ARDC Communication Thread

[paulofonseca]

I think we should “promote” the next applicant of the original election, to take the place of @Frisson and for @Juanrah to get more help.

If Frisson thinks JuanRah should be paid more because he will have more work, then maybe the best option is to bring in more man-power and pay them, instead of paying more to the same person to get overworked. I believe we would get more quality if we would get an additional, fresh person.

As a reminder, JuanRah applied in connection with @AlexLumley and I’m not sure if they are still working together, or not, but I haven’t seen Alex around that much.

[tamara]

Tbh no.

There are 3 months in the ARDC left & it took the team around 1 month to ramp up.

If we bring in a new person @Juanrah will onramp the new person (while doing the job of 2 persons during this period) and then there are just 2 months left of the term.

Additionally after having been in the ARDC for half of its term, I do believe the Comms role can be covered by one person.

And since I do not have a COI anymore:
For some reason it was decided that the SC council was to be rewarded in ARB resulting now in a very low rate Juanrah is working for (especially looking at other Councils etc). I know we are a DAO and decentralization/ decentralized decision making over everything but at some point we have to ask ourselves: is it really the smart thing to do & what would I do if it was my company?

If it was my start-up I would ask @Juanrah whether he prefers (and has the capacity) to assume Frissons role (and get his comp) or would like to onboard (and train) the next elected individual?

We would most likely need a Snapshot vote for it but pls, lets common sense prevail.

[Juanrah]

Thanks @tamara and @paulofonseca for your thoughts. I appreciate the consideration for my workload with Frisson’s departure.

While I’m confident I can handle the communications responsibilities for the remaining term, I want to be transparent about two realities:

• The workload will indeed increase significantly with only one communications chair.
• The compensation structure has been affected by ARB’s value dropping by about 70% since the beginning of the ARDC term.

I’m committed to the success of the ARDC regardless, but I believe there are a few reasonable options the DAO could consider:

• Maintain the status quo (I continue alone with the current compensation)
• Adjust the compensation to reflect the increased workload and changed market conditions
• Bring in additional support if the DAO prefers that approach, though I agree with Tamara’s point about the onboarding efficiency

I’m happy to share more details about my workload management plan for transparency, and I remain committed to serving the ARDC’s communication needs regardless of the decision. My priority is ensuring continuity in our communications work during this transition.

[EzR3aL]

Given that we choose a replacement for @Frisson for the MSS we should also onboard someone. So I would propose to onboard the next person in line from the original proposal.

@Juanrah said that workload will increase, he also recently disclosed he joined SeedLatam. So we can be sure he has a lot of work to do for different entities now.

And even if only a few months are left I would rather see no disruptions than a bad term end for the ARDC. And regarding the onboarding time I would assume it wouldn’t need someone so long to onboard.

I prefer we handle both situations the same and not end up in a mess.

[Juanrah]

ARDC V2 Update - April 9, 2025

Hello Arbitrum DAO delegates and community members!

We’re excited to share with you the latest developments from the Arbitrum Research & Development Committee (ARDC).

New Research Publication:

Exploring the Viability of Governance Attacks - Part 1: Arbitrum Governance and its Challenges

Arbitrum Governance Risks Analysis - Part 2

We’re pleased to announce the release of our comprehensive research on Governance Attacks (Part 1 and 2). This research, led by Nethermind and Castle Capital, examines Arbitrum Governance and its challenges, analyzing historical governance exploits and their implications for the Arbitrum DAO.

Key insights from the research include:

• Analysis of Arbitrum’s governance framework and proposal lifecycle
• Lessons from historical exploits across various DAOs
• Examination of potential governance attack scenarios
• Recommendations for mitigating governance risks

You can read the full research here:
Governance Attacks Part 1
Governance Attacks Part 2

Upcoming Research Deliverables

We have several important research projects nearing completion:

1. Incentive Programs Analysis: A comprehensive evaluation of Arbitrum’s incentive programs by DefiLlama Research and Castle Capital, examining their effectiveness and providing recommendations for future initiatives (to be finalized for Supervisory Council Review on April 11th).
2. Vote Buying Services: An in-depth analysis of various vote buying and lobbying mechanisms including MetaDAO, LobbyFi, Event Horizon, and others, with specific focus on implications for Arbitrum governance.

