{"signature": "0x509b1c36750962017f89860936e9731f37a5ba8f46c4d7df444b8c01cafd392c59ce06fe600004f69d97ba57698d91262d5454ce63935be624357887da30594f1c", "application": {"round": "0xf3dc658c73fc3e931d6d621f33c30c333e342132", "answers": [{"type": "multiple-choice", "hidden": true, "question": "We distribute funds in $TEC on Optimism Chain (OP Mainnet). Please confirm that you are aware of that.", "questionId": 0, "encryptedAnswer": {"ciphertext": "zgJd7aIcTn3VoFOzhNIGQF5X/c2zCiCT52gm89AJln8=", "encryptedSymmetricKey": "ac01d9e25e7568a13d0a702b056bfda0f2ea9bb3d9c9bee89e0b46604341a0762ab1893543eb3574813a4d266634000f0b855082591f23ac30534590906c7c539f186389650f063a75fa3ec269e625368173363a60ed103d7f744ea19a8a7697972ce5baafeb0a460d1adcb601d58a00f1c4b26a84d598e24ba98101261f0c550000000000000020e1c91378dbfc76fbdecd8929b854744013001357ad80435600fbfdacf39998dd0828c1f377cea4e3f222fa1fd9898582"}}, {"type": "email", "hidden": true, "question": "Email address", "questionId": 1, "encryptedAnswer": {"ciphertext": "RxVSemH+BvGqAV/12i2waRYGz6Se/kbJkq9FT/RrrdQsMybiiiNsytvZ58eFx4Fb", "encryptedSymmetricKey": "56f883a624f54e7c1d0c5a1cc725b8a990ff19336ac5e07e00c59afa966bd5b2ed7e00a041065f4fa9ed30bd0bc837026ec318976819e90b399ba477e8718992bbf755e4241bdd5de41216b70a3ad6c12f840a379171d709a2c2140fbceade82233b913adc08b6b2abfe2b66bd7a0759929a5ff188e28a62a619f815ffef61bd0000000000000020bf58a729d324d9a9f592509cbab4fbc4dac8c01491de7ebafa254ddfd3d2b76750b6bdb2f5430c15ef33469d68703584"}}, {"type": "short-answer", "hidden": true, "question": "Telegram handle", "questionId": 2, "encryptedAnswer": {"ciphertext": "Yc/NXeV5Y3WlzP6abje6z67xjNbxZDrBHkX5+VtLQnc=", "encryptedSymmetricKey": "ce3818971d6f6bf039c0eab6304d63cab6fa034156a0633b0a13fccc4d1766bf3be734e18af17ee484ad6333b1a0e7043dc50a9a9d297d1366f41e16c05482dbb0168bad744d6d6fb0e681af0a076b993dfd04218f7eb3feeced13a0dffe39b6c61b4803431797a8d39e5123d02d31388ea28aa3944d6b0312fdefc94fabd0a50000000000000020efd2ef4fa238d6cf69f94931dd68bf53107a6513b219f8a227899825d7610c0d40f24ef8a8e1ef0162360f3c3c07fcb0"}}, {"type": "address", "hidden": true, "question": "If you participated in past Gitcoin grant rounds using a different project payout wallet address, please share it here.", "questionId": 3, "encryptedAnswer": {"ciphertext": "9j/dkS97+APcoOsDdj1QQvxky8txNARRucYPiC4Bslc=", "encryptedSymmetricKey": "e81bf87c0d3f643821128a60ff4416fc76f6672639e96551cd41f90984c5d5a6933f194fd5459527bcbe3eea8053910f8b2f338a49342bc9df77f565d96a161dacc5c2dfef772b03d7f6edbfae80dd745d01afe1c061ea14b0fb97e020b43eb15d95f5aca6c4cfb0916711fb15870c202ebaedf927c448f720b8f498d88d775e0000000000000020ba8eea5d612083ce4effe9cab46b388e0e5e164efba91fa7692880a0cafd6912f872b0e03f18bb80d615023daf3d80b1"}}, {"type": "multiple-choice", "answer": "Yes", "hidden": false, "question": "Have you read and confirmed that your project abides by the Program General Eligibility Policy? https://tinyurl.com/tegrants-policy", "questionId": 4}, {"type": "paragraph", "answer": "Shawn Anderson, an entrepreneurial data scientist with an MSc. from Simon Fraser University, founded Longtail Financial in 2018. Longtail serves diverse sectors like DeFi, NFTs, and DAOs. He was also a founding steward of the Token Engineering Commons and is a continuing contributor to cadCAD, an open-source modeling and simulation tool.\nhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnwanderson/?originalSubdomain=ca\n\n\nJeff Emmett is a skilled Token Engineering Researcher and Engineering Communicator at BlockScience and co-founder of Commons Stack. He is deeply engaged in exploring and researching systems design and analysis with a focus on economic and governance mechanism design. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. He is the co-author of “Exploring MycoFi: Mycelial Design Patterns for Web3 and Beyond” and countless other research papers and articles.\nhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-emmett-05268139/\nhttps://medium.com/@jeffemmett\n\nJessica Zartler is a researcher and communications lead at BlockScience. She is also a Founding Steward of the Token Engineering Commons, an advisor to the Token Engineering Academy, and a course author for the Token Engineering Fundamentals course. She is also the former Ecosystem Development Director at CommonStack and co-author of “Exploring MycoFi: Mycelial Design Patterns for Web3 and Beyond”. Her work focuses on systems design and analysis, including economic and governance mechanisms. She is passionate about ecological regeneration and Web3 as emancipatory tech. \nhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicazartler/\n\nRohan Mehta: Rohan Mehta is a Data Scientist and Token Engineer at BlockScience, with a strong background in Physics and Electronics from BITS Pilani. His work focuses on consulting Web3 projects on tokenomics and building incentive mechanisms aligned with stakeholder actions and system goals. He uses tools like cadCAD and Machinations for complex system analysis, and teaches at the Token Engineering Academy.\nhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/rohan-mehta-5b086b190/?originalSubdomain=in\n\nCurious Rabbit https://www.linkedin.com/in/curiousrabbit/?originalSubdomain=ca\nRxx\n", "hidden": false, "question": "Individual or team summary", "questionId": 5}, {"type": "multiple-choice", "answer": "Research", "hidden": false, "question": "Project category", "questionId": 6}, {"type": "paragraph", "answer": "The Bonding Curve Research Group is an independent, decentralized team of scholars and engineers who came together out of a shared passion for researching, educating on, and applying bonding curves in practical ways.\n\n\nUnited by the mission of elevating bonding curves from an academic cryptoeconomic concept to an accessible building block that solves high-impact problems, the group brings together diverse skills across systems engineering, mathematics, modeling, economics, data and computer science, design, community building, and more. Since early 2023, the research group has hosted free public learning calls attracting hundreds globally, produced educational articles and videos demystifying concepts for mainstream developers, modeled live examples with partners and built open source libraries.\n\n\nThrough comprehensive investigations covering algorithmic design spaces, parametric simulations and models, use case prototyping, and monitoring of deployed examples, we intend to expand the design space of what’s possible and responsible using programmable financial primitives. The research will tackle volatility for projects and ecosystems, access barriers around complex math for developers, the need for multi-disciplinary collaboration, and real world evaluation through case studies - while producing papers, interactive media, workshops, infrastructure and codebases that invite global collaboration.\n\nSpecific Problems\n\nComplex Concepts: Bonding Curves are often presented as advanced mathematical concepts, making them inaccessible to many potential users.\n  \nLimited Tools: Experimenting with, designing, and deploying bonding curves usually requires specialized knowledge and tools, creating a significant barrier to their use.\n\nLack of Best Practices: The absence of clear guidelines for configuring and using bonding curves in different situations makes it difficult for projects to apply them confidently.\n\nAdoption Barriers: The combination of the above factors discourages many projects from exploring the benefits of BCs.\n\nVulnerability to Volatility: Market volatility poses a threat to DAO treasuries, highlighting the need for countercyclical curve designs to ensure liquidity.\n\nResearch Questions\n\nHow can we simplify the explanation of BC to make them understandable by a wider audience?\nWhat are the essential components of open-source tools that would make experimentation and deployment of BCs more accessible?