Decentraland DAO 2022: Insights from the Core Units
By Decentraland DAO, , in Announcements
As 2023 kicks off, it's a good time to look back on the Decentraland DAO’s achievements, successes, and community insights from 2022—all by looking at the numbers, testimonies, and projections of the DAO's core units.
The Decentraland DAO is made up of a number of teams that are deeply involved in the governance and advancements of the community. Some important ones are the DAO Committee, responsible for executing any proposals on-chain that are voted through on the governance platform; the Security Advisory Board, a guarantor of Decentraland’s smart contract security, responding to vulnerability and bug reports in any of Decentraland’s contracts; and the Curation Team, responsible for reviewing and approving Wearables and Emotes submitted by the Decentraland community.
However, there are three core units that are essential to the continued smooth running of the DAO and which are the source of useful databases of figures and testimonies which help to gauge growth. Today we will take a deep dive into these three core units, the Governance Squad, DAO Facilitation Squad, and Grant Support Squad,as we reflect on 2022 and look forward to what can be expected of 2023 from the point of view of Decentraland’s DAO.
Decentraland’s DAO in 2022
Decentralized governance can be a complex process, but it is all made possible by the engagement of the community and multiple stakeholders. By participating in the proposal and voting process, the community empowers themselves to take control of Decentraland’s future—hopefully 2023 will bring even more engagement from the community as it continues to steadily grow.
In 2022, a significant increase in engagement was observed:
Participating Voting Power grew by 375% year over year
Delegated voting power rose to 17 million units
The community published 973 proposals
To encourage further engagement in the governance process and make the decision-making process more clear and efficient, the DAO rolled out a three-stage governance proposal process in 2022. The voting process is divided into three tiers: Pre-Proposal Poll, Draft Proposal, and Governance Proposal, each with progressively increasing submission and passage thresholds. This results in a more thorough and transparent process for decision-making on the platform while making it more efficient by ensuring proposals are well-rounded and relevant before reaching the final publishing stage.
In terms of financial investments, the DAO provided 107 grants to various initiatives, allocating $7,100,519 (USD). The average grant per project was $66,359. In terms of the total amount of capital invested in each category in 2022, Content projects received $1,458,409, Community projects received $1,508,850, Gaming projects received $1,828,500, and Platform projects received $2,304,760. This breakdown further emphasizes the DAO's focus on creating a diverse and engaging metaverse experience while also investing in building strong and sustainable infrastructure.
https://twitter.com/decentraland/status/1514366801097932808
The Governance Squad
In 2022, the Governance Squad, created in January 2022 as the first core unit being funded via the Grants program, played a vital role in maintaining and improving the technological ecosystem needed for Decentraland’s community to take ownership of the governance process and make better and informed decisions.
The team has been responsible for the execution of changes voted on by the community via binding governance proposals as well as the continuous development of the Governance dApp, maintaining the Snapshot space, building the Transparency OS tech stack, and, more recently, launching Marvin Bot, a governance notification bot built into the Decentraland DAO Discord server. Additionally, this core unit acted as a go-between for DAO members and the product and engineering teams of the Decentraland Foundation.
Visit Decentraland DAO GovApp
As the governance mechanisms of Decentraland’s DAO continue to evolve, and the community continues to grow and mature, the Governance Squad will work on developing open-source tools to provide users with data that will help them make more informed decisions. Being open source, it is hoped that one day these tools will be of use to other DAO’s as well.
During 2023 the Governance Squad will keep focusing on the following goals:
Building high-quality product experiences distilled from the binding Governance proposals that the community is crafting and voting on
Finding creative and alternative ways to help the community interact with the governance model
Increasing the engagement ratio of the community
Automating and simplifying core DAO operation processes
As their founding proposal explained, the Governance Squad will follow agile development practices to ensure the fast implementation of DAO governance requirements and the continuous improvement of such features. It will host open meetings with members of the DAO to gather feedback, answer questions, and provide updates at least every 90 days.
The DAO Facilitation Squad
In 2022, the DAO Facilitation Squad played a vital role in supporting alignment between the human and technological systems within the community. The Squad’s primary responsibilities included:
Facilitating the flow of information between different stakeholder groups
Regular reporting on developments within the DAO
Supporting the expression of various stakeholder interests in governance proposals
As Decentraland’s community and ecosystem continue to grow in the upcoming years, the DAO Facilitation Squad aims to empower community members as governance facilitators, particularly through evolution of the DAO’s formal working group process.
The goal of working groups is to provide a semi-automated mechanism for community members to direct the DAO’s decision-making process, and leverage the governance dApp and other governance forums to direct the community towards coherent solutions with strong consensus. Progressive decentralization and democratization of facilitation responsibilities The goal is to develop a network of “facilitators” who can serve the community and support the growth of the Decentraland ecosystem. This progressive decentralization of the Squad’s role will help ensure that the DAO’s governance remains inclusive and responsive to the community’s needs.