Future deliveries in progress:

3. Technical Decision-Making Process: Research on how to improve the DAO’s process for evaluating and implementing technical proposals, led by DefiLlama Research in collaboration with technical experts.
4. Growth Funnel: Research on making the beginning of the growth pipeline more tangible, focusing on hackathons, grants, and support networks for builders in the Arbitrum ecosystem.

ARDC Supervisory Council Changes

As most of you are already probably aware, Tamara and Frisson will be departing from their roles on the ARDC Supervisory Council. We sincerely thank them for their dedication and valuable contributions to the committee.

@Entropy will be taking over operations responsibilities moving forward. @Pruitt will be in charge of day-to-day operations, @Brick will handle the review of research deliverables and @MattOnChain will remain in his current role of strategic oversight.

Upcoming events

Special ARDC Call on Vote Buying - This Thursday!

The ARDC has been working on an Analysis of Vote Buying Services!

Given recent discussions on the topic in the Forum and other channels, we will hold our next ARDC Bi-Weekly Call this Thursday, April 10 at 17:00 UTC.
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/ras-qcrd-dqz

Ryan @cryptodurs from DefiLlama Research and his team will present an overview of their findings, and we will have an open space for discussion and feedback. This is a great opportunity to understand the implications of these services and listen to DefiLlama’s recommendations going forward.

Communication Channels

ARDC Homepage on Notion: Access complete reports and documentation

Bi-Weekly Calls: Join our delegate calls using the link: meet.google.com/ras-qcrd-dqz

This Forum Thread: Follow for ongoing updates on ARDC progress

As always, we welcome your feedback and questions. Feel free to reach out to us in the comments below or join our upcoming call.

Thank you for your continued engagement with the Arbitrum DAO!

[Entropy]

Supervisory Council Update: Communications Role Consolidation

After careful consideration, all parties involved in the matter are in agreement to consolidate the communications roles, with @JuanRah, who has already been handling the majority of the communications responsibilities, continuing as the sole Communications member for the remainder of the term. Considering the changes in responsibilities and taking into account the decrease in ARB price, JuanRah’s monthly compensation will be increased from 5K ARB to 8.75K ARB. With an expected ~20 hours per week of work and ARB priced at ~$0.3, this would put the hourly compensation at ~$32, which all parties agreed is a fair rate.

As many in the community are aware, the ARDC V2 Supervisory Council was originally structured with two Communications members. With Frisson’s departure, @Tamara created a post on April 9th seeking input from delegates on four potential options to determine the best path forward, given the ARDC has 3 months remaining of its current term.

Upon review of the original ARDC V2 proposal, we found no explicit procedure for handling voluntary departures mid-term, unlike the process specified for removing members. Taking into account the feedback received by delegates and the short amount of time remaining in the current term, the ARDC Supervisory Council, in collaboration with all other relevant ARDC parties, came to the conclusion that it makes the most sense to consolidate the role.

Rationale

1. Existing work distribution: JuanRah has already been managing approximately 75% of the communications workload, including maintaining key relationships with service providers, organizing calls, and handling most of the community-facing communications.
2. Continuity: Having JuanRah take full responsibility ensures seamless continuation of ongoing work without disruption from onboarding a new member.
3. Resource allocation: This approach would allow us to redirect a portion of Frisson’s compensation to JuanRah for taking on additional responsibilities.

Workload & Compensation Adjustment

JuanRah will be assuming the full communications workload, which requires approximately 18-21 hours per week:

1. Translating ARDC Updates and Research Findings (5 hours/week)

• Reading and understanding complex research (2 hours)
• Simplifying and writing forum posts/communications (2 hours)
• Editing and finalizing content (1 hour)

2. Stakeholder Engagement (5 hours/week)

• Coordinating with service providers (2 hours)
• Communication with the Supervisory Council and Foundation (2 hours)
• Delegate outreach and feedback collection (1 hour)

