Funds Will Not Pay Out

Thank you everyone for supporting Ref. 1303. To ratify payout please vote AYE on Ref 1353.

Unfortunately I, Jay Chrawnna, mistakenly established this ref with the Beneficiary as a Proxy Address created on the Relay Chain. 😑

Because the requested assets are on Asset Hub, they would not be accessible or useful if paid out.

The Solution We Went With:

1. Pull preimage before end of confirmation period.
2. Submit new ref to ratify payout.

The pre-image was pulled hours before the end of the confirmation Period. It can be verified here.

Other Solutions

a. Submit Root Ref to replicate the Relay Proxy on Asset hub
🙅‍♂️ It would occupy an important track with a small matter.

b. Wait until Pure Proxy Replication is merged into Polkadot
🙅‍♂️ Was told it is not a priority and would render assets useless during months of waiting.

We've opted to resubmit the Ref and ratify the payment approved here in Ref 1303. Please vote AYE on Ref 1353.

Sorry about the trouble and thanks for the support. ❤️🤖

Below lies the original ref:

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The Last 6 Months of Kus:

The Kus sets & maintains the digital stages of consequential thought leadership & governance debate distributing high quality information across the Polkadot Ecosystem!

Q: What will this Spend Proposal Do?

A: It extends Kus Public Broadcasting Services (AAG, OpenDev, Space Monkeys, Admin, Management & Direction) 9 Months ensuring continuity of high-quality governance platforms & thought leadership for the Polkadot network. See weekly costs for Kus Public Broadcasting here.

Q: What about KusNews, external broadcasting & ad-buying program?

A: The Kus 🤝 Marketing Bounty

While some of Kus activities are very much like a public service broadcaster (neutral stages for Governance Discourse or platforming ecosystem thought leaders) KusNews, editorials, charts & our mature ad-buying outreach programs would benefit from alignment with & the expertise of the Marketing Bounty.

By working together here is what we aim to achieve:

• Stronger Ecosystem Outreach: Streamlining the path from community engagement to Kus’s public broadcasting.
• Enhanced Ad-Buying Practices: Refining the program to maximize ROI with oversight from both teams.
• Event & Narrative Coordination: Tighter collaboration to align campaigns with ecosystem priorities.
• Transparent Budgeting: Flexible & effective spending, with regular audits & community reporting.

Kus will request no more than a trial partnership of three months of this budget with spending under Marketing Bounty discretion thereafter.

We want to reassure you: KusNews will remain fully independent in its mission to serve as a neutral & transparent distributor of high-quality information. Our proposed collaboration will be about leveraging resources for efficiency, not compromising values. Clear boundaries will be maintained between Kus' public service role & the Marketing Bounty’s broader marketing strategies!

Q: Isn’t The Kus under contract of Ref. 668?

A: The original funding under Ref. 668 ensured Kus services until April 2025. While we've efficiently over-delivered with only 69% of the requested budget, extending our runway is necessary to sustain & expand operations. Here’s why:

1. High Competition in NPoS Staking: Despite delivering our KSM Validator consistently into the active set & occasionally our Polkadot Validator, increased staking competition in Q2 & Q3 limited our validator rewards, which were critical for supplementing our budget.
2. Slower Industry Growth: Sustainable treasury management focusing on risk-reduction has managed to grow holdings over $60k since the conception of Kus & Treasury agreements! Market challenges, however, have resulted in lower-than-anticipated growth as we maintain a positive outlook going forward.

By securing this service extension, we can sustain operations further into the future while remaining committed to our original agreement.

Q: Got Stats?

A: May to Nov…

𝕏

Ad Buying Program Results:

114,093,910 Impressions - $0.000533/impression
2,119,049 Engagements - $0.028691/engagement & 1.86% Engagement Rate
25,287,811 Video Views - $0.002404/view

Organic Results:

4,800,000 Impressions
633,600 Engagements & 13.20% Engagement Rate
830,000 Video Views

YouTube

Ad Buying Program Results:
68,800,000 Impressions - $0.0005494/impression
9,879,074 Views - $0.0038263/view
264,026 hours of Watchtime - $0.1431677/h

Organic Results:
398,863 Views
18,357 hours of Watchtime

Podcasting (All Platforms)

987 hours of Listentime
272 Followers

Instagram (New)

6,809 Accounts Reached
635 Followers Gained

TikTok (New)

100,578 Views
316 Followers Gained

Q: Why is the Kus funded only through OpenGov?

A: Jay shares the answer in this comment.

Q: Is the Kus a monopoly?

A: Jay shares the answer in this comment.

Dive Deeper

• You can check out ALL Digital Assets & Deliverables here!
• See all treasury movements here.
• Check out extra & above-scope coverage of Conor Daly, Inter Miami, Decoded & Sub0.
• Audit Kus-wide spends & invoices (please let us know if you find anything out of place!)
• Jay discussed the proposal on AAG here and here.

Your Feedback

We appreciate feedback below. Accounts with a history of voting will be prioritized!

With Love,
The Kus ❤️🤖