TEC H1 2025 Deliverables Update

⚛ Community Updates
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Introduction

This report summarizes the TEC Coordination Team’s key deliverables for the first half of 2025 H1. Across four strategic objectives and 11 programs, the team made significant progress in grants infrastructure, educational content, ecosystem engagement, and token infrastructure. Several initiatives met or exceeded targets, including publishing, research hub events, and a successful TQF round implementation. Others were deprioritized due to capacity constraints or shifting organizational priorities. This report captures both achievements and learnings, outlines what was not completed and why, and provides key reflections to guide H2 planning and prioritization.

TL;DR

Objective Program Highlights
Obj 1: Awareness & Education Knowledge Sharing Program Library launched with 60+ resources; content distribution via 4 newsletters and 4 online events; AI Agent shelved
Education Program 4 articles published; 2 Research Hub events; Virtual Conference planning moved to H2
Obj 2: Real-World Solutions Grants Program Grants retrospective + new framework published; TQF round completed; impact acceleration and collab grants paused
Obj 3: Economic Sustainability Token Infrastructure Program ABC infra fixed; token utility use cases were considered; secondary market work remains exploratory
Fundraising Program Gitcoin matching secured; no OP mission requests submitted; external fundraising deprioritized
Obj 4: Governance & Ecosystem Governance Development Program One tokenholder call; governance framework + advisory network deprioritized
Ecosystem Development Program Opportunity Board shelved due to low clarity/priority

Key learnings & reflections

H1 surfaced critical insights about our team’s evolving capacity and the need for sharper prioritization. While we made meaningful progress across core areas, publishing, research, grants infrastructure, many initiatives either shifted in scope or proved more complex than anticipated. Team capacity changed mid-way through the half, requiring redistribution of ownership and a more agile approach to planning. In some cases, the original scope lacked clear success metrics or underappreciated implementation friction (e.g. AI agent, secondary market work). As we were reflecting on H1, our key takeaway was: we consistently put too much on our plate. As we enter H2, we will apply tighter scoping, trim non-essential efforts, and focus only on initiatives that clearly reinforce our mission and deliver tangible community value.

For now, see below for an in-depth overview of each objective, program, and initiative, including original goals, outcomes, and reflections from H1 2025.

Objective 1: Increase Awareness & Understanding of the Impact & Potential of Web3 Technology

1. Knowledge Sharing Program

Original Goal

Build TEC’s knowledge ecosystem by producing and curating high-quality, mission-aligned content and tooling that increase understanding of token engineering (TE) and its applications across Web3 and public goods.

Key Results

  • Launch and populate the TEC Library with 100+ categorized resources
  • Develop and run a repeatable, high-quality content distribution workflow across newsletter and social media
  • Host 4–6 online events to amplify educational content and insights
  • Explore and prototype the TE AI Agent for internal or community-facing use
  • Explore potential collaboration with aligned knowledge infrastructure (e.g., Knowledge Commons)

Initiative 1: TEC Library

Original Scope & OKRs

  • Aggregate and curate a library of 100+ high-quality TE resources
  • Categorize and tag for easy browsing and reuse
  • Support education, onboarding, and community learning needs

What was achieved

  • ~67 curated resources gathered across Q1 and Q2: here.
  • Categorized across core TE topics, including token design, mechanism design, TE case studies, and regenerative finance

What was not achieved & why

  • Fell short of the 100-resource target by end of June
  • Resource discovery and validation was very time consuming and this was deprioritized due other more important initiatives

Key reflections & outlook for H2:

  • For H2 we will focus on growing the TE Library through ongoing resource aggregation and a strategic shift toward community-driven sourcing and curation.

Initiative 2: Content Distribution (Newsletter + Online events + Social Media)

Original scope & OKRs

  • Publish 4 monthly newsletters & reach 100 subscribers
  • Showcase web3 stories demonstrating real-world impact through at least 4 online events Improve community engagement through consistent messaging
  • Increase our presence on social media through quality content, achieving a 25% increase in engagement (likes, reposts, etc.)

