On the whole, we are in support of this proposal and believe that this is a big step forward for Balancer to decentralize further. There are a few tweaks that can be made to slightly improve the requirements of SPs but in all, we believe that Balancer is a great time to accept SPs.
Other commentators have brought up some good points, and we believe that the stated three months is a good length of funding that an SP can receive in advance. We have outlined a few improvements to the SPs and how they should summarize their work on a monthly basis, so it is easier for community members to stay updated on every aspect of the SP necessary. They are only rough templates but it will make it easier to prevent future funds from being disbursed if any malicious situation arises.
III.Accountability mechanism
“Anyone can make a forum proposal to the DAO to stop the Foundation/DAO from disbursing future funds to the SP.”
We believe there should a basic template to follow
- SP in question
- Reason to halt funding
- Supporting evidence
- Other comments
Monthly summary of expenses
Summaries should include budget statements to identify how much money is actually being spent, when they use third-party software or contractors. This is more leaning on treasury management and accounting, but it is useful for the community and VeBal voters.
- How much did they spend
- Difference in the proposed amount
- How much do they expect to spend next month
- Other comments
A rough template for monthly summaries so SPs know what to include, but each SP has a different task so might add or omit certain categories. A template helps because most SPs will present their information in a similar manner to other SPs.
- Overview (how are they reaching their key objectives)
- Next Steps
- Budget Statement (template above)
- Other comments
These templates simply act as a guide but will streamline the process for individuals or SPs when providing updates. I believe they help with transparency, but each SP is free to do as they wish, but this template shows the bare minimum of what we as a DAO should accept for monthly summaries and budget statements.
Representatives at internal meetings
- Should we not keep the same representative for a period of time such as 3 or so months then they can rotate around? It promotes a better work relationship across SPs instead of meeting a different individual every so frequently, which is great but can hinder work progress.
VII
“Unknown SP’s might want to request a lower funding amount and/or utilize milestone-based payments until they earn the trust of the community.”
Small edit here, but I think we should use the phrase “Trial period” or “Test period” here. It is a common phrase used in the workplace and makes it easy to understand.
“As part of its annual budgeting, Balancer DAO could define a maximum percentage of the treasury to SP funding for that year.”
I think this is an interesting idea and can explore more, but right now I think this would be good as a rough number rather than something that is set in stone by the DAO.
Delegates at Balancer
We are putting a lot of trust into VeBal holders, especially delegates to catch any bad actors. A delegate’s role will become a much more important role, and we should consider incentivizing delegates to help retain/attract them to Balancer. I will spin up a separate thread soon exploring this.