Abstract
This is a community-driven proposal to establish a transparent and community-engaged process for how the Moonbeam and Moonriver Treasury is spent. As part of this proposed Interim Treasury Program, this Proposal suggests creating a community Treasury Council to facilitate community discussions on spending ideas and to vote on spending proposals.
Note that the acronym “MBTP” in this Proposal stands for Moonbeam Treasury Proposal. (The same term will be used for both the Moonbeam and Moonriver networks.)
Motivation
This Proposal outlines an Interim Treasury Program that would create a community-driven and community-approved, transparent process for Treasury spending including establishing a community-approved Treasury Council to facilitate community discussion on Treasury spending ideas and to vote on spending proposals.
Treasury spend should be conducted in accordance with the Moonbeam’s Guiding Principles:
- Inclusivity - Being inclusive to MOVR token holders to engage in the Treasury spend process and to vote in the new nominees of the new Treasury Council and approve the parameters of the Treasury Council’s power. One MOVR token is the same as any other MOVR token for voting purposes.
- Engagement - Always favoring community engagement, even if there are views contrary to the views of the Moonbeam Foundation by requiring MBTP
- Ideas to be posted for at least 5 days in the Designated Treasury Discussion Forum and for the community to provide feedback and review Treasury Council feedback. That being said, discussion must always be kept respectful and in keeping with Moonbeam’s Code of Conduct.
- Transparency - Striving for transparency in the Treasury spend process and seeking community engagement through the MBTP Idea process.
- Greater Good of the Ecosystem - Keeping in mind that the goal of treasury spend is to further the adoption, utilization, and development of the Moonriver Network as a whole, these goals should always come before any individual’s or project teams benefit.
In addition, treasury funding should not be given to projects that actively promote gambling, illicit trade or products, money laundering or criminal activities in general.
For simplicity sake, this proposal outlines the details relevant for a Moonriver specific proposal, but the intention is for an Interim Treasury Program to be enacted on both Moonriver and Moonbeam with the same nominees for Moonbeam’s and Moonriver’s Treasury Councils. Following the gathering of community feedback on the Moonbeam specific proposal, the proposal was put forward as referendum 67 and passed via Moonbeam governance. The intention of this proposal is to formally enact the same process and Treasury Council members for the Moonriver network.
Rationale
The Moonriver Treasury is a pot of funds stored in an on-chain genesis address. At network launch, the Treasury was pre-funded with 0.5% of the total token supply and has been steadily accumulating MOVR from a portion of transaction fees (approx. 20% of transaction fees go to the Treasury). The Moonriver Treasury should be put to use and help fund key projects that help maintain and further the growth of the Moonriver network.
Guidelines
Moonriver is an open-source, public blockchain that aims to provide an innovative, secure and reliable network to its community. The Treasury Council will support projects that share in these goals and add value to the Moonriver ecosystem. The Council should attempt to fund as many MBTP in the queue that meet the requirements outlined in this Proposal within this Proposal’s suggested budget. Below are a few examples of the types of Proposals for Treasury Spend:
- Public good developer and end user infrastructure (RPC services, explorers, etc)
- Network security (monitoring services, security auditing, etc).
- Integrations with other parachains and standalone blockchains.
- Marketing activities (advertising, paid features, collaborations).
- Community events and outreach (meetups, pizza parties, hackerspaces).
- Open-source software contributions (developer tools, infrastructure, Moonbeam codebase, integrations)).
- Wallet and other critical end user software.
- Educational content and effort for developers and end users.
- End user adoption initiatives.
Projects applying for treasury funds will have greater chance of success if they can demonstrate:
- Well-researched and tested project idea, ideally with examples of prior work.
- Open Source or keeping with the spirit of allowing the community to learn from the project’s work
- Team’s technical background and ability to deliver on promised milestones associated with requested funds
- High-quality MBTP with clearly defined milestones and clear use of funds
- Alignment and respect of Moonbeam Guiding Principles (outlined above), Moonbeam’s Code of Conduct.
Interim Treasury Program Overview
- Power - The Treasury Council’s responsibility is to control the Treasury spending. Unlike Polkadot’s existing Council, powers such as proposing other types of referenda or canceling malicious referenda are reserved for the original Moonriver Council (Governance Council) and are not within the powers of the Treasury Council.
- Term - Similar to the Interim Grants Program, this is a Proposal for an interim solution that will last 6 months unless amended prior to the 6 month term. The intention is that the interim solution will be revisited by the community when Polkadot Governance v2 rolls out (and is functional in Moonriver).
- Treasury Council Budget - At the time of drafting this proposal, the Moonriver Treasury has a balance of approximately [58,590] MOVR. This Proposal suggests that the Treasury Budget for the 6 month term is limited to an eighth of the total Treasury allocation at the time this Proposal is submitted. This conservative budget helps ensure that there will be Treasury funds for approximately the next 4 years assuming the Treasury Council accepts this Proposal suggestion to limit the Treasury spend to 14,600 MOVR per year, 7,300 MOVR every six months.
