@0x06AE...F6C5
Thank you nounspacetom for your support! I'd love to see this vision for Nouns become reality and for Nouns to have the technical capability to break out of the zero-sum game it's currently playing.
>
>
> This proposal is a game-changer for Nouns DAO. By introducing escrowed milestones, we can fund ambitious projects with built-in accountability and risk management. It's like giving the DAO a financial seatbelt for its investments. Plus, integrating with Kleros for dispute resolution adds a layer of trust that's crucial for big projects. Let's vote "For" and watch Nouns DAO level up its funding game!
>
@0x05A1...011c
Hi Willywonka.eth! Thank you for the response. Integration work for a client is already factored in and relies mainly on the willingness of client developers to work with us on merging the PRs that would encompass the integration.
>
>
> I'm in favor of implementing escrowed milestone funding, but not sure the marginal benefit vs. streaming props justifies the high cost. also worth noting that this creates work for all governance clients. would be strongly in favor if the cost was cut in half and top clients like nouns.camp, nouns.com, and nouns.wtf confirmed their willingness to support the new feature if the prop passes.
>
@0xdfB6...d939
Thank you for your constructive feedback. We will consider your suggestion should this proposal fail.
>
>
> this proposal itself should be a milestone based by utilizing the stream portion of the nouns protocol funding mechanism. i would have preferred that the full on once transfer can be taken in USDC so as to mitigate the market downturns while building the smart invoice for nouns DAO.
>
@0xf84a...b5A8
Thank you for sharing your perspective. While streams may appear like a reasonable trade-off, they are optimistic by design and do not tie the work delivered directly to a payout. In the same vein, multisigs lack the transparancy our smart escrow offers.
>
>
> streams and multisig with DUNA admins are the ways to go imo. Escrow milestone don't seem to solve issues on the social layer which are given at any time and the options currently available.
>
@0x6fB5...83b0
Thank you for your feedback. Can you elaborate on that comment? We're open to talk about how that would look like for verbs.
>
>
> add this to verbs roadmap imo
>
# Enabling Nouns DAO to Escrow Milestones
**After we asked *"Should Nouns DAO Explore Escrowed Milestones?"* in this topic and with the Nouns treasury declining, we are upgrading this topic to a candidate. Given your feedback, we are certain that enabling Nouns to escrow milestones will significantly improve Nouns DAO's ability to continue to back ambitious ideas while minimising risk, when each funding decision is carrying more weight.**
Nouns treasury and token sales are decreasing, but Nouns community members are committed to experimenting with new ways to achieve sustainability for the DAO. Although the creativity and determination of the community is commendable, the smaller the treasury gets the higher opportunity costs and risk associated with every proposal.
The Nouns DAO currently lacks the tools to appropriately address these risks. Both send proposals and Streams follow an optimistic approach that lacks the teeth to instill accountability in the proposers. Without escrowed milestones, the DAO is left vulnerable to rogue proposals.
Streams are great to disperse salaries and recurring service charges, but for funding proactive work they remain risky. While the DAO deliberates and coordinates whether to cancel a stream, the DAO is bleeding funds. The cancelled stream of Prop 711 and the feedback on the defeated Flows proposal are two recent examples that emphasise Nouns DAO’s need for escrowed milestones:
- Cancelling Prop 711’s Stream ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766))
- bixbite.eth says: “Also, other DAOS release payments in milestones where someone reviews the progress for completion before releasing future payments, so it's not that crazy of a concept to have a bit of oversight on things” ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766?tab=activity&item=0xb67ed20fdcf323ee8d24a88ddb991fbead130764d93a0600f80fbb1dfe42d431-825](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766?tab=activity&item=0xb67ed20fdcf323ee8d24a88ddb991fbead130764d93a0600f80fbb1dfe42d431-825))
- Feedback on the candidate for the defeated Flows proposal ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/785](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/785))
- 0xjanedoe.eth writes: “Why not take a “smooth” approach—split the budget into milestones incrementally, and let the DAO assess results before committing more capital?” ([https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/605?tab=activity&item=0xfa7702821af6ce4201e881b2da3b4cd9e7375dc9f422e5134e3332ab29339bf4-83](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/605?tab=activity&item=0xfa7702821af6ce4201e881b2da3b4cd9e7375dc9f422e5134e3332ab29339bf4-83))
After community feedback led by @0xmonografia, we are deprecating our initial candidate ([https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/enabling-nouns-dao-to-escrow-milestones-7bc48221928f11184b376da7a57650768dfd3332?edit=1](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/enabling-nouns-dao-to-escrow-milestones-7bc48221928f11184b376da7a57650768dfd3332?edit=1)) in favour of upgrading this topic to a candidate.
# tl;dr
This proposal introduces **milestone-based escrow payments** as a **new proposal type** for Nouns DAO’s governance and voting system, enabling pro-active fund disbursement. The integration is done by [Smart](http://smartinvoice.xyz)[I](http://smartinvoice.xyz)[nvoice.xyz](http://nvoice.xyz/), a solution incubated by [RaidGuild](http://raidguild.org). Instead of proposals relying on follow-up from the community, it is up to the proposer to convince the community when they're ready for release. Any community member can raise a release (or dispute) proposal at any time.
To ensure **fair dispute resolution** and bespoke arbitration features, this proposal is **jointly submitted with** ***[Kleros](https://kleros.io/)***, the leading decentralised arbitration provider specialising in blockchain-based dispute resolution.
# Project Overview
Nouns DAO has historically funded projects through lump-sum grants, which require **high trust in proposers** and caused significant losses in the past, which is already being discussed:
- [Tracking Rugged Nouns Props](https://www.nouns.camp/topics/tracking-rugged-nouns-props%E2%80%94do-we-have-a-list%3F-094b3226c7f55de7038b5be9bbac0866b3f6c8b8)
- [Nounforce One](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/nounforce-one%3A-bixbite's-proposal-tracking-%26-treasury-recovery-mission-%E2%8C%90%E2%97%A8-%E2%97%A8-073f0dc58e9989c827ba5b7b35570b7315652e63)
However, as **project scopes increase**, ensuring that deliverables align with funding commitments becomes more complex. With escrowed milestones:
- **Proposers receive funds progressively**, aligned with agreed-upon deliverables.
- **Nouns DAO retains financial oversight**, ensuring capital is deployed effectively.
- **Disputes are handled transparently** via **decentralised** Kleros arbitration.
- **Milestone updates** are handled **together with fund releases** through an integration with [Propdates.wtf](https://propdates.wtf/)
- The Nouns community receives the **option to choose between on-chain and off-chain release of milestones**, using [Snapshot’s oSnap module](https://docs.snapshot.box/v1-interface/plugins/safesnap-osnap). More information on an implementation with Safe can be found [here](https://docs.snapshot.box/v1-interface/plugins/safesnap-reality).
- For showcasing the functionality an oSnap module for Safe using Snapshot voting was already set up. It enables the Nouns community to already verify the functionality of the solution. For details on this piece of infrastructure visit [https://v1.snapshot.box/#/nounsescrow.eth/about](https://v1.snapshot.box/#/nounsescrow.eth/about)
This integration will help **Nouns DAO fund larger-scale projects with greater confidence**, and reduce the social cost of protecting its treasury, ensuring that funds contribute to meaningful, measurable outcomes.
