on 2 June. We have received 31 comments for the proposal, most of which were extremely positive. However, there were also a few more critical points, primarily relating to the question whether this events series benefits Harbour Industrial Capital disproportionally. We took these suggestions to heart, made significant adjustments, and are pleased to present the revised proposal below.

-   **More Inclusive**: We will open up the conference series to all Polkadot ecosystem teams who are interested in fundraising alongside us. We will put them up on stage to present in front of an audience of wealthy investors who will be able to invest in their project directly. We commit to bringing on a diverse set of speakers, who we will invite via public Call for Speakers, well ahead of each event. This may include established Polkadot based-projects, early-stage Polkadot startups, members of Parity/W3F as well as other independent Polkadot ecosystem funds who are looking to raise capital.
-   **Head Ambassadors**: In early June the new Head Ambassador (HA) program was launched, and we are planning to involve the newly appointed ambassadors in all our events. HAs have been elected by the community to officially represent Polkadot, and speaking on stage at these investment conferences will be a great showcase for the HA program, as well as being a major driver for new capital inflows to Polkadot. Max and Mario of Harbour Industrial Capital are currently also running for HA, and – if successful – will use the ambassador designation (rather than Harbour Industrial) to speak at these conferences.
-   **More budget efficient**: If an external marketing agency organised the same events series, they would charge a salary for their employees, overhead, as well as a profit margin. We on the other hand are proposing to organise it at cost with no salary for ourselves.

Some people may still argue that despite the changes, the events series still benefits the Harbour Industrial Capital ecosystem fund disproportionally. This may well be the case, but keep in mind that having a new large ecosystem fund is clearly in the interest of Polkadot. In the end, the primary purpose of sponsoring these investor conferences is to drive fresh capital into our ecosystem. Whether this happens directly (for projects we bring to the events), or indirectly via our fund, should not be the primary concearn.

**Proof of Work**

Who we are and what we have done so far

As per Q1 2024, Harbour Industrial Capital has raised a Polkadot fund with AUM of US$10 million from around 40 LPs Exclusively deployed this in the Polkadot Ecosystems; Invested in over 20 parachains and other Polkadot-based projects Organisers of the Polkadot monthly meetup HK; speakers for Polkadot at many events including Sub0, ParisDOTcomm, Web3 Festival, WOW Summit, TeamZ and Polkadot PULSE TradFi background (Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Bank of China) and proven ability of bringing non-crypto native investors into Polkadot.

**Why We Need a New Large Polkadot Fund**

The unfortunate answer is: Because many traditional VCs still ignore projects building on Polkadot. Ask any team that recently tried to raise money from generic crypto VCs, a frequent reply is “You’ve got a good team and good idea, but why are you building on Polkadot?”. Sure, we believe this narrative will change over time as other capital allocators slowly begin to realise the potential of Polkadot. But in the meanwhile, we need a dedicated Polkadot-only VC, that helps all the exciting new projects building on Polkadot get off the ground.

It is a chicken-and-egg problem: If Polkadot based projects are starved of capital vis-a-vie those building in other ecosystems, Polkadot will never get the liquidity and “hype” that ultimately attracts more capital. Having worked in the ecosystem for many years, it’s sad to see quality Polkadot based projects migrate to other L1s/L2s, not because of the tech, but simply because they believe they have better opportunities to get VC funding there. We want to change that, and make Polkadot the place great builders go and access capital.

**Family Offices as LPs**

When looking to bring significant amounts of new capital into Polkadot ecosystems, we believe that Family Offices are the most promising investors. But why promote a Polkadot Ecosystem Development Fund, when people can just invest directly into Polkadot? There are at least three good reasons:

-   **A familiar structure for FOs** We will incorporate the fund in the Cayman Islands, as a standard GP/LP fund. This is the most common structure for VCs, and one that most FOs have probably used in the past for investment in VCs in different industries. They can wire cash to our bank account in the fund’s name, and get paid out the same way. No need to set up exchange accounts, or remember private keys. For crypto natives this may sound trivial, but for traditional FO who we target here this still constitutes a high barrier to entry.
-   **Entire Ecosystem** A simple investment into Polkadot may involve the purchase (and possibly subsequent staking) of DOT. However, to identify promising startups building on Polkadot requires in depth knowledge of the ecosystem and extensive due diligence. It is also exactly these startups to which we want to funnel the capital that they will require in their growth journey. It is unrealistic to expect FOs who come from different industry backgrounds to do this on their own.
-   **Active follow-ups** This may be the most subtle, but also the most important reason. Nobody “owns” Polkadot, hence nobody is incentivised to follow up with potential investors from the conference, arranging calls and continuing the conversation until the investment is made. Harbour Industrial Capital on the other hand has a great track record of converting leads into actual investors for Polkadot.

**Why Harbour Industrial Capital?**

Harbour Industrial Capital (HIC) is a private Polkadot VC fund, established by Max Rebol and Mario Altenburger in 2021. We are registered in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in HK. As of Q1 2024 we have an AUM of over US$10 million. We have raised this money from private investors such as Family Offices, and subsequently deployed it exclusively in the Polkadot ecosystem. Fund 1 held its final closing on 31 December 2023, and we are about three quarters deployed. The plan is to launch Fund 2 towards the end of 2024, with a target size of US$ 100 million.

