Dear Bankless Nation 🏴,

Have we finally figured out brand clarity? A lot was discussed in our most recent community call. Ryan was joined on stage by several BanklessDAO contributors to finally put the brand clarity conversation to bed. Tons of ideas and suggestions were made to not only aid this discussion but to also address issues regarding sustainability within the DAO. Ryan eventually sighted a “TED vs TEDx” model that could work for bDAO and we urge the community to give this a look.

Speaking about DAO sustainability, the Grants Committee elections are live. Here is an opportunity to advance the DAO’s mission, build lasting financial structures, and shape the future of the organization via governance. This week’s editorial further highlights the importance of the GC and why they are an essential unit in the DAO.

In other news, bDAO projects are firing on all cylinders, and CryptoSapiens seems to be leading the way. The project brought in two podcast hosts for the new season and is currently undergoing a website revamp. We can’t wait to see what CryptoSapiens have got planned for us this year and we know it’s only up from here.

Are you ready for Bankless Card? A lot is happening within the Bankless Cardigans group, and the most notable has to be the public launch. Yes, there were a few glitches in December but Bankless Card will be live this February 2024. Contributor NFTs were airdropped to the passionate individuals who have been a part of their journey, and Patrons were not left out either. Visit your favorite NFT viewer and you should see them in the hidden tab.

It’s just the start of the year, there are so many moving parts but we will do our best to ensure you can keep up. Have an amazing weekend!

Contributors: Lucent1, Chameleon, Warrior, Paulito, Vi-Fi, Kornekt, WinVerse

This is an official newsletter of BanklessDAO. Please subscribe and share to help us grow our audience as we fulfill our mission to build user-friendly crypto onramps.

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💰 Donate to BanklessDAO via polygon in their latest QF Round on Giveth.

🎙️ Listen to Making Bank’s latest episode, BanklessCard is Shipping.

🧐 Learn How to Bank (Governance) on Tuesday, January 18th at 14:00 UTC.

🏃‍♀️ Catch up: Listen to this week's Community Call recording.

Proposals in Discussion

🗳 Season 10 - Grants Committee Election Submission

The Season 10 Grants Committee election nomination period is currently underway, with six seats available to be filled. Nominations will be accepted until January 21. Following this, a Snapshot vote will determine the elected members of the S10 Grants Committee. If you aspire to contribute to this essential role, kindly submit your application on the Forum.

🧾 BanklessDAO Grants Transparency Report - Season 9

This Transparency Report marks the inaugural release in a series of regular seasonal updates from the Grants Committee. Its purpose is to provide the DAO with insight into the grants process and create a platform for valuable feedback from the community. So please do well to vote on the poll in the report and let them know how well they performed.

Inclusive Consistency From Our Grants Committee

Author: Lucent

Governance ditches the old-school top-down approach. True DAO governance opts for a democratic, community-driven model, where decisions aren't dictated by a central authority but emerge from the collective voice of contributors. It's like a digital town hall meeting where every member has a vote. This is the governance model we have adopted in BanklessDAO. And while this democratic setup fosters inclusivity, there are still hard blocks that need to be tackled to make more room for growth and stability within our community.

The upcoming Grants Committee election for Season 10 is an exciting opportunity to foster growth within the community as there are six available seats. In the spirit of promoting inclusivity and effective governance, we take a stroll down memory lane to appreciate the impactful achievements of the Grants Committee in recent seasons and also forecast the effect it will have in the long run, shedding light on why these seats are crucial. The Grants Committee operates on a foundation of consensus and consent-based governance, actively involving diverse voices within the community. This approach ensures that decisions are a reflection of collective input from stakeholders with varying backgrounds, steering clear of the dominance of specific interests.

The BanklessDAO Grants Committee has demonstrated its commitment to governance, with a notable example in Season 8, when the Grants Committee played a pivotal role in navigating funding challenges for the BanklessDAO Writers Cohort. With the guidance of Links — when he led the Grants Committee in Seasons 4 and 5 — the cohort realigned their KPIs for community engagement. Links clarified the role of KPIs as guideposts and data points for measuring project status, health, and direction. This strategic move led to immediate positive outcomes, making the cohort more participatory, and even resulting in a Cohort participant addressing the Treasury Department live on stage during a community call, as highlighted in HiroKennelly's editorial, 'Thank You Grants Committee.'