# Funding Request (Total: 35 ETH)
The SmartInvoice team requests **35 ETH** to cover development, integration, customisation, and support.
| Item | Description | ETH |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --- |
| Core Functionality Development | Escrow Milestones Proposal Action (10 ETH) Frontend form for milestones, recipient, controller Controller selection logic Backend encoding of SmartInvoice creation transaction Milestone Viewer on Proposal Page (5 ETH) Display milestone list and current status View-only interface Link to full invoice on [https://smartinvoice.xyz](https://smartinvoice.xyz) app | 15 |
| oSnap Release Integration | Snapshot and Gnosis Safe milestone release mechanism with controller-aware flows | 5 |
| Testing and QA | End-to-end integration tests, edge case handling, Snapshot and controller logic QA | 2 |
| Documentation & Training | Contributor onboarding, Snapshot/oSnap guides, developer documentation, user guides | 3 |
| Maintenance & Support (2 years) | Support for milestone release, arbitration, off-chain delegation, DAO onboarding | 5 |
| Project Management & Coordination | Sprint planning and delivery tracking Weekly reviews and stakeholder syncs Coordination with nouns.camp, Snapshot, and Kleros teams | 5 |
| TOTAL | | 35 |
# Success Metrics
To make this initiative successful, we will engage with key ecosystem participants, including DAO sub-groups, such as Nouncil, LilNouns, and SharkDAO to ensure they understand and adopt the milestone-based escrow system. By integrating feedback loops, offering continuous educational content, and providing hands-on support through dedicated communication channels, this will directly save Nouns money with each proposal refunded that doesn't fully get completed.
After the integration is completed at least **10 proposals** use milestone-based escrow within the first **12 months**.
## Community Engagement
Work together with the community to prioritise the integration in frontends, such as **nouns.camp**, and determine whether a standalone hosted frontend is desirable.
As part of our maintenance and support, we will **engage and educate the Nouns community.**
- **SharkDAO, Gnars, Nouncil, and Lilnouns** onboarded to use escrow proposals.
- **Workshops & guides** developed to introduce milestone-based funding to the ecosystem.
- **Direct outreach to NounsUniversity** to provide educational sessions on escrow contracts.
- **Webinars & AMA sessions** to address questions and improve adoption.
## Successful Integration
The Smart Escrow proposal type is available through **nouns.camp**, or a standalone hosted frontend (up to 2 in total). Kleros is integrated through [Recognition of Jurisdiction](https://docs.kleros.io/integrations/types-of-integrations/1.-dispute-resolution-integration-plan/use-cases/1.-dispute-resolution-integration-plan) under Kleros v1, and disputes are resolved transparently within agreed timeframes on the appropriate Court and can be appealed several times up to the General Court.
Milestone release via **off-chain voting** is enabled through the integration of **Snapshot’s oSnap module**.
This allows the community to vote on milestone completions using Snapshot proposals, which – when passed – trigger Gnosis Safe transactions that release funds from the smart escrow. This provides a **streamlined governance implementation** and reduces proposal overhead on Ethereum mainnet while retaining DAO control.
To make this integration future-proof and enable sub-DAOs to settle small claims, SmartInvoice is finalising its feature complete integrating with Kleros on a smart contract level.
## Implementation Roadmap
- **Months 1-3:** Smart Invoice development
- integration with **nouns.camp**, and,
- a standalone hosted frontend
- **Month 3-5:** Integration with Kleros
- Arbitration through Recognition of Jurisdiction
- Pilot integration of feature complete Kleros smart contracts
- **Month 4-6:** Integration of off-chain milestone release through *oSnap*
- **Month 6:** Finalising deployment, testing, and community onboarding
- **Months 6-24:** Refinement user training, and ecosystem education
## Benefits to Nouns DAO
- **Greater financial security**: Funds are disbursed based on tangible progress.
- **Stronger project oversight**: DAOs retain financial control throughout execution.
- **More attractive funding model**: Proposers gain trust by aligning payments with deliverables.
- **Reliable dispute resolution**: SmartInvoice enforces decisions made by Kleros courts
## Transparency & Accountability
- Smart Invoice is **open-source** and fully auditable.
- Kleros’ arbitration rulings are **public and fully decentralised**.
- DAO governance will remain **the primary decision-making entity**, ensuring Smart Invoice acts as an enabling tool rather than a decision-making mechanism.
# Team
## Smart Invoice Development Team
- **benedictvs** – Project Manager & Governance Lead
- [https://github.com/b3nedictvs](https://github.com/b3nedictvs)
- [https://x.com/b3nedictvs](https://x.com/b3nedictvs)
- **Shawky** – Full-Stack Developer
- **dan13ram** – Smart Contract Engineer
- [https://github.com/dan13ram](https://github.com/dan13ram)
- **Ian** – UI/UX & DAO Frontend Developer
- **scottrepreneur** – Strategy & DAO Ecosystem Advisor
- [https://github.com/scottrepreneur](https://github.com/scottrepreneur)
- [https://farcaster.xyz/scottrepreneur.eth](https://farcaster.xyz/scottrepreneur.eth)
# Conclusion
Integrating a milestone-based escrow proposal type into Nouns DAO brings financial discipline, increased accountability, and stronger dispute resolution mechanisms. This proposal represents a natural evolution of Nouns DAO’s funding model, allowing it to support more complex and ambitious initiatives with reduced financial risk. So far, SmartInvoice has secured contracts with a combined value of over $400,000 ([https://dune.com/sunsakis/smart-invoice](https://dune.com/sunsakis/smart-invoice)). We actively service the majority of internal and external work at RaidGuild, and recently supported Nouns.builder DAO in rolling out escrow proposals to all Nouns Builder communities on Base:
- RaidGuild using SmartInvoice at [https://dm.raidguild.org/escrow/new?chainId=100](https://dm.raidguild.org/escrow/new?chainId=100)
- Nouns Builder Escrows
- [https://nouns.build/dao/base/0xe8af882f2f5c79580230710ac0e2344070099432/vote/29](https://nouns.build/dao/base/0xe8af882f2f5c79580230710ac0e2344070099432/vote/29)
- [Loom](https://www.loom.com/share/d1a42ab110b94c7e8df8ec6452dd3669?sid=a636235b-2f77-4aa8-8834-146670cb812f)
---
# Additional Resources
- [Smart Invoice Documentation](https://docs.smartinvoice.xyz/)
- [Kleros Arbitration Overview](https://docs.kleros.io/)
- [Live Smart Invoice UI](https://smartinvoice.xyz/)
- [Farcaster Notification Bot Repository](https://github.com/SmartInvoiceXYZ/builder-farcaster)
# Why Now?
Enabling escrowed proposals would not replace Streams or direct sends, it would **add optionality**. It could help the DAO support more complex proposals with better oversight, especially in cases where:
- Deliverables are clearly defined up front
- Work is non-recurring
- Large budgets or long timelines are involved
# Enabling Nouns DAO to Escrow Milestones
**After we asked *"Should Nouns DAO Explore Escrowed Milestones?"* in this topic and with the Nouns treasury declining, we are upgrading this topic to a candidate. Given your feedback, we are certain that enabling Nouns to escrow milestones will significantly improve Nouns DAO's ability to continue to back ambitious ideas while minimising risk, when each funding decision is carrying more weight.**
Nouns treasury and token sales are decreasing, but Nouns community members are committed to experimenting with new ways to achieve sustainability for the DAO. Although the creativity and determination of the community is commendable, the smaller the treasury gets the higher opportunity costs and risk associated with every proposal.
The Nouns DAO currently lacks the tools to appropriately address these risks. Both send proposals and Streams follow an optimistic approach that lacks the teeth to instill accountability in the proposers. Without escrowed milestones, the DAO is left vulnerable to rogue proposals.
