Since the release of v2 Alchemix has provided incredible surface area for builders as a DeFi money lego, providing a completely unique DeFi-native ability to spend and save at the same time. In August of 2022 Alchemix participated in the Gitcoin money legos hackathon, and for the first time we saw developers tapping into this building block, with incredible submissions such as self-repaying ENS loans, and the usage of Aztec to create privacy-preserving Alchemix. (both of which are still under active development)

.

Starting early 2023, we’d like to double down on this value proposition for Alchemix, and encourage builders further by creating an official Alchemix grants program! Through this program builders will be able to apply for grant money allocated through governance. The program will be run through Gitcoin’s upcoming Grants 2.0 infrastructure. Applicants will be encouraged to begin ideating and submitting applications at their earliest convenience, and the program itself will start as soon as Gitcoin’s platform is ready. (tentatively slated for sometime around April/May) This will allow ALCX holders to allocate funds among a group of applicants using quadratic voting. Similarly to the previously run hackathon, the Alchemix Biz-Gov sub-DAO will come up with some ideas on things that we would like to see built, but applications will be open for anything that leverages or benefits Alchemix in some way. We encourage the rest of the community to spend some time to come up with and pitch ideas, even if you are not planning to build it directly. We would be happy to add community-formed ideas to our own list of suggestions.

.

This is a pre-AIP to approve the creation of the grants program, encourage builders to begin coming up with ideas, and to decide on the parameters of Round 1 of the grants program. The pre-AIP seeks input from governance participants on the appropriate level of spending from the treasury that governance should use for this first round of grants. Upon conclusion of any discussions, the pre-AIP will be converted into a formal AIP, with a snapshot proposal that community members can vote on to make their opinions heard.

.

The biz-gov sub-DAO believes that it is important to allocate enough funding to encourage participation and support builders, but to ensure that enough is left in reserve to continue the grants program and support future rounds. With that in mind, the biz-gov subDAO is proposing an allocation of $25k of funding to be allocated as a trial to grant round 1, with the intention of hosting future grant rounds once per quarter.

.

As for the means of payment for grant winners, the optimal form of payout may differ depending on grant winners preferences, market conditions, or the contents of the treasury. Due to the myriad of options here, I personally think it’s most appropriate to let the core team decide how best to utilize treasury assets for payment. If you disagree with this line of thinking and believe the payment should be made in a particular way, feel free to comment so we can have more discussion on it if necessary.