Summary

This proposal outlines the Uniswap Delegate Reward Initiative, a compensation program designed to improve participation quality and dedication among Uniswap delegates. The initiative was developed by several members of the Uniswap Delegate Reward Working Group, which conducted extensive research and produced findings supporting the implementation of such a program.

Background

In late February 2024, StableLab proposed the Uniswap Delegate Reward Initiative. After the GovSwap event in Denver, further research to plan and implement the Delegate Reward Initiative was highlighted, leading to the formation of the Uniswap Delegate Reward Working Group, composed of 8 members from different organizations. After extensive research for more than a month, the Working Group produced several findings, which can be found here.

The details of the findings were slightly different. However, this conclusion summarized the findings quite nicely:

“There was a general consensus across most categories that a compensation program for delegates could improve participation quality and dedication. However, the enthusiasm varied, with those deeply involved in governance showing the strongest support.”

The Uniswap Delegate Reward Working Group explored several frameworks for implementing rewards, including a Committee structure that allows several non-delegates to get rewarded for helping to contribute to various scopes. However, some non-delegates in the Working Group preferred the Delegate-only model while other non-delegates in the Group suggested other alternatives.

Therefore, we believe that the delegate-focused structure can be launched, but other members can also propose structures that focus on different aspects, ultimately leaving the decision up to governance.

Proposal Details

Qualified Applicants for the First Cycle

There were 14 delegates who qualified for the application and applied for the first cycle. After examining both Voting Participation, Proposal Authorship, and Other Governance Participation, top 12 delegates were chosen. The details can be found here .

Delegate Reward Eligibility

The qualified Delegates need to fulfill the following to be eligible for up to $6,000 USD worth of $UNI reward per month.

Requirements

1. Maintain 80% onchain and offchain voting participation for the past 3 months. Achieving this will provide $3,000 USD worth of $UNI

Additional (only available if the above Requirement of Voting Participation is fulfilled)

2. Write rationale for the voting on their delegate profile. Achieving this will provide an additional $3,000 USD worth of $UNI

Budget

We are requesting 216,000 [ 6000 *3 * 12] USD worth of UNI for the Uniswap Delegate Reward Initiative, plus an additional 64,000 USD (40 hours * 8 members * 200 USD per hour) worth of UNI as a retroactive reward for the Uniswap Delegate Reward Working Group. The Working Group members will be required to share their hours.

The total amount of 280,000 USD worth of UNI, 27,000 UNI at the time of the writing, once approved, will be sent to the Accountability Committee, which will be responsible for the monthly distribution of rewards to eligible delegates and retroactive reward for the Working Group members. In the unlikely scenario that the budget is depleted before the end of the 3-month cycle, Cycle 1 will end early.