Governance Games by Butter [3rd Edition]
June 2—6, 2025
Edge Esmeralda / Healdsburg, CA
For the most up-to-date view of our agenda → click here.
RSVP
GG EE is a track within the broader Edge Esmeralda program.
Click here to apply for a spot during Week 2 of Edge Esmeralda.
Applications close Saturday, May 31.Register your interest in attending GG EE here.
What is GG?
GG @ Edge Esmeralda is a live experiment in collective intelligence, capital allocation, and decentralized governance—focused on advancing Ethereum’s long-term growth objectives.
Guiding our agenda is one key question: How do we scale Ethereum—intentionally, collectively, and credibly?
Over five days, we’ll explore how Conditional Funding Markets (CFMs) and other governance mechanisms can address Ethereum’s growth objectives. Through working sessions, strategy games, and high-context discussions, we’ll collaboratively design and prototype the Ethereum Growth CFM—a Conditional Funding Market that aims to identify Ethereum’s most promising growth initiatives.
The result: a first-of-its-kind mechanism we co-create, pressure test, and prepare to launch together at Edge Esmeralda.
Discover how CFMs are already powering real-world governance experiments↴
Futarchy vs. Grants Council: Optimism’s Futarchy Experiment
Core themes we’re exploring this year:
→ Futarchy & Market-Based Governance
→ Ecosystem-Aligned Capital Allocation
→ Mechanism Design & Decision Infrastructure
→ Forecasting, Signal Quality & Transparency
Take a peek at the highlights from last year’s inaugural event → YouTube Playlist
We’re building this together.
We’re designing GG EE as an open, evolving experiment—and we’d love your input.
We’re gathering builders, researchers, and ecosystem leaders to stress-test ideas, experiment with new models, and explore what it takes to coordinate at scale. Your perspective will help us curate an agenda that reflects the most urgent questions and emerging approaches across the space.
If you have ideas for speakers, topics, or collaborations, drop a comment below.
GG Program Overview
MON June 2 — Align: Signal Discovery
9:00am INTROS
- Coffee Hour & Networking
10:00am OPENING
- Setting the Stage
Vaughn McKenzie-Landell (Butter)
10:15am PRESENTATIONS
- Ethereum’s Growth Problems, Levers & Metrics
Jason Chaskin & Josh Rudolf (Ethereum Foundation)
11:15am COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSION x WHITEBOARDING
- Mapping Ethereum’s Gov Challenges & Growth Opps
Facilitated by Vaughn McKenzie-Landell (Butter)
12:45pm LUNCH
2:00–5:00pm UNCONFERENCE
- Open Discussions, writing sessions, and informal collaboration.
TUE June 3 — Diverge: Exploring the Design Space
9:30am COFFEE HOUR
10:00am CONTEXT SETTING
- CFMMs x Prediction Markets
Maneesha Papireddygari (University of Colorado) - A Taxonomy of Voter Intent
Raphael Spannocchi (Stable Lab) - Mitigating Free-Riding with Futarchy
Distbit (Butter)
11:00am OPEN SPACE
- Intro to Open Space + Session Pitches
- Peer-led Breakout Sessions I & II
- Unconference Block A — Proposals, mechanism-specific breakouts, interest-based meetups
1:00pm LUNCH
2:00pm OPEN SPACE (cont.)
- Peer-led Breakout Session III
- Unconference Block B — Deep dives, reactionary conversations, or critiques
- Solo / Co-working Block
- Group Close + Lightning Shares
WED Jun 4 — Wargames: Testing Assumptions
9:30am COFFEE & CONTEXT SETTING
- Futarchy & CFMs 101
Robin Hanson (George Mason University) - Designing Incentives for Information-Efficient Markets
Yiling Chen (Harvard University)
10:30am WARGAMES PART I
- Live CFM Speed Run
Facilitated by Vaughn McKenzie-Landell (Butter)
12:00pm LUNCH / MIXER
1:30pm CONTEXT SETTING
- Delegation & Participation in Decentralized Governance
Jeff Strnad (Stanford Law)
2:00pm WARGAMES PART II
- The Negation Game
Connor McCormick (Network Goods Institute) - Polycentric Governance Game
Ven Gist (Metagov)
7:30pm EVENING MEETUP
- Fireside Chat
Details TBA
THU June 5 — Converge: Design Sprint
9:30am COFFEE HOUR
10:00am OPENING TALKS
- CFM Design Principles
Alex Hajjar (Butter) - Coordinating at Scale
Peter Vecchiarelli (Protocol Guild) - Recalibrating Futarchy: Auctions, Incentives & Open Questions
Bo Waggoner (University of Colorado)
11:45am DESIGN SPRINT PART I
- Collaborative Mech Design: Scoping Parameters
12:30pm LUNCH
1:30pm DESIGN SPRINT PART II
- Mechanism Wireframing & Applied Logic
- Feedback Loop: Design Review & Debrief / Presentation Prep
FRI Jun 6 — Deploy: Retrospective & Next Steps
10:00am BRUNCH & SYNC
11:00am CFM DESIGN SHOWCASE
- Group Presentations — Design Tradeoffs, Insights, and Outcomes
12:30pm RETRO
- Closing the Loop: Reflection & Next Steps
Afternoon OPEN
Evening CLOSING
Join us @ GG
GG EE is a track within the broader Edge Esmeralda program.
Click here to apply for a spot during Week 2 of Edge Esmeralda.
Applications close Saturday, May 31.Register your interest in attending GG EE here.