3. Bi-weekly Community Calls (7 hours per event, averaging 3-4 hours/week)

• Preparation and agenda setting (2 hours)
• Coordinating with presenters (2 hours)
• Hosting the actual call (1 hour)
• Post-call follow-up and documentation (2 hours)

4. Communications Strategy Implementation (3 hours/week)

• Updating Notion pages and documentation (2 hours)
• Planning upcoming communications (1 hour)

5. Social Media Management (4 hours/week)

• Creating X threads (2 hours)
• Hosting X Spaces (1 hour)
• Monitoring and responding to community feedback (1 hour)

As such, JuanRah’s compensation will be adjusted to 8750 ARB per month to reflect the increase in responsibilities and mandate, redirecting funds originally allocated to Frisson’s position.

Next Steps

The Supervisory Council will work with JuanRah to ensure all communications responsibilities continue to be met efficiently. In the meantime, the ARDC will continue to focus on its current deliverables and research initiatives.

We’re excited to announce our upcoming Twitter Space where we’ll discuss the recent Governance Attack research. Join us on April 30th at 17:00 UTC, where @Atomist from @CastleCapital and Harsh from @Nethermind will present their findings and answer community questions. The space will be hosted on the @arbitrumdao_gov account and will be added to the DAO calendar. Set a reminder for the space using this link.

This Twitter space is part of our ongoing efforts to make ARDC research accessible to the wider community and facilitate discussions around critical topics for Arbitrum governance. Additionally, the next ARDC Bi-Weekly Hours has been rescheduled to Friday, May 2nd at 16:00 UTC to accommodate the International Labor Day holiday on May 1st. We hope to see many delegates at both!

[Juanrah]

ARDC V2: First Three Months Recap

Hello Arbitrum DAO delegates and community members!

We’re excited to share a comprehensive recap of the first three months of the Arbitrum Research & Development Collective (ARDC) V2. In this period, we’ve established operational processes, published several key research deliverables, and laid the groundwork for upcoming strategic initiatives.

1. Governance Structure & Operations

From the outset, we focused on establishing clear operational frameworks and communication channels:

• Regular Meeting Cadence: Weekly Supervisory Council meetings, weekly Service Provider & Operations meetings, and bi-weekly Community Calls
• Transparent Documentation: Created an ARDC Homepage on Notion for tracking tasks, meeting minutes, and resources
• Communication Channels: Established forum communication threads, Telegram channels, and bi-weekly delegate calls
• Budget Management: Implemented detailed tracking of service provider hours

2. Completed Research Deliverables

Over the first three months, our service providers have completed several high-impact research projects:

1. Grants Program Analysis (DefiLlama Research & Castle Capital)

• External review of grant programs across Layer 1 and Layer 2 ecosystems (Optimism, Scroll, Ethereum, Solana, Uniswap, and Lido)
• Internal assessment of Arbitrum’s Delegated Domain Allocation (DDA) program across Seasons 1 and 2
• Recommendations for standardized reporting templates and improved impact measurement frameworks

2. Sequencer Revenue Sustainability Analysis (Nethermind)

• Revealed revenue concentration with 46.4% of sequencer revenue from the top 10 highest-earning days since Dencun upgrade
• Documented shifting revenue sources: DeFi declined from 50% to 20.4%, while CeFi transactions now account for 21.8%
• Identified challenges with market share decreasing from 22% to 10% due to competition
• Highlighted Arbitrum’s competitive strengths: highest Total Value Secured ($14.2B) and dominant share in DeFi volumes

3. Security Council Enhancement Recommendations (OpenZeppelin)

• Defined ideal Council Member qualities: impartiality, trustworthiness, technical competency
• Assessed the benefits of allowing organizations with 1-of-N multisig configurations
• Analyzed Council powers regarding emergency actions versus veto-only authority
• Recommended 12-month terms with staggered elections to balance continuity with community input

4. Governance Attacks Analysis - Part 1 and Part 2 (Nethermind & Castle Capital)

• Comprehensive examination of Arbitrum’s governance framework and proposal lifecycle
• Analysis of historical governance exploits across various DAOs and their implications
• Assessment of potential governance attack scenarios unique to Arbitrum
• Recommendations for mitigating governance risks

