Quick recap

Wayne reported on the May 2024 operations, highlighting the budget review, upcoming marketing activities, and potential partnerships. Pawel then presented an overview of the project's infrastructure, performance statistics, and proposed integrating domains to DNS records and applying for TLD applications. The team also discussed various strategies to extend the runway for integrator bonuses and the depletion of funds from the 'feo handle' giveaway buckets.

Summary

May 2024 Operations Review and Upcoming Activities

Pawel commenced the monthly steering committee call and handed over to Wayne for a review of the May 2024 operations. Wayne reported that the overall budget for the month was under budget, with some savings. However, there were deficits in revenue and audience growth rate. Wayne highlighted upcoming marketing activities and partnerships, including a research and report on Feo by Coin Bureau, a podcast feature and website takeover by Blockworks, and content promotion by two influencers. He also mentioned future events and discounted ticket acquisition for the Mainnet by Mosari in New York City.

Coinstadt Marketing Promo and Partnerships

Wayne discussed the upcoming marketing promo for Coinstadt and highlighted several partnerships with various companies. Key partnerships include Trust Wallet, NFT marketplace Fast, gaming projects, a travel platform, and a super app. Pending partnerships with a loyalty membership platform and an NFT distribution platform were also mentioned. Wayne further noted UTILA's interest in integrating an open-source address database protocol and the planned integration of Pale AI into Discord and Telegram. Delays were noted with Asphoria and Tangom.

Project Overview and Financial Update

Wayne announced a shift in focus towards Archer's and promised follow-up actions in the coming months. Pawel then presented an overview of the project's infrastructure and performance statistics. He highlighted significant increases in video crypto handles and domain registrations due to the trust integration, but also pointed out potential depletion of free handles. Pawel furthermore discussed ongoing projects, including core chain improvements, Ubuntu upgrades, new Oracle software, a more efficient block explorer, and a light SDK for partner integration. He also addressed recent challenges with the registration and staking services, and forthcoming improvements. Lastly, he provided an update on the financial side, showing a 37% increase in income and a 15% lower actual spend compared to the previous month.

Domain Integration and TLD Applications Discussion

Pawel presented the idea of integrating domains to DNS records and exploring the potential of applying for TLD applications, which could open up opportunities for the Foundation in the future. Adam and Wayne expressed mixed feelings about the proposal, with concerns about the widespread adoption and the cost of TLD applications. However, they recognized the potential benefits, such as expanding the utility of domains and possibly generating additional revenue from domain registrations. Pawel and Wayne agreed to set up a separate call to discuss potential synergies with Unstoppable Domains. Ultimately, the decision to pursue this path was not reached, and the Foundation decided to reassess the situation in the future.

Funding Level Review and Worker Proposal

Pawel proposed discussing two main topics: the continuing funding for existing work proposals and potential changes to the funding level. He suggested a review in the middle of the worker proposal period, which typically occurs every three months, to allow for any necessary adjustments. Wayne and George indicated that they saw no reason to make changes to the funding level at this time. Adam, who had been muted, confirmed that the consensus was to stay the course with the funding level for the upcoming months. Pawel then moved on to discuss a worker proposal.

FIO Protocol Network Integration Proposal

Pawel presented a proposal to integrate the Fear protocol network into the Antelope tools monitoring site, a product recommended by Ross. The Antelope tools, designed to monitor Eos-based networks, would provide valuable technical information for decision-making regarding block producers. The integration, estimated to cost $2,560, would be a one-time payment to Edina, a company that would handle the task. Pawel expressed mixed opinions about the proposal, acknowledging the tool's potential benefits, but also highlighting the upcoming development of a similar tool focused on Theo's specific block producers. He also noted some challenges with Eosio-based tools and their customizations.

Pawel discussed the functionality and benefits of a new tool for monitoring the network. The tool provides detailed information about block producers, transaction data, and API endpoint status. It also allows for the identification of underperforming block producers and provides insights into geographic distribution and reward distribution. Pawel suggested that this tool could serve as an alternative to the Fear Tracker and noted that it would be available for both the main net and testnet.

Pawel presented a new dashboard and proposed a one-time payment for a clean and functional tool. Wayne confirmed that there was no ongoing maintenance fee. Pawel then asked the steering committee to vote on the proposal, despite no questions or objections. Additionally, Pawel brought up a concern about the dwindling supply of tokens for free handle registrations, which was also a topic for the upcoming board meeting. The current rate of usage was estimated to be burning through a bucket per week, and Pawel emphasized the need to make a decision before the tokens

Extending FIO Handle Giveaway Buckets Solutions

Pawel discussed the depletion of funds from the 'feo handle' giveaway buckets and proposed several solutions to extend their lifespan. These included lowering the fee handle price, increasing the registration fee, redirecting deep incentives from partners to the foundation, and reallocating existing funds from new user bounties and initial integration wallets. He cautioned that these strategies would require efficient and effective execution, and any request to mint new tokens beyond the hard cap of 1 billion would need careful consideration. The final decision on these proposals would rest with the block producers.

Pawel proposed various strategies to extend the runway for integrator bonuses, including potential adjustments to the pricing and reallocation of funds. Wayne suggested a 1-year runway on free handles and reevaluating the strategy in six months. Pawel agreed to discuss these ideas further in an upcoming board meeting and encouraged the team to consider potential changes to the fee handle price. The team was asked to think about these proposals and prepare for future discussions.

Next steps

• Steering Committee to decide on the approach to extend the runway for free FIO handle registrations, considering options like reallocating existing token buckets, recommending block producers to lower the handle fee, or having the Foundation fund handles from liquid FIO tokens.

• Pawel to conduct further research on the potential cost and process for FIO to apply for a new top-level domain (TLD) when ICANN opens applications.

• Wayne and Pawel to discuss offline the possibility of cross-resolving FIO handles/domains with other blockchain naming services like Unstoppable Domains.

• Steering Committee to vote on the worker proposal to add the FIO protocol network to the Antelope Tools monitoring site.

• Pawel to share the recording of the recent Block Producer meeting in the main channel for those who missed it.

• Steering Committee members to provide their input on whether to make any funding changes to the worker proposals effective August 1st.

• Pawel to follow up with the Steering Committee and Board on the decision regarding the approach to extend the runway for free FIO handle registrations.

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