Excited to see the overwhelming interest from builders in the Stylus Sprint program. When we voted in support of the program, we did so because we believed that Stylus was going to be a driver of growth for the Arbitrum ecosystem. What we’ve seen in terms of program traction so far, seems to confirm this.
Given the unique advantage that Stylus brings to Arbitrum, as well as the quality of applicants, we think it’s in the interest of the DAO to capitalize on this by increasing the budget to support more projects.
We understand concerns regarding setting a wrong precedent around the utilization / allocation of grants budgets. However, we view this a strategic opportunity for the DAO to capitalize on. It’s important for the DAO to remain flexible under these circumstances.
Finally, we do not believe it is the best approach to ask applicants to bring their grant requests directly to the DAO. This will result in duplication of efforts (applications have already been reviewed) and additional delays. It also potentially sets another wrong precedent of grantees bypassing specially designated funding programs to seek direct funding from the DAO—defeating the purpose of program itself.