Requests for proposals are not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive. The community is encouraged to expand on the ideas here, and the final scope may change based on what we receive. All applications follow the standard Grants DAO process. This request should not be interpreted as an offer.
Summary
CoW DAO seeks native-speaker translators to overhaul, ship, and maintain high-quality localizations of the CoW Swap UI. Applications are open to all, with experience, samples, and pricing collected before any selection. Phase 1 covers Spanish, Portuguese (BR), Russian, and French. Selected contributors are funded via per-language grants and work in Crowdin, with a single named owner per language. Best value wins, not lowest cost.
A previous translation effort was funded, but the translations remain behind a feature flag because three things were missing: QA, defined maintenance ownership, and sufficient language coverage to justify release. This RFP closes those gaps alongside the translation work.
Scope
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Languages (Phase 1): Spanish, Portuguese (BR), Russian, and French.
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Volume: ~8800 words across ~1500 strings per language.
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Tool: all translations happen in Crowdin via a private invite link sent to each contributor.
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Review: the reviewers approve every language before it merges into production.
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Deliverable: a reviewed translation in production, plus a commitment to maintain.
In scope: full translation or overhaul of all UI strings per language, a mandatory sample task during selection, and an ongoing maintenance commitment.
Out of scope: docs, long-form content outside the app UI, and marketing copy.
Each language is scoped and funded independently; the DAO may select any subset based on the applications received.
Selection Criteria
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Sample quality (primary): the native-speaker reviewer for that language.
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Relevant experience and references (high): Grants Council.
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Maintenance commitment (high): Grants Council.
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Price (medium): Grants Council.
Reviews are done internally by the team. Where the team has no native speaker for a language, that language needs a designated reviewer, either a community native speaker or a small reviewing grant. The Council scores the language-agnostic criteria. Lining up a reviewer for each non-English language is the open item to settle before launch.
Workflow
Once selected, work flows through four steps:
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Translate (contributor translates all strings in Crowdin)
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Review (CoW DAO team / native-speaker reviewer approves)
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PR (approved strings opened as a pull request)
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Deploy (merged to production).
Each language then has a single named owner responsible for Crowdin updates and review sign-off, monthly or per product release.
Grant Structure
One translation grant per language covers the full ~8,800-word translation and maintenance. Final amounts are set by the open call. Review is a smaller separate grant or handled internally. Payment is milestone-based in stablecoins (USDC, DAI, or USDS); contributors work via a private Crowdin invite.
Timeline
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2026-07-01: RFP published, applications open
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2026-07-15: Application window closes
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2026-07-20: Contributor pre-selection; sample tasks sent
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2026-07-25: Contributor selection confirmed
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2026-08-15: Translation work completed in Crowdin, review period starts
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2026-08-25: Review period ends
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2026-09-01: Frontend integration and deployment
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2026-09-05: Translations live in production
Selection Process
Selection is run jointly by Core Team Marketing and the Grants Council. The Steward (Grants Council) handles coordination, milestone tracking, and payment; the Reviewer (a native speaker of the target language) scores the sample task and signs off on translation quality before deployment. The committee may extend the window, request clarifications, select none of the applicants, or negotiate scope and budget per language.
How to Apply
Reply to this thread with your submission, including:
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Basic info: language (native/fluent), country (optional).
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Experience: relevant work (UI/product preferred), crypto/DeFi familiarity, and portfolio.
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Pricing: a single total price for the full ~8,800-word translation, as one number to keep applicants comparable.
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Availability: whether you can support ongoing updates, and at what cadence.
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Contact info: How we can reach you (email, Discord, Telegram).
Shortlisted applicants are then sent a brief set of UI strings to translate as a mandatory sample task; final selection is based on this task. Application window: 2026-07-01 to 2026-07-15. Questions via Discord or forum reply.
Terms
This is a CoW Grants DAO engagement, not a service contract. Recipients are independent of CoW DAO and bound by the Grant Agreement Terms and Participation Agreement. Payment in stablecoins (USDC, DAI, or USDS); all deliverables are open source under an approved license.