3. Budget & Resource Utilization

As of our latest reporting, the ARDC has utilized approximately 22.5% of the 6-month budget allocation. Here’s the breakdown of service provider utilization:

• DeFi Llama: 529 hours completed (32.1% of 6-month hours allocation)
• Castle Capital: 487.5 hours completed (29.6% of 6-month hours allocation)
• Nethermind (Mid Level): 235 hours completed (22.4% of 6-month hours allocation)
• Nethermind (Senior): 141 hours completed (37.1% of 6-month hours allocation)
• OpenZeppelin: 62 hours completed (11.3% of 6-month hours allocation)

Total expenditure to date: $194,780 of the $865,000 6-month budget (22.5%)

4. Ongoing Research Projects

Several important research initiatives are currently in progress:

1. Incentive Programs Analysis (DefiLlama Research & Castle Capital)

• Comprehensive evaluation of Arbitrum’s incentive programs (STIP, STIP Backfund, LTIP, STIP Bridge)
• Assessment of external incentive programs (Avalanche, ZKsync Era, Sonic, Optimism)
• Lessons, Takeaways, and Recommendations based on historical incentive programs

2. Vote Buying Services Analysis (DefiLlama Research)

• Examination of various vote-buying and lobbying mechanisms (MetaDAO, LobbyFi, Event Horizon)
• Focus on implications for Arbitrum governance and potential risks/benefits

3. Technical Decision-Making Process Improvement (DefiLlama Research)

• Research on enhancing the DAO’s evaluation process for technical proposals
• Development of frameworks for better delegate understanding of technical trade-offs

4. Arbitrum Ecosystem Positioning (DefiLlama Research & Castle Capital)

• Research that aims to map verticals and product-level opportunities across the broader crypto ecosystem where Arbitrum:
  1. Has minimal presence
  2. Has not yet achieved a stable or dominant market share
  3. Faces meaningful gaps in product features
  4. Growth in a specific vertical/product can, even if already established, be catalyzed sustainably via a systemic shock, together with incentives
• It is intended to:
  1. Inform strategic incentive deployment across verticals
  2. Identify products or features missing from the Arbitrum ecosystem

5. Supervisory Council Changes

As a reminder, the ARDC Supervisory Council has recently undergone a few changes:

• Tamara and Frisson have stepped down from their roles on the ARDC Supervisory Council
• @Entropy has taken over the operations responsibilities
  • @Pruitt is managing day-to-day operations
  • @Brick & @MattOnChain are handling research deliverables review and providing strategic oversight
• The Communications Role has been consolidated to just me, as announced by Entropy last week.

6. Key Learnings

From our first three months of operations, we’ve identified several important learnings for future iterations of the ARDC:

1. Planning and Setup: Allow 1.5 months between vote completion and full team start date for proper onboarding
2. Stakeholder Alignment: Early coordination with Offchain Labs and the Arbitrum Foundation helps avoid duplicate research efforts
3. Scope Definition: Service providers should explicitly exclude charges for routine communication (1 hour per week on calls + daily/weekly updates) when quoting services
4. Report Format: Research deliverables benefit from including both comprehensive technical analysis and concise, actionable summaries for broader community understanding
5. Right-sizing Roles: Don’t overstaff for roles. Having two people in charge of communications created more operational friction than benefits
6. Research Guidance: People guiding research service providers need significant context to bring them up to speed and ensure valuable output. The time required to align with SPs should not be underestimated
7. Demand-based Research: The DAO doesn’t need continuous research. Reports should be demand-based rather than created simply because providers are in the ARDC
8. Meeting Efficiency: Minimize the number of calls. Meetings are seldom valuable unless something very specific needs to be solved

Update on Bi-Weekly Call

Please note that the ARDC Supervisory Council decided to push this week’s regular bi-weekly call as the service providers are currently in the final stages of completing several important research initiatives and, at the moment, do not have new information to share with the community. Both the service providers and the ARDC Supervisory Council are working diligently to ensure these deliverables meet the high standards expected by the Arbitrum community. With several deliverables in the final stages of review, we expect completed reports to be hitting the forum shortly. We’ll resume our regular bi-weekly calls with our next session scheduled for May 15th, and we will promptly let everyone know if we decide to pull it forward a week as research deliverables are completed.

