Title: Stipend for Indigo Protocol Working Group (PWG) Members and Forum Moderator
TL;DR:
Provide elected PWG members and the Forum moderator a small stipend to support their work on behalf of the Indigo Protocol and community. Formally extend PWG member’s elected terms to May 31, 2025.
Background:
In passed Proposal No. 8 from December 2022, the Indigo DAO appointed Fortune as Governance Moderator of the Forum pages. Similarly, in passed Proposal No. 16 from June 2023, the Indigo DAO appointed five community members committed to the development of the Indigo Protocol to the newly-formed Protocol Working Group (PWG). The Moderator’s appointment is indefinite, but the PWG members’ terms technically expired at the end of 2023. The existing PWG members were seen as grandfathered as the DAO did not motion to remove any of the members at that time, so there have been no lapses in the support the PWG has been providing through the course of 2024.Should this proposal pass, the terms will be extended for another year as suggested above.
The Indigo Labs team proposed appointment of a Moderator to ensure that there was someone appointed to help DAO members post and manage temp checks and to enforce the policies for the Forum pages.
The formation of the PWG was part of an effort to support the formation of a number of working groups to harness the collective expertise and dedication to Indigo of the community, while at the same time furthering the Protocol’s standing as the most decentralized DeFi protocol on Cardano.
Being the Forum Moderator or a PWG member up to now has been a voluntary position, but the Labs team believes that a small monthly stipend of INDY from the DAO Treasury is necessary to support the increasingly-time consuming work for these roles. We propose that the Moderator and PWG members each receive 400 INDY per month from the Indigo Foundation. The stipend will be transferred after each full month of service within 10 days of the end of the month. Should any PWG member be removed or resign during the course of a compensable month, their stipend will be pro-rated for the time of the month they were still on the PWG. If there is no new member that has backfilled the vacancy, the INDY will be withheld from the distribution until a new member is elected by the DAO.
We also propose that the PWG members be appointed to serve through May 31, 2025. Formally extending the term of each current PWG member does not change that a PWG member can resign at any time and can be replaced at any time by a vote of the DAO.
We believe that it is common for various elected individuals or groups (e.g., Core Contributors, multisig holders, etc.) to receive some form of payment for their dedication of time to the project that they support. The Labs team sees this Proposal as taking the logical next step in building strong foundations of community-run structures for the Protocol.
PWG Work to Date:
The PWG has demonstrated its value to the DAO in many ways over the past 11 months, including:
Engaging in ongoing and very active communications within the community;
Representing the Protocol externally to the greater ecosystem;
Collaborating with other Indigo working groups as necessary;
Ideation of Protocol feature and functionality enhancement for future upgrade sprints;
Acting as general watchdogs of treasury funds
Taking the lead on revenue generation ideation
Hosting quarterly community calls
Providing regular assessment and proposals regarding Liquidity incentive distribution; and
Continued evaluation of the Indigo DAO constitution.
The PWG has taken the lead on several passed Proposals as well:
The PWG also has proposed a pending Temp Check relating to the restructure of the INDY for liquidity pool incentives:
Finally, the PWG has also developed and operates the Indigo Insights page which has been merged into the Protocol web-app page:
https://app.indigoprotocol.io/market-distribution
We feel that the PWG has delivered on its value as a voice for the community and that its individual members should receive some recognition of their time and efforts now that we are passed V2 and can utilize the DAO Treasury to help develop the Protocol.
Moderator Work to Date:
The Forum Moderator, Fortune, has been part of the Indigo community since before launch, and has assisted on numerous Temp Checks and Proposals from the past 15 months since his election, He has assisted in helping many members of the Indigo Protocol community with understanding and working through the Temp Check / Poll / Online Proposal processes. He also works to advocate for the Protocol and the DAO in the broader defi space.
The Proposal:
A ‘yes’ vote by DAO members on this Proposal approves the transfer 28,800 INDY from the DAO treasury to the Indigo Foundation as tokens earmarked for the Foundation to use to pay a 400 INDY stipend to each of the five PWG members monthly and the single Forum Moderator from June 2024 through May 2025; and approves that the current PWG members be given a term through May 2025.
A ‘no’ vote on this Proposal make no changes and leaves the Moderator and the PWG as a voluntary group, and the PWG as having expired terms.
Broad community participation has been a goal of the Indigo Protocol since the first whitepaper, and the individuals who have volunteered to date in these formal roles have proven their value as strong contributors to Indigo community organization, communication and development. This Proposal takes the next step towards formalizing their critical roles, and we ask for everyone’s support.