\nWhat are the key use cases and best practices for configuring BCs in various DeFi & DAO contexts?\nHow can we foster community engagement and partnerships to drive adoption and further exploration of BCs?\nWhat are the most promising countercyclical BC designs for maintaining liquidity and stability in volatile markets?", "hidden": false, "question": "What specific problem(s) do you seek to solve with this grant, and how will you know whether you have accomplished your goal(s)?", "questionId": 7}, {"type": "paragraph", "answer": "Research & Development : Bonding Curve Research Group (BCRG), has pioneered in-depth research, practical applications, and empirical analysis of bonding curves. The Conding library, a Python tool for analyzing and modeling bonding curves, has made significant contributions to the research and development (R&D) efforts. It enables researchers and developers to understand and experiment with bonding curve mechanisms, which are fundamental to various DeFi applications, including Automated Market Makers (AMMs) and token issuance platforms.\n\nEducational Resources: We have aggregated diverse content, including articles, videos, and written material related on bonding curves. It has become a valuable one-stop resource for individuals and organizations looking to explore and understand this complex topic. This initiative has contributed to making knowledge about bonding curves more accessible, helping both newcomers and experts in the field to enhance their understanding. By providing a hub for educational material, our library fosters learning, research, and innovation in this realm. It serves as a testament to our commitment to advancing education and knowledge sharing.\n\nCollaboration : Our active pursuit of collaborations and partnerships with renowned players in the ecosystem showcases our dedication to pushing the boundaries of these technological primitives, i.e  bonding curves. By partnering with groups like TEC and TEA, we have positioned ourself at the forefront of innovation and knowledge exchange within this domain. Being the lead sponsors for the MVP Investable Workstream further underscores our commitment to advancing the field of bonding curve. The objectives of developing bonding curve modules, testing, auditing, documenting, and deploying them highlights our comprehensive approach to ensuring the successful integration and utilization of these mechanisms. These collaborations and sponsorships are instrumental in driving forward the research and practical application of bonding curves, contributing to the broader ecosystem's growth and development.\n\nCommunity Engagement: We have been hosting weekly ‘free and open’ study sessions which are attended by developers, researchers and enthusiasts. Thought leaders from various communities and organizations like TEA, BlockScience and Bancor  present and attend these sessions regularly.", "hidden": false, "question": "Describe how your project contributes to token engineering and why it is a valuable public good.", "questionId": 8}, {"type": "multiple-choice", "answer": "Minimum viable product (MVP)", "hidden": false, "question": "What stage do you consider your project is currently in?", "questionId": 9}, {"type": "paragraph", "answer": "Working with Inverter Network to build a bonding curve module on Inverter, along with new open source models for primary issuance and secondary markets.", "hidden": false, "question": "Please share any new updates or milestones from the prior months.", "questionId": 10}, {"type": "paragraph", "answer": "It enabled us to do Phase 1 & 2 research, documentation and building out initial roadmap, articles, and organize regular community study sessions and public engagement, as well as promotion of token engineering as a field and the commons as a Schelling point for coordinating research, development, and education.", "hidden": false, "question": "If your project has