**Inclusive Representation of Polkadot**

While Harbour Industrial Capital will take the lead in organising these events, we will actively bring a diverse set of people from within the Polkadot ecosystem to these events:

-   Head Ambassadors: In early June the new Head Ambassador (HA) program was launched, and we are planning to involve the newly appointed ambassadors in all our events. HAs have been elected by the community to officially represent Polkadot, and speaking on stage at these investment conferences will be a great showcase for the HA program, as well as being a major driver for new capital inflows to Polkadot. We will select HAs based on their public speaking track record and their location, preferring to work with those who are based nearby the conference location.
-   Polkadot-based Projects: We will publish a Call for Speakers, targeted at Polkadot-based teams, two months ahead of each conference. We will put them up on stage to speak about their projects, which at the same time will be a testimony to Polkadot capabilities. If investors in the audience subsequently get interested in this particular project they can exchange contacts and invest directly. At Harbour Industrial Capital we take pride in facilitating conversations between Polkadot-based projects and independent investors, and have a strong track record of doing so.
-   Parity and Web3 Foundation: We will extend invitations to speak at these events to Polkadot’s senior leadership team. Of course we would love to have Gavin at some of our events, but even if he can’t make it, there are many other people we would like to involve. This could include Parity’s Investor Relations team, or experts from the Web3 Foundation to speak on a particular topic relevant to the conference.
-   Other Polkadot Ecosystem Funds: As this event series will be a treasury funded initiative, we would like to extend the invitation to any other VC fund that is looking to raise capital for the Polkadot ecosystem. Their representatives will speak about Polkadot on stage, and will be able to promote their own fund to attending investors. From our perspective it does not make a difference which channel/fund is being used, so long as these conferences bring more capital into the Polkadot ecosystem.

**Budget**

Please find our proposed budget in the table below. Kindly note that this is still a draft, as the cost of many items are yet to be confirmed. Most importantly, the exact sponsorship fee will vary from event to event, and has to be negotiated with each event organiser. The numbers below are averages based on initial discussions we have had with different organisers. We have applied a discount of 50% for sponsoring an entire events series (rather than a one-off event), as all organisers prefer long-term partnerships and encourage them with such discounts. It is also the primary reason why we have decided to do this treasury proposal rather than go through the Events Bounty, which only supports one-off events.

Please also note that the amount between line items in this table may shift, depending on actual costs, so long as the total of $1m is not exceeded. A key variable in this budget is the number of events we will organise. We propose 20 events throughout the fundraising period of two years. However, it may end up being 15 or 25, depending on the actual costs of the initial events.

This means, we will continue organising the fundraising events, until this budget is used up. We believe that this approach is well aligned with the interests of the treasury: The more events we are able to organise, the more commitments into the fund we are likely to get, and the more capital we will have available to invest back into the Polkadot ecosystem.

![budget overview](https://i.ibb.co/gjYFGfM/Screenshot-2024-05-10-at-10-58-59-AM.png)

**Continue Reading**

The above is just a short summary. To read the proposal in full, including graphics and additional links please click [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oTgQ9Cd8jWm8NpTyCxm_xxTaisIHFeVaxs7oUHGIfjs/edit?usp=sharing).

Harbour Industrial Capital proposes to obtain a marketing budget of $1 million to sponsor a series of ~20 major family office summits and investment conferences to raise capital for the Polkadot ecosystem. The events will be open to all Polkadot-based projects, ambassadors, VC funds, and other ecosystem players. The proposal aims to bring fresh capital into the ecosystem and will be organized at cost with no salary for the organizers. The proposal includes a budget breakdown for the events, and the events will continue until the budget is used up.

Revised Proposal: Polkadot Sponsorship of traditional Family Office Investment Conference Series

### OneBlock+ Hackathon Proposal Summary

- **Proponent**: OneBlock+ (12BJTP99gUerdvBhPobiTvrWwRaj1i5eFHN9qx51JWgrBtmv)
- **Requested Allocation**: 134,899 DOT
- **Hackathon History**: Organized 6 successful hackathons in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Hong Kong from 2021 to 2023.
- **Participation**: Over 300 teams and 1000+ developers participated in these events.
- **2024 Plan**: Proposes to continue the Polkadot Hackathon from July to November 2024.
- **Locations**: Singapore and Bangkok in the second half of 2024.
- **Events Alignment**: Coincides with token2049 in September and Devcon in November.
- **Fund Allocation**: 30% for operating costs, 70% for rewards to winning teams.

WHO: OneBlock+

WHAT: Proposes to continue the Polkadot Hackathon program from July 2024 to Nov 2024 and bring it to Singapore and Bangkok in the second half of 2024.

PRICE/TIMEFRAME/RESOURCES: Requested allocation of 134,899 DOT to host, prize, and organize the 2024 Polkadot Hackathon in Singapore and Bangkok. Operating cost is 30% of the total cost, and 70% fees are distributed to the winning team as rewards.

2024 Polkadot Hackathons (September 2024 in Singapore and November 2024 in Bangkok)

root

whitelisted_caller

wish_for_change

staking_admin

treasurer

lease_admin

fellowship_admin

general_admin

auction_admin

referendum_canceller

referendum_killer

small_tipper

big_tipper

small_spender

medium_spender

Referenda Big Spender

Origin able to dispatch a whitelisted call.

Origin for signaling that the network wishes for some change

Origin able to cancel slashes and manage minimum commission.

Origin for spending up to 10,000,000 DOT from the treasury as well as generally administering it.

Origin for managing the composition of the fellowship.

Origin able to spend around 250 DOT from the treasury at once.

Origin able to spend around 1,000 DOT from the treasury at once.

Origin able to spend around 10,000 DOT from the treasury at once.

Origin able to spend around 100,000 DOT from the treasury at once.

[34] Origin: BigSpender