This proposal seeks to introduce CGP Intents and renew the grants program for 6 months with Wave 2 as an iteration of Wave 1, with an allocation budget of $500,000 in CTSI.
Proposers: Pedro Argento, João Garcia, Hellenstans.eth
Summary:
- The Grants Council proposes renewing the Cartesi Grants Program (CGP) for Wave 2, building on the foundation of Wave 1.
- Based on the learnings from Wave 1, the Grants Council proposes shifting to a more proactive and forward-looking approach to grant funding with the introduction of Intents.
- Intents are medium-term goals or objectives that guide the strategic direction which the community should focus on. Think of an Intent as a North Star for CGP.
- Wave 2 will run for 6 months, during which proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis. After the 6-month period, the Intents will be reviewed and possibly updated to ensure they continue to align with the ecosystem’s evolving priorities.
- The Grants Council has drafted five key Intents for Wave 2 to enhance alignment, focus and success across the ecosystem.
- All community efforts and projects supported in Wave 2 must align with our Intents.
- Proposals will follow a structured submission process, including community feedback and evaluation by the Grants Council.
Key learnings and updates from Wave 1
Wave 1 key updates and learnings can be viewed here. All the Wave 1 processes and proposals submitted can be viewed here.
Context
The Cartesi Grants Program (CGP) is an iterative governance experiment aimed at increasing the number of value-aligned builders within our ecosystem. During the Pilot and Wave 1 phases, CGP supported various builders and projects with unique ideas. While these initiatives achieved notable successes, a misalignment often emerged between what the community proposes and what CGP and the Cartesi project broadly value as most impactful for the ecosystem.
To address this, the Grants Council proposes a structured framework for Wave 2, introducing Intents as foundational elements. These Intents will provide clear direction on what CGP values and seeks to achieve, aligning proposals with targeted objectives. This approach draws inspiration from community-centric models like GitcoinDAO and Optimism.
Based on feedback and leveraging the Technical Evolution Plan (TEP) from the Technical Vision Council, the Grants Council has defined clear, actionable, and measurable Intents. These Intents align with the ecosystem’s strategic direction, providing qualitative metrics to track progress and measure impact. This alignment ensures that CGP’s efforts contribute effectively to the ecosystem’s goals, guiding current and future projects towards collective success.
CGP Intents
The following Intents are proposed to guide the strategic direction of Wave 2, ensuring alignment with the broader ecosystem goals.
Intent 1: Maximize modular integrations
Objective: Maximize the availability and utility of integrations between Cartesi and other ecosystems especially those within the modular blockchain narrative.
The ecosystem should continue making progress with its unique proposition in the modular space to fully unlock computational capacity offered by Cartesi Rollups and the Cartesi Virtual Machine.
This includes support for solutions that integrate Cartesi’s execution layer with DA layers, sequencers, blockchain naming systems, and more.
Success Criteria:
- Increase the number of Mainnet Cartesi dApps that integrate with other solutions.
- Increase the Cartesi developer community by having developers and teams from other communities integrate Cartesi into their applications.
- Assess the robustness and effectiveness of new integrations.
- Gather feedback from developers and users on integration efforts.
- Evaluate how integrations enhance ecosystem interoperability.
Examples:
- DA integration solutions with Celestia.
- Restaking primitive integrations (EigenLayer and alternatives)
- Rollup transactions and state access and archival
Intent 2: Strengthen Infrastructure, Services and Support for Mainnet Applications
Objective: Strengthen the ability of developers to deploy and run applications on Mainnet L1s or L2s.
The ecosystem should focus on growing the number of high-demand Mainnet applications through support for infrastructure, services, and software for mainnet applications.
This includes software and tooling that reduce challenges of deploying Cartesi-based Mainnet applications.
Success Criteria:
- Increase in the number of developers deploying applications on mainnet.
- Evaluate feedback and engagement from the developer community.
Examples:
- Dashboards for easy deployment of node software into AWS
- Patterns for secure key management of rollup nodes
- EIP4844 blob support for cheaper transaction fees
Intent 3: Enhance Cartesi developer experience
Objective: Enhance developer experience by providing advanced tools and frameworks for efficient dApp creation and deployment.
In order to onboard more users and developers to the ecosystem, the community should focus on improving the developer experience on Cartesi, making it easier to build, test and deploy applications on Cartesi.