received prior funding from the Token Engineering Grants Program, please describe the impact that funding has had on the project.", "questionId": 11}, {"type": "short-answer", "answer": "TEC, OP Retro PGF", "hidden": false, "question": "Previous project funding sources (VC, grants, token sales, etc.)", "questionId": 12}, {"type": "number", "answer": "67000", "hidden": false, "question": "Total prior funding for the project in USD", "questionId": 13}, {"type": "short-answer", "hidden": true, "question": "How did you hear about the Token Engineering Grants Program?", "questionId": 14, "encryptedAnswer": {"ciphertext": "kBxr3yMyAcfwKOYd1CW1B+J5WBKE7QM+43fh4TimvUY=", "encryptedSymmetricKey": "96e9ca90a308814fd1fadfef34535f33d7b71eca7c2930d50aa06464e2f249105b27dd0b34daee1e2519aaf84cf7680c0ad51fdbfdd12fcd133bf3a3f7f2d76b92dc4ef56d3d940f5827523be9876694ae48eed46afd218f70fec6d137c0f9879a4d999345e5a4dcdffefbfc99467b2c66ab6bbcd9744aafe1fabe0b669b2f610000000000000020fb7a3e7be35483157ce3715af6d8e0fadfec691eeecbe15f4547f4c6720349d59c4788cecf4f80305c77ad38772f0190"}}, {"type": "multiple-choice", "hidden": true, "question": "Would you agree to participate in a follow-up survey approximately 8 weeks after the grant round to assess the impact of the funding on your project?", "questionId": 15, "encryptedAnswer": {"ciphertext": "+8eVq1e/6TxFjh1+lWXHR3TjIZkhfm+4R3D/gEX2eng=", "encryptedSymmetricKey": "6943cf016582db394e7b684a2b875da5a7e5591423ce27f8b55f6b5b70a08a08597f73c5c03b19ed9a0dd04981cc2c054b1c7cfe53518edd750a0222ab93161bbe6628640508822de8c1dc36ed07c0783fa0ed8120a2be46947ef50d6e3439adcca0d43e2d6d5ae4458b7ea1bd1d05cdea7a349cd1f9c46df11adb74b5e389060000000000000020d24300458629f7dcb8f664d56cdc983e677ad330e00cbbdffa1ddeddcb45b045688c6b3701312f5fb188d2fe78e4a990"}}, {"type": "paragraph", "answer": "No - thank you so much!", "hidden": false, "question": "Anything else you'd like to share about your project, previous work, or other project affiliations? Anything you'd like to add that has not been covered?", "questionId": 16}], "project": {"id": "0x77ad10f6532a1fe22e28870d7f4d73eb3b05331c9470ebf1356aed5d5a9ef240", "title": "Bonding Curve Research Group (BCRG)", "logoImg": "bafkreihm7vwebl3lu6gz5i245czbockzwc4v7f4zvh5ked2dzeebeeu4e4", "metaPtr": {"pointer": "bafkreihzagnpzgoln6dj5gahfwtiafcmviglmjb3ttgw5bslvf36uqi2qa", "protocol": "undefined"}, "website": "https://auspicious-cap-b5c.notion.site/Bonding-Curve-Research-Group-a0fe00e81d84435a8fddd547a7888063", "bannerImg": "bafkreicfu4kalr3c7w75ctggxystnjvtryzyh2e62lrtjaannslfktnlx4", "createdAt": 1692040900341, "userGithub": "jessicazartler", "credentials": {"twitter": {"type": ["VerifiableCredential"], "proof": {"jws": "eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSIsImNyaXQiOlsiYjY0Il0sImI2NCI6ZmFsc2V9..fFk70NN5Ju-395v8fp9UYUuXaNFZmVW7AzBePXEbH_bBOiLF20VC-G_0C6QdMosNnHKAECnM0osaY1MQuQThBg", "type": "Ed25519Signature2018", "created": "2024-04-11T22:46:43.106Z", "proofPurpose": "assertionMethod", "verificationMethod": "did:key:z6MkghvGHLobLEdj1bgRLhS4LPGJAvbMA1tn2zcRyqmYU5LC#z6MkghvGHLobLEdj1bgRLhS4LPGJAvbMA1tn2zcRyqmYU5LC"}, "issuer": "did:key:z6MkghvGHLobLEdj1bgRLhS4LPGJAvbMA1tn2zcRyqmYU5LC", "@context": ["https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1"], "issuanceDate": "2024-04-11T22:46:43.106Z", "expirationDate": "2024-07-10T22:46:43.106Z", "credentialSubject": {"id": "did:pkh:eip155:1:0xb2821C0DF0c414ff51D3e8033CBA26DF6AaC587b", "hash": "v0.0.0:wM+rca21gLszHDNNCCr9aTqqOHdEHoMPWfuVZiIt+IE=", "@context": [{"hash": "https://schema.org/Text", "provider": "https://schema.org/Text"}], "provider": "ClearTextTwitter#Bonding_Curves"}}}, "description": "⚔️ The Challenge:\nIn the early days of crypto and ICOs, many projects and DAOs launched static supply tokens which struggled to expand and contract with bull and bear market swings, and are not adaptive enough for the dynamic nature of these nascent economies.