The fact that the Grants Committee's work bore fruit for the community three seasons later underscores their strategic foresight and adaptability, essential virtues for community growth.

Looking ahead to Season 10, the proposed changes to the funding process by the Grants Committee hold great promise to positively impact the DAO's operations and community engagement. Some of the anticipated benefits of that proposed change should include:

• An Improved Grant Request Process: The decision to limit grant requests to L1 contributors and above ensures that only actively engaged and committed members can request grants. This strategic move is expected to result in more serious and quality grant proposals. By streamlining the evaluation process, the Grants Committee aims to enhance the overall impact of funded projects. This change is not merely about exclusivity but about fostering a community where dedicated contributors drive meaningful initiatives.

• Focused Guild Operations: The proposal introduces a system of providing guilds with a flat weekly hourly grant, coupled with additional funding through a token-weighted Snapshot vote. This approach is designed to incentivize guilds to operate efficiently and engage the broader DAO community. By encouraging guild coordinators to manage their resources effectively, the Grants Committee anticipates fostering more collaborative and impactful guild activities. The token-weighted Snapshot vote adds an extra layer of community involvement, ensuring that funding decisions align with the sentiments of the broader DAO community.

• Clarity and Direction for Departments: The proposed changes require departments to include a purpose statement and seasonal KPIs in their grant requests. This addition provides a clear framework for these essential DAO units. By articulating their purpose and setting specific KPIs, departments can enhance their strategic alignment with the overall mission, vision, and values of BanklessDAO. This measure not only facilitates better tracking of departmental performance but also ensures that resources are utilized effectively and efficiently, contributing to the DAO's goals.

Above all, these proposed changes are geared towards fostering greater community engagement and participation. By decentralizing the decision-making process and actively involving the broader community in funding decisions through Snapshot votes, the Grants Committee aims to enhance a sense of community ownership. As contributors become more directly engaged in shaping the direction of the DAO, the collective spirit of BanklessDAO is likely to thrive.

If you're a Level 1 contributor or higher and want to play a direct role in shaping the Grants Committee and, by extension, the community, head over to Forum to apply — respond with your Discord handle, reasons for applying, qualifications, and your sponsor(s).

The submission deadline is January 21st, with elections set to run from January 22nd to January 28th. We're looking for more community-driven members to join our Grants Committee and to continue steering the ship of governance. Let's keep that spirit alive!

BanklessDAO Participates in Polygon's QF Round on Giveth

Giveth and Polygon have teamed up for a quadratic funding round, in which BanklessDAO is participating. The round, which runs from January 15th to January 24th, aims to support creators and builders in the Polygon ecosystem, foster innovation, and make a global impact. BanklessDAO's inclusion in the funding round highlights its commitment to promoting financial self-sovereignty through education and decentralized technologies. This strategic alliance signifies a pivotal moment in the ecosystem, showcasing the power of collaboration and shared goals.

Read our application here and donate to drive positive change and elevate projects on a global scale. Note that only donations via Polygon are eligible.

⛴️ BanklessDAO Content

🧠 Crypto Sapiens

💰 Making Bank

🗞 The Rug Newsletter

📰 Layer 2 Review

🗨️ How to Discord

The ‘How to Discord’ session will cover introductory Discord topics to address the many questions received in the DAO’s Discord from people new to the platform and the DAO. If you are just joining us or you are relatively new to the DAO, please join us on Tuesday, January 18th at 14:00 UTC.

🤖 How to Sesh Bot

Learn how to use one of the most common and accessible tools for organizing in Discord. We will be walking you through creating role-gated events and polls in the Discord server. This will be happening on Wednesday, January 19th at 14:00 UTC.

📘 How to Bank (Governance)

Join the Education Department on Thursday, January 20th at 14:00 UTC to learn about the BanklessDAO handbook and in particular, how the DAO is structured.