Nexus Mutual Roadmap | Q3 & Q4 2024

Nexus Mutual Updates Roadmap
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Nexus Mutual Roadmap | Q3 & Q4 2024

Overview

Every six months, we review the Mutual’s roadmap with the Foundation and DAO teams. Following our last roadmap update in December 2023, we’re happy to share the latest objectives, priorities, and deliverables, which focus on our path forward in Q3 & Q4 2024.

Below, you’ll find a recap of our core objectives, progress to date, and planned initiatives. The DAO and Foundation teams are committed to transparency and share our latest goals and efforts.

If you have any suggestions, we’d be happy to hear them! Simply reply to this post with any feedback.

Core Objectives for Foundation and DAO teams

Our objectives remain largely the same as last year, as first shared in the Nexus Mutual Roadmap | Q1 & Q2 2023:

  1. Growth. The number one priority for the Foundation and DAO teams centres around growth initiatives focused on increasing cover sales, expanding the Mutual’s product offerings, breaking into new markets, investing more of the Capital Pool float, onboarding more members, and scaling the Nexus Mutual ecosystem. Teams are experimenting with different strategies to see what works so successful initiatives can be scaled to drive growth within the Mutual. Compared with the last half of 2023, Nexus Mutual members have earned more than double in cover fees.

  2. Tokenomics. The Ratcheting AMM has successfully replaced the Bonding Curve following members’ approval of NMPIP-209. Next, the DAO R&D and Engineering teams will focus on Stage 2 of the Tokenomics project, which involves system considerations for lower capitalisation levels and for when the Capital Pool approaches the cover-driven MCR.

  3. Progressive Decentralisation. Since Nexus Mutual’s launch in 2019, our community has prioritised our progressive decentralisation objectives. Recently, the DAO R&D and Community teams began researching possible adaptations of alternative governance frameworks to align with the Mutual’s goals and growth.

How the Foundation and DAO teams Will Contribute to Core objectives

In the sections below, we provide an overview of each team and the respective initiatives they are working on in Q3 & Q4 2024. Some initiatives will extend over longer time frames, but they are included in the roadmap because the teams will focus on those initiatives over the next six months.

Foundation Engineering

How the Foundation Engineering team will contribute to core objectives

  1. User Interface (UI) / User Experience (UX) Improvements. The Engineering team is continuing to overhaul the frontend architecture. Following the recent launch of the new Cover Buy experience, the next focus will be on enhancing the UX for KYC/membership and staking processes.

  2. Launching the Cover Edits Feature. This new feature will enable cover buyers to modify their existing cover NFT, allowing them to adjust their covered period or covered amount. This will facilitate easier renewals without the need to mint a new NFT. Additionally, the team will research architecture for refunds and cancellations once this project is complete.

  3. Supporting New Cover Products. As new cover products are developed, the Engineering team will be responsible for integrating new cover product information on-chain and providing the UI for members to purchase the cover. They will also collaborate with the Product & Risk team to list and update cover products as necessary to supporting ongoing projects or new products developed by syndicates in the Nexus Mutual ecosystem. This also includes technical development for new products in the research and development phase.

  4. Supporting PoS Integrations. Now that the Mutual offers an SDK for point-of-sale (PoS) integrations, the Engineering team will work to develop resources and create a test environment for teams to use when setting up their integration. The Engineering team will support the Business Development team, as they work with external teams on new PoS integrations.

  5. Supporting Cover Re Deal. The Engineering team provided support to enable the Aave v3 loan for Phase 1 of the Cover Re deal. They will also develop the technical solution to support the Cover Re retrocession deal, which will require a token to represent future payments in the Capital Pool, an oracle solution to track the value of the offchain assets and value accrual to the assets allocated to the retrocession deal.

  6. Limit Orders for Cover Buys. The Engineering team will work on a limit order implementation that allows cover buyers to request cover/capacity at a specific price. Staking pool managers can accept these orders and match existing demand with supply. Limit orders will enable better price discovery within the Mutual’s risk marketplace. The team will begin work on the limit order implementation in Q3/Q4.