[Juanrah]

ARDC V2 Update: May 2025 Progress & Deliverables

Hello Arbitrum DAO delegates and community members!

We’re pleased to share the Arbitrum Research & Development Committee (ARDC) V2 progress report for May 2025. This month was highly productive, with a strong focus on finalizing key research deliverables, publishing reports for community review, and engaging through various channels.

I. Published Research & Community Engagement:

May saw the culmination of several significant research efforts, which are now available for the community:

Incentive Program Assessments & Recommendations:

• Led by: DefiLlama Research & Castle Capital
• Key Findings from the Report:
  • Bootstrapping Focus: Incentives are most effective for bootstrapping new products and ecosystems, rather than sustaining existing ones. Successful programs support new initiatives needing an initial push.
  • Clear North Star & KPIs: A clearly articulated program-wide goal and aligned KPIs are essential. Past Arbitrum programs (STIP, LTIPP) sometimes lacked this, limiting impact assessment. zkSync Ignite serves as a good model for structured, goal-oriented programs.
  • Active Monitoring & Data Infrastructure: Programs require built-in feedback loops, real-time monitoring, and transparent data infrastructure to allow for agile adjustments and accountability.
  • Dedicated Operations Team: The research highlights the necessity of a Dedicated Incentive Operations Unit or a persistent team/provider. Such a unit is vital for ensuring continuity across programs, providing oversight, and driving iterative improvements based on performance data and evolving strategic goals.
  • ROI-Driven Users & Ecosystem Strength: Most users are primarily motivated by ROI. Incentives attract attention, but long-term retention depends on the fundamental strength, health, and engagement opportunities of the underlying ecosystem.
  • Tapering Rewards: Incentive programs should taper rewards gradually rather than ending abruptly (the “cliff effect”) to ensure smoother transitions to organic engagement and build user trust.
• Community Engagement: X thread highlighting recommendations - DL Research X article
• Findings will also be presented at the upcoming bi-weekly office hour call.

Analysis of the DAO’s Technical Decision-Making Process:

• Led by: DefiLlama Research
• Key Findings from the Report:
  • Delegate Support Gaps: Delegates often lack interpretive support for complex technical proposals, relying on ad hoc communication and struggling with inconsistent documentation and fragmented onboarding.
  • Underutilized Mechanisms: Workshops for technical walkthroughs are underutilized, and there’s no consistent institutional memory for past proposal learnings.
  • External Best Practices: Some DAOs offer models with dedicated governance teams/advisory boards, standardized templates, and regular communication cadences that Arbitrum could adapt.
  • Proposed Framework: The report suggests a framework integrating expert review into existing Arbitrum Aligned Entities (AAEs), launching structured, delegate-facing workshops for technical proposals, implementing Technical Missions Program for external contributor integration, and standardizing proposal metadata tables.
• Community Engagement: Key insights and recommendations were presented during the ARDC bi-weekly call on May 15th. - X thread

Analysis of Vote Buying Services:

• Led by: DefiLlama Research.
• Key Findings from the Report:
  • Significant Platform Presence: Vote-buying platforms, notably LobbyFi (holding ~10-12% of ARB voting power in major proposals) and Event Horizon (~3-5%), have a growing footprint in Arbitrum governance.
  • Pricing & Influence: Vote prices on platforms like LobbyFi are often set low (e.g., 1% of estimated beneficiary gain), creating a gap between “actual” and “theoretical” voting budgets and potentially undervaluing governance influence.
  • Vulnerability Varies: The impact of vote buying is proposal-dependent. Multi-choice proposals (elections, grants) are more susceptible to swings from smaller blocs than binary (Yes/No) votes with high turnout.
  • Decentralization & Risk: While VBE analysis shows Arbitrum voting remains largely decentralized, concentrated blocs could influence low-turnout proposals or tight multi-seat elections. Direct bribes are moderately feasible but limited by platform gatekeeping; whale collusion and “Dark DAOs” are currently of low feasibility but long-term concerns.
  • Flexible Response Framework: The DAO should consider a spectrum of responses (Passive, Active, Interventionist) to address vote buying, ranging from dialogue with platforms and incentivizing organic participation to implementing emergency response plans or treasury delegations.
• Community Engagement: X thread shared to break down key findings and encourage discussion DL Research X article - Vote Buying Discussion Recording

