EGP-25 Title: The Element DAO Manifesto Author: Simona POP Type: Social proposal Status: Proposed Date Proposed: April 19th, 2023

Sentence Summary

This vote proposes to ratify the Element DAO Manifesto with, reproduced below for convenience.

Paragraph Summary

This vote is designed to signal a community acknowledgement and adoption of the purpose, values, and focus. If, at the end of the voting period, quorum is reached, the Manifesto as a whole will be considered passed, effective immediately.

Motivation

This manifesto is intended as an explicit foundation for the existence, governance and focus of Element DAO. Its role is to clarify and codify the DAO’s intention, purpose and core values in order to inform community conduct, governance flow and the evolution of this DAO.

Manifesto

This manifesto is intended as an explicit foundation for the existence, governance and focus of Element DAO. Its role is to clarify and codify the DAO’s intention, purpose and core values in order to inform community conduct, governance flow and the evolution of this DAO.

From the very start, the core team’s commitment to true decentralization has been paramount in the shaping of the DAO and the protocol itself. It is the key principle underpinning how we work and what we work on. The centralization of the current world has shown us time and time again just how risky it can be. So perhaps better decisions are made through the collective set of stakeholders, users, and contributors as those who find the most value in the protocol will be able to most apt at determining its future.

Decentralized finance should be democratized finance.

The driving force for the people in this DAO is that what we’re building is bigger than ourselves. All our decisions should be motivated by an effort to evolve the DeFi space as a whole, not just the Element protocol. A collaborative, creative and innovative drive to engage all the relevant stakeholders, sincerely and responsibly addressing risks, and acting together for the long-term is what will lead us to where we hope to go.

And finally, we are not afraid. Of the unknown, of failure, of what we’ll learn together on the way. We’ll do everything we can to avoid echo chambers and taking the easy, well-traveled path. It’s all elementary after all.

Our Purpose

The Purpose of the Element DAO is to steward the growth, maintenance, and improvement to the Element Protocol.

This is the North Star of the DAO, guiding the actions, decisions and progress of this organism. All decisions across the DAO should be made with this purpose in mind.

We grow: Increase protocol usage and collaborations We maintain: Fix, update, upgrade We improve: Invest in research and innovation at protocol and governance level

Our Values

These are the beliefs and principles that drive us. They guide and impact the community experience as well as the relationship the DAO holds with its contributors, stakeholders and core members.

Transparency: We build and make decisions in public

Security: We create and maintain security measures that protect the protocol mechanism, the token holders and protocol depositors

Integrity: We abide by strong moral principles and commit to honesty in all actions

Accessibility: We foster a collaborative and easily navigable space supportive of a broad community

Our focus

Focus is all about achieving clarity in what we do. The purpose and value set are long term, aspirational and inspirational. Focus is all about what we specifically do in alignment with our values and our purpose.

Increase TVL / usage of the protocol Safe upgrade of the protocol Increase accessibility: facilitate number of integrations & collaborations

The focus can expand or contract depending on progress, unforeseen events or developments. The general focus is actively broken down into short/medium/long term so the focus is designed to evolve and change as certain areas are completed/reach maturity.

Amendments to this manifesto

Any amendments to this manifesto will be done via community consultation and vote. The purpose and value set should not be changed on a regular basis. The focus, as specified, is designed to be flexible and adaptive.

Next steps (Voting Outcome Summary)

Option A [Ratify Manifesto]

Option B [Abstain]