Hi all, welcome to the Arbitrum DAO Procurement Committee’s update thread for Phase II.
We will be posting bi-weekly project updates to this thread along with any additional updates as required on an ad-hoc basis.
ADPC Bi-Weekly Update #1: 25 October 2024
Project Status
Focus Last 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
-
Commenced market analysis to understand benchmarks and KPIs for RPC providers.
-
Collating RPC provider contacts.
-
Finalizing creation of public market consultation for RPCs.
-
Began process of contacting Orbit chains and other target customer base to identify pain points.
Work Package 1 (Events)
-
Coordinated with Entropy Advisors on events vision.
-
Decision to define vision and next steps post the Events Budget vote passing Tally.
-
Connected with Arbitrum Foundation to identify how we can support them with DevRel-focused events.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
-
Made a significant push on the Subsidy Fund applications - closing of Subsidy Fund applications on Mon 14 Oct at 23.59 and we made a push on Twitter, got the Arbitrum DAO account to RT, etc. Received 56 applications.
-
Completed Stage 1 (initial review) of subsidy fund applicants.
-
In progress of completing Stage 2 (in-depth review) of subsidy fund applicants.
-
All whitelisted security service providers completed signing of agreements with AF.
-
Answered questions from whitelisted auditors and the subsidy fund applicants re. the process.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- Waiting on Tally’s Optimistic Governance Module and ongoing coordination with Tally.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
-
Created detailed task plan for Phase II.
-
Created update template and timeline view.
-
Aligned with MSS on creation of Subsidy Fund multi-sig.
-
Coordinated with Aera & MSS for ADPC payment stream for Phase II.
Focus Next 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- Continue with market analysis and market consultation of RPC providers.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Progress on defining Events vision alongside Entropy Advisors and AF and OCL.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
-
Complete Stage 2 (in-depth review) of subsidy fund applicants.
-
Walk through of marketplace.
-
Request quotes from whitelisted security service providers.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- Consider integration of an angle of DevRel support into OpEx budget.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- Ensure commencement of ADPC payment stream for Phase II.
Relevant Links
4 Likes
@sid_areta FYI. The ADPC Public Dashboard link is broken.
As part of the Arbitrum DAO Procurement Committee (ADPC) Phase II proposal, the ADPC elected to convert its operational budget from ARB to USDC using the Aera protocol, with Gauntlet serving as the vault Guardian. The proposal requested 954,608 ARB, representing a $414,000 budget with a 20% buffer to account for potential price fluctuations between proposal submission and execution.
Due to a minor oversight, the buffer was converted along with the intended amount, resulting in an excess of $75,090 worth of ARB converted to USDC. After a discussion with the Arbitrum Foundation, a decision was made not to convert the USDC back to ARB. To be clear, no money was lost at any stage of this process – rather, more ARB was converted to USDC than initially proposed.
As a result, the MSS will return the USDC equivalent ($75,090 USDC) of the excess budget to the DAO treasury.
Aera is actively working to improve processes to ensure smooth and accurate conversions in the future.
1 Like
ADPC Bi-Weekly Update #2: 07 November 2024
Project Status
Focus Last 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- Conducting detailed research on RPC market dynamics and technical aspects of the market in order to fine-tune the public market consultation.
- Sourcing RPC SME; in talks with 3 potential SMEs and close to finalizing the SME. Post this, a budget to compensate the SME will be requested from the ADPC’s OpEx budget and validated with the Foundation.
- Created exhaustive list of RPC providers; aiming to validate these with the SME and the Arbitrum Foundation.
- Created the public market consultation; this will be looked over by the SME and sent over to the exhaustive list of RPC providers.
- Commenced discussions on RPC marketplace with Arbitrum Foundation legal team and plan to discuss in depth on the ground at Devcon.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Workstream will resume post-Devcon once the Events Budget Tally vote is complete.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
- Completed reviews for all 56 applications received for the Subsidy Fund and identified the initial shortlist of 25 projects.
- Commenced matching process for shortlisted projects and whitelisted providers through the launch of the Areta marketplace.