II. Deliverables In Progress:

Arbitrum Ecosystem Mapping & Positioning:

• Service Providers: DefiLlama Research & Castle Capital.
• May Progress:
  • Significant work on finalizing the taxonomy, KPIs, and data schema for various verticals.
  • The scope was refined to focus on the Top 10 verticals for initial data collection and analysis.
  • Castle Capital completed their work on the data request specifications, including inter/intra KPIs by vertical.
  • DeFiLlama commenced data ingestion and the initial phases of analysis based on the refined scope and provided data structures. This involved setting up a meta base for granular pool-level data.
  • Regular syncs between Castle, DL Research, and the Supervisory Council to ensure alignment and address data collection challenges.
• Expected Completion: The data analysis phase is intensive. We anticipate this report will be ready for review and publication around late June/early July.

III. Operational Updates & Ongoing Workstreams:

• Community Communication:
  • Continued to publish X (Twitter) threads and coordinate amplification with the ArbitrumDAO Gov account to improve reach for published reports.
  • Bi-weekly Office Hours continued, with the May 15th call dedicated to the Technical Decision-Making report.
• Service Provider Coordination:
  • Regular check-ins and weekly sync calls with SPs to track progress, review drafts, provide feedback, and manage timelines for all active deliverables.
  • Hours and invoices for Service Providers have been tracked and processed.
• Nethermind (Timeboost Analysis):
  • This research stream remained on hold throughout May, mainly due to the Timeboost market still being in its infancy and highly volatile.

IV. Key Learnings & Adjustments from May:

• Iterative Feedback for Complex Reports: The Incentives report, in particular, benefited from multiple rounds of feedback and restructuring, leading to a more impactful final deliverable. This highlights the value of iterative review for complex topics.
• Phased Data Approach for Ecosystem Mapping: Refining the scope for the Ecosystem Mapping to a “Top 10” vertical approach for initial data pulls allows for more manageable data collection and quicker initial insights, before potentially expanding.

V. Looking Ahead to June:

• Aiming to finalize and publish the Arbitrum Ecosystem Mapping & Positioning report.
• Continued community discussions and feedback gathering on all published reports.
• Presentation of the Incentives Program findings during our next bi-weekly call scheduled for June 5th at 16:00 hrs UTC - Huddle: Huddle01 Meet
• With the ARDC V2 first term nearing its conclusion, no new major research initiatives will be scoped for now. The committee will focus on completing all outstanding work and ensuring comprehensive communication of all research produced during this term.
• The committee is coordinating with the initiative owner, @Immutablelawyer, to publish a proposal in June, in accordance with the ARDC V2 proposal passed onchain, determining whether the ARDC should be extended by six months.
• Ongoing monitoring and support for any follow-up actions or clarifications needed from the published research.

We encourage all delegates and community members to review the published reports linked above and share your thoughts and feedback in the respective forum threads or during our bi-weekly calls.

Thank you for your continued engagement and support!

[TempeTechie]

Hey @Juanrah

I’d like to propose the following research ideas for consideration:

• Research and suggestions for promising new crypto verticals.
• Research on how to add more premium and utility to the ARB token (besides staking).
• Research and suggestions for promising new revenue streams for the Arbitrum treasury.

These ideas come from the SOS proposal I put together based on the objectives overlaps among all submissions (key results KR 5.1, KR 7.1, and KR 8.4, respectively).

Even though the SOS process is temporarily on pause, I think it still makes sense to start researching these topics, since there was strong consensus around them from most delegates who participated.

I understand the future of ARDC is a bit uncertain right now (depending on whether the DAO decides to extend it), but I’m curious - are these topics something ARDC could (or should) take on? And if so, what’s the process for getting them into the ARDC pipeline?

P.S.: The alternative revenue streams research is mentioned here, but I can’t see any link to the report… Not sure whether it was done or not?

[Juanrah]

Thank you for the research suggestions, @TempeTechie.

