The Challenges of “DAO Governance” in Supporting Technical Decisions: Gitcoin Announces Restructuring and Establishes a Laboratory
Open-source financing platform Gitcoin announced that it will shift its focus from public product financing to donations for Ethereum infrastructure. In addition, it will establish a laboratory to address the shortcomings in technical decision-making by DAO.
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Gitcoin Executive Director: Lack of Execution and Time-consuming DAO Structure
Gitcoin Restructuring Plan: Building a Protocol Laboratory
Do Community Members Have Sufficient Technical Background to Determine Development Direction?
Gitcoin Executive Director: Lack of Execution and Time-consuming DAO Structure
According to Blockworks, since its launch in May 2021, Gitcoin’s organizational structure has been relatively flat, without an executive director giving orders. Relevant workflows, specific tasks, or project teams have always been approved through community governance voting.
However, this is a very time-consuming process. With the development of DAO, Gitcoin has transitioned from an organization focused on influence to one that is more technology-centric. Kyle Weiss, Gitcoin’s executive director, said in an interview:
This is not in line with the existing DAO structure, which is too disconnected. Everyone is in a completely remote environment, and our personnel come from almost all continents. Stability, operation, and software development are crucial, and we will need a core team composed of knowledgeable individuals.
Gitcoin Restructuring Plan: Building a Protocol Laboratory
As part of the restructuring plan, Gitcoin has internally established two business departments. One department will focus on coordinating product-related work, while the subDAO will manage community governance affairs.
Kyle Weiss pointed out that over the years, Gitcoin has tried various products, some of which have gone the wrong way, while others are valuable for future development. In the past, Gitcoin mainly focused on grants, but now Gitcoin’s narrative revolves around funding public goods. This shift is because Gitcoin has transformed from an influence organization to a technology organization.
Kyle Weiss explained:
The DAO will shift towards a structure more similar to a “laboratory,” which is common, just like the way Uniswap Labs, OP Labs, and their respective protocols collaborate. We want to ensure the stability of software development and then give the DAO substantial scope of work.
Do Community Members Have Sufficient Technical Background to Determine Development Direction?
The “laboratory” structure can give software development teams greater leadership and clearer decision-making authority, allowing the community to focus on achieving results through governance voting for grant programs.
Kyle Weiss also claimed that he is not sure whether token voting governance, the so-called appropriate decision-maker for technical aspects and long-term roadmap, is proven.
Gitcoin co-founder Kevin Owocki shares the same view:
The DAO structure has not been proven to be sufficient to support software development. The reason for building a laboratory team is to realize this in our organizational structure and ensure that we are building world-class software.
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Kyle Weiss
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