The arena is open again.
Melee 3 is live! And this round is all about setting Shutter DAO 0x36 on a path to revenue generation, profitability, and expansion.
Shutter DAO 0x36 currently has a runway of 21 months (until April 2028). There are many ways to extend this runway (sell SHU, reduce costs, generate treasury yield, etc.) but the most impactful and sustainable is increasing protocol-generated revenue. A profitable Shutter DAO 0x36 benefits everyone, including SHU holders, delegates, Keypers, and contributors.
Please read this whole blog article thoroughly and post any questions in the Shutter Forum.
Lay on!
TL;DR
Melee 3 is a $10,000 Shutter Champions funding round focused on one question: What is the best way to earn revenue for Shutter DAO 0x36?
This round has two main roles:
- Delegates and Keypers create funding slates that propose how the $10,000 should be granted.
- Anyone who buys and holds SHU votes on the best slates.
Key dates for Delegates and Keypers:
- Slate Proposals & Feedback: August 16 - 30
- Slate Selection: September 1 - 7
Key dates for SHU buyers / Melee 3 voters:
- Buy SHU: July 21 - August 10
- Hold it: through September 10
- Vote on Snapshot: September 15 - 18
Dates start/end according to UTC.
What is Shutter Champions?
For those of you who are just joining us…
Shutter Champions is an ecosystem growth program funded by Shutter DAO 0x36. It's designed to support people contributing to the Shutter ecosystem - researchers, builders, dApp developers and creators - with funding, support, and marketing.
Shutter Champions is powered by Shutter DAO 0x36 and Octant v2. In mid March 2026, Shutter DAO 0x36 deposited 1.2M USDC into an Octant v2 ERC-4626 audited vault configured with Morpho's "Steakhouse" USDC yield strategy. The yield generates approximately $5,000 per month, which is distributed to Shutter Champions in a series of rounds called "Melees".
What Happened in Melee 2?
Melee 2 was focused on one question: What is the best way to advance Shutter with $10,000?
It was a successful experiment:
Six slates were proposed by Delegates, Security Council Members, and Keypers in the Melee 2 category on the Shutter Forum, and brainbot gmbh selected four of them for the ballot. Fifteen addresses earned voting power by buying SHU between May 21 and June 10 and holding it through July 10 - a total of 706,278 voting power. Ten of the fifteen eligible addresses (67%) voted on Snapshot.
The winning slate was "Spreading Shutter's Voice through Content and Education", proposed by SEEDGov. It directs the full $10,000 to Shutter content and education: continued coverage by ETH Daily, a Shutter-dedicated content stream by The Book of Ethereum, a Shutter presence at the Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress in Mumbai via Web3Privacy Now, and bounties for deploying Shutter PEN and its frontend.
You can read the full results in the Melee 2 Results & Recap on the Shutter Forum.
What is Changing in Melee 3?
- Overall Focus
Melee 3 is focused on one question: What is the best way to earn revenue for Shutter DAO 0x36?
Proposed funding slates should outline the most effective way to earn non-trivial protocol-generated revenue for Shutter DAO 0x36.
- How to earn voting power
New buyers: Addresses which buy SHU between July 21 and August 10 and hold it through September 10 will receive 1 voting power per SHU in Melee 3.
Melee 2 voters: Addresses which received voting power in Melee 2 will automatically receive 0.5 voting power per SHU in Melee 3 - as long as they continue to hold their SHU through September 10. No action required.
The same address can participate in both ways: keep your Melee 2 SHU and buy more during the Melee 3 buying window to combine both sources of voting power.
Slate Creation
Only Shutter DAO 0x36 listed Delegates and Keypers may create a slate.
These key members possess the in-depth knowledge to think deeply about Shutter Network and the vision to propose holistic and strategic slates which will advance the project.
(If you have an idea for a funding slate but you are not a Delegate or Keyper, please post your idea on the Shutter Forum. A Delegate or Keyper may propose it on your behalf and share the gratuity with you.)
A slate must:
- Directly address the question: "What is the best way to earn revenue for Shutter DAO 0x36?"
- Provide an explanation of the slate, including the goal and rationale behind the recipients and funding amounts.
- Set out a list of recipients (individuals, organizations, contracts) and corresponding funding amounts. Funding amounts must be denominated in "$X worth of SHU" (if possible) or USDC (if necessary), and must be equal to or less than $10,000.
