On Speculation and Optimism's Recent $100m Retroactive Public Goods Grants

Optimism's third Retroactive Public Goods Funding Round (RetroPGF) funded 501 projects with over ~$100m (30m $OP), according to the article, which presents retroactive funding as a way to reward past useful work rather than predict future success. The round was far larger than the previous two, which rewarded 10m OP and $1m. The author, Simon, argues that the bicameral governance structure, split between the Citizens' House and the Token House, and the focus on retroactive funding are what the experiment gets right. He also lists open risks, including failure to bootstrap revenue before the 20% allocation is distributed and possible capture of the governance house.