Thread by @TaylorPearsonMe

How to fund crypto development by @arjunblj #MITBitcoinExpo

Historically, 3 open source business models have already existed - company supported, Hosted Services and Consulting

Companies in between hosted services and consulting tend to have the best financial outcomes. E.g. Redhat acquiditon

So why don't these models work for public blockchains?

What's the design space for public block chain funding models? Goals should be to minimize rent seeking, sustainability and social accessibility

One option being tried is funding by companies which are backed by VC. Trouble here is that blockchains don't tend to create shareholder value, they destroy it. Can these companies create venture scale outcomes?

Also a governance/incentive problem where companies are supposed to create profits which don't always align with protocol roadmap long term

Another model is patronage. If community members demand this in order to have a good reputation, this can work.

This can work better as there are less direct conflict of interest because you can use consortiums. Problem is something like Grin where tons of money raised for mining and no money for development

A third model is protocol based funding. One failure mode is sustainability is community has to coordinate effectively for a long time which is really hard.

What's the future?
One option is to use dapps as a replacement for Swiss foundations. Moloch DAO is an interesting example

Another option is forcing corporate responsibility from companies built on Bitcoin like @coinbase

A final option is protocol -star to businesses that break the VC mold