Gauntlet Delegate Communication Thread

Governance Delegate Statements
, ,
21

[Non-Constitutional] Arbitrum DAO Delegate Incentive Program (Snapshot)
Vote: For DIP V1.5
Gauntlet voted in favor of DIP 1.5 as we believe the changes support a healthy evolution of delegate engagement and will contribute to greater Snasphot participation and feedback on key proposals. We agree with @krst’s requests for more flexibility on the Bonus Points to include participation in key initiatives, especially given many community calls can be restrictive to certain delegates in unfavorable time zones.

GovHack Devcon in Bangkok - Hack Humanity (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet provided feedback to Klaus’s initial proposal that this style of proposal is better handled by a committee or framework as the DAO looks to operationalize its marketing and growth capabilities. Moving forward, we expect the ADPC and other DAO stakeholders (Entropy, Arbitrum Foundation, etc.) to help provide a framework for these types of events.

That said, DevCon is around the corner, and the aforementioned infrastructure is not yet ready to support a DevCon activation for Arbitrum DAO. After much deliberation, Gauntlet has decided to vote For the GovHack proposal in the Snapshot stage. GovHacks have a proven ability to bring visibility to the DAO. We’d like to see Hack Humanity continue to improve upon previous GovHack iterations in Thailand.

[Non-Constitutional] Funds to Bolster Foundation’s Strategic Partnerships Budget (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet voted in favor of this proposal and provided feedback to the Arbitrum Foundation before the vote. A historical pain point has been the competitive grant deployment of other L2 ecosystems, allowing them to secure large brand-name partnerships. While the long-term effectiveness of this strategy is up for debate, it does make sense to establish a budget for Arbitrum to compete with other L2s on securing key partnerships.

One area that Gauntlet would request improvement is transparency. We suggest exploring making aspects of partnership details public after a set period, similar to government disclosure practices. While we understand the sensitivities around these deals, there may be a middle ground that allows the DAO and community to learn from the Foundation’s future mistakes and successes in pursuing these partnerships.

[CANCELED] Ethereum Protocol Attackathon Sponsorship (Onchain)
Vote: Against
Gauntlet voted against this proposal, which was canceled.

22

Security Council Nominations
Gauntlet nominated the following:

COI: John Morrow is a Co-Founder of Gauntlet. Gauntlet supported John Morrow at the nomination stage of the Security Council Elections.

23

[Non-Constitutional] Whitelist Infura Nova Validator (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of whitelisting a Nova Validator operated by Infura, given their reputation and notable uptime.

Research on context and retention (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of analyzing DAO forum data on Discourse and Discord to better understand DAO decision-making and help contextualize the DAO for new users.

An EIP-4824 powered daoURI for Arbitrum DAO (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of supporting the daoURI for Arbitrum given the use of ENS txt records.

NON-CONSTITUTIONAL] Arbitrum DAO Procurement Committee: Phase II Proposal (Onchain)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of the ADPC and aligns with the chosen investment areas for Phase 2 (Events and RPC providers). Gauntlet also wants to disclose that Aera will be used by the ADPC and Gauntlet will serve as the guardian for this vault. Gauntlet will charge no fee for this service.

UPDATED - Ethereum Protocol Attackathon Sponsorship
Vote: Abstain
Gauntlet has abstained from this proposal given previous feedback that while we support investing in Arbitrum security, we also recognize ongoing work by ARDC and events strategy in the above ADPC. We’re thus hesitant to support one-off proposals on event sponsorships and security.

Constitutional AIP - Extend Delay on L2Time Lock (Onchain)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted for this proposal given its security benefits and user experience benefits, allowing them a greater withdrawal period prior to a proposal’s execution.

24

ArbitrumDAO strategic “Off-site” (online) updated proposal (Onchain)
Vote: Against
Gauntlet is against using funds for events, especially in light of the APDC’s recent success at attracting security applications and its proposed scope of events in 2025. Delegate time is already divided across many initiatives. We are not convinced that this online ‘off-site’ approach represents a valuable use of delegate time or DAO resources.