- Amendments - With the exception of the increasing the Treasury Council Budget and the requirement of having two Foundation members on the Treasury Council, the content of this Proposal may be amended by the community at any time with an Idea posted for community feedback for 5 days and then with a Proposal via Moonriver’s Governance process. Per Moonriver’s governance rules, the Council may cancel Referenda that are obviously counter to the Moonbeam Principles outlined here.
- Governance Process for this Proposal - The intention for this proposed Structure is to gather community feedback for at least 5 days and then to be submitted as a Proposal and go through the Moonriver Governance Process to be community approved.
Treasury Council Details:
- Composition - The Treasury Council will consist of 5 nominated community members. Two of the nominees are currently serving in a role at the Foundation and three nominees are community members who are not actively serving in a role at the Foundation but who understand the priorities of the ecosystem and who serve to help facilitate maintenance and growth of the ecosystem.
- Nomination & Term - Treasury Council Community Members are nominated for approval as part of this Proposal and will serve for the length of this Interim Treasury Program. If at any time there are not two individuals at the Moonbeam Foundation who can serve on the Treasury Council then the Foundation may appoint a representative(s) to act on behalf of a Foundation Treasury Council Community Member. Any other change to the Treasury Council composition must go through the Moonriver Governance process.
- Treasury Council Default Vote Nominee: Foundation Treasury Council Community Member, Aaron Evans is nominated to hold the “Default Vote” position. This power of this position mirrors Polkadot’s “Prime Member” function in many ways where the vote of Treasury Council Community Member (with the Default Vote power)’s vote can act as the default vote for the other Treasury Council Community Members that fail to vote before the 3-day voting timeout.
- Compensation - Non-Foundation Treasury Council Community Members will be compensated $2,500 monthly for services provided to the Treasury Council. Note that this compensation is for both the Moonbeam and Moonriver networks - it is not additive.
Council Members Nominees:
- Non-Foundation Treasury Council Community Member Nominee: Simon Kraus
Crifferent Collator. Genuine, has experience with governance on other chains (HydraDX), is energized by the idea of participating in governance. During Take Flight, he volunteered to field support questions coming from participants in our Discord. At that time he was promoted to be a community moderator in our discord and continues in this role. He is one of the leading voices from the Collator community, helping other collators even when it isn’t in his economic self interest (keeping the good of the network ahead of his own interests). He also is a developer in his day job (Staking Facilities), so has broad technical knowledge.
- Non-Foundation Treasury Council Community Member Nominee: Jose Angarita
Long time Moonbeam telegram moderator, one of our original sr ambassadors, hard working, knowledgeable about the Moonbeam and Moonriver ecosystems, many of the features of the network, and protocols deployed to the ecosystem. Currently head of ambassadors for the spanish speaking community. His knowledge comes from answering thousands of questions about Moonbeam as a moderator.
- Non-Foundation Treasury Council Community Member Nominee: Marcelo Alvarenga
A long time Moonbeam Ambassador who is very active and has good ecosystem knowledge. Currently the lead ambassador of the Portuguese speaking community. In that role he has created educational content to help grow the Moonbeam and Moonriver communities. He also has supported initiatives by minting badges for the community as proof of attendance on chain.
- Foundation Treasury Council Community Member Nominee with Default Vote power: Aaron Evans
- Foundation Treasury Council Community Member Nominee: Sicco Naets
The Process
Phase 1: Submit MBTP Idea for discussion
- The MBTP Author, submits the MBTP Idea to Designated Treasury Discussion Forum for feedback from the community for at least five days
- MBTP Idea typically includes:
- Abstract - two or three sentences that summarize the MBTP.
- Motivation - a statement on why the Moonriver Community via the Treasury Council should support the MBTP.
- Project Overview and Team Experience - description of project and relevant team experience.
- Rationale - an explanation of how the MBTP would add value to the Moonriver Ecosystem.
- Key Terms (optional) - definitions of any terms within the proposal that are unique to the MBTP.
- Overall Cost - the total cost of the MBTP and how this cost ties to the deliverables or milestones
- Use of Treasury Funds - detailed explanation of use of Treasury Funds including deliverables/ milestones and timeline.
- Specifications - a detailed breakdown of the platforms and technologies that will be used.
- Steps to Implement -the steps to implement the MBTP, including associated costs, manpower, and other resources for each step where applicable.
Phase 2: Revise and finalize MBTP
- The MBTP Author will respond to comments and revise the MBTP Idea from Community feedback.
