I think there are two ways for $BANK to provide value to holders. One is by increasing the price of $BANK and the other is distributing a portion of DAO revenue to token holders. Based on the discussion in bankless episode 62 I’m not sure there is a long term difference between the two besides perception. The larger the portion of revenue going to the DAO, the larger the treasury $BANK controls, the more it’s value should go up. People can capture that revenue whenever they want by selling some $BANK. There is likely a psychological impact though that should be considered (i.e., in one I see ETH streaming into my wallet and the other I the value of my $BANK is growing faster).
I think long term the value of $BANK will be based on the size of the treasury it controls and the useful things you can do with it. As a result, I think the focus should be on activities that generate on-chain revenue for the DAO and ways to make $BANK useful.
On-chain revenue is already a major theme with lots of discussions elsewhere, so I think this discussion should mostly focus on if $BANK should be used as currency within the DAO (i.e., the Is $BANK Money? discussion).
I think Brave’s BAT token provides an example of one way we could approaching making $BANK useful (BAT whitepaper). One reason BAT has value because it’s the currency used within the BAT ecosystem. $BANK can also be useful because the DAO produces lots of media, cultural, and education content people will want access to. Some possible examples:
- Require or provide a discount for educational services purchased in $BANK. For example, you can purchase a premium subscription to DAO onboarding content for 1000 $BANK/year OR you can purchase an annual subscription for $100 USD or $80 in $BANK
- Require or provide a discount for DAO storefronts (e.g., merch shop or NFT auction house) purchases made in $BANK
- Require or provide a discount for sponsors to pay in $BANK
- Guild bounties are denominated and paid in $BANK.
I’m not opposed to staking rewards, and believe that could increase the price of $BANK by reducing supply, but I don’t think it’s the best sustainable way to provide value because all the value is coming from depleting the DAO treasury in exchange for removing $BANK from circulating supply; it doesn’t actually create revenue or a use case for $BANK.
I think the DAO would also need to provide LP rewards so that people can acquire $BANK to pay for the things like those mentioned above.
How to pay contributors is definitely an important factor to consider. Without contributors, we won’t be able to do any of the above. Part of me also feels that if your contributing, it should be because you believe in the DAO long term and shouldn’t expect an immediate monetary reward. People who join startups and found companies often don’t make any money, or lose money, short term to realize there vision.