Abstract#

This is an update of the Projects System that introduces the following changes:

• The quarterly project pot is 3% of official liquid AUM (the same non-MOONEY treasury figure used in the finance overview), rounded to the nearest $500. It is no longer 5% of a larger base that includes staked ETH.
• The top three Senate-passed proposals, ranked by Member House voting power, are funded. The top-50% rule and the 3/4 knapsack cap are removed.
• Each funded project receives a grant of min(what they asked, ¼ of the pot). They cannot receive more than ¼. They do not receive more than they asked for.
• 10% of the pot still goes to the Contributor Circle in USDC, as today. That circle also still receives its share of the vMOONEY emission.
• After the three grants and the 10% community slice, whatever is left is the retroactive USDC pool. If all three winners take the full ¼, that leftover is 15% of the pot, plus any unused grant room from teams that asked for less. Members still allocate that pool among eligible final reports the same way they do today.
• The 3% rate is fixed. The dollar amount changes only when official liquid AUM changes. Changing the rate requires another Project System amendment.

All changes to the Project System document are specified below. Analysis and the August 14 financial snapshot are in PR #1519 and PR #1520.

What does not change#

• Ideation, submission deadlines, Senate review, Townhall pitches, and Senate yes/no.
• Member House still spreads voting power across Senate-passed proposals. Contributors still cannot vote on their own project.
• Final reports, Executive Branch eligibility, unused funds returning to the treasury, and launchpad for asks above the grant cap.
• Monthly Senate updates, weekly Townhall attendance, and weekly written updates.
• How vMOONEY is emitted and locked, including the Contributor Circle's share.
• The Contributor Circle still receives 10% of the quarterly pot in USDC, plus vMOONEY. Senators still allocate that circle.

Why#

Official liquid AUM on 14 August 2026 is $327,851. Five percent of the old project-system base is $24,310 per quarter ($97,240 per year) — about 23% of MoonDAO's USD burn, on a treasury with roughly ten months of runway.

Q2 spent the entire 5% ($23,409). Q3 funded five projects at $17,452 upfront. The current rules (top 50%, 1/5 max, 3/4 cap, 10% community stables) are hard to explain and still spend the whole pot.

This update keeps the pot tied to treasury health, cuts the rate once, and funds fewer teams at a known grant size. The Contributor Circle's USDC slice stays.

What this quarter would have looked like#

3% of official liquid AUM is $9,836, rounded to $10,000. Grant cap is $2,500. Applied to the Q3 Member Vote ranking:

On a $10,000 pot: community circle $1,000 (10%), grant cap $2,500 (¼). Grants paid: $6,030. Unused grant room ($1,470) plus the leftover after grants and community ($1,500) → $2,970 retro. Total stables: $10,000, versus ~$24,310 today.

If official liquid AUM doubles later, the pot doubles. No new proposal is required.

Edge rules#

• If fewer than three proposals pass the Senate, fund all of them. Unissued ¼-slices go to retro.
• A tie for third is broken by the Senate.
• Retro is paid to the prior quarter's completed, Executive-Branch-approved projects. Members allocate 100% of that retro pool. The Contributor Circle's 10% is a separate slice of the pot, not taken out of retro.
• Asks above ¼ of the pot should use the launchpad, or a later quarterly milestone.
• There is no mid-quarter budget increase.

Proposed replacements in Project System v8.0 → v9.0#

Version header. MoonDAO Projects v8.0 → MoonDAO Projects v9.0.

Step 2 (Proposal Submission). Replace the 1/5 budget sentence with:

A winning project receives a grant of min(the amount requested in the proposal, ¼ of that quarter's project pot). State a requested amount in the proposal. Requests above ¼ of the pot will be capped if the project is funded. If you need more than the cap, use the launchpad or propose a later quarterly milestone.

Step 5 (Member House Vote). Replace the top-50% / 3/4 paragraph with:

Each voter allocates their voting power between Senate-approved proposals on a percentage basis. The three proposals with the highest voting-power share are funded. Each receives min(its requested amount, ¼ of the quarterly project pot). If fewer than three proposals are considered, all of them are funded and any unissued ¼-slices are added to the retroactive pool. A tie for third is broken by the Senate. Project contributors must abstain from voting on their own project.

Quarterly Rewards — stablecoin formula. Replace the "5% of NMA minus project budgets" paragraph. Keep the 10% Contributor Circle.

Each quarter the project pot is 3% of official liquid AUM (designated treasury Safes plus the WETH side of the Uniswap V3 LP; exclude MOONEY), priced at midnight UTC on the first day of the quarter, rounded to the nearest $500. The 3% rate does not change unless this document is amended.

That pot is split as follows:

• 10% — Contributor Circle, in USDC, allocated as today.
• Project grants. The three funded projects each receive min(their ask, ¼ of the pot) at the start of the quarter.
• Retroactive rewards. Whatever remains after the three grants and the 10% community slice is allocated by Citizens and Voting Members among completed projects whose final reports the Executive Branch approved.

Project Reward Calculation. Retro is 100% of the retro leftover. The 10% Contributor Circle is taken from the pot up front, not from the retro vote. The 0.9 multiplier on retro is no longer how the split works.

vMOONEY series. Unchanged.

FAQs.

• How much can I ask for? Up to ¼ of that quarter's pot. Winners receive min(their ask, that cap). More than the cap → launchpad or a later milestone.
• What if a project requires a budget increase? It does not. Re-propose next quarter or use the launchpad.
• What if my project will take multiple quarters? Still fine as separate quarterly milestones. Each funded quarter is its own grant, not a custom multi-quarter envelope.

Implementation#

If this proposal passes, the Executive Branch will:

• Publish Project System v9.0 on docs.moondao.com.
• Set the next cycle's budgetUSD to 3% of that quarter's official liquid AUM, rounded to the nearest $500.
• Fund the top three Member Vote projects at min(ask, pot / 4).
• Pay the Contributor Circle 10% of the pot in USDC, as today.
• Put the remainder (unused grant room plus whatever is left after grants and the community slice) into the retroactive USDC pool.

No treasury transaction is required to pass this proposal. The next quarterly cycle executes under the new rules.