The Uniswap Foundation envisions a future where Uniswap serves as the liquidity layer of the Internet, promoting a permissionless, censorship-resistant, and credibly neutral protocol. With Uniswap v4, the goal is to reduce friction for developers, enabling them to explore and innovate in decentralized finance (DeFi).

As stewards of the Uniswap Protocol, the Uniswap Foundation (UF) plans to contribute to this vision by building a robust, diverse, and values-aligned ecosystem. The UF aims to support core protocol stakeholders, align incentives, and unlock Uniswap's inherent network effects. The UF's grants program is a key instrument for achieving these goals.

The revamped UF grants program focuses on larger, long-term initiatives, shifting from mid-sized projects to grants of $250k or more. The emphasis is on building a sustainable ecosystem with lasting impact. The grant design is stakeholder-focused, aligning with four audience-specific categories: developers, researchers, governance, and innovation. Grants are aligned with three North Star objectives: growing core protocol metrics, building an innovation pipeline, and aligning incentives for long-term stakeholders.

The UF adopts a metrics-driven approach, defining and measuring success through key performance indicators (KPIs) in each funding category. The goal is to transparently report progress to the Uniswap governance and community.

With a $30M allocation for grants over the next two years, the UF aims to foster a network of community nodes, ensuring active contributors and long-term engagement. The UF sees its role evolving from a linchpin to a conduit within a flourishing, self-sustaining ecosystem.

The strategic shift involves fewer, larger grants, with a focus on building programs that catalyze network growth and protocol innovation. Initiatives include residencies, fellowships, bootcamps, accelerators, and consortia designed to bring more contributors into the ecosystem.

The UF acknowledges the need for ongoing feedback from the Uniswap community and plans to define, capture, and report measurable short-term and long-term KPIs. The strategic initiatives aim to broaden Uniswap's influence and accessibility globally.

The UF expresses gratitude to the Uniswap community for entrusting it with treasury funds to achieve these goals. The foundation is committed to a transparent, collaborative, and strategic approach to grant-making, working towards making Uniswap the liquidity layer of the Internet. Future posts will provide more details about KPIs and success metrics.