Special thanks to members of the Feedback Commission for discussion and review.
This post outlines the main strategic goal of the Collective for 1H25 (Season 7 Intent) and highlights the contributions the Collective will support towards that goal. The audience for this post is all contributors towards the Collective.
If you’re a builder and want to understand how to Get a Grant - skip to here.
Don’t want to read? Watch the Season 7 Intents explainer video instead.
Season 7 Intent
The Foundation recently outlined our two year vision for the Superchain. Executing on this vision will require collaboration among all of the Collective’s contributors. The Collective uses Intents to guide these contributions so that OP Labs, the Foundation, OP Chains, the Token House, the Citizens House, and the many builders helping to make the Superchain a reality are all working towards the same goals.
What are Intents?
Intents are high level strategic goals the entire Collective works towards.
All contributions in the Collective should be working towards the Intents.
In Season 7, we will have one Intent, focused on a core pillar of our Superchain Product Vision: Interoperability.
For more information about Interoperability and the Collective’s overall strategy, see this.
Cross-chain asset transfers will be defined as the movement of an asset between two chains that relies on underlying Superchain interop messaging – which delivers consistent security assumptions and 1-block latency UX.
Moving this metric requires the launch of Interop on the Superchain. In advance of Interop launching, Collective programs will aim to grow a set of supporting metrics (described in the Governance Fund Missions section below) to prepare the Superchain for successful adoption of Interop.
Note: While the Season 7 Intent focuses the Collective on making progress towards the Superchain Product Vision, our commitment to decentralization has not changed. The goal is not to have the Foundation and OP Labs accomplish these Intents by ourselves but rather to build a governance system capable of accomplishing these goals without us in the future.
Roadmaps
In an effort to improve transparency and coordination with Collective contributors in working towards this Intent, OP Labs and the Foundation have published high level public roadmaps for the next 6 months. This is big step towards enabling more Collective contributions, a critical step in decentralization. More detailed technical roadmaps will be provided at the beginning of next year.
The core development program led by OP Labs will work towards these Intents via the public roadmap outlined below:
| Development Projects | Budget | How is impact evaluated? |
|---|---|---|
| Deliver the MVP for interop that showcases the functionality between at least two OP Chains | 4M OP | Full functionality including interop proofs audited and delivered to the Superchain. |
| Deliver upgrades to OP Chains to reach Stage 1 | 1.5M OP | L2BEAT recognizes these chains as Stage 1. |
| Build infrastructure and processes to safely scale upgrades for the Superchain. | 1.5M OP | Deliver multi-threaded 64 bit Cannon to Superchain, create a robust incident response process for SEV 0 / SEV 1 incidents vetted by the Foundation and automate deployments using op-deployer. |
| Deliver alternate Rust Stack and make progress towards Stage 2. | 1.5M OP | Deliver OP Reth as one of the sequencers that can be run in production and release Kona (alternate fault proof program in Rust) and Asterisc (alternative Fault Proof VM targeting Risc V) running live offchain alongside the current Go implementation. |
| Drive adoption of ERC7802 and add support for interoperable ETH. | 1M OP | Support interoperable ETH between at least two chains and support 100+ ERC7802 deployments. |
We estimate 9.5M OP from the Foundation Budget will be required to execute on the above roadmap.
The Foundation will work towards these Intents via the growth and governance roadmaps outlined below:
| Growth Projects | Timeline | Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Growth Campaign: Stablecoin TVL | Q1 | 2M OP |
| Growth Campaign: Liquid Staking & Restaking | Q2 | 2M OP |
| Grow the set of Stage 1 Chains on the Superchain | Q1-Q2 | 5-10M OP |
| Ecosystem Partnerships to support Interoperability | Q1-Q2 | 5-8M OP |
| Ethereum L1 Marketing | Q1-Q2 | 1M OP |
| Airdrops | Q1-Q2 | 5-10M OP |
| Governance Projects | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Improve Credibility of Elections | Q1 |
| Onchain Governance Fund | Q1 |
| Grants Council Autonomous Operations | Q1 |
| Improve Data Infrastructure Supporting Retro Funding | Q1 |
| Increase Votable Supply of OP | Q1-Q2 |
| Voter Selection Experiments | Q1-Q2 |
| Improve Security Council Operations & Upgrade Workflow | Q2 |
| Propose Interop Blockspace Charter | Q2 |
| Ship Permissionless Proposal Rights v1 | Q2 |
| Staking Collective ETH | Q2 |
| Total estimated budget | 2M OP |
We estimate 22-35M OP from the Foundation Budget will be required to execute on the above roadmaps.
