The cost savings are due to the cancellation and rescoping of grants.
July 2025 - December 2025: Grants Summary
Note on Terminology
Terminated: The grant or agreement term concluded with one or more milestones cancelled. AADAO has no remaining payment obligations or financial commitments.
Complete: All milestones delivered, and all associated payment obligations have been satisfied.
Grant Title: “Delta-Neutral Vaults for Hydro”
Status: Terminated
Grantee: Margined Protocol
Grantee Representative: Max (Friedrich) Graber
Hydro Representative: Thyborg
Summary
Following extended engagement with the grantee, AADAO Oversight determined that the Margined Protocol grant could not be completed as approved by the AADAO Grants and Hydro teams.
The decision to terminate the grant was based on the following factors:
- Material non-performance: The revised Milestone 1 deliverable, production-ready vault, remained incomplete several months beyond the agreed timeline.
- Risk to user funds: Users experienced withdrawal and redemption issues requiring emergency intervention by AADAO Oversight on multiple occasions. The grantee also demonstrated repeated delays in addressing user-reported issues.
- Non-compliance with open-source requirements: The implementation remained partially closed-source, with critical execution logic withheld.
- Failure to deliver despite extended support: Multiple follow-up calls and written notices did not result in delivery of the promised self-service user experience.
Financial Overview
| Item | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front (Initial Payment) | $10,000 | Disbursed |
| MVP (Milestone 1) | $10,000 | Disbursed |
| Remaining Balance (Milestones 2–4) | $30,000 | Cancelled |
Total Paid: $20,000
Total Cancelled: $30,000
Agreement Title: “Robust Bug Bounty Program for Hydro by Immunefi”
Agreement Type: Master Services Agreement (MSA)
Status: Terminated
Vendor: Immuni Software PTE. LTD. (Immunefi)
Vendor Representatives: Michael O’Keefe, Hugo Volz Oliveira
Hydro Representative: Thyborg
Link: N/A. No DaoDAO proposal was required.
Summary
Following internal review, AADAO Oversight determined that the MSA with Immuni Software PTE. LTD. should be terminated. The agreement was executed in a manner inconsistent with the originally bargained terms, and subsequent evaluation concluded that the value delivered did not justify continuation.
Immunefi cooperated throughout the process and agreed to an amicable termination without dispute.
Basis for Termination
- Contract execution issues: Resulting from internal execution error; no vendor misconduct identified.
- Insufficient value relative to cost: Services delivered did not justify contracted or renegotiated pricing.
- Vendor cooperation: Vendor agreed to terminate without contest.
Financial Overview
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Original Approved Amount | $57,882.00 |
| Total Paid | $14,470.50 |
| Cancelled | $43,411.50 |
Total Paid: $14,470.50
Total Cancelled: $43,411.50
Grant Title: “Votion: The Hydro Vote Aggregator”
Status: Complete
Grantee: Votion
Grantee Representative: Philipp Mager
Hydro Representative: Thyborg
Summary
Votion satisfied all milestones for grant completion. Deliverables were jointly verified by Hydro and AADAO Oversight.
Financial Overview
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Original Approved Amount | $50,000 |
| Total Paid to Date | $50,000 |
Grant Title: “Pryzm Zone – Supercharging Yield Optimization”
Status: Terminated
Grantee: Pryzm Zone
Grantee Representative: Olly Moore
Summary
AADAO Oversight approved a $10,000 disbursement in satisfaction of a milestone defined as the launch of a yield platform enabling ATOM yield swaps. The milestone was verified based on deployment evidence, security review, and production availability.
Subsequently, the grant was terminated with remaining milestones cancelled due to irreconcilable differences regarding KPI measurement.
-
Repository: https://github.com/pryzm-finance/pryzmjs
-
Contracts: https://chainsco.pe/pryzm/accounts
-
Audit: CertiK (1 July 2024)
https://storage.googleapis.com/pryzm-zone/audits/Certik-Audit-2024-07-01.pdf -
Production Endpoints:
Financial Overview
| Milestone | Amount | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milestone 1 | $20,000 | Upon approval | Paid |
| Milestone 2 | $10,000 | 750 DAUs / $15k daily volume | Cancelled |
| Milestone 3 | $10,000 | Launch Yield Platform | Paid |
| Milestone 4 | $10,000 | 1,500 DAUs / $30k daily volume | Cancelled |
Total Paid: $30,000
Total Cancelled: $20,000
Grant Title: “Superbolt: Bringing Advanced NFTfi to the AEZ”
Status: Terminated
Grantee: Superbolt
Grantee Representative: MB Aejir
Summary
The grant was restructured by mutual agreement. One milestone was amended to recognize delivery of the Particle Accelerator and Supercharger features, and remaining milestones were cancelled. The $SUPER token launch requirement was waived due to economic considerations.
