ETHDenver isn’t solely an innovation festival for BUIDLers, it’s a living web3 experiment in community ownership. This Halloween, that experiment pays off again: SporkDAO is dropping $420,000.00 in Patronage Distributions to Members who helped power the 2024 ETHDenver fiscal event year (June 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024).
What’s a Patronage Distribution?
SporkDAO, a Colorado limited cooperative association (LCA), is the legal backbone behind ETHDenver, the annual event. When SporkDAO has a profitable year, the Board of Stewards can vote to share a portion of the surplus with DAO Members. The Patronage Distribution is how that value cycles back to the community itself, proof that the event’s success isn’t owned by suits and corporate giants.
The Snapshot: What Timeframe Was Counted?
This Distribution snapshot covers the ETHDenver 2024 Fiscal Year plus one additional quarter: from June 1, 2024 through August 31, 2025.
The Board added that extra quarter to reward new Members who earned $SPORK at ETHDenver 2025 while still primarily crediting those who supported the 2024 event year. The next distribution clock started June 1, 2025, rolling cleanly into the next fiscal cycle that ends May 31, 2026.
ETHDenver’s Cooperative Engine
ETHDenver has always run on participation. Every BUIDLer, mentor, judge, artist, sponsor, speaker, steward, and attendee contributes to the shared value that keeps the ecosystem alive. And in turn, the community Members are rewarded with $SPORK.
But the road here wasn’t easy. ETHDenver’s earliest years were built through lean seasons and unpaid labor: volunteers kept the lights on, Stewards stretched every dollar, and the community carried the mission forward. Those years built the foundation for what we have today: a sustainable, community-owned event model that proves cooperative economics can work at scale.
Who Is Eligible?
To qualify for the distribution, you needed to have completed the following by August 29, 2025:
- Staked at least 1 $SPORK on staker.sporkdao.io
- Completed the Member Book with your full name, email, and country
- Have attended at least one of the last two ETHDenvers events
Roughly 22,500 addresses interacted with the staking contract, and about 7,500 wallets met all requirements and minimum-value thresholds this year.
Rewards are based on $SPORK Days, your staked SPORK ($sSPORK) multiplied by how long it stayed staked. The longer your commitment, the bigger your share.
There were some attempts to Sybil-attack the staking contract However, because we do require you to verify that you are a real person by providing limited Personally Identifiable Information (PII), this is not a case where spreading your $SPORK across many wallets is beneficial.
If you did not receive a distribution, and believe that you should have, please contact support via Zendesk.
Why Earn $SPORK?
SporkDAO is governed by a nine-member Board of Stewards, with three seats up for election each year at ETHDenver. Those elections, determined by the quadratic vote of staked $SPORK, are how Members directly shape the cooperative’s direction.
$SPORK stakers elect the Board, and the Board provides oversight of ETHDenver. Unlike most DAOs, legal responsibility rests with the Board of Stewards, not the token-holders.
$SPORK is the mechanism that fuels our regenerative flywheel. You provide value to the cooperative, and the Coop issues you $SPORK as a unit of account for that patronage. When that collective value produces a surplus, the Board can issue a Patronage Distribution back to those same $SPORK stakers. This cycle of value creation keeps ETHDenver thriving and allows us to deliver world-class education and access to the newest Members of the Ethereum community, for free.
How to Claim
Starting today, October 31, 2025, visit app.ethdenver.com to log in to the claim page through your Unicorn Account
When you connect your wallet, you’ll see how much $USDC you earned for your patronage, and you might find some $SPORK waiting too.
Claims remain open until May 31, 2026, after which unclaimed funds return to the Treasury.
Taxes & Support
IMPORTANT! You are NOT required to claim your patronage distribution. Claiming is considered a taxable event by the U.S. tax code. Please consult your tax advisor to determine what is best for you.
All Members under $600. If you’ve been allocated less than $600, we have not done any tax withholding and therefore you do not need to provide any further information to us. We do recommend, however, that you consult your tax advisor to determine if you are required to do any additional reporting (i.e. a self-reporting 1099-PATR).
U.S. Members above $600. U.S. Members with previously completed 1099 TaxBit information have 0% withholding. Those without a current W9 have had 24% deducted from the gross amount of distribution.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CLAIM YOUR WITHHELD 24%, YOU MAY DO SO AFTER YOUR INITIAL CLAIM BY FILLING OUT A 1099 TAX FORM HERE. Claim your initial amount, fill out the TaxBit form, and we’ll send you the rest directly.
Non-U.S. Members above $600. Non-U.S. Members see rates based on their country’s tax treaty. The tax percentage ranges from 10-30% depending on your country. Please consult with your country’s tax treaty to determine where you fall.
Need assistance?
Our support team runs via Zendesk. Open a ticket and we’ll get you sorted.
ETHDenver is, and always will be, FREE to attend, powered by the Members who make it real. This year’s treat or treat is proof that when we #BUIDL together, we earn together. Let’s aim even higher next year.
Happy DAO-lloween SporkDAO!