What was achieved

What was not achieved & why

  • Some events had lower than expected turnout due to limited pre-event visibility

Key reflections & outlook for H2:

  • Newsletter:
    • Audience/ subscriber growth was slower than expected. We will aim to do more cross-promotion via publishing & events in H2
  • Online events:
    • Reduced monthly cadence to opportunistic scheduling
    • Focused on quality of sessions rather than quantity
  • Social media:
    • Began drafting automated strategy to ease team load for H2

Key Outcomes / Metrics

  • Newsletter subscribers: 18 subscribers
    • March Issue: 52 link clicks
    • April Issue: 24 link clicks
    • May Issue: 11 link clicks
    • June Issue: 23 link clicks
  • Events: Avg. attendance / recordings views
    • Event 1: Unknown
    • Event 2: 3256 recording views
    • Event 3: 20 avg attendants, 19 recording views, 92 summary article views
    • Event 4: 126 avg attendants, 419 recording views + 342 video clip views, 54 summary article views
  • Social metrics:
    • X (Primary Channel - Monthly)
      • Engagements: +542% (576 → 3,696)
      • Impressions: +835% (6,500 → 60,800)
      • Replies: +3260%, Reposts: +965%, Likes: +1322%
      • Engagement rate: Dropped from 8.8% to 6.1%, reflecting faster growth in impressions vs. interactions.
      • Followers: Slight growth (+2%), with consistent presence maintained.
    • Other Platforms (Relaunched / Initiated)
      • LinkedIn: From 0 to 896 impressions in one month.
      • YouTube: 650 video views, 4,568 impressions, 4 new subscribers.
      • Instagram: Early-stage setup with modest reach (21 views, 10 visits).

Initiative 3: TE AI Agent

Original Scope & OKRs

  • Create our TEC Agent with the use of our TE Library, and integrate it within our content distribution efforts.

What was achieved

What was not achieved & why

  • No MVP for the TE Library-based Agent was deployed.
  • Lack of clear owner and technical capacity on team
  • Uncertainty around actual use case priority for short-term impact

Key reflections & outlook for H2

  • TEC Retro Round GPT served as an interesting test case for AI support for the Grants Program.
  • Will not continue this further

Key Outcomes / Metrics

  • 1 GPT deployed (Retro Round)
  • MVP ideas proposed (3)
  • Scope partially defined
  • No deployment

Initiative 4: Knowledge Commons (Open Civics)

Original scope & OKRs

  • Explore partnership with aligned Web3 knowledge infra (Open Civics, Open Mutualism)
  • Co-design or align with interoperable knowledge systems
  • Establish a roadmap and strategy document for the development of the Knowledge Commons and assess its feasibility

What was achieved

What was not achieved & why

  • No formal collaboration established
  • Open Civics not actively building productized knowledge infra at scale
  • Vision overlap was high, but timing and priorities were misaligned

Key reflections & outlook for H2:

  • We saw this initiative as an extension of the TEC Library Development. While we would like to create a cohesive interface for aggregated libraries in Web3, big questions around curation, maintenance of the libraries/interface, and who would be responsible for what still exists. This initiative is considered a potential opportunity if the right conditions arise for us to take advantage of it with little overhead costs and capacity demands. We are monitoring its development.

2. Education Program

Original Scope & OKRs

  • Produce high-quality educational content that advances TEC’s intellectual positioning and deepens ecosystem understanding.
  • Publish original articles authored by TEC and external collaborators.
  • Host 4+ research presentations with at least 25 participants each.
  • Develop a roadmap and host an MVP virtual conference event.

Initiative 1: Publishing

Original Scope & OKRs

  • Publish 4 high-quality, mission-aligned articles between January and June 2025
  • Center TEC as a thought leader in token engineering and public goods
  • Collaborate with external contributors and ecosystem partners to diversify voices

What was achieved

What was not achieved & why

  • Difficulty aligning external contributors with content quality and timelines
  • A scalable incentive model was not implemented

Key reflections & outlook for H2

  • Monthly cadence will continue
  • Our original goal was to outsource article development to thought leaders, but we lacked the proper incentives to engage them. For H2, we aim to design rewards that encourage external writers to contribute on specific themes. Engaging known TE experts directly could help jumpstart contributions and increase the publication’s reach within the Web3 space.

