AEZ Quadratic Grant, a long-term initiative for funding public goods within the ATOM Economic Zone and Cosmos’ first-ever quadratic funding series for public goods, today announced the commencement of its second round. This round is backed by an 8,000 ATOM + $20,000 matching prize pool, notably provided by Cosmos Hub and ATOM Accelerator (AADAO) from Cosmos Prop#917. To apply for a grant, visit the AEZ Quadratic Grant homepage. This round’s BUIDL submission period goes from May 16 to July 3rd.

Following the passing of Cosmos Proposal #917, a substantial allocation of 80,000 ATOM has been secured, with over 99% of the voting Cosmos validators Yes/Abstain (among them 91.9% for Yes). This funding is set to support 10 successive rounds of quadratic funding grants at the AEZ Quadratic Grant, starting from Round 2 to Round 11. Additionally, with robust backing from AADAO, an extra $200,000 will also be committed to the prize pool, distributing $20,000 for each round to further empower the public good builders.

This million-dollar funding initiative will operate over the next 24 months, supporting early-stage public good projects and open source ventures within the ATOM Economic Zone, which is crucial for those builders who are yet unrecognized and unfunded, providing them with a platform and the resources to innovate and contribute to the Cosmos ecosystem and expand the AEZ.

Cosmos Prop#917

Public goods funding has always been of crucial importance to the Cosmos Hub’s stakeholders, undoubtedly. In Prop#917, 80,000 ATOM was requested for 24 months of a quadratic grant prize pool for public goods and new teams building on the Hub and within ATOM Economic Zone. Despite market fluctuations, such strategic funding ensures that the ecosystem remains strong and resilient, underpinned by a solid foundation of public goods.

Prop#917 is one of the most supported CosmosHub proposals to date. It received overwhelming support from the Cosmos community, including SG-1, Cosmostaion, Everstake, ZKV, Informal Systems, Stakecito, and many more. With a 56.2% turnout, over 99% of the voting validators voted yes or abstain (91.5% for yes). We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all who supported the AEZ ecosystem's public goods, reinforcing the collective commitment to a robust and innovative Web3 community.

AEZ Quadratic Grant

In AEZ Quadratic Grant Round 1, 8 public goods projects were funded with quadratic funding and will be continuously funded by the program until they stop developing or receive major funding. Meanwhile, more projects will enter the ongoing Round 2 (May 16–July 3rd for project applications) and following rounds to secure funding from the prize pool and the community. The program sets no limit for project categories; all types of AEZ public goods and open source ventures eligible to apply and potentially gets funded.

Public goods typically are not fully venture funded and usually do not have any discernible business model or way to commercialize, so decentralized community funding can often be the only path to survival. Some of the AEZ public goods the Cosmos Hub community could support include IBC infrastructures, NFT indexers, creative Cosmos SDK modules, developer toolings, emerging appchains, local communities / hackathon organizers, etc. Some projects might eventually evolve into venture-scale projects, some might remain non-profitable. The AEZ Quadratic Grant is set to support both types of early-stage teams, as long as the project is meaningful to the AEZ and the BUIDL team keeps improving its products.

What’s QF? Quadratic funding is an on-chain funding distribution mechanism based on the result of quadratic governance, an innovative governance scheme that is often considered an improvement of the traditional 1-person-1-vote or 1-dollar-1-vote model. With a quadratic voting algorithm, the power of each vote to a single project from a single contributor will decrease, which would prevent funding distribution from extreme preferences of whale voters.

As pioneers of QF implementation, Dora Factory and DoraHacks are one of the first to support on-chain quadratic funding on both EVM and non-EVM compatible blockchains. In 2023, Dora Factory and DoraHacks brought the first QF round to the Cosmos eco zone through an Archway QF round in October.

Further reading on QF: Building Effective On-Chain Governance Mechanisms

We firmly believe that even small contributions can help shape the future of the vast Cosmos ecosystem and ultimately give rise to new cornerstone applications. By actively participating in the Quadratic Grant, voters can play a vital role in shaping the future of Cosmos. Their contributions, regardless of their size, have the power to make a tangible impact on the distribution of the prize pool. For more details, please read Quadratic Funding and Voting Guide