Ethereum Cat Herders

Public Good Projects Discussion
1

Project Name:

Ethereum Cat Herders

Project Description and why it’s classified as a Public Good:

The Ethereum Cat Herders (ECH) is a community-driven initiative that emerged to support Ethereum developers and the wider ecosystem in various non-technical roles. Its formation in 2019 was motivated by the recognized need for better coordination and communication within the Ethereum community, especially in relation to network upgrades and important decisions.

The Ethereum Cat Herders (ECH) can be considered a “public good” project within the Ethereum ecosystem for several reasons:

  • Coordination and Communication: The primary mission of the Ethereum Cat Herders is to facilitate and streamline the coordination and communication between the various Ethereum development teams, researchers, client developers, and other ecosystem stakeholders. Efficient coordination is essential for the successful development and deployment of Ethereum protocol upgrades, but individual projects might lack the incentive or resources to perform this coordination themselves. ECH fills this gap.
  • Neutral Entity: ECH operates as a neutral and unbiased entity. It does not represent any single team, individual, or commercial interest, which allows it to act in the best interests of the Ethereum community as a whole.
  • Transparency: One of the roles of the ECH is to provide clear and consistent communication about Ethereum’s development progress to the wider community. They ensure that decisions, discussions, and processes are transparent and accessible, which is crucial for a decentralized project like Ethereum.
  • Do-Not-Monetize: The functions provided by the Ethereum Cat Herders are essential, but we do not monetize. For instance, while everyone in the Ethereum ecosystem benefits from the coordination of upgrades and hard forks, it’s not a task that directly brings in revenue. Therefore, it falls into the category of public goods, where benefits are spread across the community, and it’s challenging to exclude anyone from these benefits.
  • Funded by the Community: The ECH’s operations are funded by donations and grants from the Ethereum community. This community-backed funding model ensures that ECH remains dedicated to serving the broader Ethereum ecosystem and underscores its role as a public good.
  • Open Participation: Anyone can participate and contribute to the ECH. Our open and inclusive nature ensures a wide range of viewpoints and expertise is considered in their coordination efforts.

In summary, the Ethereum Cat Herders play a crucial role in the Ethereum ecosystem by providing essential services that benefit everyone, but which might not be produced (or would be underproduced) by market forces alone. This positions them as a public good project within the Ethereum community.

Main Project Funding Sources:

The Ethereum Cat Herders are primarily funded by grants and donations from the Ethereum community. This helps ensure they remain neutral and unbiased in their roles.

In the past, we received grants & donations from

  • Gitcoin (Multiple Grant rounds)
  • Moloch DAO
  • Ethereum Support Program
  • CLR Funds
  • ENS DAO Public Goods Grant
  • Octant App (Epoch Zero)
  • Many core protocol developers & community supporters

Seeking project-specific funding or funding for general operations:

Funding received from Octant will be directed towards, EIP Editing, Educational Content creating - PEEPanEIP, Podcast, documenting notes and website maintenance.

Project Roadmap and Milestones (only for project-specific funding):

N/A

Funding Request and Budget (only for project-specific funding):

N/A

Team Information, including backgrounds and roles:

  • Pooja Ranjan (Herder-in-chief) Twitter | GitHub
    • Contributor at ECH since 2019
    • Most active in facilitating client devs’ public meetings, notes documentation, upgrade coordination, EIP process information sharing.
    • Host PEEPanEIP series.
    • Community coordinator to onboard protocol contributors.
    • Ethereum Protocol Contributor Group (Women) - coming soon
  • Matt Garnett (EIP Editor) Twitter | GitHub
  • Gajinder Singh (EIP Editor) Twitter | GitHub
    • Mainly focused on reviewing EIP-Core, & EIP process
    • Client Dev at Eth JS & Lodestar
  • ZkDoof Twitter | GitHub
    • Wallet Dev meetings (recording mgmt)
    • Ethereum CatHerders Podcast (Editing & sharing on all platforms)
    • Other technical support
  • George Twitter | GitHub
    • Contributor since 2022
    • ECH website, Learn2Earn NFT challenge
  • Multiple contributors documenting public meeting notes, video editing and other ops work.

Social Credibility (development progress, awards, notable GitHub commits, referrals):

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ECH - Q4 (2023): Gratitude & Update

We are grateful to the validators on Octant considering donating part or full of their staking rewards to support Ethereum Cat Herders. Funds received have been instrumental in supporting the creation and curating of resources on Ethereum’s upcoming network upgrade.

We are excited to share our achievements and enthusiastic about the prospect of participating in the next epoch to continue and expand upon the work that your support has made possible.