Key Outcomes / Metrics

  • Article 1: 73 link clicks
  • Article 2: 35 link clicks
  • Article 3: 212 views
  • Article 4: 124 views

Initiative 2: Research Hub

Original Scope & OKRs

  • Host 4 high-quality research presentations aligned with token engineering
  • Each event should have at least 25 attendees and feature meaningful takeaways or ecosystem learnings

What was achieved

  • 2 Research Hub events held:
  • Events featured guest speakers, research-specific insights, and community Q&A
  • Presentation topics spanned from identity and group formation in blockchain to project support and incubation in the web3 space
  • Event recordings shared via newsletter and social media

What was not achieved & why

  • Fell two events short of the 4-event goal
  • Speaker outreach was difficult; some guests dropped last minute or rescheduled
  • Internal coordination was time-intensive given team capacity

Key reflections & outlook for H2

  • Cadence will shift from monthly to opportunistic to prioritize quality
  • Focus on securing speakers with stronger lead time

Key Outcomes / Metrics

  • Event 1: 13 avg attendants, 21 recording views + 133 video clip views, 45 summary article views
  • Event 2: 15 avg attendants, 42 recording views + 231 video clip views, 87 summary article views

Initiative 3: Virtual Conference

Original Scope & OKRs

  • Create a strategy and roadmap for a virtual conference experiment
  • Host at least one Virtual Conference MVP event with measurable outcomes

What was not achieved & why

  • No virtual conference was hosted during H1
  • Initial efforts went into scoping but were deprioritized due to focus on higher priority initiatives

Key reflections & outlook for H2

  • A Virtual Conference MVP will be a key experiment for H2

Objective 2: Support the creation and implementation of solutions that tackle real-world challenges

1. Grants Program

Original scope & OKRs

  • Publish a retrospective and create a new Grants Framework integrating diverse funding mechanisms
  • Pilot novel mechanisms like Tunable Quadratic Funding (TQF) and document implementation guidance
  • Support grantees in scaling outcomes through impact acceleration efforts
  • Explore collaborative grants with aligned ecosystems or organizations

Initiative 1: Grants Framework

Original scope & OKRs

  • Publish a retrospective on TEC’s past grant rounds with insights and lessons
  • Develop and publish a new Grants Framework that iterates on previous implementations and integrates different allocation mechanisms and accountability practices

What was achieved

Key reflections and outlook for H2

The grant program continues to evolve, and we are optimistic about its trajectory heading into H2. A major consideration moving forward is the transition away from Gitcoin’s Grants Stack, which had previously served as the technical foundation for both our QF and Retro Rounds. With the dissolution of that stack, the focus now shifts to the Allo Protocol, Gitcoin’s next-generation grant infrastructure.

However, several open questions remain regarding Allo’s usability, the configuration parameters available to round operators, and the range of supported allocation mechanisms in its initial release. Gaining clarity on these aspects will be essential to effectively plan and execute our next round.

Looking ahead, we are especially excited to begin embedding real utility for the $TEC token as a core feature within the grant program, marking a significant milestone in aligning token incentives with community impact.

Initiative 2: Tunable Quadratic Funding (TQF)

Original scope & OKRs

  • Evaluate the feasibility of incorporating the TQF calculator into the Gitcoin QF protocol.
  • Create all the necessary documentation to implement TQF on behalf of other grant round operators, and have at least 1 external grant round using TQF.

What was achieved

What was not achieved & why

While we successfully integrated the TQF (Tunable Quadratic Funding) mechanism into the Gitcoin Calculator, we were unable to get other round operators to utilize during the last grant round. Initial conversations were held with the ReFi DAO round operators and plans were made to utilize it, however, they ultimately chose to implement their own mechanism inspired from TQF known as ImpactQF to better align with their specific goals. Despite this, comprehensive documentation for TQF is available, and we remain fully prepared to support any operator interested in leveraging or adapting the mechanism for future rounds.

Key reflections and outlook for H2

  • No further TQF development planned unless external demand or funding arises
  • TEC will maintain a supporting role for others implementing TQF using our documentation
  • Ongoing uncertainty remains about TQF integration due to changes in Gitcoin’s strategic directions

Key outcomes / metrics

  • Went beyond just assessing feasibility of the integration of TQF into the Gitcoin QF calculator and actually integrated it

Initiative 3: Impact Acceleration

Original scope & OKRs

  • Host a grant-round focused on projects utilizing TE principles for the purpose of developing real-world solutions.

