Oversight and Transparency Committee (OAT) - June 2026 Elections Application Thread

Applications for DAO programs
13

Full Name

Rika Goldberg

Contact Information

Current Occupation

Founder of Axia Network

Country of Residence / Time Zone

United States / Eastern Time

Applicant / Nominee Qualifications and Experience

1. Identify one of the domains described within the Desired Qualifications section in the OpCo - Oversight and Transparency Committee Application Process Overview forum post in which you have the most experience and describe that experience.

My strongest fit is Business Development, Venture Building, and Strategy & Operations.

I am especially interested in this role because OpCo’s work is expected to focus on establishing new business lines and revenue opportunities for Arbitrum DAO. That makes OAT’s oversight role strategically important. OAT should not execute OpCo’s day-to-day work, but it should help evaluate whether OpCo is pursuing commercially credible opportunities, allocating resources responsibly, and creating sustainable value for the DAO.

My relevant experience sits at the intersection of DAO governance, institutional relationship-building, and ecosystem strategy.

Outside of Arbitrum, I have been building relationships with financial institutions, family offices, wealth-management stakeholders, and other potential institutional adoption partners in Atlanta and the broader Southeast. This network gives me a practical lens on how traditional capital allocators and financial institutions evaluate crypto opportunities: what they understand, what makes them cautious, what kinds of counterparties they trust, and what use cases feel credible enough to explore.

I believe this perspective is highly relevant to OpCo’s mandate. If OpCo will be developing new revenue streams for the DAO, it will need to identify areas where its infrastructure can support real business activity: payments, settlement, financial applications, institutional DeFi, tokenized assets, enterprise or semi-enterprise pilots, and other commercial use cases. OAT members do not need to be the sales team, but they do need to understand what good revenue strategy looks like.

My contribution would be to help OAT pressure-test these opportunities. For example:

  • Is this a real business line or just vague ecosystem activity?
  • Who is the customer, partner, or user?
  • Why is Arbitrum well-positioned to capture this opportunity?
  • What resources are required?
  • What risks, conflicts, or dependencies exist?
  • What would validate or invalidate the opportunity?
  • What KPIs would allow delegates and tokenholders to evaluate progress?
  • How does this support Arbitrum’s long-term position?

In short, I believe I can help OAT evaluate whether OpCo’s work is commercially meaningful, properly resourced, aligned with the DAO’s mandate, and connected to networks that can help Arbitrum grow.

2. Describe your network and reputation within the blockchain/technology industry. Have you previously represented a crypto brand and/or navigated DAO governance?

My network sits across DAO governance, DeFi, academic blockchain communities, and increasingly traditional finance / family office circles.

In traditional finance and institutional circles, I have been actively building relationships with financial institutions, family offices, wealth-management stakeholders, and capital allocators in Atlanta and the broader Southeast. I see this as directly relevant to Arbitrum DAO’s next stage of growth. Many of these groups are interested in crypto, but they need credible education, clear risk framing, trusted counterparties, and use cases that connect to real business needs.

This gives me a useful perspective for OAT. If OpCo is exploring new business lines for Arbitrum DAO, it will need to understand how non-crypto-native institutions evaluate opportunities. It will also need to distinguish between relationships that are interesting in theory and relationships that can realistically lead to adoption, pilots, capital, or recurring economic activity.

My academic network is also relevant. I have relationships with Georgia Tech blockchain, cryptography, and computer science professors and students. I recently mentored Georgia Tech CS students on a DAO/governance research project where they chose Arbitrum as their case study. Their work included a GitHub PR to the Arbitrum Foundation governance repository with technical annotations of Arbitrum’s governance and Security Council architecture, and I later turned their work into a public visual explainer deck on Arbitrum’s Security Council architecture. I was also interviewed for a forthcoming Harvard Business School case study on Uniswap. I believe Arbitrum can benefit from stronger bridges into academic institutions, both for technical talent and for credible research and education.