  7. Technical Documentation. A crucial area of focus will be the creation of internal and external documentation of the technical architecture, including the setup of a test environment. This documentation will support Nexus Mutual’s organisational growth and assist grant and accelerator teams that build on our infrastructure.

  8. Research. Team members will continue their research on scalability and will provide support for the governance research project as required.

Past Performance

  • User Interface (UI) / User Experience (UX) Improvements. The Engineering team is working to overhaul the frontend architecture, which will help improve load times in the UI, and to update the UI/UX for the cover buying and staking experience.

    • The team worked with the Ultim design studio to overhaul the UI and introduce a new cover buy flow. They are currently working on the onboarding flow and the members dashboard UI. After these two pages are finalised and shipped, the team will move on to an overhaul of the staking UI.

  • Launching Cover Edits Feature. This feature will be launched in 2024 and will allow cover buyers to edit their existing cover NFT to extend their cover or increase their covered amount. This will reduce gas costs and make it easier to renew a cover without minting an entirely new NFT.

    • This project was deprioritised, as engineering resources were limited in Q1/Q2. This has been an ongoing project, which the Engineering team is aiming to complete in Q3/Q4.

  • Technical work for Cover Re Agreement. Per the recently approved NMPIP, the Cover Re deal will require Engineering resources. The Engineering team will allocate resources and provide support to make the Cover Re deal possible.

    • Phase 1 was completed after the team implemented a technical solution to execute the Aave v3 loan, which allowed the Mutual to borrow USDC against ETH collateral to provide Cover Re with the funds necessary for the investment in Phase 1. Per the priorities above, the Engineering team will support the technical requirements for Phase 2 of the Cover Re deal.

  • Tokenomics Stage 2 Research. Support the R&D team through Stage 2 of the tokenomics revamp project. Stage 2 will be concerned with how liquidity is managed through the RAMM when the Capital Pool balance is close to the cover-driven MCR. The research conducted in Stage 2 will provide a solution to the potential issues that could arise in low liquidity conditions.

    • Deprioritised due to resources being allocated to growth initiatives over the next year. Likely to be picked up in the second half of 2025.

  • Optimise Cover Router. Optimise the cover router to reduce costs with RPC nodes.

    • This project started in Q1/Q2 and will continue throughout Q3/Q4.

  • Research into Reducing Gas Costs. Research into reducing gas costs, especially related to calculating the Capital Pool value in ETH, which has implications for all major user flows (i.e. buy cover, mint/redeem NXM, etc).

    • This project started in Q1/Q2 and will continue throughout Q3/Q4.

  • Research on Account Abstraction. The Engineering and Product & Risk teams will collaborate on an account abstraction project. As the Mutual continues to expand into new markets, the Foundation and DAO teams want to research how account abstraction could be implemented within the Nexus Mutual protocol and UI to create an easier way to onboard new users.

  • Launch a Notification Framework. Implement a notifications framework that will allow Nexus Mutual members to subscribe to notifications for KYC completion, cover expiration, staking deposit expiration, etc.

    • In Q2, the Engineering team launched the first notifications system, which sends an email confirming when someone has completed their KYC application and can join the Mutual and a notification for members with active cover that is set to expire in three (3) days. The team will work to expand notifications for NXM stakers and for other key activities within the Mutual.

  • Technical Documentation for V2. Work with the DAO Community team to create technical documentation for the Nexus Mutual V2 smart contracts, which can be used by teams looking to integrate with the protocol.

    • This is an ongoing project, which has initially produced documentation to support PoS integrations. The Engineering team is working on comprehensive documentation for key modules within the protocol, as well as resources for distributors and staking pool managers.

  • Supporting New Cover Products. When new cover products are developed, the Engineering team is the one who actually puts the new cover product information on chain and provides the UI for members to purchase the cover. As new cover products are developed, the Engineering team will work with the Product & Risk team to list new cover products and update existing cover products, as needed.

    • The Engineering team worked with the Product & Risk team to add 84 cover listings in Q1/Q2 2024, as well as several new cover products (e.g., Fund Portfolio Cover, Bundled Protocol Cover, ETH Slashing Umbrella Cover, Sherlock Bug Bounty Cover, etc.). These new listings have helped the Mutual scale cover and premium growth.