Given that the ARDC V2’s initial 6-month term is nearing its conclusion, we’ve made the decision to pause scoping any new major research initiatives until we know with certainty whether the ARDC will be extended for another 6 months. We are focusing on properly completing all ongoing work, avoiding situations where research would span beyond an approved term, and kickstarting conversations around the ARDC’s future (the committee plans to publish a forum post summarizing key takeaways and thoughts early next week).

Regarding the alternative revenue streams research you mentioned, this was initially considered as part of our research pipeline. However, given our limited timeframe and the decision to deliver highly actionable insights, the Supervisory Council ultimately prioritized more implementable governance and security topics.

I will document your suggestions for them to be considered in the potential ARDC extension. Thanks for taking the time to share these ideas.

[Juanrah]

Hello Arbitrum DAO delegates and community members,

This is a reminder that our next ARDC V2 Bi-Weekly Office Hours call is scheduled for this Thursday, June 26, at 4:00 PM UTC.

As the research members are in the process of finalizing the Ecosystem Mapping report, and the ARDC V2 is approaching the end of its initial 6-month term (July 12), we decided to repurpose this week’s call for community discussion. The session will be dedicated to:

• Recapping Term 1: A brief overview of the key research deliverables and operational progress from the last six months.

• Discussing the ARDC V2 Extension: An open forum to discuss the recently posted proposal to extend the ARDC for another 6-month term.

• Community Q&A: Your chance to ask questions, provide feedback, and share your perspective on the ARDC’s work and its future.

We encourage everyone to join the conversation and help shape the path forward.

Join the call here:
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/wah-hwxm-rqk

We look forward to a productive discussion with all of you.

[Juanrah]

ARDC V2 Update: June 2025 Progress

Hello Arbitrum DAO delegates and community members!

As the initial six-month term of the ARDC V2 approaches its conclusion on July 12, 2025, the committee has been focused on completing its final research deliverable. Here’s a summary of our progress and key developments for June.

I. Final Research Deliverable in Progress: Arbitrum Ecosystem Mapping & Positioning

Our final research initiative for this term is a comprehensive ecosystem mapping report led by DeFi Llama Research and Castle Capital.

• Current Status: The data and qualitative analyses have been completed, with this information used to shortlist high-potential chains, verticals, and assets, as well as to develop GTM frameworks for potential opportunities.
• Methodology: The teams are focusing on the top 10 verticals to provide targeted and actionable insights. This involves analyzing market share, growth metrics, and chain-specific features to identify gaps and opportunities for Arbitrum.
• Expected Completion: A first draft has been shared with the supervisory council and is currently being finalized by the researchers. The findings are scheduled to be presented to the DAO during the bi-weekly office hours on July 10, 2025. We aim to have the whole project completed by the initial term’s conclusion date (July 12th).

II. Proposal for ARDC V2 Extension

A significant development this month was the posting of a formal proposal to extend the ARDC V2 for an additional six-month term.

• Proposal Overview: The proposal, initiated by @Immutablelawyer, seeks to activate the second phase of the ARDC V2, which would release the remaining 50% of the funds approved in the original proposal.
• Voting Options: The DAO is presented with three choices in a Snapshot vote:
  1. Option A: Extend ARDC V2 with the current working members.
  2. Option B: Extend ARDC V2 and hold a re-election for working members.
  3. Option C: Do not extend the ARDC V2 and conclude the initiative.
• Timeline: The Snapshot vote was posted last week and is currently live.

III. Operational Updates and Community Engagement

• Future of the ARDC: The Supervisory Council has engaged in retrospective discussions about the ARDC’s structure and effectiveness. A key consideration for the future is a potential shift from a supply-based model with fixed retainers to a more demand-based system.
• Bi-Weekly Calls: The next and final call for this term is on Thursday, July 10th, which will feature the presentation of the Ecosystem Mapping report.

IV. Looking Ahead

With the current term concluding, the ARDC is not scoping any new major research initiatives. This ensures that our focus remains on delivering a high-quality final report and facilitating a smooth transition based on the outcome of the extension vote.

We thank the community for its engagement throughout this term and look forward to presenting our final report soon.