Title:
Auction Off 2 x DevConnect Regular Tickets for Public Goods on Paddle Battle
Authors:
Loring Harkness (loring@brainbot.com, @LoringHarkness)
Resources Required:
2x DevConnect Regular Tickets, a clean EOA, social media / newsletter / livestream support
What do you suggest?
I propose that DevConnect auction off 2 x Regular Tickets on Paddle Battle (https://www.paddlebattle.auction/) and distribute the auction proceeds to an Ethereum aligned public goods project.
Motivation & Rationale
Hosting an auction on Paddle Battle will improve the attendee experience by 1) creating a fun and impactful way for people to purchase tickets, and 2) highlight and fund Ethereum aligned public goods.
Hosting an auction on Paddle Battle 1) shows non-crypto impactful organizations and individuals how they can benefit from Ethereum’s global payments infrastructure, trustless verifiability, and automation via smart contracts, 2) shows current Ethereum user’s easy, chain-abstracted payments on Ethereum L1 and major L2s, 3) explores how games can be used to fund Ethereum public goods - without donations or sacrifices.
Hosting an auction on Paddle Battle also acts as a branding (establishing DevConnect as a leader/innovator in public goods funding), marketing (the auction itself is a viral marketing campaign) and sales lead generation tool for DevConnect (we can provide DevConnect with contact info for all bidders, and the DevConnect can follow-up with those who did not win).
Implementation
Since launching in January 2025, Paddle Battle has hosted 8 impactful auctions and raised over $5,000 for Ethereum aligned public goods like Protocol Guild, Rotki, Dappnode, DeFiScan, and more.
In May 2025, Shutter Network auctioned off 2 x EthCC[8] Tickets on Paddle Battle, raising over $1,168 for Protocol Guild.
If this proposal is accepted, Paddle Battle will work with DevConnect to host and publicise a similar impactful auction on the Paddle Battle website.
Operational Requirements & Ownership
DevConnect will need to sponsor 2 x Regular Tickets, provide and configure a clean EOA (to receive bid payments), publicise the auction via social media channels / newsletters / a livestream, deliver the tickets to the winner(s), and distribute auction proceeds to the Ethereum aligned project(s) of your choice.
Hosting an auction on Paddle Battle would occur months prior to the DevConnect event - ideally in August or September 2025.
Paddle Battle will assign a project manager to liaise with DevConnect. And Devconnect should allocate some time from one of their social media coordinators.
Paddle Battle already uses yodl (yodl) for easy payment processing and Shutter API (Shutter API | Threshold Encryption Service) for sealed bid auctions (if the auction is a sealed bid auction). Paddle Battle is also working on a Farcaster Mini App (Farcaster).
If any other organisations are interested in hosting additional impactful auctions on Paddle Battle (before, during or after DevConnect), we would gladly support.
Additional Information
Paddle Battle does not charge any setup fees. Paddle Battle charges a service fee of 10% of the total amount raised (paid bids + bid fees), and Paddle Battle requires that auction proceeds (total amount raised minus applicable taxes (if any) and our service fee) are distributed to public goods.
Links
Paddle Battle: https://www.paddlebattle.auction/
ETH Taipei: Ethereum and impactful auctions: https://www.youtube.com/live/ILz4qwFcnFI?t=11974s
ETHCC[8]: Fun(d) Public Goods - Without Donations or Sacrifices: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m2KYXoVqCc
Final Thought
If possible, it would be AMAZING to auction off DevConnect ALL ACCESS Pass(es) - which would give the holder(s) access to every DevConnect event, including all side events. This may be beyond DevConnect’s scope, but it would be a super unique an desirable auction prize.