While the Foundation’s budget doesn’t require approval, we have provided our best estimates of the cost of supporting these roadmaps in an effort to better inform the budgeting process in other parts of the Collective (such as the Token House and Citizens’ House.) Line item estimates for Growth projects indicate tokens distributed through the program described. Line item estimates for the governance team roadmap are not provided as they are difficult to estimate on a standalone basis.
Note: These are estimated budget amounts. The Foundation may spend more or less than these estimates to execute on these roadmaps. To reference actual spend, the Foundation publishes budget reports twice per year on the forum here. The Foundation currently operates with the budget allocated to the Foundation in the initial token supply. If the Foundation needs more tokens to continue operating in the future, additional token budget will be subject to governance approval.
Missions
Collective contributors play a critical role in executing on strategic initiatives which fall outside the core teams’ roadmaps. Collective contributors work towards the Intents by executing Missions. Missions are specific initiatives aimed at making measurable progress towards an Intent. They are clearly scoped, and can be executed by Collective contributors start-to-finish in less than 12 months.
Missions may be supported by the Foundation, Retro Funding, or the Governance Fund. This is an expansion of the previous scope of Missions. The goal is to unify the Collective’s token allocation system under one common set of goals (Intents) and one common allocation framework (Missions). All impact generated by Missions will be evaluated on standardized and regularly recurring measurement dates.
Note: The Season 7 Intent is ambitious and therefore, some Missions may extend into Season 8. The eligibility criteria for OP Chains will be shared in January; you can expect roughly 10 chains to be eligible.
Foundation Missions
In Season 7, the Foundation will publish a series of Missions, supported by the Foundation’s budget.
In an effort to further decentralize this process, the Foundation will ask the Developer Advisory Board to select applicants and assess milestones towards completion. The Foundation will ask OP Labs and/or Open Source Observer to measure additional impact at the end of the Season.
More detailed specifications for Foundation Missions will be made available at the start of Season 7. They may include projects like:
- ERC-7683 Integration with Native Interop: Support cross-L2 sends via Intents natively integrated with Superchain interoperability
- ERC-3770 Integration with Native Interop: Support cross-L2 addressing with Superchain interoperability
- Multichain Paymaster Support: Execute parallel transactions on multiple chains without gas
- Superchain Interop Oracle: Cross-chain oracle service that retrieves real-time price feeds ETH L1 or other supported Superchain network using interop
The Foundation may issue additional Missions throughout the course of Season 7, similar to the Grants Council’s “rolling mission requests.” Most Missions are not fully specified. This is intentional as it allows the Foundation to partner more closely with the Developer Advisory Board and Open Source Observer and/or OP Labs in defining the metrics for success and measurement.
| Project | Budget | Fund | Who selects projects? | Who evaluates impact? | When is impact evaluated? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation Missions | 6M OP | Foundation (Unallocated) | Developer Advisory Board | Open Source Observer or OP Labs | At the end of the Season |
6M OP from the Foundation Budget will be reserved to support the above Missions. This is separate of the budget referenced above to support core team roadmaps.
Retro Funding Missions
The Citizens House will work towards two Missions in Season 7.
| Project | Budget | Fund | Who selects projects? | Who evaluates impact? | When is impact evaluated? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retro Missions | up to 16M OP | Retro Fund | All eligible projects can participate | OSO proposes evaluation method, badgeholders select | Regularly throughout Season |
| Retro Funding: Onchain Builders | up to 8M OP | Retro Fund | |||
| Retro Funding: Developer Tooling | up to 8M OP | Retro Fund |
Note: We previously referred to a Round 7 in 2024 focused on developer tooling. That initiative will become part of the Retro Funding: Developer Tooling program in 2025, running throughout Season 7 rather than in a discrete “Round.”