Accomplishments

  • Since the grant, we have video-recorded 4 new episodes. With this, PEEPanEIP-Dencun now has covered all 9 proposals and devnets progress.
  • ECH podcast made it possible for the community to follow and learn about the EIPs being deployed with the next upgrade.
  • The funding received also supported ECH engineering team to maintain the website to provide the community with information on - Dencun.
  • We also added a Testnet page to share information on existing and deprecated testnets. Each of the active testnets contains details such as explorer, faucets, and the expectancy to have the testnet around.
  • The community may follow the specs of devnets for Dencun, the introduction of Holesky Testnet and the limited availability of Goerli testnets on a trusted and updated resource at Ethereum Cat Herders website.
  • Pooja Ranjan participated as a guest to the Consensys Academy course to talk about the “Understanding Ethereum Network Upgrades: Dencun”

Testimonials and Feedback

The Ethereum Cat Herders are known for their role in education, governance, and coordination between various Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) authors, developers, and other stakeholders. On multiple occasions, prominent ecosystem contributors, projects, and individuals from the community expressed appreciation for our efforts in streamlining communication and decision-making processes.

Some of the recent tweets include

The Need for Continued Support

In 2024, we intend to dedicate a portion of resources towards creating awareness & spotlighting contributors to encourage community participation in addition to our existing support.

We are slowly building on the Ecosystem Project Demo and Meet The Herders series and plan to bring more resources for continued education and support to Ethereum network upgrade.

Since, Octant Epoch One, ECH participated in Optimism RPGF3 and while awaiting exact grant amount, and the project appeared to be in 76 ballots.

In conclusion, the support from funders like Octant is not just a financial contribution; it’s a powerful endorsement of our mission to foster collaboration and innovation within the Ethereum ecosystem. The community’s belief in our work empowers us to continue playing a pivotal role in coordinating efforts, enhancing communication, and ensuring the seamless implementation of key initiatives that drive Ethereum’s growth.

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Hey Octant Community,

We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who voted in the last epoch and supported Ethereum Cat Herders’ mission. Your trust and belief in our vision help us continue with our support to the Ethereum Protocol Development team.

Recently, we completed 5 years with the Ethereum community. It gave us immense pleasure creating educational content around Ethereum Network Upgrade, funding EIP editors to streamline Ethereum Governance, and the rest of the team to ensure the availability of protocol meeting notes & recordings.

Q1-2024 Updates :arrows_counterclockwise:

Dencun Mainnet Upgrade

We are excited to share that Deneb and Cancun (Dencun) improvement proposals were successfully deployed on the Ethereum Mainnet. The Ethereum Cat Herders co-hosted the Dencun Mainnet Livestream with the EthStakesr and The Daily Gwei (Anthony Sassal). The upgrade was successful and the blobs are real now!

We recorded a total of 13 episodes on Dencun proposals, testing and testnet preparation on PEEPanEIP-Dencun for the community to follow and learn about the upcoming changes over the year.

We also published Dencun: Deneb-Cancun Upgrade blogpost for fun facts and what to expect with the next Ethereum Upgrade.

Learn2Earn, Dencun NFT & Goerli Livestream

In addition to the Dencun. page mentioned in the last update, which was created to provide testing and other updates on the Dencun Ethereum Upgrade, our engineering team launched the Learn2Earn app in early January 2024. This is an educational platform that rewards users for learning about Ethereum protocols and application standards.

Co-organizing the Dencun Goerli Livestream [2024-01-17] with EthStakers, the Learn2Earn app was shared with the community to earn free Dencun NFT. Learn about the protocol, take the quiz, and earn Dencun NFT at Learn2Earn. Learn more in this blogpost.

EIP Process Sharing, Reviews & Office Hours

Information sharing is a key to inviting community participation. Noting the recent changes in the EIP GitHub structure and proposal submission process, our contributor talked about the Evolving Ethereum With Improvement Proposals at EthDenver and the EIP Day organized by Fellowship of Ethereum Magicians.

These in-person meetups not only provided us the opportunity to learn about the gap but also helps us plan for future tasks to be included under the umbrella of Ethereum Cat Herders.

Since January, we facilitated

Recorded and shared

Educational Content & Podcast - PEEPanEIP

It’s highly motivating to receive kind words from Ethereum developers like Danny Ryan on PEEPanEIP series.

In this section, we recorded a new episode for a proposal under CFI Prague - Electra Upgrade. The talk on PEEPanEIP-7251:Increase MAX_EFFECTIVE_BALANCE with DappLion and Mike Neuder hopefully will be helpful for the client developers to make informed decisions.