- Communicated deadlines of 17 Nov to providers to submit all offers to projects and 22 Nov for all projects to select preferred providers.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- Waiting on Tally’s Optimistic Governance Module and ongoing coordination with Tally.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- All funds for the Subsidy Fund transferred to MSS multi-sig.
- Coordinated with Gauntlet to create streams for the ADPC member payments for Phase II.
- Presented in the monthly GRC call.
Focus Next 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- Progress on legal discussions for RPC marketplace.
- Confirm RPC SME.
- Confirm and circulate RPC public market consultation.
- Commence definition of evaluation criteria to assess RPC providers against.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Begin process to define Events vision post Tally vote.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
- Selection of preferred providers completed by all projects.
- Begin discussions of final subsidy allocations.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- Continue coordination with Tally on Optimistic Governance Module.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- Confirm ADPC payment stream.
- Confirm utilization of OpEx budget to onboard SME and necessary tooling with AF and MSS.
Relevant Links
ADPC Bi-Weekly Update #3: 22 November 2024
Project Status
Focus Last 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- Confirmed RPC SMEs after conversations with multiple SMEs; they are Dermot O’Riordan (Ex Director of Pocket Network Foundation) and Jessica Daugherty (Ex Head of Product at Pocket Network and Founder of Stateless Solutions).
- Created exhaustive list of RPC providers that has been validated and updated with the SMEs.
- Finalized the public market consultation after reviews by both SMEs.
- Commenced discussions on RPC marketplace with Arbitrum Foundation legal team and discussed on the ground at Devcon; the Foundation is putting some of the materials together for the legal agreements.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Discussed the events strategy at Devcon and drew up a rough vision for the types of events post conversations with Arbitrum Foundation, Offchain Labs, and key delegates.
- Scheduled a call with Entropy early w/c 25 November to scope out the vision and next steps.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
- To account for Devcon and to give projects more time to select their preferred security service providers, we extended the deadline for both providers to submit all offers to projects and for all projects to select preferred providers to 23.59 UTC on 22 November.
- Spent a significant portion of time responding to queries and ensuring that the marketplace experience for both projects and whitelisted security service providers.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- Waiting on Tally’s Optimistic Governance Module and ongoing coordination with Tally.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- Utilization of operational expenses to onboard the SMEs communicated with the MSS and the Arbitrum Foundation.
- SMEs have been told to commence the onboarding process with the Arbitrum Foundation compliance team.
Focus Next 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- Progress on legal discussions for RPC marketplace.
- Confirm RPC SME.
- Confirm and circulate RPC public market consultation.
- Commence definition of evaluation criteria to assess RPC providers against.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Define events vision for ETH Denver and comprehensive next steps.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
- Complete initial cohort of the Subsidy Fund and decide subsidy allocations.
- Commence signing of work orders and legal agreements for selected projects.
- Draft feedback forms to share with whitelisted service providers and projects to gather feedback and improvements to be implemented in future versions of the subsidy funds.
- Begin identification of improvements internally to be implemented in future versions of the subsidy funds.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- Continue coordination with Tally on Optimistic Governance Module.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- Continue onboarding of SMEs with Arbitrum Foundation and MSS.
Relevant Links
2 Likes
Great update!
When will the security updates get funded?
I know some people are excited to announce the successes! =)
Hi Alex, hopefully soon - we’ve just received the list of preferred auditors, so will aim to make the final subsidy allocation decisions as soon as possible.
1 Like
ADPC Subsidy Fund Update
Subsidy Allocation Announcement
We’re pleased to announce the completion of the Security Services Subsidy Fund allocation. The ADPC has distributed USDC 1,911,806 from the total fund of USDC 1,918,000 (99.7%) to support security audits for 22 promising Arbitrum projects.