  • Supporting the Investment Committee. As the Investment Committee presents new opportunities to invest the Capital Pool float, the Engineering team will provide the engineering support for investments approved by members.

    • The Engineering team provided input on the Investment Committee’s divestment framework, as well as input on the potential investment allocations ahead of the discussions on the forum.

Foundation Business Development (BD) & Marketing

How the Foundation Business Development team will contribute to core objectives

  1. New Cover Products. Collaborate with staking pool managers and respond to inbound requests from crypto protocols and DeFi users to develop new cover products. Work alongside the Product & Risk team to evaluate the feasibility of these products and assess associated risks.

  2. Drive Point-of-Sale Integrations. Develop standardised requirements for purchasing experiences of new cover products that are directly embedded within native protocol application environments. This follows the Mutual’s first successful implementation with Ether.fi’s liquid vaults product.

  3. Whiteglove and bespoke solutions. Collaborate with various parties such as institutional crypto investors, staking providers and protocols to structure and underwrite bespoke and innovative crypto risk solutions.

  4. Manage the Grants & Accelerator Program. Focus efforts on launching the program and conducting outreach, aiming to onboard one syndicate and fund six grants that will contribute to the Nexus Mutual ecosystem.

Past Performance

  • New Cover Products. Work with staking pool managers and inbound requests to create new cover products. Collaborate with Product & Risk to determine feasibility of new cover products and assess risk factors.

    • During the first half of the year, the Mutual launched new protocol cover products such as Bundled Protocol Cover to meet the demands from large DeFi users to cover risks in the restaking value chain. This led to more than $50M of cover sales.

  • Real World cover initiatives. Conduct research into potential real world markets where the Mutual can expand into. Work with the Foundation and DAO teams to execute the Cover Re deal, per the outcome of NMPIP 212.

    • The Cover Re partnership was executed and successfully funded onchain. Future Real World cover initiatives and distribution of Nexus Mutual’s discretionary cover products are likely to be done through the Grants and Accelerator program.

  • Slashing Cover Initiatives. Work with the Engineering team to develop new product MVPs and support existing Slashing Cover partners. Work to close new ETH Slashing Cover deals to drive growth.

    • During Q1, Nexus Mutual’s BD team worked with Alluvial and Liquid Collective on a revamp of their ETH Slashing cover. This $5M cover - denominated in USDC - went live in Q1 and has been renewed twice already.

  • Support Staking Pool Managers, Ecosystem Partners. Work with existing staking pool managers to improve their experience and expand cover sales for the Mutual. Support people building on top of the protocol and expanding access to cover.

    • The BD team continues to support external teams in the crypto risk space with their product development and through the provision of underwriting capital. Examples include OpenCover, Sherlock Protocol, and UnoRe.

Foundation Legal

How the Foundation Legal team will contribute to core objectives.

These objectives remain unchanged from the previous two quarters, as these efforts are ongoing.

  1. Finalise arrangements relating to FTX claims, including assignment of the rights to members claims over to Nexus and subsequently selling the claims. Work with FTX claimants to assign FTX claim right to the Mutual and review potential offers to acquire the FTX bankruptcy claims to finalise reimbursement to the Capital Pool.

    • An update. To date, the Mutual has received $1.68m in USDC as reimbursement from FTX as part of the Foundation Legal team’s ongoing efforts throughout the bankruptcy proceedings. The Foundation shared an update on the forum in Q1 2024. These funds were put toward the Cover Re investment, which was executed in May 2024.

  2. Pursue Reimbursement. Per the mandate set out in NMPIP 205, the Foundation Legal team will continue seeking reimbursement, where feasible, for the Custody Cover claims paid to date, and for the outstanding reimbursement for the Euler Finance claim payouts.

    • An update. This is an ongoing process, and the Foundation Legal team is staying up-to-date on the Hodlnaut and BlockFi bankruptcy proceedings.

  3. Support Cover Re Deal. Per the recently approved NMPIP, the Cover Re deal will create a significant amount of work from the Legal perspective. The Legal team will focus on finalising the terms of the deal and any applicable documentation. The Foundation Legal team will work with Cover Re and the appropriate regulators on the legal and regulatory side of the deal.