Streams are great to disperse salaries and recurring service charges, but for funding proactive work they remain risky. While the DAO deliberates and coordinates whether to cancel a stream, the DAO is bleeding funds. The cancelled stream of Prop 711 and the feedback on the defeated Flows proposal are two recent examples that emphasise Nouns DAO’s need for escrowed milestones:
- Cancelling Prop 711’s Stream ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766))
- bixbite.eth says: “Also, other DAOS release payments in milestones where someone reviews the progress for completion before releasing future payments, so it's not that crazy of a concept to have a bit of oversight on things” ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766?tab=activity&item=0xb67ed20fdcf323ee8d24a88ddb991fbead130764d93a0600f80fbb1dfe42d431-825](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766?tab=activity&item=0xb67ed20fdcf323ee8d24a88ddb991fbead130764d93a0600f80fbb1dfe42d431-825))
- Feedback on the candidate for the defeated Flows proposal ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/785](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/785))
- 0xjanedoe.eth writes: “Why not take a “smooth” approach—split the budget into milestones incrementally, and let the DAO assess results before committing more capital?” ([https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/605?tab=activity&item=0xfa7702821af6ce4201e881b2da3b4cd9e7375dc9f422e5134e3332ab29339bf4-83](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/605?tab=activity&item=0xfa7702821af6ce4201e881b2da3b4cd9e7375dc9f422e5134e3332ab29339bf4-83))
After community feedback led by @0xmonografia, we are deprecating our initial candidate ([https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/enabling-nouns-dao-to-escrow-milestones-7bc48221928f11184b376da7a57650768dfd3332?edit=1](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/enabling-nouns-dao-to-escrow-milestones-7bc48221928f11184b376da7a57650768dfd3332?edit=1)) in favour of upgrading this topic to a candidate.
# tl;dr
This proposal introduces **milestone-based escrow payments** as a **new proposal type** for Nouns DAO’s governance and voting system, enabling pro-active fund disbursement. The integration is done by [Smart](http://smartinvoice.xyz)[I](http://smartinvoice.xyz)[nvoice.xyz](http://nvoice.xyz/), a solution incubated by [RaidGuild](http://raidguild.org). Instead of proposals relying on follow-up from the community, it is up to the proposer to convince the community when they're ready for release. Any community member can raise a release (or dispute) proposal at any time.
To ensure **fair dispute resolution** and bespoke arbitration features, this proposal is **jointly submitted with** ***[Kleros](https://kleros.io/)***, the leading decentralised arbitration provider specialising in blockchain-based dispute resolution.
# Project Overview
Nouns DAO has historically funded projects through lump-sum grants, which require **high trust in proposers** and caused significant losses in the past, which is already being discussed:
- [Tracking Rugged Nouns Props](https://www.nouns.camp/topics/tracking-rugged-nouns-props%E2%80%94do-we-have-a-list%3F-094b3226c7f55de7038b5be9bbac0866b3f6c8b8)
- [Nounforce One](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/nounforce-one%3A-bixbite's-proposal-tracking-%26-treasury-recovery-mission-%E2%8C%90%E2%97%A8-%E2%97%A8-073f0dc58e9989c827ba5b7b35570b7315652e63)
However, as **project scopes increase**, ensuring that deliverables align with funding commitments becomes more complex. With escrowed milestones:
- **Proposers receive funds progressively**, aligned with agreed-upon deliverables.
- **Nouns DAO retains financial oversight**, ensuring capital is deployed effectively.
- **Disputes are handled transparently** via **decentralised** Kleros arbitration.
- **Milestone updates** are handled **together with fund releases** through an integration with [Propdates.wtf](https://propdates.wtf/)
- The Nouns community receives the **option to choose between on-chain and off-chain release of milestones**, using [Snapshot’s oSnap module](https://docs.snapshot.box/v1-interface/plugins/safesnap-osnap). More information on an implementation with Safe can be found [here](https://docs.snapshot.box/v1-interface/plugins/safesnap-reality).
- For showcasing the functionality an oSnap module for Safe using Snapshot voting was already set up. It enables the Nouns community to already verify the functionality of the solution. For details on this piece of infrastructure visit [https://v1.snapshot.box/#/nounsescrow.eth/about](https://v1.snapshot.box/#/nounsescrow.eth/about)
This integration will help **Nouns DAO fund larger-scale projects with greater confidence**, and reduce the social cost of protecting its treasury, ensuring that funds contribute to meaningful, measurable outcomes.
# Funding Request (Total: 35 ETH)
The SmartInvoice team requests **35 ETH** to cover development, integration, customisation, and support.
| Item | Description | ETH |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --- |
| Core Functionality Development | Escrow Milestones Proposal Action (10 ETH) Frontend form for milestones, recipient, controller Controller selection logic Backend encoding of SmartInvoice creation transaction Milestone Viewer on Proposal Page (5 ETH) Display milestone list and current status View-only interface Link to full invoice on [https://smartinvoice.xyz](https://smartinvoice.xyz) app | 15 |
| oSnap Release Integration | Snapshot and Gnosis Safe milestone release mechanism with controller-aware flows | 5 |
| Testing and QA | End-to-end integration tests, edge case handling, Snapshot and controller logic QA | 2 |
| Documentation & Training | Contributor onboarding, Snapshot/oSnap guides, developer documentation, user guides | 3 |
| Maintenance & Support (2 years) | Support for milestone release, arbitration, off-chain delegation, DAO onboarding | 5 |
| Project Management & Coordination | Sprint planning and delivery tracking Weekly reviews and stakeholder syncs Coordination with nouns.camp, Snapshot, and Kleros teams | 5 |
| TOTAL | | 35 |
# Success Metrics
To make this initiative successful, we will engage with key ecosystem participants, including DAO sub-groups, such as Nouncil, LilNouns, and SharkDAO to ensure they understand and adopt the milestone-based escrow system. By integrating feedback loops, offering continuous educational content, and providing hands-on support through dedicated communication channels, this will directly save Nouns money with each proposal refunded that doesn't fully get completed.
After the integration is completed at least **10 proposals** use milestone-based escrow within the first **12 months**.
## Community Engagement
Work together with the community to prioritise the integration in frontends, such as **nouns.camp**, and determine whether a standalone hosted frontend is desirable.
As part of our maintenance and support, we will **engage and educate the Nouns community.**
- **SharkDAO, Gnars, Nouncil, and Lilnouns** onboarded to use escrow proposals.
- **Workshops & guides** developed to introduce milestone-based funding to the ecosystem.
- **Direct outreach to NounsUniversity** to provide educational sessions on escrow contracts.
- **Webinars & AMA sessions** to address questions and improve adoption.
## Successful Integration
The Smart Escrow proposal type is available through **nouns.camp**, or a standalone hosted frontend (up to 2 in total). Kleros is integrated through [Recognition of Jurisdiction](https://docs.kleros.io/integrations/types-of-integrations/1.-dispute-resolution-integration-plan/use-cases/1.-dispute-resolution-integration-plan) under Kleros v1, and disputes are resolved transparently within agreed timeframes on the appropriate Court and can be appealed several times up to the General Court.
Milestone release via **off-chain voting** is enabled through the integration of **Snapshot’s oSnap module**.
This allows the community to vote on milestone completions using Snapshot proposals, which – when passed – trigger Gnosis Safe transactions that release funds from the smart escrow. This provides a **streamlined governance implementation** and reduces proposal overhead on Ethereum mainnet while retaining DAO control.
To make this integration future-proof and enable sub-DAOs to settle small claims, SmartInvoice is finalising its feature complete integrating with Kleros on a smart contract level.
## Implementation Roadmap
- **Months 1-3:** Smart Invoice development
- integration with **nouns.camp**, and,
- a standalone hosted frontend
- **Month 3-5:** Integration with Kleros
- Arbitration through Recognition of Jurisdiction
- Pilot integration of feature complete Kleros smart contracts
- **Month 4-6:** Integration of off-chain milestone release through *oSnap*
- **Month 6:** Finalising deployment, testing, and community onboarding
- **Months 6-24:** Refinement user training, and ecosystem education
## Benefits to Nouns DAO
- **Greater financial security**: Funds are disbursed based on tangible progress.