[Non-Constitutional] Funds to Bolster Foundation’s Strategic Partnerships Budget
Vote: For
Gauntlet voted in favor of this proposal and provided feedback to the Arbitrum Foundation before the vote. A historical pain point has been the competitive grant deployment of other L2 ecosystems, allowing them to secure large brand-name partnerships. While the long-term effectiveness of this strategy is up for debate, it does make sense to establish a budget for Arbitrum to compete with other L2s on securing key partnerships.

Enhancing Multichain Governance: Upgrading RARI Governance Token on Arbitrum
Vote: For
Rari has long been a partner of Arbitrum and was one of the first Orbit L3s to deploy using the Arbitrum stack. OZ has audited the payload at Gauntlet’s request, and we support this proposal.

25

[Non-Constitutional] Arbitrum DAO Delegate Incentive Program (Onchain)
Vote: For
Gauntlet voted in favor of DIP as we believe the changes support a healthy evolution of delegate engagement and will contribute to greater Snasphot participation and feedback on key proposals.

Fund the Stylus Sprint (Onchain)
Vote: For
Stylus is a strategic deployment, and Gauntlet supports bootstrapping momentum for this new and important tool within the Arbitrum ecosystem. The committee members are quality, including The Arbitrum Foundation, Offchain Labs, Open Zeppelin, and Entropy.

Establishing a DAO Events Budget for 2025 (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet is in favor of formalizing the DAO’s events strategy. It’s inefficient to have Arbitrum delegates review one-off sponsorships, and it would be best served by a committee and even better served with a pre-determined budget.

LTIPP Retroactive Community Funding Selections
Vote: Abstain
Gauntlet favors retroactively compensating contributors but does not agree with the diligence of reporting on work created or many of the amounts presented. Regardless, having delegates review the specific work of contributors toward LTIPP is largely an ineffective and inappropriate approach. We’d prefer that the LTIPP team establish a better way to provide decisions on each contributor’s work and retroactive compensation. As such, we vote Abstain.

26

(V2) Arbitrum Research & Development Collective (Snapshot)
Vote: 50% for Funded with 2.09M USDC + Council, 50% for Funded with 2.60M USDC + Council
Gauntlet voted for the two largest budgets, understanding the opportunity for an annual contract with quality service providers to serve the Arbitrum stakeholders. Disclosure: Gauntlet may apply for the Risk position and program funds will be deposited into an Aera vault.

[Non-Constitutional] Arbitrum Token Swap Pilot Program (Snapshot)
Vote: Against
Gauntlet does not see a clear value presented for the DAO in this token swap proposal and has voted against the proposal.

GCP Council Re-Confirmation Vote for Tim Chang (Snapshot)
Vote: For
After speaking with GCP members, Gauntlet believes Tim Chang is an appropriate candidate for the GCP Council and has thus voted in favor of his re-confirmation.

GCP Council Re-Confirmation Vote for John Kennedy (Snapshot)
Vote: For
After speaking with GCP members, Gauntlet believes John Kennedy is an appropriate candidate for the GCP Council and has thus voted in favor of his re-confirmation.

27

Arbitrum Security Council Elections (Onchain)
Vote: John Morrow, Gzeon, Emiliano Bonassi
Gauntlet voted to support John Morrow, Gzeon, and Emiliano Bonassi in the Security Council elections. Disclosure: while acting independently as a Security Council member, John Morrow is the Co-Founder and COO of Gauntlet. Gauntlet will not receive compensation should John be appointed to the Arbitrum Security Council.

28

Establishing a DAO Events Budget for 2025 (Onchain)
Vote: For
Gauntlet is in favor of formalizing the DAO’s events strategy. It’s inefficient to have Arbitrum delegates review one-off sponsorships, and it would be best served by a committee and even better served with a pre-determined budget.

(V2) Arbitrum Research & Development Collective (Onchain)
Vote: For
Gauntlet voted in favor of the ARDC, understanding the opportunity for an annual contract with quality service providers to serve the Arbitrum stakeholders.

Adopt a Delegate Code of Conduct & Formalize Operations
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted to formalize DAO governance operations and the Code of Conduct. It’s an appropriate standard for Arbitrum DAO governance.

29

[Non-Constitutional] Treasury Management v1.2 (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of the Treasury Management v1.2 Proposal. Gauntlet believes this is a meaningful step in the right direction for Treasury Management. Although the budget is relatively small compared to other proposals, it will be a useful experiment as the DAO looks to set up OpCo and further its infrastructure for treasury management.

