Last Week in Governance: ShapeShift becomes a DAO via largest crypto token airdrop in history, Lightspeed pitches SushiSwap governance forum, and Maker DAO shifts to complete decentralization

Last Week in Governance: ShapeShift becomes a DAO via largest crypto token airdrop in history, Lightspeed pitches SushiSwap governance forum, and Maker DAO shifts to complete decentralization
Airdrops on airdrops!

A roundup of some of the most interesting developments in the crypto & blockchain worlds - with a special focus on DAOs & Governance - over the past seven (ish) days.


ShapeShift to Decentralize Entire Company; Largest Airdrop in History Shifts Governance to the Community (PR Newswire)

Shapeshift, a “an international, non-custodial cryptocurrency leader” announced on July 14 that it would become a DAO via the largest crypto token airdrop in history of 340 million FOX Tokens granted to over one million recipients. This follows its announcement in January of integrating DEX (Decentralized Exchange) technology into its business model.

Following the airdrop, the majority of FOX Tokens are now owned and controlled by hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world. These tokens now govern ShapeShift's future. As the company open-sources and decentralizes itself, token holders will have the ability to direct the future of the product and brand by voting on and submitting proposals.

"...in a digital age that is global, it does not make sense to have to only be able to establish an economic organization around something that is jurisdictional and tied to a specific region." - @ErikVoorhees on why he is decentralizing @ShapeShift_io.

(Wharton Business Daily Tweet)


Maker DAO Switches To Complete Decentralization

Along similar lines, Maker DAO – the leading collateralized stable-coin project – announced on July 20 that it has successfully completed the transition to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) structure and the current Maker DAO foundation is all set to dissolve in the coming months. They achieved this through Maker Improvement Proposals (MIPs) and their Core Units Framework, now fully self-sufficient and in the hands of the global community.


Index Coop, Bankless DAO Team Up to Launch New Crypto Index

Index Cooperative is the DAO behind tokens like the DeFi Pulse Index, while Bankless DAO is a decentralized community driving adoption and awareness of bankless money systems. Together, they have launched the BED token - representing an even split of bitcoin, ether and the DeFi Pulse Index - which they believe will offer an easy way for crypto newcomers to get diversified exposure to various assets in a way that is simple and transparent.


DeepDAO lists, ranks and analyzes top DAOs across multiple metrics.

Check them out here!


Lightspeed VC pitches SushiSwap governance forum on strategic treasury diversification

This week, we saw an example of this “in the wild” as Amy Wu from Lightspeed hopped in the SushiSwap governance forum to pitch the community on the firm’s participation in a planned strategic treasury diversification (similar to Index Coop’s, discussed last week in this newsletter).

The forum discussion in its entirety is a fascinating read (and features an interesting back-and-forth on using UMA range tokens). But, Amy’s post in particular shines light on the the way VCs envision working with cryptonetworks and DAOs. (Tweet)


INATBA (International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications) announces creation of a governance working group, with the goal of promoting a transparent and inclusive model of governance for blockchain & other DLT. (Tweet)


As more corporate entities transition toward DAO structures, there has been a call from lawyers and developers in Australia for a new limited liability legal entity, particularly in the decentralized finance (DeFi) field. A decentralized corporate governance concept, if adopted, would see a board of directors replaced by an internet community. (Article)

Check back next week to stay up to date on everything DAO and governance related!