- **Stronger project oversight**: DAOs retain financial control throughout execution.
- **More attractive funding model**: Proposers gain trust by aligning payments with deliverables.
- **Reliable dispute resolution**: SmartInvoice enforces decisions made by Kleros courts
## Transparency & Accountability
- Smart Invoice is **open-source** and fully auditable.
- Kleros’ arbitration rulings are **public and fully decentralised**.
- DAO governance will remain **the primary decision-making entity**, ensuring Smart Invoice acts as an enabling tool rather than a decision-making mechanism.
# Team
## Smart Invoice Development Team
- **benedictvs** – Project Manager & Governance Lead
- [https://github.com/b3nedictvs](https://github.com/b3nedictvs)
- [https://x.com/b3nedictvs](https://x.com/b3nedictvs)
- **Shawky** – Full-Stack Developer
- **dan13ram** – Smart Contract Engineer
- [https://github.com/dan13ram](https://github.com/dan13ram)
- **Ian** – UI/UX & DAO Frontend Developer
- **scottrepreneur** – Strategy & DAO Ecosystem Advisor
- [https://github.com/scottrepreneur](https://github.com/scottrepreneur)
- [https://farcaster.xyz/scottrepreneur.eth](https://farcaster.xyz/scottrepreneur.eth)
# Conclusion
Integrating a milestone-based escrow proposal type into Nouns DAO brings financial discipline, increased accountability, and stronger dispute resolution mechanisms. This proposal represents a natural evolution of Nouns DAO’s funding model, allowing it to support more complex and ambitious initiatives with reduced financial risk. So far, SmartInvoice has secured contracts with a combined value of over $400,000 ([https://dune.com/sunsakis/smart-invoice](https://dune.com/sunsakis/smart-invoice)). We actively service the majority of internal and external work at RaidGuild, and recently supported Nouns.builder DAO in rolling out escrow proposals to all Nouns Builder communities on Base:
- RaidGuild using SmartInvoice at [https://dm.raidguild.org/escrow/new?chainId=100](https://dm.raidguild.org/escrow/new?chainId=100)
- Nouns Builder Escrows
- [https://nouns.build/dao/base/0xe8af882f2f5c79580230710ac0e2344070099432/vote/29](https://nouns.build/dao/base/0xe8af882f2f5c79580230710ac0e2344070099432/vote/29)
- [Loom](https://www.loom.com/share/d1a42ab110b94c7e8df8ec6452dd3669?sid=a636235b-2f77-4aa8-8834-146670cb812f)
---
# Additional Resources
- [Smart Invoice Documentation](https://docs.smartinvoice.xyz/)
- [Kleros Arbitration Overview](https://docs.kleros.io/)
- [Live Smart Invoice UI](https://smartinvoice.xyz/)
- [Farcaster Notification Bot Repository](https://github.com/SmartInvoiceXYZ/builder-farcaster)
# Why Now?
Enabling escrowed proposals would not replace Streams or direct sends, it would **add optionality**. It could help the DAO support more complex proposals with better oversight, especially in cases where:
- Deliverables are clearly defined up front
- Work is non-recurring
- Large budgets or long timelines are involved should-nouns-dao-explore-escrowed-milestones?Lowered the ask to 35 ETH, as we will be covering the full audit ourselves and removed additional line items related to arbitration infrastructure updates.
# Enabling Nouns DAO to Escrow Milestones
**After we asked *"Should Nouns DAO Explore Escrowed Milestones?"* in this topic and with the Nouns treasury declining, we are upgrading this topic to a candidate. Given your feedback, we are certain that enabling Nouns to escrow milestones will significantly improve Nouns DAO's ability to continue to back ambitious ideas while minimising risk, when each funding decision is carrying more weight.**
Nouns treasury and token sales are decreasing, but Nouns community members are committed to experimenting with new ways to achieve sustainability for the DAO. Although the creativity and determination of the community is commendable, the smaller the treasury gets the higher opportunity costs and risk associated with every proposal.
The Nouns DAO currently lacks the tools to appropriately address these risks. Both send proposals and Streams follow an optimistic approach that lacks the teeth to instill accountability in the proposers. Without escrowed milestones, the DAO is left vulnerable to rogue proposals.
Streams are great to disperse salaries and recurring service charges, but for funding proactive work they remain risky. While the DAO deliberates and coordinates whether to cancel a stream, the DAO is bleeding funds. The cancelled stream of Prop 711 and the feedback on the defeated Flows proposal are two recent examples that emphasise Nouns DAO’s need for escrowed milestones:
- Cancelling Prop 711’s Stream ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766))
- bixbite.eth says: “Also, other DAOS release payments in milestones where someone reviews the progress for completion before releasing future payments, so it's not that crazy of a concept to have a bit of oversight on things” ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766?tab=activity&item=0xb67ed20fdcf323ee8d24a88ddb991fbead130764d93a0600f80fbb1dfe42d431-825](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766?tab=activity&item=0xb67ed20fdcf323ee8d24a88ddb991fbead130764d93a0600f80fbb1dfe42d431-825))
- Feedback on the candidate for the defeated Flows proposal ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/785](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/785))
- 0xjanedoe.eth writes: “Why not take a “smooth” approach—split the budget into milestones incrementally, and let the DAO assess results before committing more capital?” ([https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/605?tab=activity&item=0xfa7702821af6ce4201e881b2da3b4cd9e7375dc9f422e5134e3332ab29339bf4-83](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/605?tab=activity&item=0xfa7702821af6ce4201e881b2da3b4cd9e7375dc9f422e5134e3332ab29339bf4-83))
After community feedback led by @0xmonografia, we are deprecating our initial candidate ([https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/enabling-nouns-dao-to-escrow-milestones-7bc48221928f11184b376da7a57650768dfd3332?edit=1](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/enabling-nouns-dao-to-escrow-milestones-7bc48221928f11184b376da7a57650768dfd3332?edit=1)) in favour of upgrading this topic to a candidate.
# tl;dr
This proposal introduces **milestone-based escrow payments** as a **new proposal type** for Nouns DAO’s governance and voting system, enabling pro-active fund disbursement. The integration is done by [Smart](http://smartinvoice.xyz)[I](http://smartinvoice.xyz)[nvoice.xyz](http://nvoice.xyz/), a solution incubated by [RaidGuild](http://raidguild.org). Instead of proposals relying on follow-up from the community, it is up to the proposer to convince the community when they're ready for release. Any community member can raise a release (or dispute) proposal at any time.
To ensure **fair dispute resolution** and bespoke arbitration features, this proposal is **jointly submitted with** ***[Kleros](https://kleros.io/)***, the leading decentralised arbitration provider specialising in blockchain-based dispute resolution.
# Project Overview
Nouns DAO has historically funded projects through lump-sum grants, which require **high trust in proposers** and caused significant losses in the past, which is already being discussed:
- [Tracking Rugged Nouns Props](https://www.nouns.camp/topics/tracking-rugged-nouns-props%E2%80%94do-we-have-a-list%3F-094b3226c7f55de7038b5be9bbac0866b3f6c8b8)
- [Nounforce One](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/nounforce-one%3A-bixbite's-proposal-tracking-%26-treasury-recovery-mission-%E2%8C%90%E2%97%A8-%E2%97%A8-073f0dc58e9989c827ba5b7b35570b7315652e63)
However, as **project scopes increase**, ensuring that deliverables align with funding commitments becomes more complex. With escrowed milestones:
- **Proposers receive funds progressively**, aligned with agreed-upon deliverables.
- **Nouns DAO retains financial oversight**, ensuring capital is deployed effectively.
- **Disputes are handled transparently** via **decentralised** Kleros arbitration.
