[BIP-908] Bounty for Information and Recovery of Stolen Funds

Summary

This proposal seeks to formalize a 10% bounty offer to any actor(s) who provide information leading to the recovery, or directly return, assets stolen during the security incident on November 3rd. It explicitly designates the Treasury Council, with the consultancy of SEAL and zero Shadow, and if needed, legal council, as the mediators for any disputes arising from this process, pointing to the terms of the SEAL Safe Harbor Agreement for applicable resolutions.

Motivation

On November 3rd, the Balancer protocol suffered an attack resulting in stolen funds. To maximize the probability of asset recovery, it is in the interest of the community and industry best practice to offer a clear, guaranteed incentive for whitehats or informants. A formal governance-approved proposal provides the legal and social assurance necessary for actors to come forward.

Adopting standards for this specific recovery effort ensures that the process is handled with the highest level of professional mediation and legal clarity.

Required negotiations and disputes regarding the payout, the nature of the information provided, or the valuation of returned assets will be mediated between the involved parties via Balancer Treasury Council with the consultancy of Seal 911 and zeroShadow as cyber security experts.

Specification

The Balancer DAO hereby authorizes the following terms regarding the recovery of assets from the November 3rd exploit:

• A bounty up to 10% of the recovered asset value will be paid to the entity responsible for the successful return or information leading to the recovery of said assets.
• The bounty amount is due upon receipt of the recovered assets by the DAO.
• The bounty will be paid in-kind (using the recovered tokens) unless a mutually agreed-upon alternative is facilitated by the mediation.
• The DAO agrees to abide by the recommendation of the Treasury Council regarding the eligibility and payout of the bounty.
• The process will point to the principles outlined in the SEAL Safe Harbor Agreement, ensuring fair treatment for all parties involved.

Conditioned upon the return of the assets and the acceptance or waiver of the bounty, Balancer DAO waives all rights to pursue legal action against the returning party.