Do good work, transparently, while being accountable
Good governance and transparency are the hallmarks of any org with a public service mission. At the Atom Accelerator DAO, we strive to set the standard for all other protocol DAOs and foundations.
Setting the standard for DAOs and protocol foundations
Time and again, the Cosmos Hub has lead web3 in engineering, its DAOs, like the AADAO, sets the standard for all DAOs and foundations.
These are some elements of our drive for better transparency.
Onchain Payments
All our payments - grants, ventures, salaries and expenses - are made onchain, publicly viewable by the community.
View our wallets >
Data Dashboard
All our funding applications are listed on our website, and we maintain a detailed data dashboard of our Funding Programs.
Funding Dashboard >
Independent Oversight
Independent Oversight body, with financial independence from the executive, ensuring unbiased monitoring of activities and decisions.
View team members >
Elected Oversight Member
Enshrined in our Internal Protocols is to have one Oversight member directly elected by Cosmos Hub governance onchain.
View team members >
Transparency Reports
The Oversight Committee produces their independent reports into our work on a regular basis.
View our Transparency Reports >
Community Calls
Our leadership team hosts regular open calls with the community to address questions, comments and concerns about our work.
View the next call >
Internal Protocols
Our Internal Protocols - by-laws and procedures - are codified, published publicly and adopted by an onchain All of AADAO vote.
View the policy >
All of AADAO Vote
For key org-wide decisions, all Contributors have a say proportional to their contribution to the DAO, with an onchain vote.
View on DAODAO >
Code of Conduct
We have a rigorous Code of Conduct policy that Contributors must abide by, which in turn, in openly shared with the community.
View the policy >
Clear Funding Terms
We maintain clear and honest communication with grantees, ensuring they understand the terms of receiving public funding from the Cosmos Hub.
View the T&Cs of grants>
Active on Forum
We actively participate in the Cosmos Forum - the beating heart of Hub's governance -
encouraging community discussions and feedback.
Create a topic on Cosmos Forum >
Active on Socials
Our team members are active on socials and the Cosmos Forum, and easily contactable by members of the community.
View our team members' socials >
Our Teams, Wallets & DAO DAO
Our team is divided into 4 primary groups, each with their distinct scopes, operating as their own DAOs on DAODAO.
All of AADAO
This is a functional DAO on DAODAO where we conduct onchain “All of AADAO” votes, as mandated by our Internal Protocols.
This group is made up of all AADAO members, with votes weighted in accordance with the contributor’s roles in AADAO and whether they are full-time or part-time.
View the DAO DAO page of this group here >
Strategy Committee
The Strategy Committee guides AADAO and the Cosmos Hub, driving innovation and growth. They are also ultimately responsible for approving the Cosmos Hub Venture Investments we make.
In addition to our General Manager and Grants Lead, who sit on this committee, some of its members are part-time external contributors, added to the committee for their knowledge, experience and insights.
Unless otherwise stated in our Internal Protocols, this committee’s proposals and votes require a 66% majority to pass, based on a membership of between five to seven members. This currently equates to 4 out of 5 members (Jul’24).
View Strategy Committee members here >
View the DAO DAO page of the Strategy Committee here >
Grant Committee
The Grant Committee is responsible for awarding and determining the terms and conditions of grants, specifically those in our regular grants program.
This is the beating heart of the Atom Accelerator, and almost all members of this committee are full-time contributors to the DAO.
Unless otherwise stated in our Internal Protocols, this committee’s proposals and votes require a 62.5% majority to pass, based on a minimum membership of three members. This currently equates to 5 out of 7 members (Jul’24).
View Grant Committee members here >
View the DAO DAO page of the Grant Committee here >
Operational Committee
The Operations Committee oversees non-grant activities for AADAO, including managing payroll, expenses, communications, marketing, the official contributor list, and special initiatives. We ensure smooth operations and effective support for the AADAO community.
Most members of this committee are full-time contributors to the DAO, but note that no one sits on this committee exclusively – contributors to this committee are usually either members of the Grant or Strategy Committee.
Unless otherwise stated in our Internal Protocols, this committee’s proposals and votes require a 50% majority to pass, based on a membership of between three to five members. This currently equates to 2 out of 4 members (Jul’24).