- **Milestone updates** are handled **together with fund releases** through an integration with [Propdates.wtf](https://propdates.wtf/)
- The Nouns community receives the **option to choose between on-chain and off-chain release of milestones**, using [Snapshot’s oSnap module](https://docs.snapshot.box/v1-interface/plugins/safesnap-osnap). More information on an implementation with Safe can be found [here](https://docs.snapshot.box/v1-interface/plugins/safesnap-reality).
- For showcasing the functionality an oSnap module for Safe using Snapshot voting was already set up. It enables the Nouns community to already verify the functionality of the solution. For details on this piece of infrastructure visit [https://v1.snapshot.box/#/nounsescrow.eth/about](https://v1.snapshot.box/#/nounsescrow.eth/about)
This integration will help **Nouns DAO fund larger-scale projects with greater confidence**, and reduce the social cost of protecting its treasury, ensuring that funds contribute to meaningful, measurable outcomes.
# Funding Request (Total: 50 ETH)
The SmartInvoice team requests **50 ETH** to cover development, integration, customisation, and support.
| Item | Description | ETH |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --- |
| Core Functionality Development | Escrow Milestones Proposal Action (10 ETH) Frontend form for milestones, recipient, controller Controller selection logic Backend encoding of SmartInvoice creation transaction Milestone Viewer on Proposal Page (5 ETH) Display milestone list and current status View-only interface Link to full invoice on [https://smartinvoice.xyz](https://smartinvoice.xyz) app | 15 |
| oSnap Release Integration | Snapshot and Gnosis Safe milestone release mechanism with controller-aware flows | 5 |
| Kleros Arbitration Setup | Feature complete integration of Kleros: contract changes, subcourt configuration, UI dispute flows | 5 |
| Testing and QA | End-to-end integration tests, edge case handling, Snapshot and controller logic QA | 2 |
| Documentation & Training | Contributor onboarding, Snapshot/oSnap guides, developer documentation, user guides | 3 |
| Maintenance & Support (2 years) | Support for milestone release, arbitration, off-chain delegation, DAO onboarding | 5 |
| Audit Contribution | Partial contribution toward security audit of SmartInvoice milestone, arbitration, and oSnap system | 10 |
| Project Management & Coordination | Sprint planning and delivery tracking Weekly reviews and stakeholder syncs Coordination with nouns.camp, Snapshot, and Kleros teams | 5 |
| TOTAL | | 50 |
# Success Metrics
To make this initiative successful, we will engage with key ecosystem participants, including DAO sub-groups, such as Nouncil, LilNouns, and SharkDAO to ensure they understand and adopt the milestone-based escrow system. By integrating feedback loops, offering continuous educational content, and providing hands-on support through dedicated communication channels, this will directly save Nouns money with each proposal refunded that doesn't fully get completed.
After the integration is completed at least **10 proposals** use milestone-based escrow within the first **12 months**.
## Community Engagement
Work together with the community to prioritise the integration in frontends, such as **nouns.camp**, and determine whether a standalone hosted frontend is desirable.
As part of our maintenance and support, we will **engage and educate the Nouns community.**
- **SharkDAO, Gnars, Nouncil, and Lilnouns** onboarded to use escrow proposals.
- **Workshops & guides** developed to introduce milestone-based funding to the ecosystem.
- **Direct outreach to NounsUniversity** to provide educational sessions on escrow contracts.
- **Webinars & AMA sessions** to address questions and improve adoption.
## Successful Integration
The Smart Escrow proposal type is available through **nouns.camp**, or a standalone hosted frontend (up to 2 in total). Kleros is integrated through [Recognition of Jurisdiction](https://docs.kleros.io/integrations/types-of-integrations/1.-dispute-resolution-integration-plan/use-cases/1.-dispute-resolution-integration-plan) under Kleros v1, and disputes are resolved transparently within agreed timeframes on the appropriate Court and can be appealed several times up to the General Court.
Milestone release via **off-chain voting** is enabled through the integration of **Snapshot’s oSnap module**.
This allows the community to vote on milestone completions using Snapshot proposals, which – when passed – trigger Gnosis Safe transactions that release funds from the smart escrow. This provides a **streamlined governance implementation** and reduces proposal overhead on Ethereum mainnet while retaining DAO control.
To make this integration future-proof and enable sub-DAOs to settle small claims, SmartInvoice is finalising its feature complete integrating with Kleros on a smart contract level.
## Implementation Roadmap
- **Months 1-3:** Smart Invoice development
- integration with **nouns.camp**, and,
- a standalone hosted frontend
- **Month 3-5:** Integration with Kleros
- Arbitration through Recognition of Jurisdiction
- Pilot integration of feature complete Kleros smart contracts
- **Month 4-6:** Integration of off-chain milestone release through *oSnap*
- **Month 6:** Finalising deployment, testing, and community onboarding
- **Months 6-24:** Refinement user training, and ecosystem education
## Benefits to Nouns DAO
- **Greater financial security**: Funds are disbursed based on tangible progress.
- **Stronger project oversight**: DAOs retain financial control throughout execution.
- **More attractive funding model**: Proposers gain trust by aligning payments with deliverables.
- **Reliable dispute resolution**: SmartInvoice enforces decisions made by Kleros courts
## Transparency & Accountability
- Smart Invoice is **open-source** and fully auditable.
- Kleros’ arbitration rulings are **public and fully decentralised**.
- DAO governance will remain **the primary decision-making entity**, ensuring Smart Invoice acts as an enabling tool rather than a decision-making mechanism.
# Team
## Smart Invoice Development Team
- **benedictvs** – Project Manager & Governance Lead
- [https://github.com/b3nedictvs](https://github.com/b3nedictvs)
- [https://x.com/b3nedictvs](https://x.com/b3nedictvs)
- **Shawky** – Full-Stack Developer
- **dan13ram** – Smart Contract Engineer
- [https://github.com/dan13ram](https://github.com/dan13ram)
- **Ian** – UI/UX & DAO Frontend Developer
- **scottrepreneur** – Strategy & DAO Ecosystem Advisor
- [https://github.com/scottrepreneur](https://github.com/scottrepreneur)
- [https://farcaster.xyz/scottrepreneur.eth](https://farcaster.xyz/scottrepreneur.eth)
# Conclusion
Integrating a milestone-based escrow proposal type into Nouns DAO brings financial discipline, increased accountability, and stronger dispute resolution mechanisms. This proposal represents a natural evolution of Nouns DAO’s funding model, allowing it to support more complex and ambitious initiatives with reduced financial risk. So far, SmartInvoice has secured contracts with a combined value of over $400,000 ([https://dune.com/sunsakis/smart-invoice](https://dune.com/sunsakis/smart-invoice)). We actively service the majority of internal and external work at RaidGuild, and recently supported Nouns.builder DAO in rolling out escrow proposals to all Nouns Builder communities on Base:
- RaidGuild using SmartInvoice at [https://dm.raidguild.org/escrow/new?chainId=100](https://dm.raidguild.org/escrow/new?chainId=100)
- Nouns Builder Escrows
- [https://nouns.build/dao/base/0xe8af882f2f5c79580230710ac0e2344070099432/vote/29](https://nouns.build/dao/base/0xe8af882f2f5c79580230710ac0e2344070099432/vote/29)
- [Loom](https://www.loom.com/share/d1a42ab110b94c7e8df8ec6452dd3669?sid=a636235b-2f77-4aa8-8834-146670cb812f)
---
# Additional Resources
- [Smart Invoice Documentation](https://docs.smartinvoice.xyz/)
- [Kleros Arbitration Overview](https://docs.kleros.io/)
- [Live Smart Invoice UI](https://smartinvoice.xyz/)
- [Farcaster Notification Bot Repository](https://github.com/SmartInvoiceXYZ/builder-farcaster)
# Why Now?
Enabling escrowed proposals would not replace Streams or direct sends, it would **add optionality**. It could help the DAO support more complex proposals with better oversight, especially in cases where:
- Deliverables are clearly defined up front
- Work is non-recurring
- Large budgets or long timelines are involved should-nouns-dao-explore-escrowed-milestones?Upgraded the topic to a candidate, deprecating the intital candidate based on community feedback. Removed discussion topics and questions while adding the scope
# Enabling Nouns DAO to Escrow Milestones
Nouns treasury and token sales are decreasing, but Nouns community members are committed to experimenting with new ways to achieve sustainability for the DAO. Although the creativity and determination of the community is commendable, the smaller the treasury gets the higher opportunity costs and risk associated with every proposal.
