Gitcoin’s Kevin Owocki on Changing the World With Web3

Gitcoin founder Kevin Owocki talks quadratic funding in Web3, tokenizing constructive affect with NFTs, and extra. 

Introducing Gitcoin 

Kevin Owocki is simply concerning the reverse of the “crypto bro” stereotype. A Colorado native who prefers to spend his time within the mountains to any concrete jungle, he comes throughout as somebody who’d slot in higher at a distant hippy gathering than something to do with cash—even when it’s the digital form. 

When Crypto Briefing met him on the primary day of Consensus 2022 in Texas’ hippy assembly spot turned tech hub capital, he turned up in a tee and shorts, contrasting the handfuls of audio system that sat on panels in costly fits and excessive heels. Once we escaped Austin’s 100 diploma warmth to discover a discrete cafe for our dialog, he eliminated his sandals to take a seat cross-legged on the couch, nearly as if he was working towards a yoga place whereas we chatted. 

Most individuals wouldn’t be capable of guess that Owocki works in blockchain, however because the founding father of one among Ethereum’s most important tasks, he’s each bit as crypto because the dollar-eyed tech lovers the house is usually related to. In reality, he’s nearer to the cypherpunks that impressed Bitcoin than any of crypto’s newer Silicon Valley entrants, although he describes himself as a “solarpunk” given his love of the outside. 

His essential enterprise, Gitcoin, is without doubt one of the most profitable tasks within the blockchain ecosystem, accountable for supporting Ethereum mainstays like Uniswap by means of its groundbreaking neighborhood grants program. 

Gitcoin is greatest described as a funding platform that helps the open Web, a world crypto natives like Owocki consult with as Web3. It leverages the Ethereum blockchain to boost funds to assist speed up the expansion of public items. So far, it’s raised over $63 million from the crypto neighborhood. 

Open Supply Maximalism 

Owocki got here up with the thought for Gitcoin after spending a decade in software program engineering for so-called “Web2” know-how startups. After seeing how recruiters would extract worth when sourcing expertise, he discovered his means into crypto—particularly Ethereum. The concept of making a brand new model of the Web that wouldn’t be managed by Fb or Google fitted completely with what Owocki wished to realize. “I began Gitcoin to disintermediate recruiters,” he mentioned. “Principally, we’re serving to builders discover alternatives in Web3 and get cash.” 

Owocki believes that crypto networks present the proper approach to help open supply tasks that change the world for the higher, a lot in order that he describes the rising know-how as a software for a societal revolution. “The magical factor about crypto is that we are able to program our values into our cash so if we worth open supply and public items then we are able to construct financial programs that help these issues,” he mentioned. 

“The magical factor about crypto is that we are able to program our values into our cash.”

Gitcoin is an Ethereum venture, however in contrast to a lot of crypto’s foremost evangelists, Owocki insists that he’s blockchain agnostic. Reasonably, he and Gitcoin wish to help builders to assist the entire pie develop larger. As Ethereum has the largest mindshare within the house right now, it simply so occurs to be the very best one for Gitcoin to run on. “I’m an open supply maximalist, I wanna see individuals engaged on highly effective impactful tasks, and Ethereum has the best community impact to make that occur proper now,” he defined. 

Gitcoin launched on the top of a retail-driven mania interval for the cryptocurrency market in late 2017. Whereas sketchy tasks have been utilizing Ethereum to boost funds by means of crypto crowdfunds referred to as preliminary coin choices, Gitcoin set out on its mission to help the builders that have been starting to look within the ecosystem. It discovered success early on. The Ethereum Basis funded the venture’s first seven grants rounds, earlier than key decentralized finance tasks like Yearn.Finance got here on board to help its subsequent funding rounds. 

The Energy of Quadratic Funding 

Whereas Web-based crowdfunding is nothing new, Gitcoin works in another way to Web2 platforms like Kickstarter and GoFundMe—and never solely as a result of donors must ship Ethereum tokens. It pioneered quadratic funding, an idea coined by Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin, Zoë Hitzig, and E. Glen Weyl. In conventional funding, tasks typically have large supporters that improve the entire funds raised by matching the quantity donors have dedicated. Quadratic funding, in the meantime, makes use of an identical pool primarily based on the variety of donations reasonably than the dimensions of them. In different phrases, a venture that receives $100 price of grants from 100 donors will obtain a couple of that receives a single $100 grant from one donor. “Quadratic funding optimizes for the preferences of the various reasonably than the wealthy few,” Owocki mentioned. 