Disclosure: Gauntlet + Aera aim to apply for the Treasury Management Program if it passes.

31

Restitution For Extensively Delayed ArbitrumDAO Minigrant Winners (Snapshot)
Vote: Against
After discussing the proposal and the situation with various stakeholders, Gauntlet agrees that the delay in funding the ThankARB program is, under normal circumstances, unacceptable for a grant program. That said, it’s clear that the grant was denominated in ARB and not a USDC value of ARB. As such, there is no cause for restitution from the DAO. Further, this was not a DAO-run program but rather an initiative funded by the DAO that was operated by the Thrive team. We would prefer to see the Thrive team take responsibility for these disagreements in the future rather than having each delegate litigate such small cases.

Lastly, it would set an incorrect precedent that ARB-denominated grants are valued at ARB’s USDC conversion rate at grant distribution. There is a reason programs convert ARB to stablecoins when their liabilities are denominated in stablecoins; in this case, the rewards were clearly denominated in ARB.

32

Hackathon Continuation Program (Snapshot)
Vote: Against

This program was difficult to review. Gauntlet believes that support for potential products from Hackathons should be rewarded, but this does not fully align with all aspects of the proposal. The primary friction here comes from confidence in the ROI of a rather large grant to support hackathon projects that may or may not have commercial viability. We appreciate the matching aspect of the grant and the framing of helping projects continue growth if they show promise. However, there is also a rather large operational budget, vague references to a venture model, a lack of convincing examples of previous investment success by the team, and quality example projects that serve Arbitrum’s primary needs. Collabtech is interesting, but it’s not a clear benefit toward Arbitrum’s immediate needs, such as innovation in DeFi, Orbit growth, on-chain gaming, etc.

Therefore, we’ve opted to vote against the proposal at this time, although we support the DAO if it chooses to fund this initiative.

1 Like
33

[Non-consitutional] User Research: Why build on Arbitrum? (Snapshot)
Vote: Against
Gauntlet votes against the “User Research: Why build on Arbitrum?” proposal due to its overlap with the ARDC, unclear deliverables, lack of quality research examples, and doubts about its critical importance to Arbitrum’s current state. We prefer engaging an established research firm with a proven portfolio. Without confidence in this proposal, we believe it is not an effective use of OCL, Foundation, and Delegate resources. Additionally, confusion exists over whether the focus is on users’ or builders’ needs, and the research methods and questions are not clearly defined, which, in our opinion, is a reasonable funding prerequisite for a service provider tasked with conducting such an analysis.

Designing and operating the reporting and information function (Snapshot)
Vote: Against
We have voted against this proposal due to its high expense, lack of clear deliverables on retroactive funding, and overcomplication of deliverables. Lastly, while OpCo isn’t live, we think a proven operator best does this. We would be more effective executing this reporting along with standardization in DAO program structure and financial standards beyond tracking down each program individually, and communication of those findings (as proposed here).

34

ARDC (V2) Security Election (Snapshot)
Gauntlet: 75% OZ, 25% ToB
OpenZeppelin is proven to be a competent security advisor across the Arbitrum ecosystem and in Compound, where Gauntlet has worked closely with the OpenZeppelin team. We also recognize Trail of Bits capabilities, hence the 25% allocation toward their application.

ARDC (V2) Risk Election (Snapshot)
Vote: Abstain
Gauntlet has abstained from the election as it had originally planned to run for the risk seat and did not want to influence the election. Gauntlet also defined a specific Risk scope in its comments on the original ARDC thread and did not find the existing applications sufficiently covered that scope.

ARDC (V2) Research Election (Snapshot)
Vote: 40% for Llama Research & Castle Capital, 40% for Blockworks Advisory, 20% for Messari
Gauntlet supported all three candidates for their reasonable rates and applicable scope.

ARDC (V2) Research Election (Snapshot)
Vote: 50% Frisson, 25% Tamara/Entropy, 25% Pedro Bauer
Gauntlet supports Frisson and Pedro as important DAO contributors and strong candidates for the Comms role. Tamara and Entropy were the only votes for the ops role.