We recorded a talk with Joachim Lebrun on ERC3643: Token for Regulated EXchanges and ERC-6982: Efficient Default Lockable Tokens with Francesco Sullo. These are the latest additions to application standards on the Ethereum repository.

The Podcast version can be found here.

Women in Ethereum Protocol (WiEP)

Extending beyond the immediate tasks at hand, focusing on the long-term sustainability, and growth of the Ethereum ecosystem with diversity, equality & inclusion, we’re working with the Ethereum Foundation, Ethereum Protocol Fellowship and formed a new group to onboard Women in Ethereum Protocol. We aim to foster an environment where diverse voices are heard, contributions are valued, and innovation thrives.

We launched Women in Ethereum Protocol (WiEP) on Feb 29, 2024 at Edgecity, Denver.

On International Women’s Day 2024, we organized a webinar - Empower and Innovate that received a lot of attention from the women developers’ community.

Follow WiEP on Twitter to learn more about the initiative and help us add diversity to the Ethereum Protocol development team.

Plans for Q2 and beyond :seedling:

Ethereum Cat Herders will continue building educational content, make resources accessible, and extend support to the developers’ community.

We hope to bring

  • new episodes on Prague - Electra proposals explainers
  • new episodes on Ecosystem Project Demo
  • continue facilitating Improvement Proposal meetings
  • public developers’ meeting notes

Recording and publishing of

  • Wallet Devs meetings
  • eth_multicall meetings
  • All ERC Dev meetings
    and possible future breakout meetings.

Continue building the Women’s developers community.

Funding Sources

All of the above was made possible with the public goods grants provided by ecosystem projects grants.

In Q1- 2024, we received Public Goods Funding Grants from

  • Octant (Epoch 2) - 6.1903 ETH
  • Optimism (PGF Round 3) - 124,244.11 OP

Learn more about Ethereum Cat Herders

Support education and community building with Ethereum Cat Herders!

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Appreciate the detailed update @poojaranjan19 !
I love the work Ethereum Cat Herders is doing in herding the ecosystem.

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cat_head

Dear Octant community,

On behalf of EthCatHerders, I appreciate the opportunity to participate in Octant PGF Epoch 4.
For anyone learning about us just now, ECH is a public goods project enhancing the ecosystem to foster a cohesive, informed Ethereum community.

Updates

I am happy to share updates on the Cat Herders’ involvement in supporting Ethereum Protocol with the EIP process, Ecosystem Projects, Women in Ethereum Protocol & upcoming network upgrades since the last update.

Ethereum Blockchain is planning its next network upgrade (Prague+Electra) by Q4-2024. To create awareness about the proposals included, testing specs, and related meetings, we have added a Pectra webpage.

We have recorded multiple talks on PEEPanEIP-Pectra and included 5/7 EIPs added to the “EIPs Included”. Recent episodes include proposals

Encouraging thoughts by Ethereum devs can be found in Community Playlist and the Podcast version of talks can be found here.

We are happy to share about projects recorded in the Ecosystem Project Demo Series. This includes a talk with

WiEP launched its first cohort of the Protocol Study Group for Women interested in contributing to the Ethereum ecosystem. Supporting the initiative, we helped identify available issues in the Ethereum GitHub repo to be worked on and ensured the availability of related devs/editors to mentor the cohort. We are looking forward to continuing support in the upcoming months.

On EIP support, we published monthly EIPsInsight reports. Also, organized, recorded and published

Interested users may also find about existing and upcoming breakout room meetings on Ethereum GitHub.

We hope you would want to follow the journey of ECH contributor George Harvey and follow the Meet TheHerders series.

Funding Sources

We hope to see Octant’s community support in Epoch 4 as well as apply for other Public Goods Funding in the upcoming months.

Learn more about Ethereum Cat Herders

ECH is the new Education, Community Building & Homesteading for the Ethereum Ecosystem!

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ECH - Q3-2024: Updates & Roadmap

  • Total Funds Received from Octant since the launch: 22.6397 ETH
  • Funds Spent: 22.6397 ETH
  • Detailed Utilization: The funds received from ECH have been utilized to support various tasks carried out by the Herders in aiding Ethereum protocol development and creating informative content. Although the actual operational costs exceed 22.6397 ETH, the contribution from the GLM staker community is greatly appreciated. Details of deliverables are provided below.