Oversight Committee
The Oversight Committee conducts random spot checks on grant-funded projects to ensure compliance with terms and monitors the performance of the Grant Committee and other AADAO committees.
While technically a committee, members of this committee are not part of the “executive” of the DAO. They are all part-time external contributors, with a requirement of having one member appointed via an onchain election on the Cosmos Hub.
Since this committee’s work differs from that of other committees, it has differing voting requirements depending on the type of proposal. Please consult our Internal Protocols for full details.
View Oversight Committee members here >
View the DAO DAO page of the Oversight Committee here >
currently unused / under construction as at Jul’24
In-Depth Data on Every Application
Visit our Funding Dashboard or the Funding Issued pages to get all the information about applications to the AADAO, and how we have deployed our funding.
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How do you handle conflicts of interest?
All the Contributors at AADAO hold themselves to a high level of conduct, especially when acting as stewards of the Cosmos Hub. In the spirit of transparency, you can view the internal policy that we use to ensure compliance here.
What is the role of the Oversight Committee?
The Oversight Committee is effectively independent of the Atom Accelerator DAO’s “executive” teams. It conducts random spot checks on grant-funded projects to ensure compliance with terms and monitors the performance of the Grant Committee and other AADAO committees.
Specifically, the Oversight Committee’s role is to:
- Provide internal controls of the ATOM Accelerator DAO such as expenditure controls, monitoring of conflicts of interest as well as publishing of transparency reports.
- Oversight & accountability of grant recipients through follow-ups on milestones and deliverables
- Interface with the ATOM community at large to inform of the latest developments.
Enshrined in our Internal Protocols is to have one Oversight member directly elected by Cosmos Hub governance onchain – thus providing direct community oversight into our operations. For a list of current members of the Oversight Committee, see our Team page.
How do you assess applications?
We assess applications using a rating sheet to pre-screen them. Two members of our Grant Committee team complete the pre-screening task, chosen by their expertise in the grant category you applied for.
A total of 16 points is possible, and an average grade of 13.5 or higher from the two reviewers is the threshold needed for an application to move on to the interview stage.
The rating criteria can be read here.
How do you prevent double-funding between Regular Grants and Quadratic Funding programs
A team could technically apply for funding through more than one of our funding programs. However, the scope of the funding and arrangements will have to be different.
Several teams have applied and been approved for funding by our Regular Grants program and the Quadratic Funding program. In the example below, we will use DAO DAO.
- DAO DAO received $67,100 in funding via our Regular Grants program in August 2023 to deploy their tooling on Neutron. The grant included the development of some specific functionality and integrations that we requested for their tooling.
- DAO DAO then received $80,000 in funding again via our Regular Grants program in July 2024. This grant was to deploy their tooling on the Cosmos Hub, now that the Hub can host CosmWasm contracts (a requirement of DAO DAO).
- Unrelated to both of these grants, the DAO DAO team applied to our Quadratic Funding program and received $1,060 in matching contributions in Round 2 of the program in June 2024. The scope of that grant was a generic “maintenance and development” of the tooling as an Interchain-wide public good since the tooling is deployed across the ecosystem. The amount of matching contributions from us was determined by the public support they received during that round.
So, the two approved funding requests from our Regular Grants program were for pre-determined amounts for a fixed scope, where our Grants Team worked closely with DAODAO to define and evaluate deliverables.
In comparison, the Quadratic Funding for DAO was for a smaller, undetermined amount. It has a loose scope (since funding amounts are not set) and is generally open-ended in terms of deliverables. It is based solely on community support that projects get during the Quadratic Funding Round.
AADAO does, however, monitor new projects that list themselves for Quadratic Funding. Where it is a team that we have funded through our Regular Grants program, we ask them to clarify the scope of their QF application, and should the scope be exactly the same as the Regular Grant funding they received, working with DoraFactory, we exercise discretion in removing them from the QF Round.
Who will review my application?
Applications will be initially screened by two members of our Grant Committee team, chosen by their expertise in the grant category that you applied for.
Should your grant application pass this initial screening, you may be invited to an interview or we may request further information by email.
After the interview, there will be a vote within our Grant Committee – with the grant being approved once there is a majority consensus. Any member with a potential conflict of interest will be recused from the vote.
You can view our Grant Committee members here.
