Proposal: CELO ASIA DAO
Proponent: Hope Lee
Date: June 17th 2023
Requested CELO :
USD 640,500 equivalent of CELO
Initial contributors/advisors :
Hope Lee – founder ReFi Korea
Danny - DAO Cartographer
Alex Shin - prev. Co founder Hashed
Owen Hwang - PM DSRV
Short description:
Celo Asia DAO aims to mobilize local talent to build awareness and communities that align with Celo’s mission. Despite South Korea having the largest trading volume of CELO, there are no local community activities or press highlighting Celo’s ongoing efforts. This opens an opportunity to introduce “ReFi ,” which can counteract the negative perceptions around crypto following the recent downtown and highlight the potential for positive social impact, which we believe is timely and important.
By aligning the Celo narrative with key themes around ESG, social impact, blockchain thought leaders, and introducing ideas like regenerative finance – the objective is to foster positive change and enhance Celo’s credibility locally.
Gm Celo community,
My name is Hope Lee, and I am the founder and a key contributor of Crypto for Good and ReFi Korea, both are non-profits. For the past two years, my focus has been on creating a more productive narrative around blockchain, especially given the rising interest in this technology among governments, corporations, and student groups.
Instead of popular topics like game theory or token/protocol economies, coordinated economic modeling etc (very common narrative especially in many parts of Asia), I believe there’s an opportunity to introduce a fresh narrative around “doing good” or “building for good” that can open up all kinds of possibilities.
During Eth Denver, I had the opportunity to connect with Celo Foundation members in person and realized that a lot was happening in other communities globally, but that message was not being delivered anywhere outside of their respective markets. By introducing these ideas locally, we can help the Celo community and the broader narrative of regenerative finance build grassroots momentum as key ideas around Basic income, community led change, climate and more are common topics today, even with politicians (Korea/Japan have a very high voting turnout and also one of the oldest average age in any advance nations today).
I have also had the privilege of contributing and speaking at ReFiTokyo, where I was surprised by the level of interest around ReFi locally in Japan. The biggest challenge, which was addressed on the panel was that there was no funding to activate any meaningful activity. I’m confident this is something we can kick off, as Japan’s approach to blockchain has been one of earnest interest – but notably a slower moving market.
Also just last week in Korea, we held a Celo event introducing key principals around ReFi and many of the projects building on Celo. Marek presented a keynote and the response was overwhelmingly positive — most interestingly the turnout was very diverse ranging from government people, founders, crypto enthusiasts to academia, media, and people in the social impact sector.
With the help of several industry advisors, I have drafted this proposal to take foundational steps in building Celo’s regenerative digital economies of the future in Korea and Japan and hopefully through broader Asia. There’s urgency in getting momentum locally, so we’ve decided to propose a full time team supported by part time workers as needed.
Please do not hesitate to ask any questions or provide feedback.
1. Context of the proposal
Korea
Korea is a highly active and mature market for cryptocurrency. As shifts in global macro sentiment towards crypto are being questioned, leading ideas in our industry are being questioned as well, particularly in Korea where cryptocurrency adoption and speculation rates are among the highest. This presents a grassroots opportunity to introduce a new narrative.
Currently, Gamefi, Defi, and NFTs all have negative connotations. By dissociating Celo from financial upside and gambling and introducing ideas around prosperity and regenerative finance, we are confident that we can get both corporate and government attention and involvement, expediting Celo’s mission.
Korea frequently has the highest trading volume for CELO, yet visibility around Celo Foundation’s efforts and our community at large is non-existent.
One of the challenges we have faced as a market is that Korea has always been the liquidity and price action market for western protocols. The market has been burned many times over, and Celo can present a different narrative. With market leaders from the last cycle being scrutinized by both regulators and the public, there is room for a new story to emerge.
The idea is to launch Celo Asia DAO, which will go into mobilizing local teams around content, events, first, then hackathons — possibly partnering with corporates and governments groups with ESG agenda/budgets. Ultimately, the goal is to bring attention to CELO.
Japan
Japan stands out as a unique player in the world of crypto. Despite crypto taxes being set at above 50% and new listings being banned in November 2017, the market has largely avoided the boom and bust of 2017 and 2021.
Following the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan has decided to allocate significant capital into Web3. Large conglomerates such as Sanrio ($100M) and NTTDocomo ($4 billion) have announced massive investments into this category.