Milestones and Deliverables

1. Educational Content Creation:

  • PEEPanEIP :
    Description: This is a series of educational videos and podcasts that provide in-depth explanations of Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) in an easy-to-understand format. The series features interviews with EIP authors, developers, and other key figures in the Ethereum ecosystem, making complex topics accessible to a broader audience. The deliverable includes the production and release of multiple episodes covering significant EIPs, ensuring the community stays informed about protocol changes.
    Immediate Outcome: We created 7 new episodes since the last epoch.
  • Ecosystem Project Demo:
    Description: This deliverable involves organizing and presenting live demos or video showcases of various projects within the Ethereum ecosystem. These demos highlight how different projects interact with or contribute to the Ethereum network, offering the community insights into innovative tools, platforms, and applications. The goal is to educate users on practical implementations of Ethereum technology and to promote broader adoption and understanding.
    Immediate Outcome: 2 new episodes were produced.

Funding Used: All funds were utilized to provide bounties to involved contributors, cover the costs of tooling, and support other operational expenses.

2. Process Improvement & Community Building:

Description: This deliverable focuses on enhancing the clarity and efficiency of Ethereum governance processes, including the EIP process. It involves updating and refining documentation, providing clear guidelines, and creating resources to help contributors navigate the protocol development process. Additionally, this initiative includes active community engagement through forums, social media, and events to build a stronger, more informed, and connected Ethereum community.
Immediate Outcome: ECH organized, recorded, and published various devs meetings.

Funding Used: All funds were utilized to provide bounties to involved contributors, cover the costs of tooling, and support other operational expenses.

3. Network Upgrade Coordination:

Description: This deliverable covers the coordination and communication efforts required for Ethereum network upgrades. It includes organizing meetings between core developers, documenting notes, tracking progress on EIPs slated for inclusion in upcoming upgrades, and ensuring that the community is well-informed about the changes. The deliverable also involves organizing a live stream and producing and distributing educational materials that explain upgrades, thereby facilitating a smooth transition for all stakeholders involved.

Funding Used: All funds were utilized to provide bounties to involved contributors, cover the costs of tooling, and support other operational expenses.

Karma GAP: https://gap.karmahq.xyz/project/ethereum-cat-herders

Challenges

  • Previous Challenges:

    • Description: Difficulty in sustaining financial support for new content creation, funding EIP editors, and maintaining consistent community engagement across diverse initiatives.
    • Updates: We’ve made progress in supporting new content creation and providing bounty to EIP editors.
    • Resolution: Participating in different Public Goods Funding Grants.
    • Lessons Learned: Make continuous effort for long-term sustainability.

Outputs and Outcomes

Outputs (Last Epoch):

  • Ecosystem Project Demo: We published 2 new episodes that include public goods projects

  • Process Improvement & Community Building: ECH organized, recorded, and published

  • 3 new EIPIP meetings

  • 7 new EIP Editing Office Hour

Also extended support to

Short-term Outcomes: Introduction to new Ethereum Improvement Proposals & Public Goods Projects.

Long-term Outcomes: Creating a one-of-a-kind library of EIP explainers. The documentation of notes will be a quick reference for aspiring Ethereum protocol developers.

Metrics for Outcomes:

  1. User Engagement: ~120K Impressions and over 5k views.
  2. Adoption and Usage: Significant increase in watch time hours.
  3. Community Impact: Close to 100 new subscribers.
  4. Financial Metrics: All content are free. No revenue generation via content.
  5. User Satisfaction: Increased comments on videos and Twitter shoutouts.
  6. Innovation and Development: Adding (audio only) podcast version of popular content.

Plans for Potential Funds Raised in the Next Octant Allocation Window

  • Goals:
    • Description: Our goal is to continue creating content, fund EIP editors and support the availability of dev meeting notes & videos.
    • Expected Outcome: Increased new content
    • Funding Needed: Any amount of ETH support is much appreciated.

Other Funding

  • Grant Funding Received Since the Last Epoch: None
  • Other Non-Grant Funding Sources: None

Future Plans for Financial Sustainability

Since its inception, ECH contributors have been community-funded to continue creating and curating resources that support Ethereum protocol upgrades and the broader ecosystem. To date, we have no plans to launch a token or seek VC funding. However, we do intend to apply for various ecosystem grants, such as RPGF.

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Hi @poojaranjan19
Thanks for the awesome update! I love the work and consistency you’ve put into PEEPinEIP. I checked out the recent episode with Killari and Oleg focusing on eth_simulateV1. That was super interesting. :slight_smile:

Looking forward to seeing more great content and community engagement from ECH. I feel it’s a really important project to the Ethereum ecosystem. Keep it up!

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