- Only propose proactive funding - i.e. funding for future contributions, dependent on the fulfillment of specified milestones (when relevant). Slates may not propose retroactive funding.
The creator of a slate may not propose funding for him/herself or for any organizations with which they are affiliated.
The creator of the winning slate will receive a gratuity of $200 worth of SHU, paid to the creator or their chosen public goods project.
Slate Voting
Melee 3 voters will vote on slates (rather than individual applications) using ranked choice voting on Snapshot.
Like many DAOs, Shutter DAO 0x36 has a high gini coefficient. As a result, potential new members may feel disincentivized from participating in Shutter DAO 0x36 governance because they feel their voice / vote pales in comparison to larger members. By restricting voting to addresses which buy SHU and hold it, we carve out a space for new people to join Shutter DAO 0x36 and meaningfully participate in governance. And by carrying reduced voting power over from Melee 2, we reward those who joined early and stuck around.
Voting power will be distributed as follows:
- Addresses which buy SHU during July 21 - August 10 on the SHU/USDC Uniswap v2 pool on Ethereum Mainnet or the SHU/USDC route on CoW Swap on Ethereum Mainnet and hold it until at least the end of September 10 will receive 1 voting power per SHU. For example: an address which buys and holds 1 SHU will receive 1 voting power, and an address which buys and holds 1M SHU will receive 1M voting power.
- Addresses which received voting power in Melee 2 and continue to hold their SHU until at least the end of September 10 will automatically receive 0.5 voting power per SHU.
If an address transfers or sells any amount of its SHU before the end of September 10, it will not receive any Melee 3 voting power.
Existing members of Shutter DAO 0x36 are able to participate in the Melee 3 vote by buying and holding additional SHU - from a new or an existing address.
Activities & Dates
(Dates start/end according to UTC.)
- Buy SHU: July 21 - August 10
Anyone: Buy Shutter token (SHU), the governance token of Shutter DAO 0x36, on either:
- the SHU/USDC Uniswap v2 pool on Ethereum Mainnet
- the SHU/USDC Cowswap pool on Ethereum Mainnet (you may need to manually add token 0xe485e2f1bab389c08721b291f6b59780fec83fd7)
Melee 2 voters: No need to buy again (unless you want more voting power) - just keep holding.
- Hold SHU: August 11 - September 10
Buyers of SHU (in Step 1) and Melee 2 voting power recipients: Hold your SHU until the end of day September 10.
- Slate Proposals & Feedback: August 16 - 30
Shutter DAO 0x36 Delegates and Keypers: Create a slate outlining how you would use $10,000 (in SHU and/or USDC) to advance Shutter. Post your slate in the Shutter Champions: Melee 3 channel on the Shutter Forum.
Shutter Community: Provide feedback and ask questions regarding the slates proposed in the Shutter Forum.
- Slate Selection: September 1 - 7
brainbot gmbh (a core contributor to Shutter) will select up to 4 funding slates for Melee 3 voters to vote on.
- Voting Power Distribution: September 11 - 14
brainbot gmbh will distribute Melee 3 voting power to eligible addresses.
- Vote: September 15 at 9:00 UTC - September 18 at 9:00 UTC
Melee 3 voters: Support your favorite slates using ranked choice voting on Snapshot.
- Results and Recognition: September 18 at 9:00 UTC
Community Members: See the voting results. Celebrate the new Shutter Champions, who will receive funding and support from Shutter DAO 0x36.
About Octant
Octant's mission is to foster a thriving Ethereum ecosystem where critical projects receive sustainable funding. Octant v2 continues this mission by providing tools and products that are accessible to any Ethereum-based project.
Since its inception in 2023, Octant v1 has launched 90-day "epoch" funding rounds to explore new models for funding and community governance. Over $18 million in grant funding has been distributed to impactful projects on Ethereum across 10 epochs. The funding model was simple: lock $GLM, earn ETH every 90 days, and let the community decide how matching funds are allocated. These epochs supported Ethereum's builders, core developers, creators, and public goods, powered by 100,000 staked ETH from the Golem Foundation.
Today, Octant operates as an independent project dedicated to building tools that help ecosystems earn, allocate, and grow through DeFi. Octant v2 includes institutional-grade vaults and a comprehensive funding management toolbox, featuring Octant Atlas, the Regen App, and Funding Round Operator tooling.
