Dialogue with Gitcoin DAO Community Contributors: The Development History, Lessons Learned, and Latest Changes of Gitcoin

Source: Web3Revolution

Introduction

Web3 Revolution, incubated and sponsored by Mask Network, is a bilingual podcast exploring the Web3 space. Through conversations, it connects the forefront participants, actors, innovators, investors, and KOLs in this social experiment of Web3. You can subscribe and listen to the show on platforms like Xiaoyuzhou, Spotify, Apple Podcast, RSS, and other general podcast clients.

The theme of this episode is "How Contributors from Greater China Influence the World through Gitcoin DAO." In this episode, we invite Gitcoin DAO steward Bob Jiang (Twitter: @bobjiang123) and community activist Jiajun (Twitter: @zengjiajun_eth). What is Gitcoin like in their eyes? What stories do they have with Gitcoin?

What are the differences between the ongoing GR15 and previous donation campaigns? As contributors from Greater China, how can we better participate in the open-source community and the Ethereum ecosystem? How to gain "legitimacy"? Additionally, Jiajun and Bob will introduce the ongoing Plancker DAO (Planck Community).

Breakdown of Topics

• Gitcoin's positioning, vision, and mission
• What are public goods?
• Guests Jiajun, Bob, and their stories with Gitcoin
• From Gitcoin to Gitcoin DAO
• What types of projects are suitable for Gitcoin?
• Greater China Ethereum Ecosystem Fund

Hana: Welcome to this episode of Web3 Revolution. Web3 Revolution is a bilingual podcast exploring the Web3 space, connecting the forefront participants, actors, innovators, investors, and KOLs in this social experiment of Web3 through conversations. You can subscribe and listen to this show on platforms like Xiaoyuzhou, Spotify, Apple Podcast, etc. This podcast is sponsored by Mask Network. The purpose of this podcast is education, sharing, and dialogue, and we will strive to provide accurate industry information, but the podcast content should not be considered investment advice. I am your host Hana.

Today, we will discuss a topic that everyone often focuses on: Gitcoin. We have invited two active OGs in the Gitcoin community: Bob Jiang and Jiajun. Let's have Bob and Jiajun introduce themselves.

Bob Jiang: Hello everyone, I am Bob, a steward at Gitcoin. I started getting involved with Gitcoin around 2018, and I had a basic understanding of it back then. I joined the Gitcoin team last year and recently transitioned to the Gitcoin DAO team, mainly doing some miscellaneous tasks at Gitcoin.

Jiajun: Hello everyone, I am Jiajun, a friend of Gitcoin founder Kevin, and I was also a recipient of a Gitcoin grant. I am promoting some grants for builders in the Chinese-speaking community during GR15.

Currently, we are collaborating with Plancker DAO (@PlanckerDao) and Scroll (@Scroll_ZKP) to launch a grant specifically for builders in the Chinese-speaking region, hoping to enrich the ecosystem for Chinese-speaking builders.

Hana: Thank you both for your introductions. Can we talk about Gitcoin, its positioning, vision, and mission? As a Web3 practitioner, I feel that the ecosystem created by Gitcoin and the spirit of open source are indispensable. Can you tell us how Gitcoin's vision "Build and Fund the Open Web Together" is achieved?

Bob Jiang: Simply put, Gitcoin is recognized as a donation platform. This is probably the entry point for most people's understanding of Gitcoin. However, Gitcoin is not limited to a donation platform; it originally started as a bounty platform for project teams where developers could take on tasks.

It was not until 2019 that Gitcoin launched the donation platform. Now, in addition to the bounty and donation platforms, Gitcoin can also host hackathons (for example, the hackathon held concurrently with ETH Shanghai is run on Gitcoin). The hackathon mainly utilizes the features of the bounty platform. Another part is Kernal, which is an incubation platform, but it is not entirely focused on incubation; it is more like an alumni network. I participated in Kernal 5.

Jiajun: As Bob mentioned, Gitcoin started as a bounty platform, helping some open-source projects in the Ethereum community to issue small tasks to the open-source community, encouraging participation in the development of open-source projects.

However, I understand that Gitcoin later realized that this funding distribution mechanism was difficult to scale, so it gradually transitioned to Gitcoin grants, hoping to enrich Ethereum and help the development of various Ethereum community products through large-scale distribution of public goods funding.

Recently, we have also seen increasing funding allocations beyond the Ethereum community. For example, some funds have gone to Ukraine, research on life extension, and zero-knowledge proof-related fields. So now, Gitcoin has become the largest public goods financing platform in the world.