\n\nThis has also been a huge challenge for token valuations, with many DAOs and organizations seeing massive selloffs and price drops in the 90%+ range. When token price is a primary driver of the capacity to carry out work in a DAO ecosystem, volatile token prices are a hindrance to production in Web3 organizations.\n\nMany DAOs and organizations are looking to move from static supply to dynamic issuance models and reduce volatility, however, many of these economic mechanisms and markets remain untested, and the designs need to be further studied and validated, in order to deploy safe and sustainable economies.\n\n⤴️ Overview of Bonding Curves:\nBonding curves are an interesting new tool in the Web3 space that tie two or more elements of a system together through mathematical relationships encoded into smart contracts. Bonding Curves are a ‘supply discovery’ mechanism that allows new tokens to be minted (or burned) by the deposit (or withdrawal) of reserve assets when the demand for new tokens is greater (or less) than the available supply.  Also called automated market makers (AMMs), there are different types of bonding curves, including but not limited to constant product, constant function, concentrated liquidity, variable product, time-weighted, and even order book-based bonding curves. \n\nBonding curves have also been ‘augmented’ with the addition of common pool treasuries or even prediction markets, in order to improve the collective signaling capacity of these new tools for social and ecosystemic benefit.\n\nThis is just the beginning of their utility, and current tools have only taken the first steps to explore this design space. Bonding Curves are a gateway for engineered control systems to facilitate and improve the economic management and value accrual systems of Web3.\n\nRead more:\nhttps://mirror.xyz/0x8fF6Fe58b468B1F18d2C54e2B0870b4e847C730d/1Pxl_fbIPifIQ4_y0xoJGZGEk70qfOM3Gi9nWycm-8k\nhttps://mirror.xyz/0x8fF6Fe58b468B1F18d2C54e2B0870b4e847C730d/3gTCNW1LcsNd_O8zgfgERXnZhA_8wYyyHkZRe-oxIns\n\n🚦The Opportunity:\nBonding Curves provide an economic invariant between the supply of tokens and the reserve assets backing their value, making token price deterministic and providing guaranteed liquidity for tokens. Adjusting the circulating supply based on demand dampens the volatility and couples with the demand for the token’s utility. \n\nUsing bonding curves as a continuous token issuance mechanism, organizations or communities can leverage algorithmic reserve and liquidity management strategies to provide volatility-damped token price fluctuations. The Token Engineering Commons Augmented Bonding Curve is a prime example of this, outperforming ETH through the bear market. Other blockchain ecosystems could employ these mechanisms to support their token economies’ success. \n\nThese open source tools should be further studied, modeled and explored in order to maintain open libraries of tools and documentation and establish connections with organizations who need help designing and deploying them (which could also serve as opportunities for service groups to develop revenue streams for further work and research).\n\n🎯 The Purpose of this Research Group:\nOur mission is to drive forward the research, development, education, and application of Bonding Curves in their various forms. This research group will provide chain agnostic research, development, education, and application of Bonding Curves in their various forms. This R&D will attract new talent and interest in the field of Token Engineering and to other blockchain ecosystems. Additionally, it will support building a common understanding and language around bonding curves and their applications to DAOs, businesses, finance, and economics. \n\nThis research offers improvements for understanding the design and ongoing operation of these new economic mechanisms, benefiting the field of Token Engineering directly through upgraded tools like open source libraries, models, simulations, and dashboards. The research and development also has huge impact through networking and deal flow for any blockchain ecosystem that would like to make use of these tool sets, open libraries, primitives, and research.