Type: Report Authors: Gitcoin Research Timeframe: 2024
Data Visualizations:
- Funding by Mechanism 2024 (Chart)
- Capital Flow Trends (Infographic)
Sources:
Executive Summary
The Ethereum ecosystem distributed over $500M to public goods in 2024 through various mechanisms. This report analyzes the landscape, trends, and opportunities.
Key Findings
Capital Flows by Mechanism
Estimated public goods funding in 2024:
- Retroactive Funding: ~$150M (Optimism RetroPGF 5 & 6, OP Stack incentives)
- Quadratic Funding: ~$50M (Gitcoin rounds, clr.fund, Octant)
- Direct Grants: ~$200M (EF ESP, Arbitrum LTIP, protocol treasuries)
- Streaming: ~$50M (Protocol Guild distributions)
- DAO Treasuries: ~$50M (Nouns, ENS, other DAOs)
Mechanism Trends
- Retroactive funding maturing: Optimism's RetroPGF has become a major force, with rounds 5 and 6 distributing over 10M OP tokens
- QF decentralizing: Community rounds expanding beyond Gitcoin core with 15+ independent rounds per season
- Streaming gaining traction: Protocol Guild's $92.9M success inspiring adoption
- Hybrid approaches emerging: Combining mechanisms for different needs
Notable Programs
- Protocol Guild: $92.9M+ pledged for 187 core devs
- Optimism RetroPGF: 100M+ OP distributed across all rounds
- Arbitrum Incentives: 117M+ ARB through STIP and LTIP
- Gitcoin Grants: $60M+ total since 2019
Recommendations
- More investment in impact measurement infrastructure
- Better coordination between major funders
- Focus on sustainability beyond one-time grants
- Support for mechanism research and experimentation