Traditionally, ESG efforts have focused on promoting wellness and commonwealth. MZ (often dubbed the Elon Musk of Japan) famously launched MZ DAO with a mission of delivering common wealth for the youth. Other technology luminaries, such as Takuya (previous Chief Data Science Officer of Rakuten and Harvard Physics), run the Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son aims to eradicate concepts like loneliness, and many are looking towards DAOs and Web3 as potential solutions.
DAOTokyo, organized by Fracton Ventures, was an immense success, and there is significant corporate interest in getting behind climate, wellness, and commonwealth initiatives using blockchain. The goal is to accelerate existing initiatives through funding, educate people about what’s working in other markets via content, and find local partners to develop larger initiatives with bigger corporations.
2. Problem Statement
In Korea, despite high crypto penetration and trading volume, Celo’s visibility and recognition among the general public and industry leaders are minimal. There is a need to disassociate Celo from negative connotations associated with other crypto activities (gamefi, defi) and introduce the concept of prosperity and regenerative finance.
In Japan, the market has been relatively conservative due to high crypto taxes and past regulatory restrictions. However, with growing interest in Web3 and ESG initiatives, there is an opportunity to leverage Celo’s technology and collaborate with local partners to accelerate existing initiatives and foster commonwealth enablement.
3. Proposal Objectives
3.1 The goal of the proposal
Celo Asia DAO plans to expand its team by hiring two full-time employees and part-time contributors as needed. The FTC (full time contributors) will primarily focus on localizing Celo-related content and organizing events to increase awareness of Celo’s global efforts. The team will introduce projects that are building on Celo, Refi, and other related technologies, all of which will be targeted towards local audiences and transposed to make sure key ideas are delivered effectively.
Also as of today, there are no articles about Celo in the Korean media, which highlights the need for increased outreach. We’ll be tapping into existing relationships with journalists and media outlets, create strategic partnerships, and leverage social media channels to raise awareness and generate buzz about Celo and its related projects. One reach goal is to get corporate sponsorships, as many of the conglomerates locally have an ESG budget they are looking to allocate. Associting Celo with trusted enterprises here would help tremendously. These however, are much longer sales cycles.
Overall, the goal is to create a stronger and more engaged community around Celo in Asia and drive the adoption of this exciting new technology in the region and beyond.
3.2 How we will do this : Areas of Focus (Korea)
3.2.1 Focus Area 1: Create attention and gain traction
Korea has one language, one time zone, and 40% of its population resides in a single city. The population density is equivalent to that of the entire United States, packed into the state of Colorado. An important first step is to attract industry thought leaders to our initiative, in order to establish the legitimacy of Celo Asia DAO.
Goal
Boost the credibility of Celo Asia DAO and Crypto for Good via association with respected figures from the ESG, social impact, and blockchain sectors. Public content that highlights the impact that Celo is having internationally.
Execution
- Transpose existing Celo content into Korean and distribute it timely and effectively.
- Network with thought leaders interested in ESG, social impact, and blockchain fields.
- Host events for these figures to advocate for the ReFi movement.
- Promote through social media, Web2 and Web3 media outlets.
- Co-create research articles on ReFi with experts.
6-Month Success Metrics
- 10+ community partnerships.
- 5+ co-created ReFi articles published with experts.
- Branded recognition Celo Asia DAO (hopefully we can find some impression or traffic metrics to calibrate)
Budget
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| Venue | $20,000 |
| Food (Lunch/Dinner) | $10,000 |
| Merch and Swags | $5,000 |
| Media Promotion | $15,000 |
| Total per event | $50,000 |
| x2 Events per Year | $100,000 |
3.2.2 Focus Area 2: Education
Gain more visibility of projects building on Celo internationally and initiatives in other markets that are working to inspire young minds and builders locally.
Goal
Raise awareness of the ReFi movement in Korea and enhance recognition of Celo as one of the key drivers of this movement.
Execution
- Produce and distribute educational content focused on the ReFi movement and Celo’s role within it.
- Host workshops, seminars, and hackathons to highlight the benefits of Celo in the context of ReFi, fostering a community of builders.
- Collaborate with educational institutions to incorporate this narrative into their curricula.
6-Month Success Metrics
- 80+ monthly exposure in educational content.
- 3-digit new social media followers via Twitter Spaces, Instagram Lives or Social Posts.
- Propagating the ReFi and Celo narrative to 6+ educational institutions.