Selection Process
The evaluation process began with 56 applications, which were assessed using the Means Test criteria. We shortlisted 25 projects, with 22 moving forward after 3 withdrew. Projects were then classified into four tiers based on their Means Test scores:
- Tier 1 (Score ≥ 7.5): 70% audit fee subsidy
- Tier 2 (Score 7-7.49): 60% audit fee subsidy
- Tier 3 (Score 6.5-6.99): 55% audit fee subsidy
- Tier 4 (Score ≤ 6.49): 47% audit fee subsidy
All shortlisted projects published their security requirements on the ADPC marketplace, where the 9 whitelisted security providers submitted 152 competitive offers. This transparent process enabled projects to evaluate and select the most suitable service provider. The ADPC maintained oversight to ensure marketplace compliance throughout the process.
Selected Projects
We’re proud to announce the following successful applicants (in alphabetical order):
- Arb Staking
- Aspis Protocol
- Bear Protocol
- Cod3x
- Collar Protocol
- D2 Finance
- DAMM Capital
- DIVA Donate
- Gamma Strategies
- Gifted
- GMX
- Juicebox V4
- Millicent One
- MUX Protocol
- NashPoint
- Nex Protocol
- SatsBridge
- StableUnit
- Takadao
- Umami Finance
- Variational
- Velvet Capital
Next Steps
Upon completion of necessary documentation, subsidy payments will be transferred directly to the selected auditing firms.
ADPC Bi-Weekly Update #4: 06 December 2024
Focus Last 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- Completed the onboarding of both SMEs i.e. Jessica Daugherty and Dermot O’Riordan.
- Reached out the the AF and OCL to inquire as to contacts they have within RPC providers, based on the exhaustive list prepared, to begin sending out the Declaration of Interest Form which has been posted on the forum above.
- Set up a dedicated Telegram group chat for RPC providers to join upon filling in the Declaration of Interest form to streamline communications.
- Drafted a detailed set of evaluation criteria to assess RPC providers during the RFP Process.
- The first draft of RPC Legal Framework finalised w/AF following alignment with SMEs - being reviewed by ADPC.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Working w/Entropy Advisors on creating the processes and procedures for Events.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
- Reviewed the submitted quotes to ensure accuracy and consistency, ensuring alignment throughout before determining the subsidy percentages to be allocated, and reaching out to both projects and security service providers.
- Evaluated the compliance of market participants and investigated suspicious behaviour.
- Determined the final subsidy allocation, which as communicated above resulted in 22 projects receiving a subsidy and 99.7% of funds being allocated.
- Notified subsidy recipients of their awarded subsidy amounts and delivered a comprehensive walk-through outlining the next legal steps.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- Scoped out the strategy to be undertaken for the OpEx budget, first draft of OpEx proposal being worked on (Publication dependency > OGM Deployment est. Q1 2025).
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- Hosted the bi-weekly call.
- Presented in the monthly GRC call.
Focus Next 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- To send out the declaration of interest form to RPC providers, collect and evaluate responses.
- To optimise and refine the evaluation criteria to assess RPC providers (also reviewed by SMEs).
- To continue review on the ADPC side regarding the first draft of the RPC Legal Framework finalised with the AF, and also finalise the RPC marketplace terms and conditions.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Align events with OCL and AF + Entropy.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
- The next steps include signing off on the Work Order by Projects & Service Providers, AF to finalise their side of the Agreement.
- To oversee the invoicing process to ensure conformity w/accepted proposals.
- Draft feedback forms to be shared with both projects and whitelisted security service providers in order to collect insights, lessons and suggestions for future iterations.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- To finalise the first draft of the OpEx Budget.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- To conduct the bi-weekly call.
1 Like
ADPC Bi-Weekly Update #5: 20 December 2024
Focus Last 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- Reached out to the two subject matter experts (SMEs), AF and OCL to circulate the Declaration of Interest form.
- Shared the Declaration of Interest form on the forum and in the relevant TG chats. Also carried out manual research to find contact details for the remaining RPC providers, reaching out via email, TG and holding calls where requested.
- Maintained and updated the RPC tracker which includes the list of RPC providers we have reached out to and those that have filled in the Declaration of Interest form. To date, over 10 RPC providers have filled this in already.
- Prepared another survey related to pain points for projects in need of and/or using RPC services. This has been finalised and shared on the forum and relevant TG chats.
