Hello, I’m TokenBrice, and this post is my formal platform to solicit delegation in the Aave governance. While calling for delegations and explaining my vision for Aave, I’d also like to set a new standard for DAO delegates.
You’ll find in the post details about my long-term vision for Aave, who I am, why I’m asking for your AAVE vote delegations today, as well as all relevant disclosures to help you make sure this responsibility is not conflicting or overlapping with any other ongoing ones I have.
You’ll find my vote delegate disclosure, following the template proposed by Erich Dylus & Sarah Brennan (Open Source Law) at the end of this document.
Why me, why now, why Aave?
While I’ve been actively involved in the growth of DeFi, I’ve never actively committed to get involved in DAO’s politics. However, the recent developments in the space led me to believe that now more than ever, the community needs to come together and offer credible governance alternatives to the existing structures, mostly enabled by venture capitalists.
Since my early involvement in DeFi, I have fought to maximize accessibility and make sure the fundamentals of DeFi (transparency, trustlessness, permissionlessness & open-source) are preserved as the ecosystem grows.
I’m now ready to uphold this vision at the Aave DAO level with an active participation in the governance. After reading the first proposal for the extension of the liquidity mining program on Aave, I realized that we needed to be proactive and lead the efforts for a counter-proposal if we do not want more structured, organized and better funded interest groups to make the decisions for us.
Critical decisions for major protocols are increasingly decided by a limited number of participants sharing similar interests, as we’ve seen with Uniswap’s DeFi Education Fund vote. I’d like to at least try to prevent a similar scenario from unfolding on Aave’s governance.
◎ Most AAVE top delegates are either venture capitalists (ex: FranklinBi / Pantera Capital) or received most of their voting power thanks to a delegation from such actor, such as BlockchainHEC or CalBlockchain
My vision for Aave
Money markets are at the heart of DeFi. I think Aave established itself as both the most innovative and secure service available in the vertical, and the observed track record aligns with this view. Relative to other money markets, Aave managed to so far avoid any failure resulting in loss of funds for users (others did not). If that was to happen, thanks to the Safety Module, affected users could be reimbursed.
Regarding the liquidity mining extension, the ongoing proposal that motivated me to get more involved in the governance, my main concerns are the sizable budget currently proposed (27% of the total ecosystem reserve for a year) & the fact that it is allocated “blindly” based on set budget per assets with no other adjustments.
I’m now calling for delegation to thrive to uphold the following principles in Aave’s governance:
- Thrive to provide comprehensive breakdowns of the challenges pertaining to the main votes
- Fight to ensure that the Ecosystem Reserve is used in the best long-term interest of the protocol.
- Articulate key concepts and ideas voiced by the community to make sure they are answered.
- Provide a documented and motivated position for each main issue, with a particular attention given their impact on the protocol’s safety and resiliency.
- Use, as much as possible, my existing network and presence to document Aave’s governance and make it more accessible, particularly to FR-speaking audiences.
How to delegate?
You can use Sybil.org to check your voting power on various DAOs and handle delegations.
- Go on Sybil.org - Aave: once you connect your wallet you’ll see your voting power on the right panel
- You can self-delegate to use that voting power yourself (default) or delegate it to another wallet.
- If you wish to delegate your voting power to me, simply delegate to
tokenbrice.eth
Following my activity
To follow my contributions to Aave’s governance,
- Check my profile on Sybil.org to view my votes and delegations.
- Check my profile on the Aave governance forum to follow my comments and proposals.
- Or simply follow me on Twitter where I’ll share about it.
Who am I?
I’ve been following DeFi since before it bore its name and experimented with all the landmark protocols. With Mounir (ParaSwap) & Arthur, we created the DeFi France movement and helped it grow. I keep up with DeFi on a daily basis and share my research on a FR/EN blog, and host 🇫🇷 weekly live sessions to discuss the latest developments in DeFi.
