karpatkey governance newsletter: October 2024
Your essential update on DAO governance highlights, proposals, and partnerships from karpatkey’s DeFi Treasury Network
Hello, World!
Welcome to the very first karpatkey governance newsletter — your source for the latest in DAO governance, DeFi developments and insights into our DeFi Treasury Network. Each month, we’ll share key milestones, community discussions and initiatives shaping the future of DeFi governance with karpatkey.
Let’s dive in!
Headline: dYdX Community Treasury Setup
With the approval of Proposal #157, karpatkey was selected to establish and manage the dYdX Treasury SubDAO, a key milestone in the expansion of our DeFi Treasury Network. This partnership includes setting up a Cayman Foundation to oversee approximately 45 million DYDX tokens (50% of the vested Community Treasury) through a secure multi-signature structure.
Our proposed Treasury SubDAO Structure has several key features:
Cayman Foundation: Tried-and-tested setup that provides regulatory clarity and minimizes legal and tax risks for DYDX holders.
Multi-Sig Governance: A 3-of-6 wallet setup with 3 signers each from karpatkey and the dYdX community, ensuring joint transaction authorization and decentralized control.
Staking Program: Allocates 45 million DYDX to a staking program, generating USDC rewards to diversify and stabilize the treasury.
This collaboration will enable dYdX to diversify its assets, reduce risk, and strengthen its financial foundations. Once established, the SubDAO will provide a platform for future treasury management and initiatives, enabling the dYdX community to pursue its developing goals from a sound financial footing.
Key Topics & Proposals
This month has seen significant progress across a range of governance initiatives and partnerships. Below is a recap of the key developments:
Aave: Credit Line and Yield Optimization
GnosisDAO credit line: In a move to strengthen inter-DAO collaboration and liquidity support, karpatkey proposed a DAO-to-DAO credit line from Aave to GnosisDAO, using GNO as collateral. This setup allows GnosisDAO to access liquidity through Aave’s infrastructure without needing to liquidate assets, promoting flexibility and resilience across both DAOs. This credit line exemplifies how karpatkey is driving cross-DAO partnerships to build a more connected and robust DeFi ecosystem. More details on the credit line.
Optimizing yields with aUSDC: A proposal for using aUSDC, a yield-bearing asset, instead of USDC in Aave’s GSM to boost returns. This initiative was developed by karpatkey with support from TokenLogic. Learn more about the aUSDC initiative.
Gnosis & Safe: SafeBoost on Gnosis Chain
karpatkey’s proposal for a SafeBoost program on Gnosis Chain aims to increase activity and engagement in Safes across the chain through targeted incentives. If approved, karpatkey will operate a points system covering various activities, with corresponding rewards being streamed directly to users. The program helps realize the Joint Treasury’s mission of growing both the Gnosis Chain and Safe ecosystems, and would run from January 2025 for 6 months. Read more about our proposal on Safe | View the proposal on Gnosis.
Balancer: Treasury Performance and Optimization
Financial Performance - In Q3 2024, karpatkey focused on strategic cost management and optimization for Balancer’s treasury, to adapt to evolving market conditions. Highlights include a $2.1M increase in treasury assets, a 4.6% annual return from a diversified asset mix, and $2.34M in protocol income. Read the latest financial report and treasury report.
Allocation Strategy - Looking ahead, we’re developing an updated treasury allocation strategy to further enhance treasury utilization as Balancer prepares for the V3 launch. Learn more about the optimization initiative.
Uniswap: Governance and Growth Initiatives
karpatkey is pleased to be supporting key initiatives led by others across the ecosystem:
Supporting Tally for Governance: Tally, the primary governance platform for Uniswap DAO, has supported onchain governance since 2020 by providing no-code decision-making tools and secure infrastructure. Tally is now seeking a $250,000 annual grant for two years to continue its support and introduce features like gasless voting and collaborative proposal drafting. Over 50% of Uniswap’s onchain votes are cast on Tally, highlighting its value to the DAO. Join the discussion on Tally’s proposal.