\n\nBonding curves are an emergent, Web3 native, economic primitive that redefine markets and liquidity. By determining price as proportional to supply, liquidity can be built into an economy, ending the era of market crunches, and enabling transparent and discoverable market prices for assets. The research, development and education in token economic primitives like bonding curves and cutting-edge research in the TE field has profound potential and implications for our economic systems.\n\n📚 Past Work & Achievements :\nThe BCRG was founded in March 2023 and has three operational workstreams including Education & Content, Research & Ideation and Bonding Curve Analysis & Modeling. Here is a list of some of the work produced:\n\n-Exploring Bonding Curves: Differentiating Primary and Secondary Automated Market Makers: https://mirror.xyz/0x8fF6Fe58b468B1F18d2C54e2B0870b4e847C730d/1Pxl_fbIPifIQ4_y0xoJGZGEk70qfOM3Gi9nWycm-8k\n-Modeling & Simulating Bonding Curves: https://mirror.xyz/0x8fF6Fe58b468B1F18d2C54e2B0870b4e847C730d/3gTCNW1LcsNd_O8zgfgERXnZhA_8wYyyHkZRe-oxIns\n-Knowledge Library - a collection of resources discussing bonding curves and the mechanism design space for crypto economic system: https://www.notion.so/Knowledge-Library-ea2a517d82b142778e033a45bc115a80\n-Case Studies (WIP) - case studies done on projects that have employed Primary Automatic Market Makers: https://www.notion.so/PAMM-Case-Studies-e994a43ab4dc4661aa355f868a20071e\n-Bonding Curve Classification Notebook (WIP) - a quick look at different kinds of curves and their equations: https://www.notion.so/Bonding-Curve-Classification-0e85d52249594c6aaaf7e3dcdcd958b1\n-Augmented Bonding Curve Model Github Repo (WIP) - an opensource python model used to simulate the Augmented Bonding Curve from the TEC ecosystem https://github.com/bonding-curves/conding\n-Bonding Curves Parameters Model: https://github.com/bonding-curves/conding/blob/main/conding/pamm/abc.py\n-Token Engineering Commons Dune Dashboard & Python Translation: https://dune.com/rxx_/bondingcurves\n-Open Research/Study Session Call Library: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl_NgvZc7atfookYgCUuvDLPzodhAyXJu\n\n💸 Past Funding :\nWe applied for, and received, catalytic funding from the Token Engineering Commons, Retro PGF on Optimism, and are participating in Gitcoin rounds. However, we need further funding to continue of our research and development so are currently applying for grants.\n\n🔬 Further Research, Development, Education & Community Outreach:\n-Improved methodology for analyzing on-chain Bonding Curves data\n-Explore new bonding curve mechanisms such as -Shutdown & Liquidation Procedures\n-Develop gamified UX visualizations of the Bonding Curve where members can play with the parameter to see the final impact\n-Dogfooding an investable workstream and bonding curve with Inverter Network, which could become a template for other DAOs or organizations\n-Exploring volatility dampening mechanisms\n-Continuing our study sessions with invited guests from various token/blockchain ecosystems and building the video library\n-Educational posts and knowledge sharing on social media platforms\n\n🔊 How We Will Share Progress:\n-Bonding Curve Research Group platforms including Github https://auspicious-cap-b5c.notion.site/Bonding-Curve-Research-Group-a0fe00e81d84435a8fddd547a7888063\n-Transparent shared work processes (call notes, Miro board, call recordings as available)\n\nThank you for supporting Token Engineering public goods and the Bonding Curve Research Group! 🙏", "lastUpdated": 0, "projectGithub": "bonding-curves", "projectTwitter": "Bonding_Curves"}, "recipient": "0x29567BdBcC92aCF37AC6B56B69180857bB69f7D1"}}