The Nouns DAO currently lacks the tools to appropriately address these risks. Both send proposals and Streams follow an optimistic approach that lacks the teeth to instill accountability in the proposers. Without escrowed milestones, the DAO is left vulnerable to rogue proposals.
Streams are great to disperse salaries and recurring service charges, but for funding proactive work they remain risky. While the DAO deliberates and coordinates whether to cancel a stream, the DAO is bleeding funds. The cancelled stream of Prop 711 and the feedback on the defeated Flows proposal are two recent examples that emphasise Nouns DAO’s need for escrowed milestones:
- Cancelling Prop 711’s Stream ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766))
- bixbite.eth says: “Also, other DAOS release payments in **milestones** where someone reviews the progress for completion before releasing future payments, so it's not that crazy of a concept to have a bit of oversight on things” ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766?tab=activity&item=0xb67ed20fdcf323ee8d24a88ddb991fbead130764d93a0600f80fbb1dfe42d431-825](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766?tab=activity&item=0xb67ed20fdcf323ee8d24a88ddb991fbead130764d93a0600f80fbb1dfe42d431-825))
- Feedback on the candidate for the defeated Flows proposal ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/785](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/785))
- 0xjanedoe.eth writes: “Why not take a “smooth” approach—split the budget into **milestones** incrementally, and let the DAO assess results before committing more capital?” ([https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/605?tab=activity&item=0xfa7702821af6ce4201e881b2da3b4cd9e7375dc9f422e5134e3332ab29339bf4-83](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/605?tab=activity&item=0xfa7702821af6ce4201e881b2da3b4cd9e7375dc9f422e5134e3332ab29339bf4-83))
After sharing our idea with the Nouns community on nouns.camp ([https://www.nouns.camp/topics/should-nouns-dao-explore-escrowed-milestones%3F-7bc48221928f11184b376da7a57650768dfd3332](https://www.nouns.camp/topics/should-nouns-dao-explore-escrowed-milestones%3F-7bc48221928f11184b376da7a57650768dfd3332)) and having received positive feedback, we are formalising this initiative into a proposal.
# TL;DR
This proposal introduces **milestone-based escrow payments** as a **new proposal type** for Nouns DAO’s governance and voting system, enabling pro-active fund disbursement. The integration is done by [Smart](http://smartinvoice.xyz)[I](http://smartinvoice.xyz)[nvoice.xyz](http://nvoice.xyz/), a solution incubated by [RaidGuild](http://raidguild.org). Instead of proposals relying on follow-up from the community, it is up to the proposer to convince the community when they're ready for release. Any community member can raise a release (or dispute) proposal at any time.
To ensure **fair dispute resolution** and bespoke arbitration features, this proposal is **jointly submitted with** ***[Kleros](https://kleros.io/)***, the leading decentralised arbitration provider specialising in blockchain-based dispute resolution.
# Project Overview
Nouns DAO has historically funded projects through lump-sum grants, which require **high trust in proposers** and caused significant losses in the past, which is already being discussed:
- [Tracking Rugged Nouns Props](https://www.nouns.camp/topics/tracking-rugged-nouns-props%E2%80%94do-we-have-a-list%3F-094b3226c7f55de7038b5be9bbac0866b3f6c8b8)
- [Nounforce One](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/nounforce-one%3A-bixbite's-proposal-tracking-%26-treasury-recovery-mission-%E2%8C%90%E2%97%A8-%E2%97%A8-073f0dc58e9989c827ba5b7b35570b7315652e63)
However, as **project scopes increase**, ensuring that deliverables align with funding commitments becomes more complex. With escrowed milestones:
- **Proposers receive funds progressively**, aligned with agreed-upon deliverables.
- **Nouns DAO retains financial oversight**, ensuring capital is deployed effectively.
- **Disputes are handled transparently** via **decentralised** Kleros arbitration.
- **Milestone updates** are handled **together with fund releases** through an integration with [Propdates.wtf](https://propdates.wtf/)
- The Nouns community receives the **option to choose between on-chain and off-chain release of milestones**, using [Snapshot’s oSnap module](https://docs.snapshot.box/v1-interface/plugins/safesnap-osnap). More information on an implementation with Safe can be found [here](https://docs.snapshot.box/v1-interface/plugins/safesnap-reality).
- For showcasing the functionality an oSnap module for Safe using Snapshot voting was already set up. It enables the Nouns community to already verify the functionality of the solution. For details on this piece of infrastructure visit [https://v1.snapshot.box/#/nounsescrow.eth/about](https://v1.snapshot.box/#/nounsescrow.eth/about)
This integration will help **Nouns DAO fund larger-scale projects with greater confidence**, and reduce the social cost of protecting its treasury, ensuring that funds contribute to meaningful, measurable outcomes.
# Funding Request (Total: 50 ETH)
The SmartInvoice team requests **50 ETH** to cover development, integration, customisation, and support.
| Item | Description | ETH |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --- |
| Core Functionality Development | Escrow Milestones Proposal Action (10 ETH) Frontend form for milestones, recipient, controller Controller selection logic Backend encoding of SmartInvoice creation transaction Milestone Viewer on Proposal Page (5 ETH) Display milestone list and current status View-only interface Link to full invoice on [https://smartinvoice.xyz](https://smartinvoice.xyz) app | 15 |
| oSnap Release Integration | Snapshot and Gnosis Safe milestone release mechanism with controller-aware flows | 5 |
| Kleros Arbitration Setup | Feature complete integration of Kleros: contract changes, subcourt configuration, UI dispute flows | 5 |
| Testing and QA | End-to-end integration tests, edge case handling, Snapshot and controller logic QA | 2 |
| Documentation & Training | Contributor onboarding, Snapshot/oSnap guides, developer documentation, user guides | 3 |
| Maintenance & Support (2 years) | Support for milestone release, arbitration, off-chain delegation, DAO onboarding | 5 |
| Audit Contribution | Partial contribution toward security audit of SmartInvoice milestone, arbitration, and oSnap system | 10 |
| Project Management & Coordination | Sprint planning and delivery tracking Weekly reviews and stakeholder syncs Coordination with nouns.camp, Snapshot, and Kleros teams | 5 |
| TOTAL | | 50 |
# Success Metrics
To make this initiative successful, we will engage with key ecosystem participants, including DAO sub-groups, such as Nouncil, LilNouns, and SharkDAO to ensure they understand and adopt the milestone-based escrow system. By integrating feedback loops, offering continuous educational content, and providing hands-on support through dedicated communication channels, this will directly save Nouns money with each proposal refunded that doesn't fully get completed.
After the integration is completed at least **10 proposals** use milestone-based escrow within the first **12 months**.
## Community Engagement
Work together with the community to prioritise the integration in frontends, such as **nouns.camp**, and determine whether a standalone hosted frontend is desirable.
As part of our maintenance and support, we will **engage and educate the Nouns community.**
- **SharkDAO, Gnars, Nouncil, and Lilnouns** onboarded to use escrow proposals.
