Crypto Community Launches OP Stack Testnet to Fund Public Goods

Public Goods Network Launches Testnet

On July 7, Layer-2 blockchain Public Goods Network launched a testnet, promising to spend the majority of its sequencer fees on public goods instead of paying out to the development team or token holders. In economics, public goods are goods that cannot be produced for profit because it is difficult to exclude non-payers from its consumption.

The new network is created by the same team that developed Gitcoin, a project that seeks to raise funds for open-source projects. Public Goods Network is built using the OP Stack, which means it can become part of the proposed Superchain that includes Optimism and Base networks.

Public Goods Network is an Optimistic layer-2 rollup of Ethereum. This type of network usually uses a centralized sequencer to batch and periodically submit transactions to Ethereum. The Gitcoin team plans to reinvest the majority of the profit from this sequencer into public goods projects to prevent venture capital firms and other “rent seekers” from capturing the value provided by layer-2s.

Gitcoin and the New Governance Model

Gitcoin is introducing a new governance model that will enable projects to be funded directly through sequencer fees, without a middleman, using the EIP-6969 standard. These fees will not go directly to Gitcoin, but to an “alliance” being formed instead. To test out apps, developers can use funds from Sepolia’s various faucets, as the Public Goods network is connected to the Ethereum Sepolia network through an official bridge.

Gitcoin rose to prominence by using quadratic funding to provide grants for open-source projects and other public goods. Azeem Khan, head of impact at Gitcoin, joined the advisory board for crypto fund Foresight Ventures in June.

The new governance model established by Gitcoin is a major step forward for web 3.0 and the crypto space, as it will empower crypto coin users to access the best crypto websites, such as Crypto.com, ACH, Fed Crypto, Cardano Crypto, and Fantom Crypto.