Hana: Jiajun just mentioned public goods; can you explain what public goods are on the Gitcoin platform?

Bob Jiang: The primary public goods on Gitcoin are open-source software. Of course, public goods are not limited to open source; they can be viewed from the dimensions of exclusivity and commerciality. Typical examples of public goods around us include parks and national defense, which are built using everyone's tax contributions. In the realm of digital public goods, the most typical examples are open-source software and various public data analyses.

So when Gitcoin first said it supports the construction of public goods, it mainly supported the development of various projects on Ethereum. Most projects in the blockchain space are developed in an open-source manner, which is also what Gitcoin supports and encourages. This is part of the public goods construction that Gitcoin supports.

Hana: Bob, can you give us examples of influential public goods grants from past grant rounds? Can you share some examples of grants that have truly impacted the world?

Bob Jiang: There are a few projects that everyone might be familiar with. The most well-known is probably Uniswap. Uniswap initially launched its grant on Gitcoin because it did not have a clear profit target at the beginning; it was essentially creating a DEX.

Besides Uniswap, there are also developer tools like ethers.js. For developer tools, it is a very typical public good. At least currently, we see that developer tools serve developers, helping them to develop better, but how do they generate revenue and ensure sustainability? Gitcoin supports the construction of such public goods. I wonder if Jiajun has any additional examples.

Jiajun: I understand that in the education and media sectors, many media outlets have applied for Gitcoin grants. For example, the well-known Finematics is a YouTube channel that uses animations to simply introduce basic DeFi concepts and related blockchain knowledge, and they have received significant support on Gitcoin.

Additionally, Thedaily Great, which is now quite mature, also applied for Gitcoin grants in the past. So whether in software or media resources, Gitcoin provides support for projects in the Ethereum or open-source community from different angles.

Hana: It seems that Gitcoin plays a role similar to GoFundMe or traditional NGOs in the entire Ethereum and open-source community, right? Can you both introduce the origin of Gitcoin? Many people should have seen some tweets from Kevin Owocki on Twitter, and he has also written a book called "Greenpilled." Can you briefly introduce the history of Gitcoin's development and how you both gradually learned about Gitcoin and participated in its governance?

Bob Jiang: I remember when Kevin Owocki first founded Gitcoin, it was mainly to support the development of open-source software. Kevin is a serial entrepreneur who has been involved in open-source software development in the community, so he realized a problem: the returns for open-source software developers are very low. Most of them rely on small sponsorships or their own enthusiasm to do development without any funding. In reality, open-source software brings significant returns to our society. Kevin wondered if this issue could be addressed, so he established Gitcoin.

As mentioned earlier, Gitcoin initially started as a bounty platform. This bounty platform was already addressing part of the return issue for open-source software developers. Because you think, if you develop a small feature or solve a small problem in an open-source software, you can receive some returns; this was already a start. Later, he created a donation platform to better support these open-source software projects from the project team's perspective.

In May 2021, Gitcoin DAO was established, which involved issuing tokens. I remember clearly that in 2018, I read an article by Kevin titled "Gitcoin is not coin," where he stated they would not issue tokens. Later, I discussed with a few friends why Gitcoin needed to issue tokens.

We also saw that for Gitcoin to transition to a DAO and have governance, it needed a DAO token. This was a significant reason. If there were other ways to govern, I believe they would not have issued tokens or might have waited longer. They only did this out of necessity.

After issuing the tokens, Gitcoin DAO was established. I remember Kevin mentioned why he wanted to create Gitcoin DAO: Gitcoin as a company was running quite well. But Kevin always had many quirky ideas—being a company means being accountable to shareholders, and you cannot use company resources to experiment with your various quirky ideas. So he wondered if there was a way to quickly try out his ideas while also ensuring sustainable operations.

Later, they decided to use a DAO for experimentation. In August, Gitcoin transferred all its assets and personnel to the DAO. All the original employees, brand, and assets of the company were moved there. So this might be a timeline of Gitcoin's development. I remember Kevin recently wrote a simple summary, outlining the entire process on the forum.

Hana: You witnessed the transition of Gitcoin from a company to a DAO. What are the differences before and after this process? Especially for developers who are active in Gitcoin, has it impacted them in any way?

