In August 2022, the Synapse DAO approved a proposal (SIP-12) to provide a grant to Interoperability, Inc., under a Services Contribution and Grant Agreement (the "Original Agreement"), in exchange for services to support the Synapse Protocol.
Overview:
Interoperability Inc. utilized the grant funds to provide research, development, engineering and services that expanded the functionality and utility of the Synapse Protocol. Interoperability Inc. has been administering the funds to compensate "Synapse Labs", and we'd propose that the monthly payments start going directly to Synapse Labs. Accordingly, this proposal seeks to terminate the Original Agreement and replace it with a new agreement with the same core terms with Synapse Labs.
Just in the past year, Synapse has grown substantially, accomplishing the following milestones:
- Developed and launched RFQ bridging(slippage-free bridging)
- Drove over $6m in fees to the protocol, with more than $3m in the last 3 months
- Drove $5B in bridge volume in the past 3 months
- Launched Synapse CCTP
- Maintained and upgraded products like the Synapse Frontend and the Synapse Explorer
- Received over $4M in grants
Synapse Labs has contributed heavily to protocol development, and this grant would enable Synapse Labs to provide research, engineering, and services to Synapse at an unprecedented scale.
Summaries of the funding request
To date, Synapse Labs has fronted the initial costs for many key areas of protocol development, some of which are listed below:
The grant funds will support the previously accrued, and future costs incurred in auditing and additional service costs. Funds will also be spent on research and development for the interchain network, the expansion of existing bridge modules like RFQ, building and scaling the team, and more.
Compensation
At this stage of growth Synapse Labs is looking to hire across a number of roles to rapidly scale the protocol. Funds from the grant will be used to hire and compensate new Full time employees (FTEs) and contractors. These roles span across marketing and business development to technical roles. The list of open roles can be found at: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/Synapse%20Labs.
Hiring the currently listed roles at market rate salaries is forecasted to cost ~$2m annually, and the roles listed are a subset of what is needed to hit growth targets.
Special Clauses:
Synapse Labs also requests an unconditional budget for all things security related, namely audits and infrastructure needs. These requests would present themselves on an on-going basis and would be disclosed to the DAO.
Grant Details:
Synapse Labs requests $600,000 USD per month to be administered pursuant to a new Services Contribution and Grant Agreement (the "New Agreement") setting forth the associated services and terms of funding. The grant should be payable in USD Coin, other stablecoins, or other tokens as agreed to in the agreement by Synapse Labs and the Synapse Foundation. The proposed agreement would maintain the same core terms and conditions as the existing agreement, except with a larger budget, and the special clause for security needs.
Upon approval of this proposal and execution of the New Agreement, the Synapse Foundation will terminate the Original Agreement with Interoperability Inc. and thereafter pay grant funds to Synapse Labs pursuant to the New Agreement.