    • An update. The Foundation Legal team has put in significant time and resources toward executing both phases of the Cover Re deal. The first phase was executed in May 2024, largely due to the Legal team’s work with the Cover Re legal team. The work to execute the second phase is ongoing and will have an outsized impact on premium generation for the Mutual.

  4. Support New Cover Product Development. The Foundation Legal team plays an integral role in the ongoing development of cover products by drafting and reviewing the terms of any newly developed or revised cover wording documents. As the development of cover products progresses, the Legal team remains dedicated to supporting the Business Development and Product & Risk teams.

    • An update. The Foundation Legal team contributed to product development for Bundled Protocol Cover, Fund Portfolio Cover, Sherlock Bug Bounty Cover, the Cover Re retrocession deal terms and the investment deal terms. The Legal team continues to provide support on new cover product development, as well.

[Remaining Roadmap Continued Below]

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[Continued from Above]

DAO Product & Risk

The Product & Risk is a hybrid team that consists of @Hugh and @BraveNewDeFi. The Product & Risk team collaborates with the Foundation BD, Legal, and Engineering teams.

How the Product & Risk team will contribute to core objectives

  1. New Cover Product Development

    • Launch products currently in development over the course of Q3/Q4. The Product & Risk team has developed several products, some of which have gone live already and some that are pending launch. They’ll work to finalise and launch these new products, so the Mutual can pursue deals and new cover listings to drive cover sales.
    • Enter R&D on a new bundled-type product designed to provide cover across multiple protocols. Given the success members have seen with Bundled Protocol Cover, the Product & Risk team has begun researching a new product that can bundle cover for popular protocols to give users greater flexibility in how they protect themselves against risk with just one (1) Cover NFT. They’ll aim to develop this product and, if the research indicates demand, they’ll launch this in Q3/Q4.
    • Enter R&D on a new yield cover product. The Product & Risk team has identified a new cover primitive, which they believe can help the Mutual scale cover sales significantly. This new product requires working with the Foundation Engineering team, so development may take longer than a typical product. However, the team is getting feedback on the product spec and looking forward to further development in Q3/Q4.
    • Conduct market research for Depeg Cover before moving forward. The Product & Risk team has been developing a new Depeg Cover product but it requires engineering resources to get the product across the finish line. Because engineering resources are limited, the team will assess demand in the market for this product before moving forward with the engineering work. The team will conduct research and assess where this new product fits into the engineering pipeline.
    • Support new and existing syndicates on new product development. As new syndicates launch and existing syndicates develop new products, the Product & Risk team will provide support on cover wording development and work with teams to get new products listed. The team will work with syndicates on go-to-market plans for these new products, as well.
    • Support the Business Development team with point-of-sale (PoS) integrations. Now that the Mutual can offer PoS integrations, the BD team will be actively working with existing protocol partners to get more PoS integrations in frontends where users are actively depositing. The Product & Risk team will support these efforts any way that they can in Q3/Q4.

  2. Risk Research Projects

    • Start bridge risk research project. The Mutual sees regular requests for Bridge Cover but it isn’t a product that’s offered at this time. The Product & Risk team will begin a research project, with the goal of creating a risk framework that will be used to create a pricing model for this risk. Once the team can assess pricing, they can begin development on a Bridge Cover product to satisfy market demand.
    • Start lending market research project. The lending market landscape has changed drastically in the last year and with new innovations comes new risks. The Product & Risk team will begin a research project on lending markets, with the goal of creating a risk framework that will be used to create a pricing model for this risk. This pricing model will provide a baseline for how the Mutual assesses risk with the Community Staking pool. The Product & Risk team will share a report on their findings once the project is completed, as well.
Past Performance

  1. Support Cover Re Deal. Per the recently approved NMPIP, the Cover Re deal will require support from the Product & Risk team. In collaboration with the other teams involved, the Product & Risk team will provide support as needed.

    • The Product & Risk team is working with the Foundation Legal team to finalise the retrocession agreement and relevant cover wording ahead of Phase 2 of the Cover Re deal’s execution. Look for future updates on the Cover Re deal in Q3/Q4.

