General Magic Monthly Newsletter 🍂

Welcome to the November edition of the General Magic newsletter! 

This month, we’ve been hard at work driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and creating tools that empower the Web3 community.

From impactful updates on our core projects to highlights from Devcon in Bangkok, there’s a lot to share. 

Let’s dive in

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This month, we’re shining a spotlight on Octant, an exciting platform developed by the Golem Foundation that’s breaking new ground in participatory public goods funding.

Using Golem’s native GLM token, Octant combines staking rewards and community-driven decisions to create a new way to fund impactful projects.

How It Works

• Staking Power for Good: Golem Foundation stakes 100,000 ETH, and a portion of the rewards funds Octant every 90 days.

• Two Reward Streams: The pool is divided into User Rewards for participants and Matched Rewards to amplify donations to public goods.

• Simple Participation: Lock at least 100 GLM, and you’re eligible for rewards. The more GLM you lock and the longer you keep it there, the greater your rewards.

Key Features

• Non-Custodial: Your tokens stay under your control. Withdraw anytime, though your rewards adjust if you unlock early.

• Flexibility: At the end of each funding round, choose to keep your rewards or donate some (or all) to curated public goods projects. Matched Rewards ensure your donations have an even bigger impact.

• Community-Led Curation: The list of eligible projects is shaped by the Octant community. Anyone can propose new projects or themes for future funding rounds.

What’s Happening Now

Since its launch in August 2023, Octant has:

• Distributed 1464 ETH to over 50 public goods projects.

• Rewarded participants with 803 ETH.

• Introduced features like quadratic funding and algorithm updates to improve fairness and impact.

Currently in Epoch Six, Octant’s next Allocation Window starts on January 11, 2025, and new participants are always welcome to join.

Over the past month, we focused on refining key visuals for our core initiatives, including Praise, DeVouch, and Q/acc, ensuring each one truly resonated with the community. These efforts were part of our broader commitment to making our projects as impactful and accessible as possible.

During Retro Funding 6 on Optimism, we proudly supported a variety of groundbreaking projects, all aimed at advancing public goods in the Web3 space. Collaborating with incredible teams, we brought transformative ideas to life:

• DeVouch: Strengthening decentralized communities by enabling verifiable endorsements for trust-building.

• Pairwise: Introducing a novel reputation model using pairwise comparisons to create fairer contributor profiles.

• Praise: Empowering communities to recognize and reward contributions, fostering gratitude and acknowledgment.

• GM GM (Grants Management): Streamlining grant allocation to ensure funds make the greatest impact.

• Citizen Attestations Explorer: Enhancing transparency and accountability within the Optimism ecosystem by making attestations accessible.

• Retro PGF Community: Creating a space for contributors and supporters to rally around the RetroPGF mission and public goods funding.

This month, we’re giving well-deserved recognition to Lliam, our exceptional Head of Marketing.

Lliam has been instrumental in pushing numerous projects forward and providing incredible support to the entire marketing team. His leadership keeps us all accountable and motivated, ensuring we're always on track and aiming high.

Thank you, Lliam, for everything you do! 👏

What Are AI Agents?

AI agents are autonomous software programs capable of making decisions, learning from experiences, and acting independently to complete tasks. Unlike regular bots, AI agents continuously improve through machine learning. For example, they can:

• Manage crypto portfolios by automating trades and optimizing strategies.

• Handle user inquiries for customer support.

• Execute complex tasks like auditing smart contracts or enabling seamless blockchain interactions.

How AI Agents Work

AI agents function through three core processes:

1. Observation: They gather data from various inputs like real-time market trends, user interactions, or blockchain transactions.

2. Processing: Using machine learning and algorithms, they analyze data to determine the best actions.

3. Action: They execute decisions, such as placing trades, responding to queries, or automating blockchain processes.

The Future of AI Agents in Crypto

AI agents have immense potential to reshape blockchain and Web3:

• Decentralized AI Economies: Networks of AI agents could autonomously trade services, manage resources, and form self-sustaining economies.

• Simplified Web3 Adoption: By automating and demystifying blockchain processes, AI agents could make Web3 accessible to everyone.

• Advanced DeFi Applications: Future AI tools could unlock more sophisticated yield optimization, collaborative investing, and risk management strategies.
  

We’ve just returned from an amazing time at Devcon in Bangkok, and what a trip it was! 🌟 We had the best time connecting with the rest of the Giveth Galaxy, collaborating, and sharing laughs with the team.

We were happy to join Giveth at their booth in the Impact Space, where we met incredible people, shared ideas, and soaked up the energy of the Web3 community. 

Take a look at some of the photos from the day and relive the fun with us, we’re already counting down the days until the next one.

Thanks for joining us on this journey, and we'll see you next time with more exciting updates!

Best,

The General Magic Team 🪄✨