Within DAO governance, I originally contributed to Arbitrum governance through 404 DAO and later acquired its governance assets, forming Axia Network as a new entity to continue governance work. That transition is public and documented in the 404 DAO delegate communication thread.

Since then, Axia has continued participating in governance and maintaining public delegate communications.

My Arbitrum-specific work includes active governance participation, STIP application review (404 DAO was later elected to the LTIPP Council), delegate incentive and accountability discussions, service as an elected Arbitrum DAO multisig signer through 404 DAO, leading a DAO contributor onboarding working group and pilot, and completing a Firestarters grant researching a potential DAO Contributors Program. I maintain a public portfolio of this work here:

https://rikagoldberg.xyz/DAOs/arbitrum

I have navigated DAO governance both as a contributor and delegate turning research, relationships, and governance participation into durable institutional knowledge. My reputation is built around being thoughtful, direct, and focused on whether governance activity translates into real outcomes.

3. Detail your experience in advisory, governance, and/or oversight roles.

My oversight experience is strongest in governance review, treasury execution integrity, program evaluation, and strategic accountability across leading DAOs in the Ethereum and Bitcoin ecosystem.

As an elected Arbitrum DAO multisignature wallet signer through 404 DAO, I had direct responsibility related to treasury execution integrity: reviewing and signing transactions that disburse DAO funds. That role requires attention to process, accuracy, and trust rather than public visibility. It also reinforces an important lesson for DAO oversight: operational details matter, especially when delegated authority and treasury movement are involved.

I have also reviewed governance, grant, and incentive programs with attention to ROI, measurable outcomes, incentive design, and whether requested resources were likely to create durable ecosystem value. In Rootstock Collective, a leading Bitcoin DAO, I review grant applications and assess whether the proposed work is aligned with ecosystem priorities, realistically scoped, and likely to produce measurable impact. This is relevant to OAT because OpCo’s work should not be evaluated only by activity level. It should be evaluated by whether resources are being directed toward commercially credible and strategically meaningful revenue drivers for the DAO.

My background across DAO governance, institutional relationship-building, and academic networks gives me a useful vantage point for this kind of oversight.

4. Have you previously contributed to the Arbitrum DAO? Describe any relevant experiences through which you’ve gained an understanding of the DAO’s current structure, contributors, and programs.

Yes. I have contributed to Arbitrum DAO as a delegate, governance contributor, elected treasury multisig signer, contributor onboarding working group lead, and Firestarters grantee.

Relevant contributions include:

Arbitrum DAO Multisignature Wallet Signer

I served as an elected signer responsible for reviewing and signing treasury disbursement transactions through 404 DAO / Axia. This role gave me direct exposure to the operational side of DAO governance, where accuracy, process, and execution integrity are essential.

STIP Application Review

I assisted with the review of a high volume of STIP applications with attention to incentive efficiency, ROI, measurable outcomes, and whether proposed incentives were likely to create durable ecosystem value.

Delegate Incentives / Accountability Work

I have participated in delegate incentives and accountability discussions, including discussion related to the Rewarding Active Delegates program and broader questions of how the DAO should evaluate governance contributions.

404 DAO → Axia Network

I originally contributed through 404 DAO and later acquired its governance assets, forming Axia Network to continue governance participation and public delegate communications. That transition is documented here.

Arbitrum Contributor Research and Governance Education

I have also worked on contributor research and governance education within Arbitrum, including contributor onboarding research and a governance bootcamp pilot. While not my core OAT value proposition, this work gave me deep context on the DAO’s structure, execution capacity, stakeholder landscape, and operational challenges.

Public Educational and Technical Artifacts

My work samples include an Arbitrum Security Council architecture walkthrough, Arbitrum DAO contributor research, Georgia Tech student mentorship, DeFi/governance visualizations, and other public artifacts:

https://rikagoldberg.xyz/work-samples

Through this work and my continued active engagement in Arbitrum DAO, since its inception, as a delegate and contributor, I have developed a practical and high-context understanding of the AAE vision.