  2. Support New Cover Product Development. The Product & Risk team will collaborate with the Foundation BD and Legal teams to review proposed cover terms, assess feasibility, and contribute to the cover wording development process. Once new cover wording has been finalised, the Product & Risk team will work with the Engineering team to implement the Cover Product Type on chain.

  • In the last six months, the Product & Risk team has launched several new products, which are reviewed below.
    • Bundled Protocol Cover. Since launch, the Mutual has sold $60.18M in cover, earned $785.6K in premium, and generated $117,844 in commissions for the DAO Treasury. Bundled Protocol Cover has quickly become our second most popular product.
    • Fund Portfolio Cover. This product just launched at the end of Q2, and we’ve already sold $20.5M in cover, earned $230,211 in premium, and generated $23,149 in commissions for the DAO Treasury.
    • Sherlock Bug Bounty Cover. The Product & Risk team developed a new Quota Share product to support Sherlock’s syndicate, as they are selling a new type of coverage focused on covering critical bug bounty payouts on code previously audited by Sherlock. While no cover has been sold under this product yet, the Product & Risk team will work to support Sherlock as they scale sales for their Bug Bounty Coverage product.
    • ETH Slashing Umbrella. To support our ongoing partnership with Liquid Collective, the Product & Risk team developed a modified version of ETH Slashing Cover to update the Mutual’s protection for Liquid Collective stakers. To date, the Mutual has sold $5M in cover and earned $29K in premium.

  1. Research Project: Account Abstraction. The Engineering team and Product & Risk teams will collaborate on an account abstraction project. As the Mutual continues to expand into new markets, the Foundation and DAO teams want to research how account abstraction could be implemented within the Nexus Mutual protocol and UI to create an easier way to onboard new users.

  2. Research Project: Membership Benefits Programme. Many discretionary mutuals provide supplementary services to their members as an added benefit. The Product & Risk team will conduct research at potential benefits the Mutual can provide to members to make membership in the Mutual more valuable for existing members and to appeal to broader audiences.

    • The Product & Risk team conducted some initial research, but determined that the Mutual needed to conduct more user research before finalising a membership benefits program. The Product & Risk team will work with the Grants Committee to conduct user research, per the open Request for Proposals to conduct user research for the Mutual.

DAO R&D

How the DAO R&D team will contribute to core objectives

  1. Product & Protocol

    • Pricing input on new products using actuarial expertise.
    • Support on design and edge cases for new technical products.
    • Business-side design and for Engineering-heavy projects as required.

  2. Dune Analytics

    • Create new Dashboards - Support Foundation BD, Marketing & DAO. Community teams with necessary growth and customer metrics; Create Revenue/Value of NXM live statement; work with ecosystem partners who need analytics support.
    • Clear backlog of minor issues in current dashboards, improve speed.
    • Keep up to date with any protocol changes.

  3. Governance Research (together with Community team)

    • Gather feedback and clearly define the main pain points in our current governance set-up (in progress).
    • Understand the existing landscape (in progress).
    • Define and engage with our target audience and how we want them to participate in making decisions on behalf of the Mutual.
    • Synthesise the above to pick best technically-viable plug-in solution.
    • Come up with a Product Spec alongside the Foundation Engineering team.

  4. MCR calculation

    • Can’t be deprioritised anymore. Much harder to change when we’re at Capital Pool ~= MCR compared to changing now when we have a buffer.
    • R&D to deliver v0 calculation & plan for implementation.
Past Performance

  1. Tokenomics Part 2. The R&D team will continue to lead Stage 2 of the tokenomics revamp project in collaboration with the Foundation Engineering team. This stage is focused on managing liquidity through the RAMM in low liquidity conditions, particularly when the Capital Pool balance is near the cover-driven Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR).

    • Deprioritised due to resources being allocated to growth initiatives over the next year. Likely to be picked up in the second half of 2025.

  2. MCR Revamp Project. The v0 model for the MCR calculation is set to be delivered by the end of Q3. This model will provide a coherent, quantifiable framework that outlines the process for regularly updating the cover-based MCR calculation parameters.