- Preparing drafts of Application Process, Head Agreement, SLA methodology and metrics and Evaluation Table.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Drafted and posted the Application Template to utilize funds from the Events Budget.
- Aligned with Entropy Advisors on next steps, including drafting and dissemination of a public market consultation for DAO delegates to understand the types of events the DAO should hold, in order to provide guidance to applicants aiming to utilize the DAO Events Budget.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
- Reviewed the Work Orders sent by Projects & Service Providers, coordinating and aligning with the AF.
- Drafted and sent out emails with regard to the Work Orders, outlining the changes required, where applicable.
- Finalised and sent out feedback forms with both projects and the whitelisted security service providers in the respective Telegram chats.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- Writing the first draft of the OpEx Budget proposal.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- Shared the relevant feedback forms as outlined above relating to RPC providers, and the subsidy fund projects and providers.
- Maintained constant updates and communications on the forum, TG chats and X (Twitter).
Focus Next 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- To evaluate responses included by RPC providers with regards to the Declaration of Interest forms filled in. These insights will be used to finalise the evaluation criteria prepared, coordinating with the two subject matter experts (SMEs) to streamline future processes.
- To evaluate responses included by projects in need of and/or utilising RPC services with regards to the Pain Points survey circulated.
- Circulate the updated drafts with the Arbitrum Foundation and resolve outstanding points.
- Finalise SLAs with our RPC SMEs.
- Refine Evaluation Table in preparation for publication.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Draft and disseminate public market consultation for DAO delegates to understand the types of events the DAO should hold.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
- To ensure that the requested changes to the work orders are properly carried out.
- To review the feedback forms relating to both projects and the whitelisted set of security providers in order to better understand how to refine future iterations of the subsidy fund.
- Collation of learnings from the Subsidy Fund for each ADPC member.
- Creation of skeleton structure for Subsidy Fund Outcome Report.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- To finalise the first draft of the OpEx Budget proposal.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- Given the DAO Holiday Break, the bi-weekly meeting will not be held. Regular reporting will resume post-January 6.
Relevant Links
1 Like
gm
After reviewing the list of protocols that received a subsidy fund once again, I would like to reiterate the point I previously raised in the public telegram channel regarding the rationale behind the selection of applicants for the subsidy fund.
Considering that when the subsidy fund was proposed, the following was mentioned, with a particular focus on “smaller projects”:
As I mentioned previously, I believe that obtaining details about the reasons for approval and the circumstances that led to the rejection of other applicants will be valuable for other projects looking to apply in future subsidy programs, as it helps them understand the evaluation criteria. Secondly, it ensures transparency and a fair process.
Additionally, I have noticed that among the selected projects, the following was included:
Arb Staking consists of contracts whose audit also received funding through the proposal for their development, which was approved in August of last year.
I reached out to the ADPC team, and they promptly informed me that they were aware of the situation and considered that, since the request was for an audit contest, there was no issue in granting the funding.
To be clear: I do not believe the program’s rules were broken.
However, I do think this situation highlights the point that a bit more transparency regarding the rationale behind decisions would be beneficial.
Additionally, I would interpret the outlined principles differently in this particular situation:
I believe that a large company, which the DAO is already funding for the development and audit of contracts, should not be eligible to receive subsidies from another DAO program for those same contracts. But that’s my opinion and interpretation of what the subsidy fund was for.
Once again, this is not a criticism of either the ADPC team or Tally. It is simply an opinion regarding the future implementation of subsidies, both in the rules and in the transparency of the decisions.
Hey @pedrob!
As discussed on Telegram (and as rightly stated in your post as well), we do not believe that this was a breach of the Subsidy Fund’s parameters nor the ARB Staking proposal (I’ll let Tally voice their stance on that however).
