Introducing the Local Nodes Framework

General
1

Hello everyone,

A brief introduction, as this is my first post on Scroll’s Governance Forum — I’m Juan Molina, Community Lead at Up Labs. Over the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of helping build and grow the Scroll community, from the early testnet days through all of Scroll’s major milestones. I’ve worked closely with the Scroll Foundation on the Local Nodes initiative, helping design a program that we believe will drive meaningful growth and empower key regions around the world. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to connect, learn more about my work, or dive deeper into the Local Nodes program.

First off, I’d like to thank all the delegates and community members who’ve contributed their time and energy to proposals and discussions so far. Your efforts have laid the foundation for what we hope will be a thriving Local Nodes program. Today, I’m excited to share a working version of the Local Nodes Framework — a tool we believe will help align our shared goals and ensure the program’s long-term success.

While this is not a final version, it provides a clear structure for anyone interested in launching a Local Node to begin working on their proposals. We welcome feedback and suggestions from the community, and we’re looking forward to iterating on this together.

Read the full Framework here.

Purpose of the Local Nodes Initiative

Local Nodes are envisioned as hyper-local operational arms of Scroll, focused not just on general dev onboarding, but specifically on:

  • Sourcing and nurturing founders and high-quality builders
  • Preparing these builders for Scroll Open
  • Deepening governance participation and ecosystem growth at the local level

This initiative aligns directly with Up Labs’ core objective: identifying and supporting impactful founders globally.

Proposal Guidelines

We encourage all interested community members to review the framework and begin working on their proposals for the upcoming May voting cycle. A few important considerations:

  • Initial proposals should cover a term of up to 3 months
  • Requested budgets should remain under $30,000, unless a larger amount is strongly justified
  • Target: Publish proposals on the forum with sufficient time for community feedback ahead of the May vote

Regional Evaluation Requirement

To ensure focus and feasibility, most regions will first go through a Regional Evaluation stage, which includes key questions on Web3 adoption, regulatory landscape, and local leadership.

However, the four priority regions identified by the Scroll Foundation — Malaysia, Korea, Brazil, and Kenya — are exempt from this initial step. Their Regional Evaluations will be posted after their Local Node Proposals have been finalized and submitted.

Timeline to Keep in Mind

To be included in the May voting cycle, we encourage:

  • Regional Evaluation proposals (if required) to be posted by early April
  • Full Local Node proposals to be drafted and shared for feedback by late April

Let’s build strong, localized communities that meaningfully contribute to Scroll’s global mission. We look forward to seeing your ideas — and shaping this together.

:link: Local Node Framework [FINAL] - Google Docs

To all delegates and interested individuals, please review the framework and share your thoughts! Your input is critical as we fine-tune this initiative and move toward proposal co-design. Feel free to drop questions, suggestions, or early draft proposals in the thread below!

4 Likes
2

Thanks @Juansito for sharing the update. The idea is, basically, that people can suggest opening a local node according to this framework (in addition to the focus areas that were already identified)? Is there a max. number of local nodes or budget?
Generally, the concept of fostering regional hubs is very reasonable, and I support the regional evaluation requirements as well as creating a local node committee.

1 Like
3

Hey there @bitblondy, we haven’t scoped out a max number of nodes, we do expect to keep an initial controlled approached through the Regional Evaluation process of the new Local Nodes being proposed. We hope that we can get the priority 4 regions up and running by the end of the year, and we are aware of a few proposals being worked on by additional regions that would also be great to bring on board. It is important to mention that the DAO will have the final say on each region’s proposal at the end of the day.

Thanks for chiming in on this.

4

Proxy supports the Local Nodes Framework and sees it as a promising model for activating grassroots builder communities around Scroll. One aspect that could be improved though is implementing milestone-based disbursements to help align incentives and promote accountability. Within the proposed $30K, 3-month framework, we suggest disbursing funds in three tranches tied to specific deliverables:

  • (1) an initial milestone (e.g. 1/3rd of requested budget, maximum of $10K) upon recruiting at least 3-5 credible early-stage founders or teams and outlining a localized strategy for ecosystem engagement;
  • (2) a second tranche (e.g. $10K) upon running a founder support program or event series that includes technical or go-to-market prep aligned with Scroll Open timelines;
  • and (3) a final tranche (e.g. $10K) based on post-program outcomes, such as active participation in governance discussions or reporting on regional ecosystem impact.

These aren’t rigid guidelines, but just suggestions to get the ball rolling. Thanks for this post @Juansito