Octant: Staking-Powered Public Goods Funding

Background

Octant, launched by the Golem Foundation, created a novel funding model: stake 100,000 ETH and use the staking rewards to fund public goods. Users lock GLM tokens to participate in allocation decisions.

The Mechanism

Octant runs 90-day epochs:

1. 100,000 ETH staked generates rewards
2. GLM lockers earn proportional ETH rewards
3. Users choose to donate or claim their rewards
4. Donations go to curated public goods projects
5. Quadratic funding determines final allocations

9 Epochs of Funding

Through 9 epochs (as of late 2024):

• $15M+ total distributed to public goods
• $1-2M per epoch average funding
• Diverse project portfolio across categories
• Growing participation over time

Sustainability Model

The model is sustainable because:

• Principal (100,000 ETH) remains intact
• Only staking rewards are distributed
• Creates perpetual funding stream
• User choice between donation and claim

Key Projects Funded

Notable recipients include:

• Ethereum infrastructure projects
• Developer tooling
• Research and education
• Community initiatives