The ARB Staking Proposal had $60,000 earmarked for an audit. The subsidy that the ADPC authorised was in relation to an audit contest on Sherlock; It is current industry standard for projects to carry out a ‘traditional audit’ coupled w/an audit contest to get more eyes on the codebase. Additionally, as the ADPC, we’d like to emphasize that the subsidy issued to Tally was based on their scoring on the Means Test (the rationale wasn’t “It’s ARB Staking, let’s just subsidize it”). With regards to the rationale for the scoring itself, if Tally is amenable, we can post a summary of why they qualified for the subsidy.
Given that Tally submitted a good application, rendered itself eligible for a subsidy and also in consideration of the fact that a traditional audit coupled w/an audit contest is sensible from a security mitigation perspective, we do not think that this is against the rules of the Subsidy Fund.
Thanks for the comment!
ADPC Bi-Weekly Update #6: 10 January 2025
Focus Last 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- Arbitrum Foundation has provided comments on the T&Cs and Head Agreement for the RPC marketplace, which the ADPC is currently reviewing and responding back to.
- Evaluation Table for assessment of RPC providers in the RFP process has been created.
- Reminder sent to RPC providers to fill in the Declaration of Interest form to respond to the RFP to be whitelisted for the marketplace.
- Reminder sent to projects to fill in the survey to understand their pain points with RPCs.
- Call scheduled with Infura to discuss their DIN initiative which is also building a similar vision of the marketplace.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Public market consultation for DAO delegates has been published and shared with Arbitrum delegates, both on the forum and the Telegram chat.
- Coordinated with the RWA Paris proposal aiming to utilize funds from the Events Budget to post a proposal on the forum.
- Coordinated with the Arbitrum Foundation on their utilization of the $400K from the Events Budget for the events at ETH Denver.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
- All Exhibit B’s (i.e., work orders between the selected projects and security service providers) have now been signed, with this information being passed on to the Arbitrum Foundation.
- Security services for all projects can now technically begin, with the only pending item being Exhibit A’s (i.e., agreements between the Arbitrum Foundation and the security service providers) remaining to be signed.
- The Notion Hub for the Security Subsidy Fund has been updated with all selected projects.
- Template social media messages and graphics for all selected projects to share on X, announcing that they have received a subsidy from the Arbitrum Security Subsidy Fund, have been drafted and shared with all the projects.
- Reminders have been sent to all projects and providers to fill in the feedback forms.
- All learnings from Subsidy Fund I have been collated from each ADPC member.
- The structure for the Subsidy Fund Outcome Report has been created and validated internally within the ADPC.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- Finalising the first draft of the OpEx Budget proposal.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- Maintained constant updates and communications on the forum, TG chats and X (Twitter).
- RPC SMEs have completed their KYC processes with the Arbitrum Foundation.
Focus Next 2 Weeks
Work Package 1 (RPCs)
- Finalise legal documentation for RPCs as much as possible with the Arbitrum Foundation.
- Create a Word document template of the Evaluation Table for RPC Providers to respond to in the RFP, once the legal documentation has been completed.
- Create the Fillout form for the RPC RFP once the legal documentation has been completed.
- Create a video walkthrough of how to respond to the RFP once the legal documentation has been completed.
Work Package 1 (Events)
- Chase delegates to respond to the Public Market Consultation and distil insights from the consultation to post it on the forum as a ‘nudge’ for events organisers to propose these types of events and provide more direction for potential organisers around the types of events that are more likely to get funded.
Work Package 2 (Subsidy Fund)
- Write the first draft of the Subsidy Fund Outcome Report.
- Ensure that any pending items or queries from this iteration of the Subsidy Fund have been answered.
Work Package 3 (OpEx Budget)
- Finalise draft of OpEx Budget proposal.
Work Package 4 (Reporting & Management)
- Coordinate with the MSS for funds to be paid to the SMEs (i.e., Jessica Daugherty) and DeDaub from the ADPC’s operational expense budget.
Relevant Links
1 Like
Update on the DAO Events Budget
Message from Arbitrum Foundation
The Arbitrum Foundation will be utilizing the full earmarked $400k to subsidise costs related to our plan for ETHDenver. We are evaluating different options including a booth at the main conference, an Arbitrum community IRL get together, and a potential DAO delegate meetup.