With the help of French-speaking Aave team members, we produced what is widely recognized as one of the most comprehensive resources covering the protocol in French: 🇫🇷 the Aave marathon (3h) with Marc Zeller, Alex & Statelayer. After the publication of a comprehensive 🇺🇸 guide helping users to assess risks on money markets, Alex also joined me for 🇫🇷 another live session dedicated to risk assessment for money markets & her job as actuary.
On the media I control (this blog), I enforced some basic principles which I think give insight as to where I stand and what matters for me:
- Privacy-preservation: the data collection is minimal and done using a self-hosted open-source service (Matomo).
- Accessibility: the website is static & optimized to the best of my ability
- Transparency: the content lives in a github repo, all edits are publicly logged.
- Including transparent funding: the only source of funding accepted for this activity is the related gitcoin grants.
I see Aave as a protocol here for the decades to come and will fight to make sure the DAO keeps a long-term focus. While the ecosystem reserve are significant, the current burn rate will empty them in a few years, for ~ $50M worth of stablecoins accrued in the protocol reserves (extrapolating the current rate).
While my engagement in Aave governance started with the discussion on the liquidity mining program, I believe several other adjustments are also needed to maximize its long-term resiliency such as updates to the safety module budget and mechanisms, as well as a diversification of the protocol’s treasury.
Vote Delegate Disclosure
Last updated: 07/27/2021
Please be advised:
I control the private key for the externally owned account:
0xAA7A9d80971E58641442774C373C94AaFee87d66 associated to the tokenbrice.eth ENS,
I intend to participate in the governance of Aave, whether by proposing, voting, abstaining, or engaging in related discourse or otherwise, in accordance with its applicable parameters and guidelines. I understand that other externally owned accounts and addresses may delegate their voting power to me from time to time and intend that this disclosure will generally govern my actions as a delegate.
I have instituted policies and procedures with respect to delegations in the interest of transparency, which may be subject to update from time to time and are available here. Though I do not have a formal policy, in participating in the governance of Aave, I intend to act on the following principles:
- I will seek to remain informed about governance proposals and vote on matters from time to time using my independent judgment unless otherwise disclosed;
- I will act in good faith and use reasonable care in participating in governance, including in making proposals and in voting;
- I will endeavor to provide transparent, good faith, and honest information as to my motivations and reasoning in carrying out my role as a delegate, or when soliciting the delegation of voting power;
- I am not a party to any voting bloc, trust, or other group and will not engage in vote-buying, vote-selling, bribery, manipulation, or other undisclosed vote solicitation or coordination; and
- To the extent I am aware of a material non-public conflict of interest that exists for a Delegator with respect to a proposal, I will refrain from voting in my capacity as a delegate for such Delegator with respect to such proposal
Conflict Disclosure
I currently have economic interest in ParaSwap (part-time contributor), and may engage in the DeFi France community from time to time. I may have direct or indirect economic interests in the various projects, entities, networks, and protocols related to the foregoing, and I also use and hold various other cryptocurrencies, tokens, stablecoins and other digital assets from time to time, including but not limited to ETH, CRV, CVX, LINK, LQTY, BAL, PNK.
Except as disclosed herein, in participating in the governance of Aave, I am not acting on behalf of ParaSwap nor on behalf of any client, nor any voting power delegator, whether or not such delegation was solicited. If my views expressed in governance contexts are interpreted or used in a manner that leads to some injury or detriment, there will be no legal recourse against me as a vote delegate or otherwise, nor will there be any coverage or indemnity from any applicable insurance or similar mechanism.
Disclaimer of Duty to Update
I assume no duty and provide no guarantee of keeping these disclosures up to date, nor of adjusting these disclosures for each applicable governance process, but will endeavor to act in good faith when soliciting the delegation of voting power and when acting in my capacity as a delegate.
You may contact me at me@tokenbrice.com, though I assume no duty for, and cannot guarantee my responsiveness to, or any action upon, any individual question, feedback, or request from a vote delegator or otherwise.