We've been planning this post for a while, but it feels like now is the right time to finally publish it - especially given the recent discussions regarding the Ethereum Foundation and (lack of) public goods funding.
We propose the creation of a Shutter PEN:
- a perpetual endowment network with the mission to fund projects aligned with The Ethereum Cypherpunk Manifesto for decades or even centuries
- an independent yet integral part of the Shutter Network, complementing Shutter DAO 0x36 and other existing organizations
We also provide an open source blueprint for deploying and growing a Shutter PEN.
Disclaimers
This blog article and linked blueprint is published for research and discussion purposes only. It is not, and must not be relied upon as, (a) an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, cryptoasset, financial instrument, or fund interest; (b) investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice; or (c) a recommendation to deploy, fund, participate in, or transact with any PEN.
Shutter PEN is intended as a mission-driven, member-governed onchain endowment, not as an investment undertaking. A SEAT is a non-transferable membership credential. Payment made to obtain a SEAT is a membership contribution. It does not confer any economic interest in assets, profits, yield, appreciation, redemption value, or liquidation proceeds. Shutter PEN will not pay any dividend, distribution, or financial benefit to SEAT holders under any circumstances, including winding up.
The blueprint has not been reviewed for compliance with the laws of any jurisdiction. Any party considering deploying a Shutter PEN, buying SEATs, or participating in Shutter PEN governance should obtain local advice first. The author of this blog article and linked blueprint will not deploy a Shutter PEN, will not purchase or hold SEATs, will not participate in any governance, and has not received and will not receive any consideration for the publication of these documents.
Background
In January 2024, we published A Proposed Blueprint for Launching a Shutter DAO. In the days and weeks that followed, a pseudonymous onchain actor deployed Shutter DAO 0x36 and the Shutter Network canonized this deployment by accepting governance tokens (Shutter token, SHU) from the genesis allocation Merkle drop contract. Over time, Shutter DAO 0x36 became both the organization to elect the Shutter Keypers and the largest grant funder within the Shutter Network.
Shutter DAO 0x36 has achieved important milestones, elected several Keyper sets, and funded impactful work. However, it was never intended to be the only major funder within the Shutter Network. Furthermore, Shutter DAO 0x36 faces similar issues as nearly all modern token DAOs: centralization, governance fatigue and a finite runway.
In April 2026, we published Introducing the Perpetual Endowment Network (PEN), a model for mission-driven, member-governed onchain endowments designed to preserve capital and allocate yield. The proposed PEN model has received attention from Ethereum conferences, such as EthCluj, as well as praise and constructive feedback from the Shutter Network.Now we move from theory to practice. We outline our vision for a Shutter PEN, and its role within the Ethereum ecosystem and the Shutter Network.
Mission
The mission of Shutter PEN is to fund projects aligned with The Ethereum Cypherpunk Manifesto over the course of decades or even centuries. We have chosen to embrace The Ethereum Cypherpunk Manifesto rather than write our own from scratch. It already enjoys widespread support within the Ethereum ecosystem. And the Manifesto robustly articulates the principles which have informed Shutter's development with respect to encrypted public mempools and private voting. It also sets out the pillars which guide the design of the Perpetual Endowment Network (PEN) model in general and Shutter PEN in particular.
Shutter PEN funds a wide range of projects within the Ethereum ecosystem, including:
- Researchers and developers
- Client teams
- Dashboards and “beats”
- Education channels
- QF round matching pools
- Startup and experiments
This scope is intentionally broad. Ultimately, who receives funding will be determined by the SEAT holders of Shutter PEN - how they interpret The Ethereum Cypherpunk Manifesto and how they vote in quarterly funding rounds.
Role in the Shutter Network
Shutter PEN is designed to be an independent yet integral part of the Shutter Network, complementing Shutter DAO 0x36 and other existing organizations.
The initial mechanism for establishing the relationship between Shutter PEN and Shutter DAO 0x36 is:
- 90% of distributions to recipients will be in ETH or stablecoins
- 10% of distributions to recipients will be in SHU (the governance token of Shutter DAO 0x36) via a 24 month locking contract with delegatable voting power
This means recipients will not only receive funding, they will also become long-term mission-aligned participants in Shutter DAO 0x36 governance.
This mechanism aims to decentralize Shutter DAO 0x36 and attract high-quality SHU holders and delegates, which in turn support the credible neutrality of the elected Shutter Keypers.
Components
Shutter PEN will require a handful of components. The table below outlines the most essential:
Parameters
Manifesto & Rules
Shutter PEN is to fund individuals and projects aligned with The Ethereum Cypherpunk Manifesto.
Shutter PEN will never distribute principal to any party. Shutter PEN is not required to make any distributions of yield or donations. If Shutter PEN distributes yield and/or donations, Shutter PEN will distribute 90% in ETH or stablecoins and 10% in SHU (the governance token of Shutter DAO 0x36) via a 24 month locking contract with delegatable voting power.
Shutter PEN will only vote on if/how to distribute yield and/or donations once per quarter, using funding slates and ranked choice voting.
Shutter PEN will only vote on other topics (changes to PEN parameters, creating a security council, etc.) once per year.
Shutter PEN will never distribute the principal (in part or whole), a dividend, or other financial benefits to SEAT holders under any circumstances (including winding up). If Shutter PEN ever votes to wind up, all principal will be transferred to a PEN or non-profit organization aligned with The Ethereum Cypherpunk Manifesto.