    • This was somewhat deprioritised in Q1 & Q2 2024 due to having no direct impact on growth targets. However, will remain a goal for the next year as needs to be solved before the MCR approaches the Capital Pool (see Priorities above)

  3. Support for the Investment Committee. The R&D team will continue to act as a liaison between the Investment Committee and the Nexus Mutual DAO and Foundation. This includes prioritising and technically integrating upcoming investments. Additionally, the R&D team will work to enhance the returns generated by investing the DAO treasury through member-approved investment opportunities.

    • Considerable effort spent on investments by the R&D team in the first half of 2024.
    • Worked on putting two new ETH investment opportunities forward to the community - Stakewise V3 and EtherFi - and coordinated the governance process.
    • Early stage engagement with external teams to invest the DAO Treasury in DeFi for a return.
    • Put forward a Divestment Framework as we require more cash (ETH), including minimum cash asset thresholds held for Claims and the Ratcheting AMM, as well as proposed a way of steadily divesting and diversifying our asset exposure while retaining steady investment earnings.
    • Put together the strategy and numbers for taking out an Aave V3 USDC loan against ETH collateral to meet the Cover Re investment. Created a liquidation prevention framework for the loan.
    • Worked on improving our monitoring and published a regular newsletter, capturing monthly investment returns, capital pool movements

  4. Support for New Product Development. The R&D team will assist in refining the requirements for new cover products and features, such as Cover Edits and Limit Orders.

    • Conducted actuarial pricing and structure review on the Cover Re investment.

  5. Dune Dashboards

    • Guy, our previous part-time Dune Wizard stepped away to focus on his full-time role. Conducted an extensive interview process for a replacement and onboarded a new Dune Wizard - Tomasz - who has recently become a full-time contributor to the DAO. Fully refactored the Capital Pool and Ownership dashboard and committed the key underlying queries to the Dune Spellbook.

  6. Governance Research Project

    • Created a systematic approach and roadmap to revamping Nexus Mutual’s governance, driven by the need to have a more appropriate framework since the launch of V2 and new tokenomics.

DAO Community

How the DAO Community team will contribute to core objectives

  1. Create Guides for Members and Staking Pool Managers. Develop video guides and written resources to assist staking pool managers in creating staking pools and help members navigate the Nexus Mutual UI. Collaborate with the Marketing team to develop effective communication strategies.

  2. Design Onboarding Program. Create resources and design a program to onboard active contributors to the community, covering the basic responsibilities of mutual members. Organise the creation of further resources that document the mutual’s technical architecture, mission, and other important details.

  3. Add More Resources to the DAO Website. Enrich the DAO website with useful resources, including new content on risk, guides, and more.

  4. Collaborate with R&D on Governance Research Project. The Community team and R&D have initiated a research project to explore potential governance models for a possible upgrade to the Mutual’s governance contract. The objective is to enable more members to contribute to core activities within the Mutual and to encourage sustainable participation from critical stakeholders. The research will be conducted in four phases:

    • Understanding the Governance Landscape: Analyse existing governance models and their effectiveness.
    • Defining the Target Audience for Governance: Identify and characterise the primary participants and stakeholders in the governance process.
    • Synthesising Insights: Integrate findings from the first two phases to develop a comprehensive understanding.
    • Clarifying Product Scope for Engineering: Define the requirements and scope for Engineering to implement the upgraded governance model.

  5. Coordinate Governance Reading Group. Prepare reading lists, coordinate sessions, and spread awareness about the Governance Reading Group. The goal is to nurture an open platform with volunteers discussing ways to improve coordination in DAOs, while also benefiting our background research for the Governance Research Project.

  6. Continue “Covering DeFi” Interview Series. Continue hosting public conversations with teams from listed protocols, notable builders, security experts, and active contributors within the Nexus Mutual ecosystem. Drive greater engagement within the Discord server and on Twitter to help educate more people about the Mutual’s mission.

  7. Experimentation & Research. Conduct research or support existing research to create useful content or to plan further community-oriented initiatives, such as the Safe in DeFi Writing Contest, to support sustainable community building.

