Introducing ArbGrants.Com
LTIPP and STIP have made Abritrum a leader in incentive distributions at scale. Arbitrum requires solutions to track and monitor incentives in an accessible manner. To solve this challenge, Powerhouse teamed up with Stablelab to create ArbGrants.com, a consolidated grants workflow for project teams and grant program administrators.
ArbGrants: A Collaboration Between StableLab and Powerhouse
Stablelab is a leader in Web3 Research and Governance supporting major protocols. A primary focus of Stablelab is supporting Arbitrum including the ongoing program management of STIP, LTIPP, and STIPP bridge. As part of this role, Stablelab seeks to improve efficiency and transparency where possible. Stablelab partnered with Powerhouse to prepare a software proof of concept to streamline the ongoing reporting of incentive information. Powerhouse is a former MakerDAO Core Unit dedicated to scaling DAOs through transparent operations and open-source software. Together, Powerhouse and Stabelab aspire to continue improving the efficacy and transparency of Arbitrum’s incentive programs.
Using A Workflow UX for Business Processes
Rather than rely on spreadsheets or forum posts, ArbGrants uses a process-oriented workflow to guide projects through a simple and standardized UX. While admittedly modest, this basic UX serves as an example for how business workflows may be implemented through open-source operations software.
The ArbGrants.Com Transparency Workflow
- The Powerhouse Team Creates Documents for Each Grantee Based on Project Information
- The Grantees Use Documents to Report Metrics in 3 Steps (Planned, In Progress, Actuals)
- The Program Manager Monitors Reporting Compliance
- The Program Manager Documents Compliance and Provides Periodic Reports
Reporting With ArbGrants: Capturing and Sharing LTIPP Information
On ArbGrants, each project has a dedicated document which captures their incentive information over the 12 weeks. In order to modify the information of a given project, a user must first authenticate their credentials by logging in with an EVM signer, in this case, on Arbitrum. A signer may only modify documents where they are assigned by the Program Manager. While write permissions are constrained to only specific signers, anyone may read project data through open read permissions: all data submitted is open to all. To begin, projects must first authenticate their permissions to submit their data.
Signing in with Arbitrum Credentials
Renown is the identity & authentication app within the Powerhouse decentralized operations toolkit. Upon login it generates a Decentralised Identifier (DID) based on your ethereum address and issues a credential on Ceramic. This credential acts as a session key in Connect (Figure 1). Renown allows a user to sign any document modification and get access to their permissioned documents. By using an Ethereum signer we are able to track and validate all data submissions.
Figure 1. Logging in using an Arbitrum Signer with Powerhouse Renown
Reporting Grant Status
ArbGrants uses a multi-step reporting workflow built on Powerhouse Connect to help facilitate transparency and accountability. There are three steps during reporting: Planned, In Progress, and Actuals.
Step 1: Logging Planned ARB Bi-Weekly Distribution
At the beginning of a term, a user first starts by reporting the ARB tokens they intend to distribute during the two-week period. The user also reports on the contract they will use to distribute the ARB. The user labels the distribution mechanism (e.g. Airdrop or LP Incentives). The user then notes any meaningful changes from their original proposal or the previous biweekly period, as well as their expectations they have for this bi-weekly period. By noting changes, there user provides a historic record of changes, questions, or issues that may arise during the program.
Figure 2. Entering planned incentive distribution at the beginning of a two week term
Step 2: Logging In Progress Weekly Distribution
During the incentive period, around one week in, users are expected to report their current status of ARB distribution. This step helps to hold projects accountable for their ongoing ARB distribution.
Figure 3. Entering in-progress incentive distribution one week into a two week term
Step 3: Logging Actual Bi-Weekly Distribution
At the end of each two week term, users finalize their project metrics for the previous bi-weekly period. A report is complete once they finalize and report the actuals. At the end of one term, the user is ready to enter their planned distribution for the next two week term.
Figure 4. Reporting actual distribution at the end of two week term
Monitoring Project Compliance
Previously, monitoring compliance was difficult using the forums across many protocols. Using ArbGrants, the Program Manager may easily monitor the compliance of each protocol. By examining the overview page of each respective project, the Program Manager or Council can see the status of reports at a glance and ensure compliance. In the future, an aggregated dashboard using Powerhouse Fusion may provide consolidated overviews to all interested stakeholders.
Figure 5. A concept mock of a future transparency dashboard.
Figure 6. An overview of report submissions for a given project
Figure 7. An example of a single completed bi-weekly project report
ArbGrants Live Support Requests
LTIPP/STIP.B Projects that have support requests may file tickets for live support here or may reach out directly over TG via the coordination channels. We are already in the process of supporting the first 86 projects for LTIPP reporting.
We Welcome Comments and Feedback
The above provides a brief overview of one valuable use case of our open-source operations software. We will continue to add features to Connect and improve the workflow UX for LTIPP and STIP.B during the coming 12 weeks. We look forward to the opportunity to support Arbitrum and continue to explore additional initiatives where possible.
Please feel free to comment here or reach out in private for any collaboration inquiries (Lumen@powerhouse.inc or ArbGrants@powerhouse.inc).
Onwards and upwards!