These Missions have been chosen in order to focus on being able to accurately measure an important sub-set of contributions. The plan is to refine and perfect the ability to reward these contributions before expanding our capabilities to measure additional contributions. While not reflected above as a Season 7 initiative, the Foundation plans to propose an OP Stack program, starting with a limited scope around supporting Ethereum Core Development, in Season 8.
For more information on Retro Funding in 2025, and how it related to our long-term commitment to Ether’s Phoenix, check out the Retro Funding 2025 blog post.
Additional details about Citizen involvement and voting details related to the above Missions will be published at a later date.
Up to 16M OP will be requested from the Retro Fund to support these Missions, to be approved by Citizens.
Governance Fund Missions
The Token House will work towards two Missions in Season 7. The objective of all Governance Fund Missions is to make progress towards growing Superchain TVL, as measured by the metrics below.
Launching interoperability will be a Season-long project. In advance of interop going live on the Superchain – and allowing the Collective to focus on driving the cross-chain asset transfer metric mentioned in the Intent – these TVL-related metrics will help prepare the Superchain for robust adoption of interoperability once it goes live. The Collective’s hypothesis is that a vibrant, interoperable economy will lead to long term growth and continued development.
The Governance Fund Missions will reward progress towards growing Superchain TVL, by making grants that move the sub-metrics below.
- Increase Superchain TVL (denominated in ETH)
- Increase Stablecoin TVL across the Superchain
- Increase Wrapped Asset TVL across the Superchain
- Increase Bridged Asset TVL across the Superchain
| Project | Budget | Fund | Who selects projects? | Who evaluates impact? | When is impact evaluated? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governance Fund Missions | 10.5M OP | Governance Fund | Grants Council; Decision market participants | Milestones and Metrics Council and/or Open Source Observer | At end of Season |
| Grants Council Mission | 10M OP | ||||
| Decision Market Mission | 500k OP |
There are two Missions to allocate grants, using different methods, in an attempt to move these metrics.
- Grants Council: The Token House currently entrusts the Grants Council to make grants from the Governance Fund. In Season 7, it will be at the discretion of the Season 7 Grants Council to determine the best way to make grants that move these metrics across the Superchain. This means the Grants Council will no longer be constrained to the Mission Request process or to making grants on OP Mainnet. Grant policies apply, regardless of the configuration of the grants process.
- Decision Market: In Season 7, we will experiment with an alternate way to make grants from the Governance Fund. The Foundation will facilitate an experiment in conjunction with Butter and the Uniswap Foundation to run a decision market. Grants will be allocated to projects based on the outcomes of a decision market which predicts the project’s ability to make progress towards the success metrics.
10.5M OP will be requested from the Governance Fund to support these Missions, to be approved by delegates.
Season 7 Missions – Summary
| Project | Budget | Fund | Who selects projects? | Who evaluates impact? | When is impact evaluated? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation Missions | 6M OP | Foundation (Unallocated) | Developer Advisory Board | Open Source Observer or OP Labs | At the end of the Season |
| Retro Funding Missions | 16M OP | Retro Fund | All eligible projects can participate | Open Source Observer proposes method, badgeholders select | Regularly throughout Season |
| Governance Fund Missions | 10.5M OP | Governance Fund | Grants Council; Decision Market participants | Milestones and Metrics Council and/or Open Source Observer | At the end of the Season |
How do we measure impact in Season 7?
All Missions will work towards the same Intent. All impact will be measured, across the Collective, on the same, recurring measurement dates. Specific details about Retro Funding and other measurement mechanics will be provided throughout Season 7.
How does this move the Collective towards Decentralization?
- Coordinating the entire Collective around the same set of Intents and publishing public roadmaps are big steps towards enabling more Collective contribution thereby reducing reliance on core teams
- To see all the steps we are taking towards decentralization in Season 7, please see the Guide to Season 7.
What does this mean for delegates?
- Join the Foundation AMA on December 3rd
- In Special Voting Cycle #31a, delegates will vote to:
- Ratify the Intent
- Vote on each of the Governance Fund Missions (2)
What does this mean for Citizens?
- Join the Foundation AMA on December 3rd
- In Special Voting Cycle #31a, Citizens will vote to:
- Ratify the Intent
- Vote on each of the Retro Missions (2)
Check out the Reflection Period Guide for a step-by-step walk though for delegates and Citizens.