Bob Jiang: Actually, there hasn't been much impact on developers. For community participants, those who used to take on bounty tasks or donate on the donation platform have not been affected. Because there has been no change to the product itself; the change is in the organizational form. When I joined Gitcoin, I was already part of the DAO; at that time, there was a distinction between the company and the DAO, but now there is no distinction; it is all DAO.

I experienced the entire process; I didn't transition from a company to a DAO, but I saw some changes in between. For example, the original company was a U.S. corporate entity, and to continue some legal matters, now the DAO has an entity called Gitcoin Foundation established in the Cayman Islands. The entity has moved out of the U.S., which I guess is due to tax and compliance considerations.

Previously, Gitcoin made some politically correct decisions in the U.S. that many in the community felt were not good. For example, there was a Persian Solidity promotion community that initiated a grant on Gitcoin, which was later banned. Because the Persian language is associated with Iran…

Jiajun: Because the U.S. has sanctions against Iran, it is very sensitive for an Iranian entity to receive donations through a U.S. company, as it may violate U.S. sanctions against Iran. Regarding Gitcoin's transition from a company to a DAO, besides the regulatory considerations Bob mentioned and why Gitcoin needed to issue tokens, it is more important that Kevin genuinely hopes to make this a decentralized autonomous organization.

He previously referred to himself as a "benevolent dictator," meaning that basically everything needed to be coordinated through him to get things done. However, after Gitcoin transitioned from a company to a DAO, many daily affairs and decisions have shifted from Kevin to the actual DAO organization. This has allowed Kevin to let go of a significant amount of work and attention to explore other areas.

Hana: Let's return to the DAO. Bob, can you share what a day in your work at the DAO looks like? As a steward of Gitcoin DAO, what is your relationship with your colleagues like? How does it differ from a traditional company, and what are the similarities?

Bob Jiang: It is actually quite similar to working in an office, just that it is remote work from home. These are the two main characteristics: one is working from home, and the other is remote.

I originally worked in the telecommunications industry as a developer, then transitioned to agile training-related work. I worked as an agile coach at JD for about three years. I became a freelancer around 2017, mainly focusing on agile training, and I still occasionally do some agile training. In the Web3 space, I spend about half or more of my time.

Jiajun: How did you transition from agile training to blockchain or the Web3 community?

Bob Jiang: Everyone might be interested, but there is nothing particularly special. A friend of mine urged me three times to check it out, and he dragged me in from a "let's build a community" perspective.

So in China, I mainly worked on developer communities. Around the end of 2017, that friend approached me several times, and in 2018, I started building developer communities in China, organizing various meet-ups and hackathons. During those events, I learned about Gitcoin, and at that time, I actually wanted to replicate Gitcoin's bounty platform. We even created something similar, but later realized it was a heavily operational task, and just doing it well wasn't enough.

Jiajun: It is a matter of legitimacy. Because Gitcoin came out with the support of the Ethereum Foundation and ConsenSys. The Ethereum Foundation and ConsenSys have already helped Gitcoin connect with many projects, creating a strong network effect, making it difficult for other projects to enter this field.

Hana: Right. We just talked about Bob's experience as a member of Gitcoin DAO. Now, Jiajun, as a recipient of Gitcoin funding, can you share your story with Gitcoin?

Jiajun: From the perspective of receiving a Gitcoin grant, our team participated in the Ethereum Shanghai hackathon, and because we made it to the final round, we were invited to apply for a Gitcoin GR14 grant with the support of Mask Network.

This is open for everyone to apply. Especially before Gitcoin GR15, basically any early-stage open-source project that hadn't raised funds or received VC money could pass the review. At that time, we were working on a project related to soulbound tokens, as the paper "Decentralized Society: Finding Web3's Soul" by Vitalik Buterin, Glen Weyl, and Puja Ohlhaver had just come out, making the topic of soulbound tokens very popular. We created a platform for generating and minting soulbound tokens without permission, similar to POAP, but it is actually soulbound.

After participating in the hackathon, we submitted our Gitcoin grant application. When submitting the application, we could choose different sponsors; besides the main pool provided by Gitcoin, other grants would be provided by ecosystem partners. For example, Mask Network, Polygon, A16z, and Coinbase would offer their own ecosystem grants to support projects they wanted to back. After approval, we officially went live on the Gitcoin grant platform.

I remember very clearly that on the first day our Gitcoin grant went live, we received various grants, most of which were around one dollar, because Gitcoin emphasizes the number of donors rather than the amount of each donation. In other words, if a project receives donations from 100 people, each giving one dollar, it will receive a larger matching donation from Gitcoin compared to another project that only has one donor giving 100 dollars.

