Long-Term Incentive Pilot Program [Application]
Name: Joseph [Immutablelawyer] [Axis Advisory: https://www.axisadvisory.xyz/]
Position I am applying for: Council Member
Telegram Handle: @immutablelawyer
Twitter: @immutablelawyer
Affiliations (Currently I am working with, invested in, etc.):
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I am the founder of Axis Advisory, a law firm established in the European Union offering legal, regulatory & DAO Advisory services to service providers & projects of a centralised & decentralised nature in the digital asset industry.
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Currently, I am not invested into any project within the Arbitrum Ecosystem & the wider Ethereum Ecosystem (directly or indirectly, either via token-holding, SAFT, equity etc.).
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Axis Advisory is part of the TraderJoe Governance Council.
Why You?
Why would You be the best candidate for this position?
By way of a brief overview, I have a background in legal, regulatory & DAO Advisory with a main focus on structuring protocols & corresponding DAOs to cater for their progressive decentralisation.
My journey into on-chain governance mainly started with dYdX, wherein I was a contributor (and still am) & provide insight in relation to the progressive decentralisation of the dYdX Ecosystem (specifically, several infrastructure pieces & the legal mechanisms that interplay with its on-chain governance).
In June of 2023, I voted in by the dYdX DAO as the Enforcer of the dYdX Operations Trust; the legal structure that set up & paved the way for the pivotal pieces of infrastructure needed for the launch of the dYdX Chain. As an Enforcer, my task is to oversee the expenditure of funds & make sure that these are in line with the Trust Instrument as ratified by the dYdX DAO through on-chain governance [https://www.dydxopsdao.com/]. The launch of the dYdX Chain has been a resounding success with over 5Billion in trading volume since its inception.
More specifically to the ArbitrumDAO, my initial contributions emanated from my role within the TraderJoe Governance Council [a body set up within the TraderJoe community to facilitate & administer the voting power endowed within TraderJoe.xyz as a delegate]. Most prominently, as part of the TraderJoe Governance Council (together with my fellow Council colleagues), I contributed to the Council’s efforts in participating in the STIP Project Assessment by reviewing, assessing & voting on the various proposals submitted. In this regard, I also authored a post on this model for delegates (The Delegate's Handbook: A Primer on the Council Model).
Within the ArbitrumDAO, I have also participated & spearheaded various endeavours aimed at optimising and/or establishing pivotal infrastructure pieces to ensure long-term scaling & sustainability for existing projects & projects intending to build on Arbitrum. A TL;DR of my contributions hereunder:
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https://snapshot.org/#/arbitrumfoundation.eth/proposal/0x3404df8a6e105dcf8b60cb22f22928aeedd3ffa5d80dc36e4f8fd74d0f5f14cb
[Passed] This proposal aimed at establishing a procurement framework for security-oriented services within the ArbitrumDAO. In the drafting of this proposal, a public consultation period was initiated to solicit stakeholder feedback so as to optimally structure this framework. -
Snapshot [Passed] This proposal aims at establishing a collective of individuals and service providers to provide pivotal proposal-stage reporting to aid and enhance delegate decision-making. All members to be appointed by election with applicable caps.
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Snapshot [Pending]This proposal aims at establishing the ArbitrumDAO Procurement Committee to not only facilitate and administer the ratified procurement framework for security services, but also create new frameworks, propose a subsidy fund for services, & create a means test to assess projects’ eligibility for subsidisation.
What do you think a good incentive application looks like?
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Project Viability and Innovation: Assess whether the project offers innovative solutions or ideas that can benefit the Arbitrum Ecosystem. Projects that bring new and valuable concepts to the ecosystem that have found product market fit or have shown a trajectory to finding product market fit should ideally be incentivised so as to spearhead and further innovation within the ecosystem. This can be assessed in a myriad of ways such as revenue generated, sequencer fees generated, TVL, Volume etc. (these cannot be assessed in a vacuum but in light of other factors such as Tokenomics structure & revenue model).
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Team Competency: Examine the team’s expertise, experience, and track record. A capable and experienced team is more likely to execute their plans effectively and navigate challenges in a more optimal manner.
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Tech-Stack Security: Ensure that the project’s codebase has been audited by reputable service providers & that updates to such codebase have also undergone code audits so as to ensure safeguarding of distributed incentives & users utilising the respective protocol based on such incentives.
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Tokenomics and Sustainability: Review the project’s tokenomics, including how incentives will be used and distributed. Ensure that the incentives are structured in a way that promotes long-term sustainability. In tandem with the aforementioned points, assess tokenomics in light of the protocol’s revenue model and how this ensures longer term sustainability from an incentive disbursement perspective.
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Milestones & Track Record: Assess the project’s roadmap and milestones. Look for clear and achievable goals that indicate progress and development. Correspondingly, also assess the project’s milestones that are included in the Incentive Program application. If the project was a previous recipient of incentives, assess whether the project met the milestones as stipulated in that proposal.
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Partnerships and Collaborations: Evaluate any existing partnerships or collaborations that demonstrate the project’s ability to work with other developers and/or projects within the ecosystem.
What are your goals for this program?
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My first goal for the program is to gather intra-program and post-program quantitative data on the effects of a longer-term program for projects building on an Ecosystem. This is something that was discussed by myself, Jared Grey, Alex & others during a Twitter Space hosted by UMA a couple of months ago. Thus Far, all ecosystems have experimented with short-term incentive periods, but we are yet to see the longer-term effects of such programs when prolonged for an added period of time. Hence, to sum up, my first goal is the gathering of quantitative data for a Longer Term incentive program.
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My second goal for the program is to assess whether a longer-term program attracts more sustainable TVL & Volume to the Ecosystem. Short-term program incentivise mercenary capital and lead to short-term volume-influxes that faze out over time post-program completion. Longer-term programs (theoretically), should ensure stickier capital due to the disbursement of incentives over a longer period of time.
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My third goal is the assessment of whether longer-term programs that support projects building on Arbitrum actually attract new projects to the Ecosystem with such attraction being the result of various programs that incentivise and aid in user growth (which corresponds to increases in volume, TVL, sequencer revenue etc.).
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My fourth and final goal for this program is to aid in ensuring ongoing quality assurance to make sure that programs are abiding by their cited milestones as stipulated in their respective applications. Hence, the goal is to make sure that as much as possible, projects are acting responsibly (aided and overseen by the Council), in relation to their allocated disbursement.
Conclusion
We look forward to the election process and remain at voters’ disposal should their be any questions in relation to our application!