Snapshot Vote:
- Snapshot Vote
- Start Date / Time: Tuesday, May 12 at 08:00 UTC
- End Date / Time: Friday: May 15 at 08:00 UTC
- Ranked Choice Voting
- All SHU holders and delegates are able to votes
Background:
Shutter Champions is a new ecosystem growth program funded by Shutter DAO 0x36. It’s designed to support people contributing to the Shutter ecosystem - researchers, builders, dApp developers, and creators - with funding, support, and marketing.
Melee 1 will distribute $5,000 worth of SHU tokens to one or more Shutter Champions, selected by SHU voters and delegates.
Slate Voting
Rather than voting on individual applications, SHU voters and delegates will evaluate curated funding slates. Each funding slate represents a coherent strategy for how best to advance the Shutter ecosystem with the funding amount available in Melee 1. SHU voters and delegates will select their preferred slate using ranked choice voting.
Slates
Slate 1: Web3Privacy Now
Position Shutter as a key project within the broader cypherpunk and privacy ecosystem. Funds Web3Privacy Now’s integration of Shutter into the Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress (Mumbai 2026), where Loring is already confirmed as a speaker, and continues the existing Explorer integration and educational video work. Shutter wins by being embedded in the privacy movement’s most credible gatherings and tools, not by competing for generalist crypto attention.
Application: Web3Privacy Now — $5,000 (grant upon milestone delivery) — Forum post
Total: $5,000
Slate 2: Ready for Merge
Concentrate the round on long-form technical media aimed at the people who shape Ethereum’s roadmap. Funds Christine D. Kim’s five-part Ready for Merge mini-series on DeFi safety and fairness, with one episode dedicated to encrypted mempools and Shutter’s positioning alongside PBS and inclusion lists. Christine recently hosted a Shutter/Consensys conversation on encrypted mempool proposals for the Hegota upgrade, so the guest network and editorial fit are already in place.
Application: Ready for Merge Mini-Series (Christine D. Kim) — $5,000 (grant upon milestone delivery) — Forum post
Total: $5,000
Slate 3: SEED Gov + Axia
Strengthen the DAO upstream by funding two complementary governance pilots from experienced delegate teams. SEED Gov designs the framework for what governance work gets surfaced and rewarded; Axia Network runs Proposal Clinics that improve early-stage proposal quality before submissions reach voters. The two are explicitly designed to complement each other.
2 Applications:
- SEED Gov — $2,000 (grant upon milestone delivery) — Forum post
- Axia Network — $2,500 (grant upon milestone delivery) — Forum post
Total: $4,500
Slate 4: Creators
Recognize the creators who covered Shutter before any funding was on the table, and extend that coverage forward. ETH Daily and Joshua Davila are retroactive — both shipped substantial Shutter content (EIP-8105 reporting, threshold mempool coverage, Luis interviews, MEV explainer shorts) ahead of this Melee. The Weekly Doots is in-progress, with the published Loring episode already live and a follow-up Luis/Justin episode booked for May 15. Prove that retroactive funding is real, and pay back the people who already showed up.
3 Applications:
- ETH Daily — $800 (grant now) — Forum post
- Joshua Davila (The Blockchain Socialist) — $2,500 (grant now) — Forum post
- EVMavericks / The Weekly Doots — $1,200 (50% grant now, 50% grant upon milestone delivery) — Forum post
Total: $4,500
Slate 5 - None
Do not fund any of Slates 1 - 4. Instead, hold onto the $5,000 in SHU tokens, and add them to the Melee 2 funding pool.