Abstract
This proposal, DIP-36, outlines a restructuring of community management and the Verified Operator Committee (VOC) within the SSV DAO. It suggests transferring the operational aspects of the VOC’s mandate to the SSV Foundation, allowing the VOC to transition into an advisory Operator Committee (OC) with a refined focus on operator development and framework shaping. Additionally, the proposal details an integrated community management strategy, also to be managed by the SSV Foundation, targeting public operators and DAO contributors. It includes budget allocations for these changes and introduces a new compensation and support ticket system and AI-powered support agents.
Proposal Particulars
- Abstract
- Proposal Particulars
- Introduction
- Verified Operator Committee
- Community Management
- Integrated Community Management
- Budget
- Operator Committee
- Composition
- Budget
- Member Admittance and Discharge
- Second Level Operator Support
Introduction
Verified Operator Committee
Ever since the SSV Verified Operators Committee and the [DIP-9] Verified Operator Committee Extension (hereinafter: “[DIP-9]” DAO proposals, the VOC had the following mandate:
- Design a framework that makes it a straightforward process to become a verified operator, including clear and meaningful benchmarks to help evaluate applicant suitability.
- Ensure that the quality of operators continues to be of a high standard throughout their operations (e.g., reliability, performance).
- Standardize a process so that operators who do not consistently meet a specific list of criteria can be identified, warned, and, if necessary, removed from the Verified Operators list.
- Assess incoming verification requests on an ongoing basis, evaluating against the established framework and providing approval or feedback. Report periodically to the broader community on work progress and deliverables.
Since [DIP-9], the VOC has successfully implemented and completed its mandate with the help of the Foundation. For the last few months, the VOC has been looking at the potential path forward for it, as one of the original DAO committees.
The proposal suggests an updated mandate for the VOC, moving the operational aspects of the tasks to the SSV Foundation, as they are well-established and easily executed by the Foundation, especially since some KYC/KYB operations are already handled by them. The VOC will transform into an advisory committee, renamed the Operator Committee (hereafter “OC”), with a renewed mandate as outlined in this proposal, ensuring policy-making power remains with the Committee while execution lies with the Foundation.
Community Management
The DAO’s active community, outside of large-scale communications, has mainly evolved to include DAO step-ins, individuals who are passionate about Ethereum and DVT in particular, as well as public operators of all sizes, from solo hobbyists to mid-sized businesses managing thousands of validators. This community primarily exchanges ideas on the SSV DAO’s main platforms, Discord and the SSV Governance forum.
This shift has revealed a wealth of talent within these new audiences, making them ideal candidates for future formal roles within the DAO to expand the pool of Ambassadors (i.e., SSV Divers), Core Contributors, and to increase governance participation across all areas, recruit new core contributors, and bring fresh blood to the committees and DAO delegatee. With this proposal, the DAO will introduce a unified community journey to effectively support the target audience and showcase the DAO’s identity aligned with its Vision and Purpose, focusing on a clear path for those most invested in ETHos.
The developer community, large staking operations, and our strategic partners receive dedicated support from SSV Labs per DIP-31, ensuring their development and business needs are prioritized. Along with the SSV Foundation, these primary growth drivers—large-scale staking partners and private operators—are supported professionally and retain priority support through dedicated channels that are unaffected by this proposal.
This proposal targets the current SSV Network DVT-aligned audience and will need extension after SSV 2.0 and bApps materialize; it also aims to take over remaining community management tasks from SSV Labs, excluding Marketing.
Integrated Community Management
Following the initial and unchanged DAO Vision and Purpose statement, integrated community management aims to support the following audience primarily to help them be successful and be ETHos aligned:
- Public Operators: Small to mid-sized businesses and ambitious solo operators.
- DAO Contributors: Individuals interested in the SSV DAO, looking to engage and grow within its various programs (e.g., ambassador, dGC, SSV Divers).
To support the target audiences mentioned earlier, the SSV Foundation will be responsible for providing the DAO with end-to-end integration, community management, and operations. This will focus on, but not be limited to, the following activities:
- Operate and contribute input to the dedicated end-to-end community journeys (DAO track and public Operator track) envisioned by the OC. Implement roles, tiers, bounty programs, credentials, gamification, and tooling to support these activities.
- Create community-focused small-scale formats to promote the tracks, programs, and achievements, such as operator of the week, award ceremonies, and showcases.
- Engage with talented community members, including those in the wider ETHos community, either directly or by actively recruiting new talent from other DAOs or communities.
- Work closely with the marketing team to channel new talent into the community journeys, being prepared to welcome newcomers after major awareness campaigns or updates announced by the marketing team.
- Moderate and manage the primary community channels, especially Discord and the Forum, including roles, channels, and permissions.
Budget
To support the above initiative and related activities, and to account for the shift in responsibilities between the various parties, including SSV Labs, the SSV Foundation shall deduct $60’000 from the first installment of the to-be-paid SSV Labs Development Grant (DIP-31), and $75’000 shall be taken from the annual allocated DAO Committee Budget starting 2026 and following years (DIP-26). This budget will be used solely to provide the services described in this proposal (e.g., hiring personnel).