Financial Overview
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Original Approved Amount | $125,000 |
| Total Paid to Date | $80,000 |
| Cancelled | $45,000 |
Total Paid: $80,000
Total Cancelled: $45,000
Grant Title: “Archive Node for the Cosmos Hub”
Status: Complete
Grantee: Crypto Crew Validator
Grantee Representative: Clemens Scarpatetti
Summary
Crypto Crew Validator satisfied all milestones for grant completion.
Final report: https://forum.cosmos.network/t/milestone-report-cosmoshub-archive-node/16304
Financial Overview
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Original Approved Amount | $12,000 |
| Total Paid to Date | $12,000 |
Grant Title: “Huginn: ATOM Community Activation in Istanbul”
Status: Complete
Grantee: Huginn
Grantee Representatives: Utku Hiz, Rua Leon
Summary
A $6,000 final payment was approved based on grantee’s history of timely reporting and reliable representations of imminent full delivery on approved terms. Payment was conditioned on completion of all deliverables and submission of a final report to the Forum.
Deliverables
- Twelve (12) community events with ≥20 attendees each
- Registration via Luma coordinated through AtomXYZ
- Educational presentations on ATOM wallet setup and on-ramping
Financial Overview
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Original Approved Amount | $16,000 |
| Total Paid to Date | $16,000 |
Grant Title: Passage – Supercharging ATOM Use-Cases in the Metaverse
Status: Terminated
Grantee: Passage
Grantee Representative: Lex Avellino
Link:
DAO DAO
Summary
At approval, this grant was structured to support Passage in building and scaling ATOM-denominated NFT activity within the Cosmos ecosystem, with a total approved grant amount of up to $75,000, subject to milestone-based verification.
AADAO Oversight approved a $10,000 milestone payment corresponding to the successful launch of three ATOM-mintable NFT collections on the Passage platform. The grantee committed to providing a comprehensive report of its ongoing marketing activities directly to the ATOM community via the Forum.
Financial Overview
| Item | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Milestone 1 (Initial) | $30,000 | Disbursed |
| Milestone 2 | $10,000 | Disbursed |
| Milestone 3 | $10,000 | Disbursed |
| Milestone 4 | $10,000 | Cancelled |
| Milestone 5 | $15,000 | Cancelled |
Total Paid: $50,000
Total Cancelled: $25,000
Grant Title: Quadratic Funding for the AEZ
Status: Terminated
Grantee: DoraHacks
Grantee Representatives: Brian Breslow, Steve Ngok
Link:
DAO DAO
Summary
Pursuant to Cosmos Hub Proposal 917, AADAO committed $200,000 USDC to support ten quadratic funding rounds for the Atom Economic Zone (AEZ) over a 24 month period. The approved proposal relied on AADAO’s continued operational role in program distribution, scoping, AEZ alignment, and administrative oversight.
Following the deprecation of the AADAO grants program and core DAO team, these underlying assumptions were no longer valid. As a result, administration of any remaining rounds would require an explicit reauthorization through Hub governance; while remediating administrative gap.
Due to these changes, Oversight:
- Approved payment of $20,000 corresponding to completion of Round 7; and
- Cancelled the remaining $60,000 allocated for Rounds 8–10.
In parallel, DoraHacks agreed to return 24,000 ATOM from the 80,000 ATOM originally allocated under Proposal 917 to the Community Pool.
As of the date of this record, DoraHacks has not yet provided the transaction hash confirming the ATOM return and has been instructed to do so and post proof of return to the Forum.
Financial Overview
| Item | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | $20,000 | Paid |
| Round 2 | $20,000 | Paid |
| Rounds 3–6 | $80,000 | Paid |
| Round 7 | $20,000 | Paid |
| Rounds 8–10 | $60,000 | Cancelled |
Total Paid: $140,000
Total Cancelled: $60,000
Grant Title: Zephyrus: Vote Aggregator for Hydro
Status: Complete
Grantee: Moonkitt Lab
Grantee Representative: JB Chevalier
Hydro Representative: Thyborg
Link:
DAO DAO
Summary
Zephyrus satisfied all milestones for grant completion.
Financial Overview
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Original Approved Grant Amount | $85,000 |
| Total Paid | $85,000 |
Title: Security Audits for the Cosmos Hub
Status: Terminated
Type: Master Services Agreement (MSA)
Vendor: Zellic
Vendor Representative: Oliver Murray
Link:
DAO DAO
Summary
The grant to Zellic, approved on 3 December 2024, was established to fund ongoing security audit services for the Cosmos Hub, with an originally negotiated term through 31 December 2026. The total approved grant amount was $440,000, of which $308,000 had been disbursed as of the date of review.
Upon review, it was determined that the original Master Services Agreement (MSA) and accompanying Audit Schedule were executed by an AADAO contributor without formal signing authority, rendering the agreement legally invalid. No misconduct or misrepresentation by the vendor was identified.