What was not achieved & why

  • No structured work initiated under this stream in H1
  • Preliminary conversations were deprioritized in favor of other key initiatives

Key reflections and outlook for H2

  • With the new Grants Framework finalized, Collaborative Grants approach is a confirmed H2 priority to explore co-funded or partner-driven rounds

Initiative 4: Collaborative Grants

Original scope & OKRs

  • Identify and engage at least one external partner to co-fund or co-run a grant round
  • Design a joint round framework with shared selection and distribution mechanisms

What was achieved

  • Conducted exploratory conversations with aligned orgs, including initial scoping of potential collaboration
  • No formal co-funded round materialized

What was not achieved & why

  • No partner-based round was launched in H1
  • Lack of time, coordination bandwidth, and formal partner commitments prevented execution

Key reflections and outlook for H2

  • Opportunity remains, but needs a clearer process and early partner alignment
  • TEC will focus on running a strong internal round using the new framework first, then revisit collaboration

Objective 3: Create a long-term economic system that sustains the TEC

Program 1: Token Infrastructure Program

Original scope & OKRs

  • Complete an in-depth analysis of the ABC and publish a report with the three most viable recommendations.
  • Deploy the upgraded infrastructure.
  • Research and document the state of liquidity on our secondary markets and propose a pathway that increases the amount of liquidity offered over the next 6 months.
  • Explore different paths for $TEC token utility, and provide an outline of its application to specific initiatives within the TEC forum (newsletter, Knowledge Commons, events, virtual conference, etc).

What was achieved

What was not achieved & why

One of our stated goals for this cycle was to launch experiments that validate token-based mechanisms to support sustainability, particularly around the use of $TEC for coordination, value creation, or revenue generation. This goal was not achieved, and there are several key reasons why.

First, a lack of available funding made it difficult to commit resources to new experiments. With limited funding from our proposal in H1, and no active mechanism to drive recurring revenue, we remained cautious about stretching beyond core operational needs. Second, capacity constraints due to the downsizing of our core team meant our collective energy was focused on foundational infrastructure: rebuilding the ABC, rebuilding our Governance Infra that allows access to the Common Pool, and analyzing our liquidity architecture.

These were necessary preconditions to ensure that any future utility experiments would be grounded in a well-functioning system. That work has now been done, and we’re in a far better position to build meaningful, well-targeted utility experiments moving forward in H2. So while the goal wasn’t achieved this cycle, the groundwork for it has been laid.

Key reflections and outlook for H2

Looking ahead, the reflections from this cycle point to two clear priorities: activating token utility and stabilizing our market structure.

First, there is real excitement around the next phase of the TEC Grants Program, which will focus on embedding $TEC into new mechanisms such as staking, voting, and incentive systems that test its potential as a coordination asset. This is a pivotal step toward transforming $TEC from a governance token into a dynamic medium of participation in allocation funding. These experiments will be designed to generate economic flow through the bonding curve, while also offering real value to contributors.

Second, we’ve gained clarity on the weaknesses of our current market structure and the need to consolidate and deepen liquidity. High slippage, fragmented pools, and unclear routing have made it difficult for users to interact with $TEC in secondary markets. In H2, we will prioritize establishing a more robust liquidity position potentially through a TEC/rETH pair, and design a strategy that aligns market structure with our financial goals.

The foundation is now stable, and the infrastructure is in place. H2 is about activation and testing utility, reinforcing markets, and moving from architecture to real-world function.

Key outcomes / metrics

  • The successful deployment of the TEC Swap site to allow ABC usability.

Program 2: Fundraising Program

Original scope & OKRs

  • Explore and secure external funding sources to support TEC operations and grantmaking
  • Submit at least one mission request to the Optimism Collective (or equivalent)
  • Launch a sponsorship model and raise 50% of grant round costs through partners
  • Engage at least 10 sponsors and create a sponsorship offering deck

Initiative 1: External Grants & Mission Requests

Original scope & OKRs

  • Secure $25K in funding through one or more mission requests or external grants
  • Submit one OP Mission Request and follow through execution process

What was achieved

  • Secured an ongoing stream of ~16,000 OP from the Optimism RPGF 6 grant.
  • Received ~$9,000 in funding from the Gitcoin Grants 23 OSS round.