Past Performance

  1. Update Zerion, DeBank, Zapper and other portfolio management sites with the Nexus Mutual V2 contracts. The DAO Community Team has maintained contact with some of the leading portfolio management sites to enable members to view their covers and NXM deposits in staking pools. Nexus Mutual V2 staking contracts and cover NFTs are now integrated to varying degrees on Zerion, DeBank, and Zapper.The team is just waiting for PRs to be completed to finalise the these integrations, so positions within the Mutual’s smart contracts appear on Zerion and DeBank. Zapper is overhauling their platform, so the team will wait until that work is complete before requesting an update with the V2 smart contracts on Zapper. In addition, if any arise, we will assist in executing further integration requests from the community.

  2. Develop Discord Stages and Twitter Spaces series with ecosystem leaders. The Community team launched the “Covering DeFi Interview Series” on Twitter Spaces in March. This series features interviews with team members from listed protocols, notable builders, security experts, and active contributors within the Nexus Mutual ecosystem. In the first two episodes, BraveNewDeFi and Sem from the DAO Community team interviewed Justin Leroux (CEO of GridPlus) and Ryan Rodenbaugh (Wallfacer Labs & vaults.fyi). This initiative aims to educate more people about staying safe in DeFi and support the Mutual’s mission. Additionally, the Community team hosted Twitter Spaces in partnership with DeFi teams to highlight new product listings, enhancing community engagement and driving product sales.

  3. Collaborate with R&D on governance research project. The R&D and Community teams have initiated a research project to explore potential governance models that could be adopted to enhance the Mutual’s governance contract. This upgrade aims to increase long-term member participation and contribution while ensuring timely decision-making processes. This project has evolved from its first outline in the past roadmap to encompass more research questions and is detailed in the recent team roadmap. We have outlined milestones, formulated research questions, and developed a research plan. Our first findings will be published soon.

  4. Create Nexus Mutual Governance Hub. The first iteration of the Nexus Mutual Governance Hub is now live on the DAO website. This hub provides practical guides for individuals and teams wishing to contribute to Nexus Mutual. The initial feedback has been positive, and the DAO Community Team plans to add more resources for members, teams, and contributors to the governance process in the second iteration, which will coincide with the launch of the updated UI.

  5. Collaborate with Engineering on technical documentation project. The first iteration of the integration resources for the Nexus Mutual V2 smart contracts has been published in the Nexus Mutual documentation. This project is ongoing and more comprehensive documentation on the Nexus Mutual V2 protocol will be added to the documentation in a separate Developer Documentation section.

  6. Create Nexus Mutual Staking Pool Managers Hub. The creation of the Staking Pool Managers Hub had been deprioritized as growth initiatives took a higher priority. As of June 2024, BraveNewDeFi is in the process of interviewing the current staking pool managers and is creating resources to create the Staking Pool Managers Hub on the DAO website.

  7. Create Community-branded Visuals, Animations. The DAO Community Team collaborated with talented professionals to create visually appealing and accessibility-enhancing assets for community channels. These assets are now used for important announcements, such as new product listings, community event recaps, and more. In the next six months, the Community team will work with the Marketing team to secure a long-term design solution for the Mutual’s future announcements and messaging.

Marketing

An update on the Marketing team

The Nexus Foundation has hired a new team member to manage marketing for the Mutual. The previous funds earmarked for the Marketing team ($97,000.00) will be held and used to fund marketing initiatives and new hires for the Marketing team, as managed by the Director of Marketing role that sits within the Foundation.

As the Foundation will direct marketing activities, the DAO Marketing team will exist to support these efforts, as a new brand and content strategy are developed in the coming months.

The Marketing team will focus on hiring a Social Media Manager to develop a cohesive content strategy across the Mutual’s social channels to define the growth funnel and engage with the existing membership base.

The team will also work with a design agency to define the Mutual’s visual and video content, as well as pursue advertising opportunities and develop earned and owned media strategies. To support these efforts, additional funds will be requested to grow the DAO Marketing team and support the Foundation’s direction on marketing.

DAO Operations

The DAO team leads will continue handling the Operations team’s priorities as detailed in the last roadmap.

Future Roadmap Update

The next roadmap update and review of the progress made on this roadmap will be shared at the beginning of Q1 2025.

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