So on the first day, we received many donations of one or two dollars, and surprisingly, we also received some large donations, like 1,000 dollars and 2,000 dollars, which was quite unexpected.

Hana: Jiajun just mentioned that to receive donations on Gitcoin, you need to be an Ethereum-based open-source project. Can you elaborate on other types of projects that are more suitable for seeking funding support on Gitcoin? What kinds of programmers and projects are best suited to showcase themselves or seek help from peers on Gitcoin?

Jiajun: I understand that it is not just software or projects; educational materials, tutorials, media, translations, etc., can also apply for Gitcoin grants.

Bob Jiang: Including podcast programs can also apply. What does Gitcoin support? As we mentioned earlier, public goods may not be fully understood. First, everyone can benefit from it, which is non-exclusive. Whether it's a podcast, education, or open-source software, anyone can participate without permission.

Second, non-commercial projects are mutually exclusive to the first point. If you are running a paid subscription service with a paying user base, that is a commercial activity and is not suitable for Gitcoin.

Third, projects that can be open-sourced. Of course, many aspects of podcasts are open, and educational projects are also quite suitable for applying for grants on Gitcoin. However, once you receive funding beyond a certain limit, Gitcoin will consider that you can operate independently, so there is no need to apply anymore.

Hana: As Bob mentioned, Gitcoin is a community driven by values and mission, primarily based on a distributed open-source spirit. Many people have probably heard of the famous book "The Cathedral and the Bazaar," published in 1999, which is considered the bible of the open-source community. This book outlines two different models of free software development: one is the cathedral model, which is a very top-down approach, like Google and Facebook, controlled by a dedicated team.

The second is the bazaar model, which is the Gitcoin model we have been discussing. The source code is publicly available on the internet during the development process for people to view, and developers continue to develop on it. Do you think there will be more communities following the Gitcoin model in the future? Are there any obstacles you have encountered? As deep participants, what parts do you feel dissatisfied with or inefficient?

Bob Jiang: From my personal perspective, one area I am not very satisfied with is the efficiency of work. This may be a characteristic of DAOs themselves, not necessarily a problem. Because for a DAO to achieve decentralization, some key issues or tasks may gradually be overlooked.

For example, there is a critical issue in Gitcoin regarding the diversification of the treasury. If you pay attention to Gitcoin's treasury, from May last year to now, it is still 99% $GTC, with no diversification. So this is a problem.

This issue was raised by someone in February this year, and proposals and suggestions were even provided, but no one followed up afterward. Looking back now, if someone had followed up in February, even if it was just for three or four months, it could have been executed by around May. Compared to now, the outcome would definitely be different. Looking back, is the diversification of wealth important? It is certainly important, but important matters have not been followed up on. It also relates to everyone's skills; among so many people in the DAO, there are only one or two who can engage in deeper discussions on this topic and truly follow up.

Hana: Speaking of how to follow up and who does what, how is this distributed in the DAO? I remember the author of "Bullshit Job" once mentioned a concept of "dirty jobs." How are these dirty jobs found and assigned in the DAO? If this job is something that no one wants to do, being highly repetitive and boring, who decides who does it?

Bob Jiang: I am thinking about what qualifies as a dirty job. Tasks like taking meeting minutes might fall into that category. To give a specific example, each group's approach is different. Some groups have the person who calls the meeting also take the minutes, while others may recruit a secretary and compensate them based on hours worked.

So in Gitcoin, there are generally people to do the work. In Gitcoin DAO, everyone is paid. Whether you are full-time or part-time, or if you do something that is priced within the DAO, you will receive corresponding compensation based on how many hours you worked. Basically, whatever you do will have corresponding compensation, and if no one can do it, then the leader will do it themselves; that is what I have observed.

Hana: Should we now discuss the donations for GR15 and the Greater China Plancker DAO?

Jiajun: If I remember correctly, GR15 should be the first to use the Gitcoin Grant 2.0 model. The biggest difference from the 1.0 model is that previously, all selected projects that could receive donations had to strictly meet Gitcoin's definitions of public goods and grants.

However, in GR15, even if a grant may not meet Gitcoin's definitions, as long as it meets the criteria set by various ecosystem partners, such as a16z, Mask, Scroll, and the Plancker DAO's Greater China Ethereum Ecosystem Fund, it can participate in the ecosystem partners' own pools without needing to receive matching donations from Gitcoin's main pool. This is the core difference I understand.

