Reduce $BANK Minimum to join Discord

Title: Reduce $BANK Minimum to join Discord
Authors: @Josh, @EliteViking
Co-Sponsors: @frogmonkee
Date: May 8th , 2021

SUMMARY

  • We propose reducing the cost of joining the DAO from 35K BANK to 10k $BANK. At time of writing prices are at 0.08 USD, this drops the cost from about 2800 USD to 800 USD at time of writing. This value is more accessible to those who would like to purchase membership, or to those who would like to earn $BANK via bounties, while still high enough to signal some degree of commitment.

BACKGROUND

  • As the worlds first media dao with the mission of 1 billion people living bankless, the current barrier to enter at 35k $BANK is potentially counterproductive to building the movement.
  • Being that we are looking to encourage and spread mass adoption, having higher entry limits will potentially put people off from joining the movement and lose our credibility as an on-ramp into the bankless lifestyle. We can lower this bar as we progress further with seasons.

MOTIVATION

  • By reducing the cost more people can join, which means more talent and more ideas.
  • Reduces frustration for those who were not part of the airdrop, but wish to join the DAO.
  • It aligns with the Season 0 marketing proposal. If we want more people to join the DAO, it makes sense to make it easier to do so.
  • Having a larger base layer of community participants gives us a strong foundation, and there can be further ā€œlevelsā€ of progression within the DAO.
  • Lowers the bar to entry to something more reasonable to beginners (who also have lower comfort levels investing) while increasing brand integrity around being beginner friendly
  • Could lead to new members joining the DAO by way of the meme competition as per the season 0 marketing proposal since the median award value is 5k $BANK, which may incentivize winners to purchase 5k more.

SPECIFICATION

If we believe we should reduce the cost, the next question is: what to reduce the cost to?

  • We propose 10k $BANK as a more reasonable number that is high enough to signal commitment, but low enough to be accessible to those with sufficient motivation. However, we welcome discussion around this figure.
  • Users who cannot afford to outright purchase 10k $BANK have the opportunity to earn BANK through various bounties, such as the Meme competition proposed in the Season 0 marketing proposal.
    • The median awarded value for the meme competition is proposed to be 5k BANK, meaning those winners only need to purchase an additional 5k BANK to join.

NEXT STEPS

  • Should this proposal be accepted, the required action step is to reduce the required amount of $BANK to join the level 1 Discord servers from 35k to 10k.

CONCLUSION

  • By reducing the $BANK requirement for the DAO we broaden our base of potential contributors while reducing the monetary obligation of those who wish to join. This allows for a more diverse set of governance participants, allowing for a fairer and healthier DAO with longevity and sustainability as a priority.

POLL

  • Yes - Reduce the $BANK requirement to 10k
  • Soft yes - Reduce the $BANK requirement, but to a different value
  • No - Leave the $BANK requirement at 35k

AUTHOR BACKGROUND

By vocation EliteViking is an Unbeatable Mind coach helping organizations build elite teams and elite leaders. Health and wealth go hand in hand as far as Iā€™m concerned ā€“ wealth does no good if our health doesnā€™t allow us to enjoy it. This proposal will help set in motion SOP and standards to attract new talent to the organization while helping us drive the community toward a common goal. Maintaining brand integrity is key and our actions must be in alignment with our intentions and voices. The original requirements put the bar too high for people who may not be ready to commit a more sizeable chunk of coin to this life while still wanting to get involved. Talent less familiar with the space will be more able to jump in so we can coach them up to higher tiers of skin in the game.

Josh is currently researching cryptocurrency related fraud as a PhD student at the Dawes Centre for Future Crime, based in the Department of Security and Crime Science at UCL. He believes that cryptocurrencies offer us a second chance at finance, with the transparency cryptocurrencies provide offering us better ways of mitigating fraud.

  • Hard Yes
  • Soft Yes
  • No

0 voters

3 Likes

I would be in favor of a 10k minimum if there were more levels, maybe with 10k at level 0 (ability to go for Bank bounties but not ability to vote on snapshots?)

Agree with the principal, I think entry at 10k is fair, but the right to vote should maintain at 35k.

1 Like

@0xBorderless @ZackDeLemos

I see what you guys are going for, but the angle is wrong. Voting shouldnā€™t ever be limited. If you own $BANK, you can vote. Itā€™s your right. Thatā€™s a hard rule (for me).
Less concretely, I also believe that anyone should be able to pick up bounties. Maybe we roll this out over the next month or so, but generally, $BANK shouldnā€™t matter here.

Hereā€™s an alternative take: Being a level 2 contributor requires 35K BANK to have the right to join Guilds or working groups.

4 Likes

I like this idea, by having various levels of Discord levels being tied to the BANK amounts, it ties the commitment level as well. Also, we already have the Whale level, so it kind of fits right, aka more options to contribute?

Also, I wanted to be sure we donā€™t forget that one reason to lower the requirement is to throw a bone to LP holders so they have some access to Discord discussions. Obviously holding a LP position might reduce your vote share (or Guild access in the mentioned scenario), but we should try not to penalize people too much there.

There obviously wonā€™t be a perfect solution for everyone, I just wanted us to keep it in mind as we discuss this.

