[HIP-15] Engage Authereum Labs as Service Provider
Author: Chris Whinfrey
Status: Snapshot-only HIP
Since the launch of Hop DAO, the role of Authereum Labs (DBA Hop Labs pending) has changed significantly. Hop DAO is now fully operational and Authereum Labs is one of multiple contributors working towards Hop DAO’s shared mission.
In this vein, Authereum Labs hopes to establish a formal service provider relationship with Hop DAO along with an accompanying budget for operations. Should the budget be accepted, the scope of services can be adjusted at any point via the full Hop governance process.
Scope of Services
- Research and development of the Hop Protocol roadmap as directed by Hop DAO.
- Day-to-day operation, development, and improvement of the Hop frontend currently hosted at hop.exchange.
- Open ended research related to trustless cross-chain infrastructure and other technologies that may be relevant to Hop.
Budget
A budget of $115,000/month ($1.38m/year) will cover Authereum Labs’s costs for providing these services and allow Authereum Labs to bring on two additional team members to help with the workload.
While costs vary month to month, this a rough breakdown of expected costs:
| Item | Cost (monthly) |
|---|---|
| Employee expenses | $80,000 |
| Office | $4,000 |
| Legal | $6,000 |
| Software and web services | $10,000 |
| Security Audits | $12,000 |
| Miscellaneous | $3,000 |
| Total | $115,000 |
Accountability
Authereum Labs will provide quarterly written updates for Hop DAO detailing our contributions over the previous quarter as well as providing guidance around upcoming deliverables, potential blockers, or unknowns. We will also provide more granular updates and make ourselves available for questions and feedback on Hop Community Calls currently run at a biweekly cadence. Lastly, we will continue to solicit feedback and buy-in from the DAO for changes or new developments in the product roadmap.
We reserve the right to manage our internal structure and costs within the budget granted by Hop DAO but want to provide transparency into these decisions while respecting individual privacy. We also reserve the right to conduct open-ended research that can be presented to the DAO as a possible future direction for the protocol as we have done with the Hop Core Messenger and v2 roadmap.
Execution
Should this proposal be accepted via the full governance process, the Hop Foundation will be empowered to enter into a standard service provider agreement (SPA) with Authereum Labs on behalf of Hop DAO. In addition to the payment terms above, the SPA would provide for customary mutual indemnity clauses, and all intellectual property developed under the SPA would belong to Hop DAO.
Monthly payments should be made in stablecoins at the end of each month starting with January. Should Hop DAO not have stablecoins, payment can be defered until they are available for use in payment. All payments should be made from the Community Multisig when possible. The Community Multisig should hold approximately 4 months of expenses, refilled via on-chain governance vote every other month.
Voting Options:
* Yes
* No
* Abstain