- 6+ builder centric community events held.
Budget
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| Research & Content Production | $40,000 |
| Venue for Workshops, Seminars, Hackathons (at least once each) | $60,000 |
| Marketing & Promotion | $30,000 |
| Partnership with University Clubs | $15,000 |
| Snack and Swags | $15,000 |
| Total | $160,000 |
3.2.3 Focus Area 3 : Nurturing Local Web3 Dev Community
Create a Web3 Dev Studio to help onboard successful Web2 projects that would like to make the transition to Web3. Help onboard existing projects through developer support and discover new projects through incubation.
Goal
Collaborate with ReFi-aligned companies and institutions to operate a “ReFi House” that nurtures ReFi builders and strengthens the community – the goal is to position Celo as the Unicef of crypto (what’s notable, South Korea has the highest monthly recurring donors for Unicef in and world)
Execution
- Partner with ReFi-sympathetic companies and institutions to create a supportive environment for hackers.
- Facilitate the development of ReFi projects, offering mentorship, resources, and networking opportunities.
- Showcase Celo’s role in fostering a regenerative economy within the broader blockchain context.
Success Metrics
- 5+ collaborations with ReFi-aligned companies.
- Support for 10+ developers/teams.
- 3+ high-quality ReFi projects launched, specifically addressing government or local community issues.
- Celo being recognized for fostering a regenerative economy.
Budget
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| ReFi House Rent | $80,000 |
| Developer Support (Documentation translation, Local language support, etc) | $30,000 |
| Project grant (Migration support, Incubation, Consulting, etc) | $30,000 |
| Misc | $5,000 |
| Total | $145,000 |
4. Execution & Operation plan
Executive Summary
A brief recap of major milestones and significant changes in our project. Our report will strictly follow the criteria presented by the Celo Foundation (Celo Grant Playbook | Celo Documentation)
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)
We will present the summary of our progress according to milestones and quarterly timelines. In terms of community growth, we aim to achieve an impressive increase in the number of active users in Celo. As for developer participation, we will work hard to engage more developers in our projects and we derive a positive response from them. Finally, we will strive to onboard existing/new projects to Celo.
Financial Report
We will establish an on-chain DAO and a multisig account for extra security. Our legal entity in Korea will execute the funds upon the governance of Celo Asia DAO members and will comply with all the necessary laws of the Korean Government. We will provide detailed transaction history of our business entity’s crypto and bank account for the sake of transparency in our expenditure of the grant. Our financials will be shared in periodic updates for milestone recap.
Project Updates
Information about the status and progress of building local Web3 Dev Community, including the status of onboarded projects and the development of solutions for government and local issues will be shared and reported.
Community Engagement
Overview of the growth and activities of our community, including number of active developers, collaborators, and social media followers. Our exposure to the local community will be presented in verifiable form such as press, social media and testimonials.
Plans for Next Quarter
We will elaborate on our goals for the upcoming quarter, including potential project conversions and anticipated challenges for execution.
Our aim is to ensure the Celo community remains informed and engaged in our activities and progress. Reports will be shared on our forum for open access and discussion.
Total Budget
Contact information
- Twitter
@hopelee327 - Telegram
@hoperegen - Email
hopelee327@gmail.com
Structure & Multi-Sig
| Role | Name | Multisig wallet |
|---|---|---|
| Lead / Operations | Hope Lee | TBD |
| Strategy | Alex Shin | TBD |
| ReFi House Manager | TBD | TBD |
Compensation
- Full time (Lead, Marketing & Social, Governance)
| # Hours | 1040 (26 weeks, 40 hrs/week) |
|---|---|
| Hourly wage | $30 |
| Total wage | $31,200 |
| # Employees | 2 |
| Total | $62,400 |
- Part time (Specialists)
| # Hours | 390 (26 weeks, 15 hrs/week) |
|---|---|
| Hourly wage | $75 |
| Total wage | $29,250 |
| # Employees | 2 |
| Total | $58,500 |
- Part time (Hourly helping hands)
| # Hours | 520 (26 weeks, 20 hrs/week) |
|---|---|
| Hourly wage | $20 |
| Total wage | $10400 |
| # Employees | 4 |
| Total | $41,600 |
- Outsourcing
| Description | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal | Legal review for contracts | $10,000 |
| Accounting | Transparency in finance | $3,000 |
| Advisory | Local Business Development | $60,000 |
| Total | $73,000 |
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