Success Criteria:
- Developer “happiness” and less drop-outs noticed during onboarding developers.
- Decrease in the amount of time needed for developers to create applications.
Examples:
- Integration of Cartesi tools with mainstream IDE’s like VS
- Leverage of mainstream debugging or tracking tools
Intent 4: Expand the Cartesi design space
Objective:
The Cartesi Machine as a technology is not only for Rollups or off-chain compute but can be used in many different settings. Expanding the design space is about enabling both existing applications to do more but also to use the Cartesi Machine in many new places.
Success Criteria:
- Successful entry into new areas of Cartesi technology in areas not previously established in.
- Differently skilled developers than those already in the ecosystem building on Cartesi.
Examples:
- Reproducible software builds
- Secure replicated computation
- CM as offloading computation on low-end or IoT devices
- Tools and frameworks that enable the verification and transparency of AI processes
Intent 5: Grow the Cartesi ecosystem
Objective: Increase the number of developers building mainnet applications and teams with existing applications integrating with the Cartesi ecosystem.
The Cartesi ecosystem has seen exciting growth in the number of developers building across different verticals in the ecosystem.
In addition to strengthening infrastructure, services, and support for mainnet applications, the community should also focus on:
- Growing the number of developers building and deploying novel applications on mainnet across any L1 or L2.
- Supporting teams with existing consumer or end-user applications interested in integrating with Cartesi.
Success Criteria:
- Increased number of mainnet applications using Cartesi technology.
- Increased number of integrations.
- Increased number of active developers in the ecosystem.
- Increased number of users interacting with mainnet applications.
- Increase in the number of participants in governance activities.
Examples:
- Support teams looking to expand and integrate their existing applications with Cartesi.
- Support teams building games that highlight the capabilities of Cartesi, e.g, on-chain games requiring extensive computational power or those that distinctively utilize its RISC-V / Linux VM
- Support projects addressing groundbreaking ideas and solutions that address consensus mechanisms, DeFi protocols, NFTs, etc.
- Support solutions that enhance governance structures and participation in the ecosystem.
Pathways to Achieve CGP Intents:
All work supported by the CGP will align with these Intents. There are two main pathways for developers and teams to apply for grants:
Request For Proposals (RFPs)
Proposed missions from the Cartesi core units and community that invite proposals for high-impact work. These missions address specific needs in the ecosystem, such as developing new features or creating solutions in pursuit of the Intents.
RFPs can be:
Broadly-Scoped: Wide call for diverse, creative solutions, encouraging submissions of multiple approaches that address the problem specified in the RFP.
Tightly-Scoped: Specific, measurable, and time-bound tasks that drive and support the development needed in the Cartesi ecosystem.
Community Proposals
Involves Cartesi community members proposing their own ideas with tangible steps to achieving CGP’s Intents. These proposals are actionable and specific, guiding the journey towards fulfilling our Intents.
What would this mean for CGP and the Community:
-
RFP generation: We see this model as a way to enhance the ecosystem’s ability to generate meaningful Requests for Proposals (RFPs) under the objectives and outcomes described in the Intents, maximizing the effectiveness of our grant funding.
-
Strategic Alignment and Improved Governance: By defining clear, actionable Intents, CGP will progress towards a more structured and focused approach to grant allocation. This will enhance alignment with the ecosystem’s broader goals as outlined in TEP.
-
Increased Community Engagement and Empowerment: The use of Intents will empower the community by providing clear guidelines on what types of projects and initiatives are most impactful and aligning their efforts around this. This clarity will facilitate greater community involvement.
-
Improved Measurement and Impact Assessment: Setting specific metrics for each Intent will improve CGP’s ability to track and assess the potential impact of projects funded. This will not only enhance transparency but also allow for better decision-making and help CGP to enhance data points that build on past success and learnings.
Steps to Implement
1. Discussion on the governance forum: We are seeking community comments on this proposal and the purpose of each Intent. The Grants Council is available to provide feedback, and we are excited to hear your thoughts and collaborate on shaping the Cartesi Grants Program.
2. Vote on Snapshot: A vote will be held on Snapshot to signal approval for Wave 2 renewal. Voting options will be For, Against, and Abstain.
3. Launch of Wave 2: If the vote passes on Snapshot, the Grants Council will launch Wave 2 of the CGP for a 6-month period.