5. Given the scope of OpCo is relatively broad in its current form, describe how you view OpCo’s role within the DAO and what it should accomplish to deem the entity a success over the next 3-5 years.

I view OpCo as Arbitrum DAO’s operational coordination and execution layer: not a replacement for tokenholder governance, and not a political center of power, but a professionalized entity that helps the DAO pursue and execute on revenue creating opportunities.

The most important part of OpCo’s role, in my view, is helping Arbitrum establish new business lines and revenue opportunities. Arbitrum already has strong technology, liquidity, brand recognition, and ecosystem depth. The question is how the DAO turns those strengths into sustainable long-term sources of value.

That requires more than general coordination. It requires identifying commercially credible opportunities, building relationships with the right partners, testing business lines, understanding market demand, and creating reporting that helps the DAO understand what is working.

I also understand OAT’s role as distinct from OpCo’s role. OAT should not execute OpCo’s day-to-day work. Its role should be to provide oversight, consultation, and accountability: ensuring resources are allocated efficiently, OpCo remains within the DAO’s mandate, strategic objectives are met, and delegates and tokenholders receive reporting that is clear enough to evaluate progress.

Over the next 3-5 years, I would like to see OpCo succeed across several areas.

1. New Business Lines and Revenue Streams

OpCo should help Arbitrum identify and develop revenue opportunities that are commercially credible and aligned with Arbitrum’s strengths.

Potential areas could include:

  • payment and settlement use cases
  • institutional DeFi
  • fintech or bank partnerships
  • tokenized asset infrastructure
  • ecosystem business development
  • venture-building opportunities
  • strategic partnerships that bring recurring usage, fees, or commercial value to Arbitrum

Not every opportunity will work. That is why OpCo needs strong oversight and clear reporting. The DAO and tokenholders should be able to understand what is being tested, why it matters, what resources are being used, and what would count as success or failure.

2. Strategic Partnerships and Network Development

OpCo should make Arbitrum easier to partner with.

That means clearer partner intake, better routing of opportunities, faster coordination across stakeholders, and more professional follow-through with external organizations.

This is one area where OAT members can be useful without becoming executional. OAT can help open doors, provide market feedback, identify relevant networks, and pressure-test whether proposed partnerships are likely to create value.

3. Institutional Adoption

Arbitrum should continue building credible pathways for institutional adoption. This does not mean chasing every enterprise conversation or treating institutions as the only audience that matters. It means identifying specific use cases where Arbitrum’s infrastructure can solve real problems.

My own network in Atlanta and Southeast financial institutions and family offices gives me a practical lens on this. Many traditional capital allocators and financial actors are curious about crypto, but they need education, credible counterparties, clear risk framing, and use cases that feel concrete. OpCo can help Arbitrum meet that market with more structure.

4. Accountability and Transparency

OpCo should produce reporting that lets delegates and tokenholders understand what is happening, what is working, what is blocked, and what requires governance input.

This could include KPIs, quarterly reporting, budget context, deal pipeline summaries where appropriate, decision logs, mandate tracking, and clear communication around major operational decisions.

OAT should help make this reporting decision-useful. Transparency is not just posting updates. It is giving the DAO enough context to understand whether OpCo is making progress against its mandate.

5. Operational Maturity

OpCo should help Arbitrum move from informal coordination to more long-term sustainable operating capacity that creates revenue for the DAO.

That means better handoffs between governance and execution, clearer vendor and service provider processes, stronger communication channels, and more consistent coordination across AAEs.

What Success Looks Like

In 3-5 years, I would view OpCo as successful if:

  • Arbitrum has new revenue streams or commercially credible business lines.
  • OpCo has helped source, evaluate, and support meaningful strategic partnerships.
  • External partners understand how to engage with Arbitrum.
  • Institutional partners view Arbitrum as serious infrastructure for payments, settlement, DeFi, and application development.
  • Delegates and tokenholders can clearly understand what OpCo is doing and why.
  • OpCo’s reporting gives the DAO enough context to evaluate progress.
  • Resources are allocated efficiently and within the DAO’s mandate.
  • OpCo has improved coordination between the DAO, Foundation, Offchain Labs, AAEs, service providers, contributors, and external partners.
  • OpCo is trusted because its processes are transparent and accountable.

