Membership Mechanic Upgrade

Summary

This proposal aims to upgrade FWB's membership system by introducing a non-transferrable NFT to represent community membership. This new NFT will exist alongside the $FWB token, which will continue to represent FWB governance and ownership.

As FWB continues to evolve, it has become clear that a multi-token model is needed, as the current single-token system poses a number of challenges. Under the current system, the purchase of membership tokens generates no meaningful revenue for the DAO treasury. Additionally, relying solely on $FWB makes it difficult for us to push the DAO towards a more decentralized, egalitarian form of governance.

This proposal offers a solution to these issues, all while advancing FWB's economic design and increasing the utility of the $FWB token. We believe approving this proposal will also help the organization move toward a more progressive and decentralized structure, with a more egalitarian form of community-driven governance.

Core Objectives

Below are the four core objectives we hope to accomplish with this proposal, along with some of the changes this will entail for the DAO.

1. Establish a sustainable revenue-generating model for the community treasury.

Now: Currently, approved new members enter the DAO by obtaining $FWB tokens from Uniswap's AMM protocol. This means that the funds members are spending to join FWB aren’t being captured by the FWB treasury.

Future: An NFT-based membership model will allow FWB to generate direct revenue through the sale of membership NFT passes, contributing to the community-controlled treasury.

2. Introduce membership entry mechanics that are accessible and sustainable over time.

Now: Fluctuations in the $FWB token value have made entry cost volatile and unequal for members, meaning that a member who joins one year may pay more or less than someone who onboards later.

Future: By pivoting to a fixed-price membership NFT pass, we will ensure that membership costs stay stable, making the FWB community more accessible.

3. Establish a more egalitarian governance model by employing a dual NFT + $FWB token voting system.

Now: Our current $FWB-based voting system skews governance outcomes heavily towards the interests of large holders, meaning that people who hold hundreds or even thousands of $FWB have much more of a voice in the voting process than members who possess only the requisite 75 $FWB needed to join.

Future: Through a new NFT + governance token voting structure whereby the NFT is tied to a membership application and account, voting would become more egalitarian and ultimately more consistent with the values of the DAO.

4. Expand non-member use cases of the $FWB token.

Now: Currently, the utility of the $FWB token is mostly tied to membership and governance. Individuals who want additional access, depth, or interaction with the FWB community or FWB software currently do not have ways to meaningfully do so.

Future: Non-members who hold $FWB will be able to access events, content, and experiences by holding various amounts of $FWB, broadening who can engage with FWB's expanding range of touchpoints and channels. This could include access to events, content (for example, token-gated guides and resources), and other opportunities.

FWB Citizenship: Membership NFT

Pending this proposal passing, FWB membership will be denoted by an official non-transferrable NFT that is unique to each member, and which represents a member’s access, governance rights, and identity inside of the FWB ecosystem.

New members who wish to join FWB will need to apply, and then upon acceptance, purchase an FWB membership for a fixed price via an FWB secured smart contract. The fixed price will be denominated in USDC and payable in both USDC or an equivalent amount of ETH.

Upon purchasing their FWB membership, each new member will receive two kinds of tokens:

1. A single, non-transferable “soulbound” NFT, representing their membership
2. $FWB tokens (worth 50% of membership cost), representing their ownership in the network, staked for 3 months

Proceeds generated from membership sales will be routed in two ways:

• 50% to FWB DAO Treasury
• 50% to $FWB token buy

This achieves several goals:

1. Generates revenue for the FWB DAO
2. Introduces an identity NFT for all members for more egalitarian governance
3. Ties member growth to the $FWB token
4. Allows each member to own $FWB, the community currency, ensuring incentives are aligned across the network.

Migration: How Existing Members Will Migrate to NFT Membership

Full Members

As of February 9th, 2023, existing members who hold 75 $FWB are able to claim a non-transferable NFT and onboard onto the FWB app.

Pending this proposal passing, on July 31st, 2023, FWB membership will confer to the Member NFT. In order to experience uninterrupted access to the FWB Discord/gain access to the FWB app, members will need to claim their NFT by that date. Failing to claim the NFT by that date will result in losing access to the Discord until the NFT is claimed.

Local Members

Local Members will be given an extension date on their FWB full membership trial. They will now have access to the full Discord server until July 31st, 2023.

For a limited time, local members will be given the opportunity to purchase full FWB membership at a discounted rate. Locals buying full membership at the discounted price will follow the same process outlined above of paying a fixed fee in exchange for their Membership NFT and being able to claim their escrowed $FWB tokens after 3 months.

Updated Governance Model

In this NFT-based membership model, the FWB DAO will be able to experiment with more egalitarian, sybil-resistant voting mechanisms that ensure every member’s voice is heard, and that promote more community-driven proposals.

Features of the new voting system:

For Members

• The membership NFT will allow you to submit a proposal directly to the treasury

• The membership NFT will equal 1 vote

• Additional FWB tokens, when paired with the NFT, will add weight to your vote but without aggressively skewing the results

  • The additional weighting will be similar to that of a quadratic voting system, where a token-holder’s marginal voting power decreases with each additional token. This limits whales’ power, while still rewarding those who hold extra tokens in more moderate amounts.

For Non-Members

• Without the NFT but with $FWB tokens, your voting power will be:

If this proposal passes, we will use the current token-weighted strategy until July 31st, 2023, when membership is conferred to the NFT. On that date, we will shift to the NFT + token-boost model outlined above.

Advantages of This Proposal:

1. FWB DAO gains a revenue stream through new entrants
2. FWB can further decentralize and shift to a more proposal-based model with the introduction of a more egalitarian voting system
3. Upgradable model that isn’t irreversible and destructive to FWB economic design
4. Allows for future $FWB token use case design that isn’t tied to membership resulting in gating future members out
5. Membership growth can be controlled by the community

Disadvantages of This Proposal:

1. The membership and governance models may become more complex

Conclusion

Since the inception of FWB, the DAO has embraced continued experimentation and iteration, often charting new paths forward as a community that uses crypto—not a crypto community.

Updating the membership mechanics is a significant step in helping FWB achieve its long-term vision of becoming a new kind of social network. This proposal also addresses core issues around revenue, accessibility, and community-driven governance while creating future opportunities for the community to build upon the $FWB token.

Note: All dates listed above are subject to change and remain pending the approval of the proposal by the community.