Hackathon Continuation Program
Vote: Against
Per previous comments, this program is an interesting idea with idealistic value. Still, there is no clear ROI for the DAO, and there are questions about the value of the scoped services provided toward Arbitrum’s immediate needs. The proposal describes verticals not critical to the DAO’s immediate needs. More importantly, Gauntlet is hesitant to support investment and venture initiatives without a clear demonstration of venture experience and results at this time, especially in light of public scrutiny around the GCP program.

Treasury Management V1.2 (Onchain)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of the Treasury Management v1.2 Proposal. Gauntlet believes this is a meaningful step in the right direction for Treasury Management. Although the budget is relatively small compared to other proposals, it will be a useful experiment as the DAO looks to set up OpCo and further its infrastructure for treasury management.

Disclosure: Gauntlet + Aera aims to apply for the Treasury Management Program if it passes.

Arbitrum D.A.O. Domain Allocator Offerings) Grant Program - Season 3 (Snapshot)
Vote: Renew with 5 domains
Gauntlet favors the Arbitrum D.A.O. grant program renewal and the extended 5 domains. The program is the only consistent and operational grant program the DAO has produced, so it’s critical it is maintained. Further, the team has adjusted the scope to fit the DAO’s current needs.

[NON-CONSTITUTIONAL] Arbitrum Onboarding V2: A Governance Bootcamp
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of this program for reasons expressed in the forum. Uniswap’s interest in hosting a fellow adds momentum to support this thread; however, we would expect a strong proof-of-concept and results to justify a future renewal.

35

Unifying Arbitrum’s Mission, Vision, Purpose (MVP) (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet supports the mission, vision, and purpose outlined by the DAO.

Partner with ETH Bucharest 2025 (Snapshot)
Vote: Abstain
Gauntlet has expressed that this proposal is more appropriately served through other channels. We will not stand in the way of the DAO if it chooses to pursue it, but we believe this proposal is better delegated to other authorities with the power to fund it.

OpCo – A DAO-adjacent Entity for Strategy Execution (Snapshot)
Vote: Abstain
Gauntlet supports the vision for OpCo but awaits further changes in its goals and objectives (per our in-forum comments) before voting “For.”

36

Stable Treasury Endowment Program 2.0 (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of the STEP renewal. STEP has successfully attracted RWAs and institutional investment to the Arbitrum ecosystem, and we look forward to further DAO diversification.

Activate Arbitrum BoLD + Infura Nova Validator Whitelist (Onchain)
Vote: For
Gauntlet favors the Arbitrum BoLD upgrade and whitelisting Infura as a Nova Validator, as expressed in previous snapshots.

37

The Watchdog: Arbitrum DAO’s Grant Misuse Bounty Program (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of the Watchdog program, which supports identifying and reporting grant misuse and DAO-allocated funds. Especially following Blockwork’s successes in identifying and capturing misused funds, we feel this is a necessary program and the solution appears thoughtful and functional for a first iteration.

Arbitrum D.A.O. Season 3 Elections - Gaming
Vote: Flook
Gauntlet believes Flook is a strong candidate with extensive experience in the Arbitrum gaming ecosystem.

Arbitrum D.A.O. Season 3 Elections - Dev Tooling on One and Stylus
Vote: Juandi, Andreiv, Ariutokintumi
Gauntlet supported all three candidates with a slight preference for Juandi based on the candidates submissions.

Arbitrum D.A.O. Season 3 Elections - Education, Community Growth, and Events
Vote: SEEDGov
SEEDGov has proven itself a capable and quality actor in the DAO space and the organization has a strong understanding of web3 events having produced Governance Day events in the past.

Arbitrum D.A.O. Season 3 Elections - New Protocols and Ideas
Vote: Saurabh, Euphoria, CastleCapital
Gauntlet selected candidates based on their applications and their expressed visions for the new ideas and protocols category.

38

Proposal for Piloting Enhancements and Strengthening the Sustainability of ArbitrumHub in the Year Ahead (Snapshot)
Vote: Against
Gauntlet has decided to vote against this proposal, ultimately believing that while ArbitrumHub has put in significant effort (the web design and visuals of the website are of high quality - it looks great), there is insufficient traction or need in the Arbitrum community to justify the cost. For most decentralized entities, a project’s formal communications and brand are domains that the Foundation and Labs teams have best managed. Perhaps there is an opportunity to support websites for more specific DAO programs (GCP, OpCo, etc.). Having sites for those private domains or perhaps a route to nest Arbitrum Hub within more formal Arbitrum websites makes more sense.