4 Likes

I am against lowering the threshold - at least for now. I really liked what Lucas said id Discord, ā€œthe goal is to onboard a billi into defi, not the DAOā€. In addition, there will be ways to earn BANK that will allow people to ā€œearnā€ their way into the DAO. The 35k threshold seems very fair to me - its sufficient skin in the game. Again, we dont need to be concerned about brining as many as we can into the DAO - thats not the goal. There will be ways for non-DAO members to contribute and earn.

3 Likes

Why not allow voting/DAO membership with whitelisted LP tokens? versus lowering the threshold. I mean, if that is a reason why we are potentially lowering the threshold is to accommodate LPā€™s - then this seems like a better way to include them.

I think we need to somehow grant access to premium supporters that didnā€™t claim the badge. Lowering the threshold accomplishes that.

I get what Ryan was saying about claiming being an extra level of effort, so maybe should come with a few more BANK. But drawing the line at DAO involvement seems unfair.

I have been a premium supporter for 2 weeks, and just because I went online and clicked a button to get entered into raffles, that somehow makes me more committed to the Bankless movement and worthy of DAO participation?

We arenā€™t talking about billions here, thereā€™s probably a dozen people who were premium but not badge holders who actually WANT to participate. They shouldnā€™t be walled out.

The other side of this is that if the threshold is not lowered, Iā€™m guessing a lot of the premium non-badge holders will just go dump their BANK because for the next few months thereā€™s really no purpose to BANK other than DAO involvement and most people arenā€™t going to spend $1000 to get the extra 25,000 just to join the discord

2 Likes

Can you explain what you mean by whitelisted LP tokens?

Whitelisted meaning the DAO will approve which LP tokens are eligible for voting/DAO invite. So, the DAO might whitelist the Uniswap v3 ETH/BANK LP token, but maybe not the Balancer - one just yet. Whitelisting is basically just approving which tokens can be used.

@WestCoastWalker Generally agree with gtlane. Another point is to build up our treasury. Read how this all ties in with liquidity.

I think the proposed 10k BANK to join the discord is fair and right especially during a bull market when market prices are higher. Current market price is still low enough and once people find out the potential ROI and understand the value in becoming a Bankless DAO member, they will be elated about their decision and we will gain a proud Bankless DAO member.

1 Like

i agree with this take aswell. Iā€™m not against the idea of lowering the entry barrier to 10k but than 35k would need some privileges aswell

2 Likes

I voted no because I think it is too early yet, and the dust still hasnā€™t settled completely. The second we lower the barrier the Discord will get noisier and we will have higher frequency of low quality posts.

I want to lower this eventually but I like @frogmonkeeā€™s idea of waiting at least a few weeks until we get some essentials sorted out.

2 Likes

Nice proposal, I agree with lowering the threshold to join over time.

Hi firs time posting. I am very interested in what bankless is doing. Iā€™m a media maker and influencer in the space, but even though i could afford the 2k+ it costs right now, the fact that itā€™s a brand new, possibly volatile asset makes it a really risky decision to buy some BANK just to see if I vibe with the community and want to keep contributing. seems like coming up with a stable coin based membership mechanism would help a lot (there are ways it could still be connected to and effect the supply/value of BANK).

2 Likes

I agree. ā€œThe movementā€ isnā€™t the DAO and our mission has little to do with the token. The frenzy of early activity is great, really, but there are matters of strategy, the strategy formation process, and organization we need to be more clear about. Ref some of the discussion in legal. We need also to consider how much free reign the node ā€œfranchiseeā€™sā€ will have in redefining what we consider ourselves to be all about and what realistic means we have of being able to disentangle ourselves from them when they start copting the brand and shilling centralized value holes. There are very few people voting on things. Voter participation is never what you want it to be, but I donā€™t know how anybody with a day job could hope to stay meaningfully on top of this thing.

3 Likes

I think we should leave it alone for now, for atleast a month. Then change it to something much lower. Maybe even as low as 1000 $Bank to enter level 1. Level 2 like you said would then require 35k. I feel like it shouldnā€™t be a months worth of pay to just join the dao. However we should definitely reward people who do invest with opportunity and rewards.

3 Likes

I think this is great and completely fair to decrease the required BANK. With very little opportunities at the moment to accrue more BANK, itā€™ll be extremely hard for new members to get the necessary BANK just to even vote and contribute in low level ways. If we want the DAO to grow and get stronger, we need to make it easier to have new members join and contribute right away.

1 Like

My 2cents:

I think we should invite as many people as we can to the courtyard. Maybe expand it to provide a glimpse to what we have going on. From there, have a few ā€œlevels.ā€

ā€œEntry Levelā€ holds at least 1 $BANK

  • They can vote
  • Get involved in specific initiatives
  • Can submit a scholarship request if obtaining 35k $BANK is a financial burden.
  • They can not submit proposals.

Basic Member (Currently 35k+ $BANK)

  • General access to the DAO.
  • They can submit proposals.
  • Participate in all work groups.
  • Eligible to be a Core member.

Core Member

  • Not technically the leader, but helps keep order.
  • Must have been a Basic Member the prior season.
  • Multisig Wallet
  • Responsible for ensuring we follow the constitution, mission, etc
  • Governance

-kz

2 Likes