Growing Uniswap DAO: A recent brainstorming session explored ways for Uniswap DAO to scale effectively and increase its ecosystem impact. Ideas include incentivizing DAO participation and improving delegate engagement. Read more on growth discussions.
Forse Analytics Revitalization Program: Approved and initiated by StableLab, this program focuses on Uniswap’s growth, revitalization, and the long-term success of its governance framework. This program is a notable example of building resilience and growth across DAOs. Learn more about Forse Analytics' impact.
ENS: Investment Policy Statement (IPS)
In partnership with the ENS community, karpatkey has created a tailored IPS for the ENS Endowment, providing a blueprint for sustainability and long-term growth. Read more about this initiative.
karpatkey: $7 Million Fundraising Round
We’re excited to announce that karpatkey closed a $7 million funding round with support from industry leaders like Joe Lubin (ConsenSys), Stani Kulechov (Aave), and Fernando Martinelli (Balancer Labs). This funding strengthens our ability to scale onchain services, and allows us to deepen our focus on the core themes of liquidity, growth, and security. It also underscores karparkey’s commitment to invest in our people, tooling and initiatives, to drive the development of governance for both our own DAO and our DeFi Treasury Network.
Arbitrum: Innovation and Improvements
We are engaging across a range of complicated topics to help steer the future of the DAO:
Chain Abstraction Initiative: Arbitrum DAO is exploring chain abstraction to position itself as “the Home for Builders”, inspired by the Superchain initiative. The discussion aims to consider and evaluate the use of working groups and funded research and development efforts to mobilize the DAO towards this goal. Explore the forum post.
Token Swap Program: A draft proposal aimed to promote the use of token swaps as a means to optimize the DAO’s assets and streamline treasury management initiatives. If successful, the DAO will invest 2 million ARB tokens in 3-7 ecosystem projects. Learn more.
DAO Operations Improvements: Multiple proposals have been introduced to boost the efficiency and accountability of Arbitrum DAO. These include a Delegate Code of Conduct to formalize governance standards for delegates, support for dedicated contributors to drive key initiatives, and streamlined workflows to increase governance throughput and impact.
At A Glance: The DeFi Treasury Network
Check out the latest metrics and data visualizations that showcase our impact across partner projects. View the highlights here.
Coming Up
In November, karpatkey’s team is heading to Bangkok for a series of events, focused on DAO governance, DeFi asset management, and real world use cases for Web 3.0. You can find us:
On November 8, join us online for frENSday 2024, where @parkienator, Treasury & Ops Engineer at karpatkey, will share governance insights during the Lightning Talks session.
On November 9, SEED Gov will host a roundtable on the future of DAO governance. @TheTakenUser, DeFi Strategist at karpatkey, will lead discussions with governance experts on evolving DAO models.
On November 10, the discussion continue at the Stable Summit, where @0xNesk, Treasury & Ops Engineer at karpatkey, will join industry peers to explore DeFi stability and treasury management.
On November 11, karpatkey will feature at two major events:
First, at the Blockchain Oracle Summit (BOS24), @TheTakenUser will join a fireside chat on oracles in prediction markets and their impact on DeFi governance.
Later, at the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance Industry Day, @DeFi_Foodie, Business Development Manager at karpatkey, will participate in a panel titled "Real World Industry Use Cases: From Construction to Payroll to DAOs" with experts from Franklin DAO, Celo, and Circles.
Finally, on November 12, DAOBase will bring together top DAO leaders for discussions on growth and innovation. @TheTakenUser will represent karpatkey, sharing insights on the future of decentralized organizations.
That’s all for this month!
Thank you for reading and following along with karpatkey’s adventures in governance.
If you liked what you read and want to find out more or give feedback, please connect with us on social media using the links in the footer.
Or, if you’d like to get involved yourself, we’re always on the lookout for visionary contributors who are ready to shape the future of DeFi. Take a look at our open positions, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re interested!
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