That said, if the DAO supports this proposal, we will reconsider our position, and we are open to others’ opinions on whether the community feels this asset has greater value than we believe it does currently.

Arbitrum Strategic Objective Setting (SOS) – Defining the DAO’s Interim Goals (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of this proposal as a worthwhile experiment in goal setting for the ArbitrumDAO.

39

Approve the Nova Fee Sweep Action (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of the proposal to approve the Nova Fee Sweep Action. We believe this is a clear benefit to transfer the remaining 1,885 ETH to the Arbitrum DAO treasury.

Request to Increase the Stylus Sprint Committee’s Budget (Snapshot)
Vote: For
Gauntlet approves the funding of additional Stylus Sprint grantees. Supporting builders is one of the primary goals of the Arbitrum DAO, and the applications represented a sufficient quality for us to support an expansion of grants. We look forward to seeing the performance of these applicants in the future.

Arbitrum Growth Circles Event Proposal (Snapshot)
Vote: Against
Gauntlet upholds it’s position that the DAO has established clear infrastructure for events including the Events Strategy and a large budget by the Arbitrum Foundation.

40

Stable Treasury Endowment Program 2.0 (Onchain)
Vote: For
Gauntlet has voted in favor of the STEP renewal. STEP has successfully attracted RWAs and institutional investment to the Arbitrum ecosystem, and we look forward to further DAO diversification.

Activate Arbitrum BoLD + Infura Nova Validator Whitelist (Onchain)
Vote: For
Gauntlet favors the Arbitrum BoLD upgrade and whitelisting Infura as a Nova Validator, as expressed in previous snapshots.

OpCo – A DAO-adjacent Entity for Strategy Execution (Onchain)
Vote: Abstain
We are maintaining our “Abstain” vote on the on-chain proposal. Although the DAO clearly needs an operational scaffolding, this proposal relies heavily on the OAT election and a single hire without a clear process or an identified candidate versed in Arbitrum DAO operations. That dependence creates too much uncertainty to support blindly.

We also remain concerned about the proposal’s broad scope. We understand the tradeoff in flexibility, but the final version remains purposefully vague despite our concerns that it lacks specific KPIs and a defined roadmap. Compounding matters, several entities—including the Arbitrum Foundation, Offchain Labs, and even the proposal’s original authors—are now publicly positioning themselves to fulfill or redefine the roles OpCo intended to occupy. If the operational scope were clearer, it would be easier to support OpCo.

We acknowledge the DAO’s need for sovereign operational infrastructure. However, in light of these evolving dynamics, it is difficult to see how OpCo, as currently proposed, can confidently serve that function. Consequently, we will maintain our Abstain vote.

Should the proposal pass, Gauntlet will fully support the setup and aims to be heavily involved as a delegate to support the success of OpCo. It will be critical to the DAO’s success that this entity is staffed with capable and committed people.
Arbitrum D.A.O. Domain Allocator Offerings) Grant Program - Season 3 (Onchain)
Vote: Renew with 5 domains
Gauntlet favors the Arbitrum D.A.O. grant program renewal and the extended 5 domains. The program is the only consistent and operational grant program the DAO has produced, so it’s critical it is maintained. Further, the team has adjusted the scope to fit the DAO’s current needs. If alternatives are presented as time proceeds, Gauntlet would support the repurposing or adjustment of the proposal. Still, as it stands, the D.A.O. is the only small-medium funding route for Arbitrum projects via the DAO.

41

*Pending a route to vote via multisig on Snapshot (Following Gnosis Safe availability)

[CONSTITUTIONAL] AIP: ArbOS Version 40 Callisto (Snapshot)
Vote: For

Gauntlet is in favor of the ArbOS upgrade for Callisto on the Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova chains.

Arbitrum Audit Program
Vote: For
Gauntlet is in favor of the Arbitrum Foundation’s proposal to continue the Arbitrum Audit program under their leadership.