Refer to Introducing the Perpetual Endowment Network (PEN) for more details about the PEN model.
SEATs and Bonding Tranche Contract
Shutter PEN will issue a maximum of 1 million non-transferable seat tokens (SEAT) at any one time. A SEAT is a non-transferable governance membership credential. Payment made to obtain a SEAT is a membership contribution - not an investment, deposit, or purchase of any economic interest in assets, yield, profits, appreciation, redemption value, or liquidation proceeds. A SEAT confers only participation rights in governance, subject to the rules of the PEN. No SEAT holder can realize a gain on a SEAT under any circumstance. SEATs can only be purchased directly from the floating bonding tranche contract. The price of each seat will fluctuate, depending on the number of SEATs already in existence at the time of purchase. There is absolutely:
- No team or insider allocation
- No airdrop
- No DEX pool or other secondary market (and therefore no possibility of SEAT price appreciation)
- No financial benefit to purchasing or holding SEATs
SEATs can be refunded back to the floating bonding tranche contract for a fixed price, which is always materially below the purchase price of the lowest tranche.SEATs can be reclaimed by Shutter PEN (no refund) if the SEAT is inactive for more than 12 months. SEAT holders can ensure their seat remains active by either 1) voting on an onchain proposal, or 2) purchasing additional SEATs with the same address.
Governance
Shutter PEN will use Snapshot for its onchain governance infrastructure. Snapshot transforms a multi-signature wallet into a versatile, automated, and governable onchain entity. It is constructed upon the foundation of Safe. Shutter PEN has the following onchain governance parameters set out in the blueprint:
- Voting system: 1 SEAT = 1 vote
- Voting power delegation: None
- Voting strategy: supermajority (70% + 1 SEAT)
- Quorum: 10 SEATs
- Minimum SEATs required to create an onchain proposal: 1
- Voting period length: 72 hours
- Timelock period length: 24 hours
- Execution period: 72 hours
Principal & Yield Vaults (optional)
Upon deployment, Shutter PEN does not hold or invest any assets. SEAT sales proceeds remain as idle USDC in the PrincipalManager contract unless and until SEAT holders independently and affirmatively vote via an onchain proposal to create a Principal Vault and a Yield Vault. SEAT holders are under no obligation to do so. Shutter PEN can operate indefinitely without any vault, in which case it functions solely as a non-investing onchain treasury and governance organization.
If (and only if) SEAT holders pass an onchain proposal, Shutter PEN may direct that some or all of the idle USDC be deposited to a Principal Vault selected by them, and that the resulting yield (if any) flow to a Yield Vault for distribution or reinvestment. Any such decision is made by SEAT holders in their sole discretion.
Shutter PEN may also, at the sole discretion of SEAT holders, accept and distribute donations from third parties.
Several ERC-4626 compatible vault providers exist in the Ethereum ecosystem. Octant v2 is one example. The author of this blog article and linked blueprint does not endorse, recommend, or contract with any particular vault provider, and SEAT holders should perform independent due diligence on any vault or yield strategy they consider.
Other Components
Shutter PEN will benefit from other components, which can provide a simple user interface for prospective and active SEAT holders, including:
- Custom Bonding Tranche UI: easy SEAT purchases and refunds
- Custom Dashboard: assets in the Principal Vault, number of SEATs sold / active, current tranche purchase price, voting calendar, cumulative disbursements, etc.
- Discourse: discussions and proposals
- Snapshot or Octant v2 app: A forum for offchain votes (slate voting, temperature checks)
Shutter PEN seeks to minimize permanent organizational structures, entrenched managers and rent-seeking actors. As such, anyone can permissionlessly build and maintain these other components - on a volunteer basis, in response to bounties, or supported by retroactive funding.
Deployment Instructions
This is the official blueprint for a Shutter PEN. In the GitHub repository, you will find the instructions to deploy a Shutter PEN and how to modify the parameters if desired:
https://github.com/shutter-network/perpetual-endowment-network
After successfully deploying a Shutter PEN, you can propose the deployment to the Ethereum community and Shutter Network by creating a PR in https://github.com/shutter-network/shutter-pen-deployment-artifacts and/or making an announcement on one or more of the following channels:
- X (tag @ShutterNetwork)
- Farcaster (tag @shutter)
- Shutter Network on Telegram (t.me/shutter_network)
Conclusion
Ethereum is a credibly neutral ledger, designed to exist forever. Shutter PEN is a perpetual endowment network with the mission to fund projects aligned with The Ethereum Cypherpunk Manifesto (i.e. making Ethereum more private, secure, censorship-resistant) for as long as Ethereum exists.
Starting today, anyone is empowered to deploy and grow a Shutter PEN, using the blueprint parameters or those of their choice. We believe that a strong, growing and cypherpunk Ethereum requires many aligned organizations working to advance our shared vision and principles.
We believe Shutter PEN can be an exciting new addition to both the Ethereum ecosystem and the Shutter Network, working alongside the Ethereum Foundation, Shutter DAO 0x36, Octant, TheDAO Security Fund, Protocol Guild, and many many others - indeed, far too many to list here!As with any decentralized organization, Shutter PEN relies on you, the community, for its creation, growth, management, and (over time) continuous evolution.
Let us proceed together apace.
Onward.
