Autonomous Public Goods Funding

Discussion

Marisa Rando:

"Gitcoin and Panvala have been pioneering new forms of autonomous public goods funding via quadratic funding and other mechanisms that are largely only possible through blockchains and smart contracts. The meme of public goods funding in the web3 space, while there are legitimate criticisms, has taken off in a way that contradicts the usual narrative of the libertarian “crypto bro” that dominates the cryptoverse. It has triggered a new wave of innovative infrastructure design that lays the groundwork for the creation of mutual aid on the blockchain. All of these new tools give promise to strengthen existing frameworks, that is, when they are guided by the right hands.

Groups like Breadchain (which is a part of the Panvala network) and PactDAO are making some moves to actualize this promise. Breadchain is creating a network of post capitalist web3 projects to provide a kind of mutual aid within this space - where each project shares learnings and works together to meet the needs of the others. Mutual aid being one of the main principles of Breadchain, the goal of the project is to create an experiment with this technology to explore and create novel forms of mutual exchange.

PactDAO is a NYC-based mutual aid group using DAO technology to scale collaboration between contributors, activists and organizations to democratize the movement of resources in the city. PactDAO and Breadchain are working in partnership to model new ways of collaborating in real life, and in the "cryptoverse”. Projects like these encapsulate a great potential, but are still early in their inception and will take some time to see how their communities and technologies evolve.

All of this to say, technology alone will not solve the problem of systemic oppression. Participants in decentralized organizations and mutual aid groups alike have lifetimes living within capitalist, individualist societies and as creatures of habit, we tend to replicate what we know. If we want to create something new, it’s up to us to change our behavior accordingly by acting in new ways and adopting new beliefs. While web3 tools can bolster movements, we have a lot to learn from the existing spirit of mutual aid and those already doing the work in our communities."

(https://breadchain.mirror.xyz/dcFRgCaNZCna1PYJ85dQ8_9s3r41Lxh0WfMrpRsgGNs)