- The Council will comment on the MBTP Idea as well to give the MBTP Author feedback and indication on the changes needed for the MBTP to be more likely accepted by the Council
- After 5 days, the MBTP Author may proceed to Phase 3 and submit the MBTP but the MBTP Author is strongly encouraged to receive feedback from the Treasury Council Community Members before proceeding to Phase 3. Note there is no way for an MBTP Author to revoke a MBTP once submitted and MBTP Deposit is only returned to the MBTP Author if the Final MBTP is accepted.
Phase 3: Submit MBTP
- The MBTP Author will submit the MBTP via the Designated Treasury Voting Channel.
- To submit an MBTP, the MBTP Author will submit the MBTP Deposit, the text of the finalized MBTP and a link of the finalized MBTP Idea.
Phase 4: Treasury Council Review & Vote
- The Treasury Council will then review the MBTP submitted in the Designated Treasury Voting Channel and the comments and revisions from the MBTP Idea in the Designated Treasury Discussion Forum.
- To initiate a vote on a submitted MBTP, a motion for vote would need to be submitted by any Treasury Council Community Member who would vote to accept the MBTP. Before initiating the Treasury Motion, the Treasury Member should invite the MBTP Author to Administrative Review to ensure the funds can be disbursed to the MBTP if the MBTP is accepted. Once the Administrative Review is complete, the Treasury Council Community Member can create a Treasury Motion to accept or to reject the MBTP. - The threshold for accepting a MBTP is at least three-fifths of the Treasury Council. - The threshold for rejecting an MBTP is at least one-half of the Treasury Council
- Once the Treasury Council’s vote has concluded, at the end of three-days, the MBTP will become a Final MBTP which has either been accepted or rejected.
Phase 5: Implementation
- Accepted Final MBTPs will automatically be paid out at the end of the current Spend Period and the MBTP deposit will be returned to the MBTP Author
- Rejected Final MBTPs will not be implemented and the MBTP deposit will be burned.
Specifications
- Designated Treasury Discussion Forum(s) - proposals should be posted in the Moonbeam Community Forum under Governance → Treasury.
- Designated Treasury Voting Channel(s) - currently going to use Polkassembly for voting and submitting proposals, but the Moonbeam Foundation should publish a page that keeps an updated list of the Designated Voting Channel(s) as the selection of options changes and evolves.
Steps to Implement
- Onboard and organize Treasury Council Community Members
Timeline
The Interim Treasury Program should go into effect as soon as it is reasonably practical and after it is voted on and accepted per the Moonriver Governance process. As outlined in the Rationale section, this Interim Treasury Program is intended to run for 6 months or until amended.
Overall Costs
- Non-Foundation Treasury Council Community Member compensation.
- Costs of the tech platforms that support the process (Designated Treasury Discussion Forum(s), Designated Treasury Voting Channel(s)
Key Terms
- Administrative Review - part of the process for a MBTP to be approved and conducted by the Treasury Council or designated service provider(s) selected by the Moonbeam Foundation.
- Designated Treasury Discussion Forum - forum to discuss MBTP Ideas in the first phase of the process; will currently be Polkassembly Treasury Discussion Forum for the short term, but the Moonbeam Foundation should publish a page that keeps an updated list of the Designated Discussion Forum(s) as the selection of options changes and evolves.
- Designated Treasury Voting Channel(s) - platform for MBTP Author to submit MBTP for Treasury Council review; will currently be Polkassembly, but the Moonbeam Foundation should publish a page that keeps an updated list of the Designated Discussion Forum(s) as the selection of options changes.
- MBTP Idea - the first step in the process for creating a MBTP, which will be submitted to the community for informal feedback in the Designated Treasury Discussion Channel for a period of five days.
- Final MBTP - an MBTP that has completed the voting process. There are two subcategories here: Accepted and Rejected
- MBTP Author - any prospective Treasury spend recipient who champions the MBTP from its idea phase to submitting the MBTP for Council vote.
- MBTP Deposit - MBTP Author deposits the greater of a minimum of 1 MOVR or 5% of the requested amount to prevent frivolous or spam MBTPs. The MBTP Deposit amount is burned if the MBTP is rejected, or refunded if the MBTP is accepted.
- Moonriver Treasury - on-chain MOVR address <0x6d6f646C70792f74727372790000000000000000> funded in part in genesis and through a portion of fees.
- Polkadot Treasury Wiki: Treasury · Polkadot Wiki
- Spend Period - a 6 day period between when accepted MBTPs are paid out.
- Treasury Council - 5-person community approved Council empowered to oversee Treasury spend by helping facilitate community feedback on MBTP Ideas, give their own feedback during the MBTP Idea phase and review and vote on MBTPs.
- Treasury Council Community Member - one of the five community members nominated in this Proposal to serve for the length of this Interim Treasury Program on the Treasury Council.
- Treasury Motion - A Treasury Motion to accept a MBTP made by one Treasury Council Community Member which will last for 3 days for the vote to meet the three-out-of-five threshold to accept or the one-out-of-two threshold to fail.