Bob Jiang: Actually, this was discussed in the previous round and finally implemented in this round. It essentially separates the main grant round. Previously, all grants had to fully comply with Gitcoin's requirements for grants, with the biggest red line being that token issuance was not allowed; if there was any token issuance, participation was not possible.

Now, Gitcoin has separated the main donation round. Previously, projects had to enter the main donation round first and then meet the requirements for other ecosystem donation rounds. Now, the main donation round and ecosystem donation rounds are parallel. You can enter the main donation round or directly enter the ecosystem donation round. As long as your ecosystem donation round believes you meet their criteria, you can join.

Jiajun: Right, let's briefly explain the difference between the main donation round and the ecosystem round.

Hana: My understanding is that the ecosystem donation round is based on a specific overarching theme, and within that theme, an ecosystem is built. The main donation round projects are more comprehensive and not very theme-specific.

Jiajun: Basically, you can understand the main donation round as the funding established by Gitcoin according to its own definition of public goods, focusing on the responsibility of matching funds. The ecosystem donation round allows different project parties, such as Polygon, Mask Network, Scroll, and Plancker DAO, to establish their own pools to match projects that align with their values or fit their ecosystem. So this time we will distinguish them. If you are a project party and want to donate to this project, Gitcoin itself does not care whether it meets Gitcoin's definition of public goods. I understand that GR15 represents a significant difference from all previous Gitcoin grants.

Bob Jiang: I indeed think it is a significant difference, as it essentially gives the authority of the donation round to the managers of these ecosystem rounds. Previously, this power was mainly held by Gitcoin.

Jiajun: This can be seen as an evolution of Gitcoin itself. As a platform for distributing public goods financing, it has become more decentralized, transferring decision-making to its ecosystem partners rather than relying solely on Gitcoin itself. From my perspective, GR15 is quite special. This time, Gitcoin grants have seen very active donors with Chinese backgrounds.

For example, Mask Network (Disclaimer: also a sponsor of this podcast). Mask Network has donated to Gitcoin Grant multiple times, and in GR15, it should be the first time to make donations specifically for the Web3 social space.

In GR15, Mask continued its previous round of donations, contributing 50,000 dollars to all projects working on Web3 social. The other two new sponsors this round are Scroll and PlanckerDAO. Scroll and PlanckerDAO have collaborated to establish the Greater China Ethereum Ecosystem Fund, aimed at providing support to projects and developers with backgrounds in Greater China, as well as all projects related to public goods in the Greater China region. For example, if you are working on Ethereum-related educational projects in Chinese, you can receive matching donations from the Greater China Ethereum Ecosystem Fund.

I am the initial initiator of this fund because I feel that based on my experience, to make the Ethereum ecosystem more prosperous, especially in Greater China or the Chinese-speaking region, builders are the most important group. Currently, there is a severe shortage of builders in the Chinese-speaking region or Greater China; we have many traders but not many builders. Even Vitalik previously went to Shanghai to raise funds for Ethereum, securing investment from Wanxiang. However, we see that very few projects with Chinese backgrounds are doing well in the Web3 ecosystem. This is also a very sad aspect.

Hana: Bob, do you have any additional comments on what Jiajun just said about this round of Gitcoin donations?

Bob Jiang: The establishment of the Greater China Ecosystem Fund is excellent. Gitcoin has previously provided support for the Chinese-speaking region, but it still lacked local people to help implement it.

I remember there was a time when Gitcoin made attempts to support certain regions, including China, Japan, and South Korea. At that time, there were a batch of Chinese grants. However, it seems that it has remained relatively ordinary since then.

This time, we are re-supporting the Greater China region, and we will have Chinese-speaking individuals to help everyone better promote the Ethereum community in the Chinese-speaking area.

Hana: Both of you are very important contributors. Please follow their Twitter accounts @bobjiang123 and @zengjiajun_eth. Thank you very much, Bob and Jiajun, for your descriptions of the Gitcoin community's context, and thank you both for your contributions to the open-source community.

Please follow our Twitter account @w3revolution_io. We will post recaps of previous episodes and easily digestible cutting-edge information from the industry. You are also welcome to subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and other podcast clients like Xiaoyuzhou. We will bring you more exciting bilingual content. Thank you for listening today.

Related Reading:

1. “A Comprehensive Understanding of Gitcoin: Technical Solutions and Current Weaknesses in Public Goods Fundraising”

2. “Gitcoin CEO Explains Why GitcoinDAO Will Become the Kingdom of the Crypto World”