The Facilitation Squad is also responsible for managing content creation for the DAO’s communications channels. This includes content for Twitter, YouTube, Discord, weekly newsletters, town hall meetings, and the Monthly Pulse. Additionally, they host technical Ask Me Anything sessions and In World Meetups. They have also worked with grantees, community members, the other core units, and the Foundation to improve communication, workflow, and promotion.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/N-j9iqA_2fY
Visit the DAO TownHall's Video Playlist
In 2023, the DAO Facilitation Squad will continue to focus on facilitating communication and alignment between stakeholders within the community by enhancing the DAO’s decision-making and consensus building processes. The team will also focus on creating a more efficient and effective onboarding pathway into the DAO, by updating DAO documentation, and developing multi-media onboarding materials.
Moreover, the Squad will emphasize supporting the implementation of governance proposals that have been developed with input from various stakeholder groups and creating clear and effective communication strategies to keep the community informed and engaged.
The Grant Support Squad
Created in June 2022, the Grant Support Squad is a dedicated team of experts whose sole purpose is to help creators make the most of their grants. From the moment creators are awarded a grant, the squad is there to guide them through the onboarding process, answer any questions creators might have, and help them overcome any obstacles.
This Squad is composed of an accountability manager, a partnerships manager, and an advisor. Together, they bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the table, with backgrounds in community organizing, law, and grants management. The team is constantly looking for new ways to learn from the Web3 ecosystem, understand new economies, and explore new ways of governance.
Since their creation, the Grant Support Squad has provided vital support to grantees, fostered transparency in the grant ecosystem, and guaranteed an efficient use of the DAO treasury. Looking ahead, their goal is to continue contributing to the success of the Decentraland community, as well as igniting changes in Decentraland’s grants program based on the needs of a fast-paced environment.
In the time between their start in June 2022 and December, the Grant Support Squad has onboarded 93 grantees and gathered virtually and in person to understand how to overcome any blockers. The most common difficulties identified were technical. To mitigate these risks, the Squad organized Ask Me Anything sessions to bring Decentraland’s DAO community and Decentraland Foundation experts together to provide solutions to these needs.
Transparency in the grants ecosystem was also identified as crucial for the community to make informed decisions. To help provide that transparency, the Squad has encouraged grantees to make frequent updates, which can be viewed on the Decentraland governance dApp.
The Squad has also helped to promote grantees through features in the Decentraland Blog, such as the community spotlights on Vroomway and Genesis.City Additionally, they’ve improved methods for grantees to be highlighted in DAO Town Halls by creating a calendar for sign-ups to share advancements of key milestones of their projects with the community.
Visit the Grants' Panel
An important aspect of the Grant Support Squad’s mission is to guarantee the effectiveness of the Grants Program and take care of the DAO’s treasury by signaling to the DAO Committee when a vesting contract needed to be revoked. Due to the Squad’s work, in 2022 15 projects were withdrawn, returning $682,592 to the DAO’s treasury and two projects that were not completed successfully returned an additional $9587. The DAO community also voted for a Revocations Committee to be created to decide when to revoke grants, which has passed with 99% acceptance.
In 2023, the Grant Support Squad plans to continue providing support to grantees and fostering transparency between grantees and the community. They also plan to work on understanding the grants ecosystem and providing valuable insights for grant program changes. The currently-ongoing two-month pause of the grant’s program is expected to help focus on these changes.
Why is it so important to vote?
Casting a vote is not just a gesture of self-empowerment: it's one of the key aspects by which the DAO's three core units—and Decentraland as a whole—can progress and improve.
Decentraland is a decentralized platform, which means that its community are the ones who govern it. One of the key ways in which the community can participate in the platform's governance and help the DAO's core units attain even better results is by voting on proposals. Voting allows Decentraland citizens to have a say in the platform's direction and development and ensure that it aligns with the goals and values of the community.
Image credit: MidJouney
Furthermore, by voting, Decentraland citizens can contribute to the platform’s decentralization. The more people that participate in the voting process, the more decentralized the platform becomes, which leads to more fair and transparent governance. To ensure that Decentraland is moving in a direction that benefits the community, its citizens must participate in the voting process and have their voices heard. So vote early and vote often because in Decentraland, every vote counts!
Stay up to date on the latest developments and opportunities to participate in Decentraland's DAO by joining the DAO Discord server, participating in its town hall events, checking the Transparency Dashboard and Grants Panel, and following the DAO on Twitter.
The metaverse is full of yet unrecognized potential and opportunities. Do you have an idea that could benefit the Decentraland community? Learn more about the DAO’s grants here.
Do you know of a cool Decentraland community project that you think should be next in the Community Highlights series? Contact the Decentraland Foundation team @decentraland on Twitter.