“The subsequent 1 billion individuals utilizing Web3 will use it for the Web of jobs.”

Eschewing the established order of the standard system in favor of “the various” sums up Owocki’s complete outlook on crypto. Whereas Web3 is at present recognized for speculative hype cycles which have enriched the savviest DeFi and NFT customers, Owocki thinks that decentralized know-how may supply the world greater than ponzinomics and monkey photos. He says he’s enthusiastic about serving to common individuals earn a greater residing because the house heads towards mass adoption. “I believe the subsequent 1 billion individuals utilizing Web3 will use it for the Web of jobs,” he mentioned. “I goal to create a world by which DAOs are augmenting revenue so we now have a systemic incentive to work on the commons and our communities.”

Whereas Web3 nonetheless will get a nasty rep from Huge Tech entrepreneurs, Bitcoin followers, and blockchain skeptics alike, Owocki argues that it improves on the Web of right now as a result of it helps create a extra pluralistic world. “We’ve got cash legos we are able to construct on, so there are much less of the sharp elbows present in Web2,” he mentioned. “It’s like being in a backyard collectively the place we share the soil and the air and composite elements.” 

The newest Web3 increase was led by an explosion of curiosity in art-based NFT tasks like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Membership, however with ETH at present round 75% down from its highs, a lot of the speculative hype that characterised 2021 in crypto has died. Nonetheless, Owocki says this doesn’t matter for Gitcoin. “Everybody within the house, whether or not it’s a increase or bust cycle, wants software program builders,” he mentioned. “Gitcoin occurs to be in a great spot as a result of it’s serving to these builders discover these ecosystems, so we’ve bought a reasonably wholesome enterprise.” 

Supporting Influence DAOs With Gitcoin

In addition to Gitcoin, Owocki is most all for crypto tasks which have constructive externalities and improve their assets over time. He namechecks the common fundamental revenue venture Proof of Humanity and the decentralized carbon-based token initiative KlimaDAO as examples of what he calls “affect DAOs”—teams referred to as decentralized autonomous organizations which have demonstrated a dedication to making a constructive affect on the world round them. 

“Gitcoin funds all these sorts of tasks and we’ve been serving to them discover one another, trade assets, and concepts,” he mentioned. “The potential of that is the place affect DAOs increase each revenue on the planet to assist everybody help their communities and make ends meet.”

Owocki thinks that affect DAOs may leverage NFT know-how to fulfil their missions, however not essentially by means of digital artwork JPEGs. As a substitute, he envisages a world by which DAOs problem tokenized “affect certificates” to unfold their message. “What if we may tokenize that affect and say you take away 10 tons of carbon from the environment, otherwise you take 10 youngsters out of poverty, otherwise you fund open supply tasks for a yr?” he contemplated. “We will create a certificates which you could add to your stability sheet.” 

Owocki says that affect certificates may create a enterprise mannequin for DAOs by providing rich donors an opportunity to sign advantage and flex about spending on vital causes. “An important factor is that when individuals are creating worth for the world, they will receives a commission for that worth,” he mentioned. 

“Influence DAOs may increase each revenue on the planet.”

Crypto has lengthy rewarded customers for doing good. Early venture supporters typically obtain governance tokens for bootstrapping liquidity, and in recent times Ethereum tasks like Optimism have allotted token airdrops to Gitcoin donors. Owocki applauds the dozen or so tasks which have rewarded loyal Gitcoiners. “It creates a suggestions cycle the place it’s like ‘oh wait, doing good is sweet karma and it comes again to me’,” he mentioned. 

Whereas Gitcoin has loved success over its early years, Owocki is simply as excited for the venture’s subsequent part. The corporate is at present transferring towards a decentralized construction that may unwind its present hierarchy with the top objective of placing the venture’s improvement and economics absolutely within the arms of its neighborhood DAO. He additionally says that he’d wish to see the venture obtain recurring contributions reasonably than one-off donations. And he’s extra satisfied than ever that it may play a necessary position in supporting the fast-growing decentralized ecosystem. “As soon as Web3 is sufficiently big to take over the world, we’ll be capable of go into adjoining classes of doing grants and hackathons for everybody,” he mentioned. “However for now, it’s area of interest Web3 tasks.” 

Disclosure: On the time of writing, the writer of this piece owned ETH, GTC, and several other different cryptocurrencies. Additionally they had publicity to UNI in a cryptocurrency index and have beforehand contributed to Gitcoin Grants.