Defi Education Fund

THE DEFI EDUCATION FUND IS A NONPARTISAN POLICY RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND ADVOCACY GROUP WORKING TO EXPLAIN THE BENEFITS OF DEFI, ACHIEVE REGULATORY CLARITY FOR THE FUTURE OF THE GLOBAL DIGITAL ECONOMY, AND HELP REALIZE THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF DEFI FOR EVERYONE.

GRANTS TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS: IN 2021, DEFI EDUCATION FUND GAVE OUT ITS FIRST SERIES OF GRANTS. THE DEF COMMITS TO FUND GRANTS AND RELEASES FUNDS OVER A PRE-DETERMINED SCHEDULE WHICH SPAN MULTIPLE YEARS. THE FIGURES HERE REFLECT PAYMENTS MADE TO GRANTEES DURING 2021. IN LATE 2021, THE DEF MADE GRANTS PAYMENTS TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS: FLOOR64 DBA COPIA INSTITUTE, HODLPAC (FOR NON-POLITICAL ACTIVITIES), FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE, FUTURE MAJORITY, MATT BARTLETT, AND DIVERSITY IN BLOCKCHAIN. OF OUR SIX GRANTEES IN 2021, FUTURE MAJORITY AND MATT BARTLETT COMPLETED THEIR PROJECTS. FUTURE MAJORITY CONDUCTED POLLING IN KEY STATES AND "SWING" CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS, CANVASSING LIKELY VOTERS VIEWS ON POLICY ISSUES CENTRAL TO DEFI'S FUTURE. THIS POLLING DATA COMPLEMENTED THE ORGANIZATION'S EFFORTS ON CAPITOL HILL BECAUSE IT HELPS TO ANSWER A CRITICAL QUESTION, "WHO CARES?" THE SUMMARIES OF THESE POLLS AND THE UNDERLYING DATA CAN BE FOUND HERE: HTTPS://DRIVE.GOOGLE.COM/DRIVE/FOLDERS/1BIZRNWYLLTODK8K1IK1CDJWOLKR2NRWR. MATT BARTLETT, A DEFI USER AND ACADEMIC, WROTE A PAPER THAT EXPLORES IN DEPTH DEFI'S POTENTIAL TO DEMOCRATIZE ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES, SIMILAR TO HOW THE INTERNET DEMOCRATIZED ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS. POLICY WORK, HOWEVER PITHY IN FINAL FORM, IS FOUNDED UPON SOLID INTELLECTUAL WORK. MATT'S PAPER CONTINUES TO SERVE THAT PURPOSE WELL. IT CAN BE FOUND HERE: HTTPS://DRIVE.GOOGLE.COM/FILE/D/1CX-N-PXSPHFBPOBG2EZQ5QWRWO6WISMM/VIEW. THE OTHER GRANTEES BEGAN THEIR WORK IN LATE 2021, WITH THE OUTCOMES COMING IN 2022. TO SEE THE STATUS OF GRANTS MADE IN 2021 AND THEREAFTER, PLEASE REFER TO OUR WEBSITE: HTTPS://WWW.DEFIEDUCATIONFUND.ORG/GRANTMAKING.

LOBBYING ACTIVITIES: IN LATE 2021, THE DEFI EDUCATION FUND BEGAN ITS CONGRESSIONAL LOBBYING ACTIVITIES WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF DESCRIBING THE UNIQUE FUNCTIONALITY, BENEFITS, POTENTIAL, AND REACH OF DECENTRALIZED FINANCIAL PROTOCOLS. AS A NOVEL TECHNOLOGY WITH THE PROMISE TO REVOLUTIONIZE A HIGHLY-REGULATED ECONOMIC FUNCTION, OUR LOBBYING ACTIVITY IN LATE 2021 FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON CONDUCTING FOUNDATIONAL BRIEFINGS WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ON COMMITTEES WITH JURISDICTIONS RELATED TO FINANCIAL SERVICES. THE MAJORITY OF THESE POLICYMAKERS HAD NEVER HEARD OF DECENTRALIZED FINANCE PROTOCOLS, SO DURING THIS PERIOD WE EXPLAINED BASIC CONCEPTS OF DEFI WITH THOSE POLICYMAKERS. IN 2021, WE SUCCESSFULLY MADE KEY COMMITTEES AWARE OF DEFI'S EXISTENCE AND THE FACT THAT IT FUNCTIONS IN FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT WAYS THAN CENTRALIZED FINANCIAL SERVICES PROVIDERS. MOST IMPORTANTLY, THIS HELPS PREVENT THE UNIFORM TREATMENT OF "CEFI AND "DEFI" IN POLICY PROPOSALS.

PUBLIC RELATIONS: OUR PUBLIC RELATIONS WORK IN 2021 FOCUSED ON HOW TO GO ABOUT EXPLAINING DEFI TO POLICYMAKERS AND JOURNALISTS AND BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH KEY JOURNALISTS COVERING THE SPACE. WHILE NOT ALWAYS A PRIORITY FOR THE DEFI AND CRYPTOCURRENCY INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY, THE ORGANIZATION'S WORK WITH TRADITIONAL MEDIA REPORTERS WAS ARGUABLY THE HIGHEST "RETURN-ON-INVESTMENT" WORK WE DID IN 2021. HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ONLY KNOW AND LEARN ABOUT DEFI THROUGH TRADITIONAL MEDIA OUTLETS, MAKING ACCURATE COVERAGE VIA TRADITIONAL OUTLETS EXTREMELY VALUABLE TO THE FUTURE OF DEFI POLICYMAKING. IN 2021, WE ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS WITH (AND WERE EVENTUALLY QUOTED BY) TRADITIONAL MEDIA REPORTERS AT THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, THE NEW YORK TIMES, POLITICO, THE HILL, FORTUNE, FORBES, CAPITOL ACCOUNT, TIME, AND THE BBC. IN THE CRYPTO PRESS: COINDESK, DECRYPT, THE DEFIANT, AND THE BLOCK.

POLICY RESEARCH: IN 2021, WE EMBARKED ON A PROJECT TO ANALYZE THE POLICY OBJECTIVES OF EXISTING FINANCIAL REGULATORY REGIMES IN ORDER TO 1) UNDERSTAND THE OBJECTIVES OF EXISTING RULES AND REGULATIONS AND 2) DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THOSE OBJECTIVES ARE INHERENTLY VINDICATED BY THE FUNCTIONALITY OF DECENTRALIZED FINANCE PROTOCOLS. SEPARATELY, WE ALSO HELPED COORDINATE A GROUP OF DEFI USERS AND ENTHUSIASTS TO DRAFT "PRINCIPLES" FOR DEVELOPERS AND USERS OF DEFI PROTOCOLS. THE INTENT OF THE DRAFT PRINCIPLES IS TO BEGIN LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR SELF-POLICING IN DEFI, AN ISSUE THAT BECAME MORE ACUTE IN 2022.