Volatility DAO Proposal for Interim Founding Council

Summary

The Volatility Protocol community currently is without an operating plan, organization, and governance rules for a DAO. This proposal enables a team to develop and propose foundational infrastructure for the DAO which will in turn enable new products, community building, marketing, and many other activities. This proposal does NOT create a permanent executive team or permanent working groups. It is a SHORT-TERM, intensive research collaboration with the end goal of putting forward PROPOSALS.

Introduction

The Volatility Protocol white paper references the need for a community in order to realize a true, decentralized, and open-source volatility protocol. With the public release of the VOL token, the community is now able to fund creation of a distributed autonomous organization that will drive the ongoing development and adoption of Volatility Protocol’s products and services. While a small community of VOL holders and enthusiasts has sprung up on Discord, the need for more thorough governance and community development is necessary to the success of the Volatility Protocol.

Motivation

Similar to the success of the S&P Dow Jones VIX index in equity markets, the need for comparable indices and products in hyper-volatile cryptocurrency markets is clear. Utilizing the unique capabilities of on-chain decentralization and open source software, Volatility Protocol has an opportunity to fuel new decentralized index, derivative, and other DeFi products currently unavailable. The Volatility Protocol whitepaper calls for a truly decentralized DAO which when paired with industry best practices can provide our community with a highly impactful and profitable vehicle for developing and promoting the protocol.

Deliverables

1. DAO Governance. Research and document DAO governance best practices and submit a detailed proposal recommending a governance plan for Volatility DAO by September 30, 2021 for comment with voting no later than October 7, 2021. Plan will cover:

• Analysis of other DAO’s used as benchmarks
• Proposed governance organization structure
• Proposal process
• Proposed voting methodology
• Contributor and working group lead compensation, including compensation for ad hoc contributions
• Systems required or enhancements to existing systems (e.g. use of POAPs within existing systems)
• Preliminary DAO mission & objectives
• Funding requirements

2. Working Groups. Develop interim working group plans for Product, Marketing & Community working groups. Submit proposal for each including 90 day “startup” plan by September 30, 2021 for comment and voting no later than October 7, 2021. Each plan will cover:

• Proposed working group mission
• 90-day objectives
• Team/talent requirements
• Proposed interim leadership
• Systems required
• Proposed funding requirements
• Founding Council Members

The following participants will participate in the founding council: @aaadrew @Chuddymane @blasteasy /Kevin @Nakamomo @patb @secretwaves @sethmich wookie25 Sandwedg jonk In addition @Theta , @DarkKnight & @ ccashwell are invited to participate in this process as well.

Budget

In the interests of ensuring a successful launch of the DAO and maximizing participation in this important process, a budget of no more than 142,00 VOL will be deployed against this effort.

71,000 VOL will be allocated to participating members in the founding council and distributed on a pro-rata basis according to contribution effort. Founding council members will summarize their activities after four weeks in a Google Sheet and share with the founding council which will collectively agree how to distribute the budgeted VOL tokens. As a general guideline, those working on the council full-time (30+ hours per week) will be given greater (~2x) consideration than those contributing on a part-time (~10-20 hours) basis.

An additional allocation of up to 71,000 VOL is requested for potential community or other third-party contributions in support of the founding council’s objectives. Approval for spending this allocation is subject to a majority of founding council members approving the amount with a “I agree” vote on the founding council discord channel.

All VOL rewards will vest 100% after 180 days.