To remedy this deficiency, the agreement was amended and properly executed under the authority of the AADAO Trust by Karel Olivier of Lemma Ltd., acting in his capacity as AADAO Trustee (karel@lemma.solutions). The amended agreement revised the contractual end date to 20 November 2025, replacing the original term ending 31 December 2026.
Of the remaining unutilized funds, $132,000 corresponded to services not yet rendered. Following negotiation by Oversight, AADAO agreed to remit $33,000 in consideration for eleven weeks of audit services performed under the amended term. Consultation with Cosmos Labs confirmed that all scoped audit deliverables had been completed and that no reasonable scope extensions justified continuation of the engagement.
The remaining $99,000 will be returned to the Cosmos Hub Community Pool.
Financial Overview
| Item | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Payment | $132,000 | Paid |
| Payment 2 | $176,000 | Paid |
| Payment 3 | $33,000 | Paid |
| Balance | $99,000 | Cancelled |
Total Paid: $341,000
Total Cancelled: $99,000
Aggregate Financial Impact — Cancelled / Saved Funds
Per-Initiative Cancelled Amounts
| Initiative | Status | Cancelled / Saved Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Margined Protocol — Delta-Neutral Vaults (Hydro) | Terminated | $30,000 |
| Immunefi — Bug Bounty MSA (Hydro) | Terminated | $43,411.50 |
| Pryzm Zone — Yield Optimization | Terminated | $20,000 |
| Superbolt — NFTfi AEZ | Terminated | $45,000 |
| Passage — Metaverse NFTs | Terminated | $25,000 |
| DoraHacks — Quadratic Funding AEZ | Terminated | $60,000 |
| Zellic — Security Audits (MSA) | Terminated | $99,000 |
| Total Cancelled / Saved | $322,411.50 |
Conclusion
Oversight consistently halted spend at the point where marginal value turned negative.
All terminations were cause based:
- Material non-performance (Margined, Pryzm)
- Value-to-cost mismatch (Immunefi, Zellic)
- Governance assumption failure (DoraHacks)
- Market adjustment (Superbolt, Passage)
The only outstanding obligations that warrant community monitoring are limited.
The sole hard financial obligation is DoraHacks’ return of 24,000 ATOM to the Hub; as of the latest, the tx hash and public confirmation via Forum have not yet been provided, and this should be actively followed up by the community.
In addition, there are two soft reporting obligations that remain open: Passage is expected to publish ongoing marketing report to the Forum as a condition of its final milestone payment, and Huginn is expected to post its final report documenting completion of its community activation events.
Via Cosmos Hub Proposal 800, AADAO acted as steward of a 450,000 ATOM Protocol-Owned Liquidity (POL) position. The core DAO dissolved prior to the responsible unwinding of this position. As a result, and due to an impaired msig configuration, the process of unwinding the POL position has been materially complex and delayed. I’ve spent eight months chasing former contributors on X, Signal, and Telegram.
Notwithstanding that stewardship of this position may be viewed as outside the strict scope of my responsibilities, given that the deployment predates my election, the magnitude of the assets involved warranted action in the interest of safeguarding community funds. With the ongoing cooperation of two signers – Cosmostation and Imperator, and with technical support from Cosmos Labs, the final tranche of stATOM is expected to be unstake and return to the Pool by end Feb. @RoboMcGobo please post tx link for return of 450,000 ATOM to this thread, thank you.
Any inquiries regarding the ongoing administration of the AADAO Guernsey Trust, or investments executed by the Ventures / Strategy subDAO should be directed to the Trustee, Karel Olivier of Lemma Ltd. (karel@lemma.solutions).
In light of the foregoing, and having done my utmost at this job on multiple fronts, I resign from my elected position on the AADAO Oversight Committee, effective Friday, 9 January 2026.
This work has been largely thankless and, at times, tedious. Nevertheless, it was done with resilience and alot of goddamn care.
No single public report can capture my scope of work during this period. What is observable and objectively manifest, however, are the outcomes:
- removal of ineffective and improperly functioning DAO leadership structures
- imminent recovery of 474,000 ATOM, comprising both a grantee return obligation and an active asset-recovery process.
Oversight involvement throughout AADAO’s drawdowb means approx $1.2 million reverts to the Pool.
Relative to the scale of funding requests escalating on the Hub, maybe the savings feel modest. That perception is precisely the risk. Public funds should never be treated as default spend. Every proposal regardless of size deserves scrutiny, justification, and accountability.
I respectfully urge the community to level up on collective vigilance and please wake up to how public funds are proposed, administered, and spent. Social stewardship of on-chain ask and signal are not obstacles to progress; it’s the foundation of governance-predicated spending.
So long as there’s a pool of magic internet money at play, we need an independent oversight DAO empowered by the force of an election to make accountability an alive practice and principle. While I absolutely have no interest in this, open to sharing my experience or serve as resource to any persons prepared to take on what’s inherently an act of public service.
Such was my mindset going in, and going out.
Take good care everyone.