Operator Committee
If this proposal were to pass, the VOC will change its name and mandate to the Operator Committee (hereinafter: “OC”).
The OC’s mandate is to suggest to the DAO actions that:
- Support public operators;
Provide second-level support to public operators of any size and automate aspects of this support as outlined in the Second Level Operator Support chapter below. - Integrate public operators into the SSV community;
Develop an educational program for public operators and work together with the SSV Foundation’s integrated community management to establish community operations to support it. - Promote the acquisition of new operators and grow the number of public operators by developing and implementing acquisition programs.
- Shape the framework for acquiring, removing, and maintaining the verified operator check mark and its policies;
Transfer the day-to-day operation of the VO program to the Foundation.
Based on these suggestions, the appropriate DAO body or forum will decide regarding their implementation.
Composition
This proposal suggests that the composition of the OC will be the following:
As of the passing of this proposal, the individuals mentioned above will become members of the OC. The involved entities shall nominate an individual to represent the entity and announce its voting address.
Budget
The OC member will receive compensation of 500 USD, and the designated lead link will be paid 750 USD, denominated in SSV on a monthly basis. SSV Labs remains uncompensated.
If the price of SSV were to drop below 10 USD per SSV, the committee members would only be compensated as if the price of SSV were 10 USD per SSV.
The SSV Foundation will utilize the remainder of the dedicated 6000 SSV VOC budget from DIP-9 to automate and maintain the operator verification process according to the standards and parameters established by the now dissolved Verified Operator Committee.
Member Admittance and Discharge
The OC shall use the following method for member admittance and discharge, which would allow for a much more efficient OC and reduce member-related DAO proposal overhead:
Replacing one existing member with another can be done by a ⅔ majority of the members of the Committee, subject to informing the community at least seven (7) days prior to such a vote, thus allowing the community to express its non-binding will.
If a member of the committee informs the Committee about their wish to be discharged from the Committee, a replacement can be voted in by a simple majority. The validity of such a vote is subject to informing the community no more than seven (7) days after the vote on its results.
If any or all seats were to become vacant for any reason, the SSV Foundation will perform the duties of the missing seats. This does not mean that the Foundation can remove members from the OC. If the OC were to become inoperable due to a lack of members, the Foundation will choose the new members of the OC. Inoperable means that the majority, 2 or more members, resign, leaving the OC unable to achieve quorum.
A DAO’s vote for replacing, adding, or discharging a member or amending the structure of the committee is binding and overrides any decision made by the Committee or the SSV Foundation.
Second Level Operator Support
This section outlines the operational strategy for providing second-level support to public operators of any size and automating aspects of this support. It acknowledges the expected volume of support tickets and proposes a compensation model for OC members and other DAO core contributors based on ticket complexity and adherence to SLAs. The data presented demonstrates the anticipated distribution of ticket complexities, highlighting the need for an AI agent to handle basic inquiries and streamline the support process, thereby optimizing resource allocation and efficiency.
On average, public operators, according to some data points collected, will generate around 20 support tickets a month. We expect the workload to handle support tickets and address general questions on Discord to be approximately 20 hours per month on average.
OC members are compensated on a per-ticket basis, according to the complexity of the ticket (e.g., S, M, L), as well as lead and resolution times, as outlined in the KPI table. Tickets outside of the agreed SLA are not compensated.
Besides the OC members themselves, any DAO core contributor can participate in ticket resolution and get compensated. The requirement for this is passing the ongoing training facilitated by the OC.
Following is a list of ticket complexities for illustration purposes only, mapped to the data points above, compensations, and expected SLAs and their expected distribution, and will be updated with real-world data once this proposal has been implemented:
| Complexity | Compensation, paid in SSV | Response time SLA | Lead time SLA (until solved) |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | $0 | 24h | 48h |
| M | $10 | 24h | 72h |
| L | $25 | 24h | 96h |
| Complexity | Distribution |
|---|---|
| Basic/repetitive questions General Discord discussion, AI Bot (S Tickets) | ~70% |
| Technical but manageable with training (M Tickets) | ~15% |
| Highly technical and might need an engineer, client developer, and escalation path to the core team (L Tickets) | ~15% |
The SSV Foundation shall be responsible for creating, publish, and updating an SLA and Compensation Framework regularly, along with clear and transparent measurement policies. Reporting and payment facilitation, including the decision to assign ticket complexity levels, remain with the SSV Foundation. Payouts are sponsored from the OC budget as presented above.
Operator Support AI Agent
The Grants Committee is tasked with finding a suitable solution or suitable implementor to integrate an (Operator) Support AI Agent to Discord that can attach to existing and new knowledge bases and help automate and solve relevant challenges as presented in this proposal.
The GC shall use its DIP-32 budget to engage with any party the GC deems reasonable according to a proper RFI/RFP process.