My contribution to OAT would be to bring a business development, network, and strategy lens to that oversight. I can help ask whether OpCo’s work is commercially meaningful, whether the right external stakeholders are being engaged, whether opportunities are realistic, and whether the DAO has the information it needs to evaluate progress.

OAT does not need to be the sales team. But it does need to understand what good revenue strategy looks like.

Additional Information

Additional context and work samples are available at my governance portfolio and work-samples page.

Other relevant context:

  • I am based in Atlanta and have been building relationships with financial institutions, family offices, wealth-management stakeholders, and other potential institutional-adoption partners.
  • I have relationships with Georgia Tech blockchain, cryptography, and CS professors.
  • I recently mentored Georgia Tech CS students on a DAO/governance research project where the students chose to use Arbitrum as a case study.
  • I was interviewed for a forthcoming Harvard Business School case study on Uniswap.
  • I previously worked with 404 DAO, then acquired the governance assets and formed Axia Network to continue advancing governance work.

404 DAO → Axia Network transition reference here.

References

Pruitt Martin — Entropy
Dan Peng — Arbitrum Gaming Ventures (AGV)
Sinkas —OpCo
Patrick McCorry — OAT / Arbitrum Foundation

Disclosures

Please disclose all of the applicant’s/nominee’s actual and potential conflicts of interest, including but not limited to financial, personal, DAO governance, and professional.

I am the founder of Axia Network, a governance and strategy entity that participates in DAO governance and may pursue research, advisory, ecosystem strategy, or business development work with DAOs and crypto organizations.

Potential conflicts could arise if Axia, an Axia client, or an entity with which I have a financial, advisory, referral, token, equity, or business relationship becomes involved in an OpCo or OAT matter. If elected, I would disclose and recuse from any such matter where appropriate, and comply with all confidentiality, ethical trading, self-dealing, and conflict-of-interest requirements.

I do not represent or work full-time for a direct Arbitrum competitor.

I hold crypto assets and may hold assets related to ecosystems or protocols that interact with Arbitrum. I would comply with any OAT ethical trading, confidentiality, and disclosure requirements, and would disclose specific holdings where required or where they create a material conflict.

Please disclose all active contributor roles and payment streams related to the Arbitrum DAO that the applicant/nominee, and entities that they have a professional or financial relationship with, has and is receiving:

My only active Arbitrum DAO contributor payment stream is participation in the Rewarding Active Delegates (RAD) program through Axia Network.

I will disclose any additional Arbitrum-related contributor role or payment stream if one becomes active.

Declarations

  • The applicant/nominee understands that any offer to join and hold a position in the OAT is contingent on:

    • Successfully completing as well as maintaining updated all relevant non-disclosure agreements, KYC requirements, and other necessary documents

    • Not being a direct representative or full-time employee at network competitors (e.g., Solana, Polygon, Optimism, etc)

    • An individual will be entitled to run as a candidate for the election. No single organisation should be overly represented in the OAT. There should be no more than 1 candidate associated with a single entity.

    • If a candidate is elected on behalf of an organisation, then the OAT membership is tied to them and cannot be rotated to someone else in the organisation. It will be up to the current OAT to enforce the above policy, and if a candidate is excluded from the election, then the rationale must be publicly disclosed to the ArbitrumDAO

    • Being aligned with the community values listed in The Amended Constitution of the Arbitrum DAO, following the Code of Conduct for delegates, being committed to prioritizing the Arbitrum DAO’s needs, and acting in absolute good faith and utmost honesty to fulfill their duties to the best of their abilities.

  • The applicant/nominator confirms that they have read and understood all the content within this form and that the information submitted is accurate and complete: Yes

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