- **Workshops & guides** developed to introduce milestone-based funding to the ecosystem.
- **Direct outreach to NounsUniversity** to provide educational sessions on escrow contracts.
- **Webinars & AMA sessions** to address questions and improve adoption.
## Successful Integration
The Smart Escrow proposal type is available through **nouns.camp**, or a standalone hosted frontend (up to 2 in total). Kleros is integrated through [Recognition of Jurisdiction](https://docs.kleros.io/integrations/types-of-integrations/1.-dispute-resolution-integration-plan/use-cases/1.-dispute-resolution-integration-plan) under Kleros v1, and disputes are resolved transparently within agreed timeframes on the appropriate Court and can be appealed several times up to the General Court.
Milestone release via **off-chain voting** is enabled through the integration of **Snapshot’s oSnap module**.
This allows the community to vote on milestone completions using Snapshot proposals, which – when passed – trigger Gnosis Safe transactions that release funds from the smart escrow. This provides a **streamlined governance implementation** and reduces proposal overhead on Ethereum mainnet while retaining DAO control.
To make this integration future-proof and enable sub-DAOs to settle small claims, SmartInvoice is finalising its feature complete integrating with Kleros on a smart contract level.
## Implementation Roadmap
- **Months 1-3:** Smart Invoice development
- integration with **nouns.camp**, and,
- a standalone hosted frontend
- **Month 3-5:** Integration with Kleros
- Arbitration through Recognition of Jurisdiction
- Pilot integration of feature complete Kleros smart contracts
- **Month 4-6:** Integration of off-chain milestone release through *oSnap*
- **Month 6:** Finalising deployment, testing, and community onboarding
- **Months 6-24:** Refinement user training, and ecosystem education
## Benefits to Nouns DAO
- **Greater financial security**: Funds are disbursed based on tangible progress.
- **Stronger project oversight**: DAOs retain financial control throughout execution.
- **More attractive funding model**: Proposers gain trust by aligning payments with deliverables.
- **Reliable dispute resolution**: SmartInvoice enforces decisions made by Kleros courts
## Transparency & Accountability
- Smart Invoice is **open-source** and fully auditable.
- Kleros’ arbitration rulings are **public and fully decentralised**.
- DAO governance will remain **the primary decision-making entity**, ensuring Smart Invoice acts as an enabling tool rather than a decision-making mechanism.
# Team
## Smart Invoice Development Team
- **benedictvs** – Project Manager & Governance Lead
- [https://github.com/b3nedictvs](https://github.com/b3nedictvs)
- [https://x.com/b3nedictvs](https://x.com/b3nedictvs)
- **Shawky** – Full-Stack Developer
- **dan13ram** – Smart Contract Engineer
- [https://github.com/dan13ram](https://github.com/dan13ram)
- **Ian** – UI/UX & DAO Frontend Developer
- **scottrepreneur** – Strategy & DAO Ecosystem Advisor
- [https://github.com/scottrepreneur](https://github.com/scottrepreneur)
- [https://farcaster.xyz/scottrepreneur.eth](https://farcaster.xyz/scottrepreneur.eth)
## Conclusion
Integrating a milestone-based escrow proposal type into Nouns DAO brings financial discipline, increased accountability, and stronger dispute resolution mechanisms. This proposal represents a natural evolution of Nouns DAO’s funding model, allowing it to support more complex and ambitious initiatives with reduced financial risk. So far, SmartInvoice has secured contracts with a combined value of over $400,000. We actively service the majority of internal and external work at RaidGuild, and recently supported Nouns.builder DAO in rolling out escrow proposals to all Nouns Builder communities on Base:
- RaidGuild using SmartInvoice at [https://dm.raidguild.org/escrow/new?chainId=100](https://dm.raidguild.org/escrow/new?chainId=100)
- Nouns Builder Escrows
- [https://nouns.build/dao/base/0xe8af882f2f5c79580230710ac0e2344070099432/vote/29](https://nouns.build/dao/base/0xe8af882f2f5c79580230710ac0e2344070099432/vote/29)
- [Loom](https://www.loom.com/share/d1a42ab110b94c7e8df8ec6452dd3669?sid=a636235b-2f77-4aa8-8834-146670cb812f)
# Additional Resources
- [Smart Invoice Documentation](https://docs.smartinvoice.xyz/)
- [Kleros Arbitration Overview](https://docs.kleros.io/)
- [Live Smart Invoice UI](https://smartinvoice.xyz/) enabling-nouns-dao-to-escrow-milestones
I assert that this transaction proposal is valid according to the following rules: Proposals approved on Snapshot, as verified at https://v1.snapshot.box/#/nounsescrow.eth, are valid as long as there is a minimum quorum of 3 and a minimum voting period of 24 hours and it does not appear that the Snapshot voting system is being exploited or is otherwise unavailable. The quorum and voting period are minimum requirements for a proposal to be valid. Quorum and voting period values set for a specific proposal in Snapshot should be used if they are more strict than the rules parameter. The explanation included with the on-chain proposal must be the unique IPFS identifier for the specific Snapshot proposal that was approved or a unique identifier for a proposal in an alternative voting system approved by DAO social consensus if Snapshot is being exploited or is otherwise unavailable.
{"milestoneId":0,"content":"The first month of running the builder residency as fully onboarded members has drawn to a close. With this propdate, we would like to request the release of this month's funds. We have conducted the first community product prioritisation session, started on the ecosystem tooling report, are structuring the Github, and have fixed critical bugs as well as released the farcaster mini app in a first version etc."}
should-nouns-dao-explore-escrowed-milestones?@0x05A1...011c
Hi willywonka.eth!
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond at that length. First of, by no means was my intention to imply that your proposal has any actual risk of non-delivery or malice. Your proposal was just brought up as a good candidate and I wanted to act on this suggestion.
Also I totally understand that you don't want your candidate to be left hanging while waiting for us. Both your suggestions, i.e. the frames collaboration and using milestones in the future, are super interesting. Perhaps we can have some sync time over the next couple of weeks to get to know each other and align on how we want to work together. What do you think?
> gm benedictvs.eth!
>
> Personally in favor of implementing support for Milestone-based payments for the reasons you listed. Also open to exploring what milestone based funding could look like for Nounspace, but would prefer not to hinge our current candidate on this since it's not live yet.
>
> Our current candidate requests a stream, which as you mentioned isn't necessarily as strict as milestones, but does at least provide some recourse if for any reason we don't deliver. Further, I'd argue that delivery risk is also mitigated by the fact that we have already delivered a substantial amount (far beyond what we initially committed to in the Prop House round) and will also be streaming our governance token, $SPACE, to Nouns' treasury.
>
> If our current candidate doesn't pass and milestone-based payments are activated before we propose a v2, we'd be happy to explore this in our v2. Further, when milestone payments are activated, we'd love to build a mini app for tracking milestone progress and facilitating fund release or arbitration that can be automatically added to a tab for all passed props in proposal spaces (https://warpcast.com/willywonka.eth/0xfdb75dd4); there's more details on what this could look like in our candidate.
should-nouns-dao-explore-escrowed-milestones?@0x2117...E42a
To add to what scottrepreneur said, at Nouns Builder it is possible to combine multiple transactions, satisfying the possibility to both have upfront and milestone funding on the same proposal. Though, wether this can be mimicked for nouns is TBD.
Regarding the full on-chain option, I agree with scottrepreneur, but we have experience setting such up using EAS.
> I know ive been asking for something like this for quite sometime and have given it a decent amount of brainpower. Some props need more funding upfront vs tiered delivery of funds. So having the option would be great but understand if that just adds complexity for no reason.
