Tokenomics Workstream Renewal Proposal (08.01.24 - 02.28.25)

Summary
ProfMcCarthy is seeking the ShapeShift community’s approval for the continuation of his leadership in the Tokenomics Workstream from August 1, 2024, to February 28, 2025. This proposal includes a request for compensation of $14,000 per month in FOX tokens and outlines strategic focuses on analytics, fee optimization, operational coordination, and enhanced dashboard development. The proposal also includes a $8,000 discretionary budget for dashboard and other data analysis work, along with a one-time bonus of $10,000 in FOX tokens if the DAO stablecoin holdings / runway is greater than 9 months on the date of February 28, 2024.

Abstract
Under his stewardship, the Tokenomics Workstream has improved operational efficiency, financial transparency, and progress in dashboard development over the past six months. Despite challenges posed by volatile markets, operational bottlenecks, and in optimizing fee structures, ProfMcCarthy has adapted strategies and improved DAO operations, setting a robust foundation for future success.

Motivation
This proposal aims to continue ProfMcCarthy’s role as Tokenomics workstream lead, leveraging his experience here at Shapeshift, in finance, economic development, and DAO treasury management analysis. ProfMcCarthy hopes to continue to improve and hone his understanding of the intricacies of DAO operations, multisig coordination, and the challenges of decentralized governance to help create and steer tokenomic strategies moving forward for the greater success of the DAO and the Shapeshift platform.

While recognizing various successes, ProfMcCarthy also acknowledges some oversights encountered during the past term. He sees these as learning opportunities, implementing new controls, policies, and procedures to prevent the recurrence of past challenges:

1. Dynamic Fee Adjustment Mechanism Analysis: Ongoing refinement of fee models to align better with market fluctuations, allowing for greater fee generation to the DAO and improvements to stablecoin runway.
2. Increased Focus on Stablecoin Runway: implement a twelve week plan to improve stablecoin holdings, with increased FOX and other asset TWAP/Swaps to stablecoins.
3. Enhanced Financial Dashboards: Further development and refinement of dashboards for revenue, liquidity, treasury, and rFOX activity to bolster decision-making.
4. Robust Contingency Plans: New processes for managing unexpected financial scenarios, enhancing DAO resilience.
5. Greater Transparency for DFC Decision Making: Continuing to iterate on the DFC Memo (& other sheets), while going back to simpler notion agendas. Improve the simplicity and ease with which it takes to access information discussed during DFC meetings.

Specification
In his continued role, ProfMcCarthy will focus on the following areas:

• Analytics and Fee Optimization: Collaborating with the product team to refine fee models based on detailed analytics of user behavior and market conditions.
• Operational Coordination: Acting as a liaison between the DFC & the multisig signers, creating weekly asks and a regular cadence, to create smoother and efficient transaction signing and governance action item fruition.
• Strategic Financial Management: Overseeing the creation and refinement of financial dashboards, managing asset diversification analysis for the DFC, and implementing stablecoin strategies chosen by the DFC to enhance the DAO's financial health.

In addition to the above, ProfMcCarthy will:

• Conduct and document 2 DFC meetings per week, ensuring operational transparency.
• Publish detailed meeting agendas and minutes for all scheduled meetings.
• Hold bi-monthly office hours to engage with the community and respond to inquiries within a timely manner.

KPI
ProfMcCarthy has set a specific KPI:

• Achieve 9 months of stablecoin reserves by February 28th, 2025 ($160k*9=$1.44M), with a FOX bonus of $10,000 USD worth of fox tokens when this goal is achieved.

Benefits
Continuing ProfMcCarthy’s leadership will ensure stability and innovative progression in the Tokenomics Workstream. His extensive expertise in economics and proven track record in strategic decision-making provide a strong foundation for the ongoing revitalization of the DAO’s tokenomics.

Drawbacks
Allocating resources for his compensation and the pursuit of dynamic tokenomic strategies carries inherent risks, especially in volatile markets. Ultimately, the largest drawback is the monetary cost, though this is mitigated by being (almost) completely denominated in FOX Tokens. The other drawback is the USDC from the treasury used for payment for dashboard and other data analysis work, though this is a small amount ($8,000 over 6 months).

Vote
For: Endorse ProfMcCarthy’s continued leadership for the next term
Against: Oppose the renewal For with changes: Endorse ProfMcCarthy’s continued leadership, but with changes (detailed below)