What was not achieved & why

  • Explored multiple external funding mechanisms, including OP Mission Requests and other ecosystem grants
  • No mission request was formally submitted due to bandwidth and shifting priorities

Key reflections and outlook for H2

  • We are unlikely to pursue OP Mission Requests unless internal priorities lighten or we onboard external support
  • Fundraising remains important focus for H2

Initiative 2: Grant Round Sponsorships

Original scope & OKRs

  • Develop a sponsorship offering for TEC grant rounds and engage at least 10 sponsors
  • Secure at least 50% of grant round funding from external partners

What was achieved

What was not achieved & why

  • No full sponsorship program or offering deck was produced
  • Sponsorship targets (10 sponsors,) were not met due to lack of responses from our outreach

Key reflections and outlook for H2

  • Gitcoin matching proved to be a viable lightweight mechanism for securing supplementary funding
  • Future rounds should explore a mix of co-funding and matching vs. bespoke sponsorships
  • Looking to secure sponsorships with major industry players in H2

Objective 4: Expand TEC Governance and Ecosystem Development

Program 1: Governance Development Program

Original scope & OKRs

  • Define and publish a TEC governance framework, informed by past learnings and future priorities
  • Host at least two tokenholder engagement sessions to share progress, gather feedback, and build alignment
  • Create a light-touch advisory network to support TEC strategy with cross-domain expertise

Initiative 1: Governance Framework

Original scope & OKRs

  • Develop and document a new comprehensive governance framework that integrates clear processes and mechanisms to increase community participation and accountability

What was achieved

  • Fixed and relaunched the Governance Infrastructure interface, restoring access for on-chain DAO decision-making.: Commons DAO

What was not achieved & why

  • The governance framework initiative was deprioritized due to bandwidth constraints and higher-priority program work (e.g., Grants Framework, Token Infra)
  • Some discussions occurred in meetings, but no structured output was produced

Key reflections & outlook for H2

  • Governance remains an important topic but will likely stay informal unless strategic need arises (e.g., major decisions requiring tokenholder votes)
  • Framework drafting could be reintroduced in H2 if clarity or alignment gaps emerge

Initiative 2: Tokenholder Engagement

Original scope & OKRs

  • Post at least 2 Snapshot Votes with at least 15 token holders participating in each for key governance and funding decisions.
  • Achieve a 20% average participation rate among the top 25 token holders in the snapshot votes.

What was achieved

What was not achieved & why

  • A second Snapshot vote was not conducted.
  • Participation goals were not met: fewer than 15 total tokenholders participated, and less than 20% of top tokenholders engaged.

Key reflections & outlook for H2

  • Tokenholder engagement will continue in lightweight forms: forum posts, async updates, live session as needed

Initiative 3: TEC Advisory Network

Original scope & OKRs

  • Develop and implement a clear advisor engagement plan with at least quarterly sessions.
  • Identify and recruit 3-5 key advisors across areas of need for the TEC.

What was not achieved & why

  • This initiative was deprioritized early in H1 as it was not clearly needed

Key reflections & outlook for H2

  • No current plans to build an advisory network unless specific strategic or legal needs emerge
  • Keeping the idea in mind as a potential lever for more specialized input in future

Program 2: Ecosystem Development Program

Original scope & OKRs

  • Explore mechanisms to surface ecosystem-aligned opportunities and activate new contributors, including the development and piloting of an Opportunity Board.

Initiative: Opportunity Board

Original scope & OKRs

  • Identify a platform, and create a process and criteria document for the issuance and evaluation of opportunity execution
  • Launch the MVP of the board with at least 10 active opportunities

What was not achieved & why

  • This initiative was not launched during H1 2025
  • Opportunity Board was deprioritized early in H1 due to limited team bandwidth and higher-priority initiatives
  • Uncertainty around scope and utility of the board led to further postponement

Key reflections & outlook for H2

  • Remains a potentially useful idea for improving contributor coordination and ecosystem visibility
  • However, without strong signal from partners or demand from the community, we will not pursue this further in H2
  • Could be reconsidered in 2026 if ecosystem complexity increases or if a partner expresses interest in piloting it

Conclusion

H1 2025 was a cycle of foundational work, experimentation, and recalibration. We advanced critical areas like grants infrastructure, publishing, and token infra, while learning from capacity constraints and shifting priorities. This reflection will guide us to focus H2 on fewer, high-impact initiatives, with clearer scoping, integrated token utility, and ecosystem engagement that strengthens TEC’s value proposition. The groundwork laid in H1 positions us for sharper execution and meaningful community outcomes in the months ahead.

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