>
> For the release of funds it should reach consensus before releasing funds, and consensus should be based on Nouners and not multisig or trusted individuals that removes the whole purpose of it. The consensus should also be 1 vote per voting block so a user is not able to pass consensus just because they have a ton of nouns. Propdates like you said would need to be updated and this mode of consensus should also be applicable to marking a prop as "delivered/complete" the proposer or anyone can mark it as complete all deliverables are delivered and we should reach a quorum to really mark something as complete. This data should live onchain and we can do with EAS or something similar to that.
>
> The reason for this is we should be able to see a proposer and how many fully completed props they have delivered and they should have that title/data onchain imo. Happy to chat about it more.
double-down-on-nounspace---v3
gramajo.eth mentioned your proposal here: https://www.nouns.camp/topics/should-nouns-dao-explore-escrowed-milestones%3F-7bc48221928f11184b376da7a57650768dfd3332
Would you be open to explore how using escrowed milestones for your proposal could look?
should-nouns-dao-explore-escrowed-milestones?@0x39a7...aBc0
Thank you for your interest! The Github repository is here https://github.com/SmartInvoiceXYZ/smart-invoice.
SmartInvoice was incubated by RaidGuild one of the longest standing Web3 dev shops and the code was reviewed by several experienced solidity devs. However, we have not yet contracted a full audit of the solution. We first wanted to see sustained traction before getting that done. With SmartInvoice being used on at least two proposals on nouns.build and interest from Nouns, this now is the case. Therefore, we will include an audit as a deliverable when/ if turning this into a proposal.
> This is quite interesting. Would love to dig in more details on this. Can you please share the github repo? And any auditing history?
# Should Nouns DAO Explore Escrowed Milestones?
**With the treasury declining and each funding decision carrying more weight, how can Nouns DAO continue to back ambitious ideas while minimising risk?**
## tl;dr
This post proposes starting a discussion about adding milestone-based escrow proposals as an additional proposal option. This would allow Nouns oversight over proposal progress and keep proposers accountable to their deliverables without requiring a high-trust environment.
## Background
We have seen Nouns DAO experimenting to achieve sustainability by funding a variety of for profit and public goods initiatives. But as treasury pressure increases, the cost of underperforming proposals becomes more acute. This is an issue Nouns has been facing for years. Today, the DAO has two main tools for disbursing funds: direct sends and Streams.
While Streams introduce flexibility, they also introduce risk. If a project underdelivers, the DAO must act quickly to cancel. This is easier said than done. In other words, Nouns currently lacks the tools to appropriately address proposal risks. Both send proposals and Streams follow an optimistic approach that lacks the teeth to instill accountability in the proposers. Without escrowed milestones, the DAO is left vulnerable to rogue proposals. While the DAO deliberates and coordinates whether to cancel a stream, the DAO is bleeding funds.
Recent proposals like Prop 711 and Flows highlight the need for appropriate tooling. In both, community members asked: *Why not escrow milestones?* Why not let proposers unlock funds **after** proving work has been completed?
- Cancelling Prop 711’s Stream ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766))
- bixbite.eth says: “Also, other DAOS release payments in **milestones** where someone reviews the progress for completion before releasing future payments, so it's not that crazy of a concept to have a bit of oversight on things” ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766?tab=activity&item=0xb67ed20fdcf323ee8d24a88ddb991fbead130764d93a0600f80fbb1dfe42d431-825](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/766?tab=activity&item=0xb67ed20fdcf323ee8d24a88ddb991fbead130764d93a0600f80fbb1dfe42d431-825))
- Feedback on the candidate for the defeated Flows proposal ([https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/785](https://www.nouns.camp/proposals/785))
- 0xjanedoe.eth writes: “Why not take a “smooth” approach—split the budget into **milestones** incrementally, and let the DAO assess results before committing more capital?” ([https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/605?tab=activity&item=0xfa7702821af6ce4201e881b2da3b4cd9e7375dc9f422e5134e3332ab29339bf4-83](https://www.nouns.camp/candidates/605?tab=activity&item=0xfa7702821af6ce4201e881b2da3b4cd9e7375dc9f422e5134e3332ab29339bf4-83))
## What Would Escrowed Milestones Look Like?
We believe it is worth exploring the addition of **milestone-based escrow proposals**. These would:
- Break budgets into agreed-upon deliverables
- Use arbitration for transparent dispute resolution
- Allow fund releases to be initiated via DAO votes or delegation
- Reduce community oversight burden by shifting accountability to proposers
A feature set for a Nouns escrow could look like this:
- **Proposers receive funds progressively**, aligned with agreed-upon deliverables.
- **Nouns DAO retains financial oversight**, ensuring capital is deployed effectively.
- **Disputes are handled transparently** via **decentralised** Kleros arbitration.
- **Milestone updates** are handled **together with fund releases** through an integration with [Propdates.wtf](https://propdates.wtf/)
- The Nouns community receives the **option to choose between on-chain and off-chain release of milestones**, using [Snapshot’s oSnap module](https://docs.snapshot.box/v1-interface/plugins/safesnap-osnap). More information on an implementation with Safe can be found [here](https://docs.snapshot.box/v1-interface/plugins/safesnap-reality).
Any community member can raise a release (or dispute) proposal at any time. To ensure **fair dispute resolution** and bespoke arbitration features, ***[Kleros](https://kleros.io/)*** is used for on-chain dispute settlement. Milestones are escrowed using [SmartInvoice.xyz](http://smartinvoice.xyz), a tool incubated by [RaidGuild](http://raidguild.org), that enabled over $400k in escrowed work. It was recently integrated into **Nouns Builder** for DAOs on Base, Zora, and Optimism.
## Why Now?
Enabling escrowed proposals would not replace Streams or direct sends, it would **add optionality**. It could help the DAO support more complex proposals with better oversight, especially in cases where:
- Deliverables are clearly defined up front
- Work is non-recurring
- Large budgets or long timelines are involved
## Precedent
Integrating a milestone-based escrow proposal type into Nouns DAO brings financial discipline, increased accountability, and stronger dispute resolution mechanisms. We believe this is a natural evolution of Nouns DAO’s funding model, allowing it to support more complex and ambitious initiatives with reduced financial risk.
For RaidGuild escrowing milestones looks like this:
- [https://ipfs.io/ipfs/Qmc5t7Y3eKKWz5YfQVwF1d6kJkowQciHiYqYpHdUfRY4qg](https://ipfs.io/ipfs/Qmc5t7Y3eKKWz5YfQVwF1d6kJkowQciHiYqYpHdUfRY4qg)
Recently we also supported Nouns Builder DAO ([nouns.build](https://nouns.build/)) in rolling out escrow proposals to all Nouns Builder communities on Base, Optimism, and Zora. The proposal for introducing escrow milestones and how escrowing milestones looks for Nounish DAOs can be found here:
- Escrow Milestones Proposal at Nouns Builder:
- [https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmZfbZUMfvvx8iSBTSgSkA2ryyUGbEw1h8qUVJX7UMSm2R](https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmZfbZUMfvvx8iSBTSgSkA2ryyUGbEw1h8qUVJX7UMSm2R)
- Screenshot of an escrow proposal on nouns.build:
- [https://nouns.build/dao/base/0xe8af882f2f5c79580230710ac0e2344070099432/vote/29](https://nouns.build/dao/base/0xe8af882f2f5c79580230710ac0e2344070099432/vote/29)
## Open Questions
We would love your input:
1. Would **you** support enabling escrowed milestones as an option for proposers in Nouns DAO?
2. Are there proposals you think *should* use this model?
3. What concerns do you have about implementation, enforcement, or UX?
4. What else is needed to improve proposer accountability?
**This is not a proposal yet, but we’d like to start the conversation. If there is interest, we would explore escrowing milestones for Nouns further and develop it into a proposal over the coming weeks.**should-nouns-dao-explore-escrowed-milestones?