Weekly newsletter of DAO highlights | Issue #30

From the latest happenings within DAO communities to the hottest DeFi news, we've compiled a list of some of the top stories in the DAO and DeFi space over the past week.

DAO Stats

The total number of DAOs reduced from 12,730 as of July 3 to 12,727 on July 10, 2023, suggesting that three decentralized autonomous organizations may have seized operations over the past week.

According to data available on DeepDAO, the value of assets held in DAO treasuries also experienced a slight decline, dropping from $21.5 billion to $20.7 billion. This represents a drop of around $200 million in the last seven days. However, about $17.8 billion of the assets held are currently liquid.

Arbitrum and BitDAO are still maintaining their titles as the two largest decentralized organizations in terms of treasury size, holding $4 billion and $3.4 billion worth of assets, respectively.

Major DAO Highlights

Arbitrum DAO approves updated AIP 1.1 on lockup, budget, and transparency

Members of Arbitrum DAO have approved an improvement proposal seeking to lock 700 ARB tokens (worth around $770 million) in a vesting contract. The approval trails earlier squabbles in the group over the now infamous AIP 1. Moving forward, the DAO will incrementally release funds to the Arbitrum Foundation over a four-year period.

Data from the voting round shows that over 480 addresses, accounting for 167.19 million votes supported the proposal. On the flip side, 14 addresses with approximately 580k votes opposed the idea.

BarnBridge DAO suspends “all work” amid SEC probe

On July 6, a lawyer working with BarnBridge DAO disclosed that the group will be halting “all work” following an alleged probe by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Douglas Park broke the news on the platform’s Discord channel, stating that:

“I am letting you know that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating BarnBridge DAO and individuals associated with the DAO.”

According to him, BarnBridge will proceed to stop “all work” on the protocol, including existing liquidity pools in a bid to “reduce potential further legal liability.” The implication is that users will no longer receive compensation for work flowing from the investment efforts of the DAO.

Although the probe was confirmed by Co-founder Tyler Ward, some members of the DAO have cried foul over the announcement, labeling it an “exit strategy.”

Grayscale Endorses Lido DAO with Addition of LDO to DeFi Fund

Leading digital asset management firm, Grayscale Investments, has added Lido DAO’s governance token (LDO) to its DeFi Fund. The fund now holds over $3.1 million in assets, with LDO tokens constituting over 19% of its asset basket. The behemoth acquisition of LDO tokens will allow Grayscale to participate in Lido’s governance proposals, giving it the opportunity to shape the direction of the protocol.

Lido is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that allows users to stake their Ethereum (ETH) tokens in return for stETH, a liquid token that represents their staked ETH.

DeFi News

Arcadia Finance hacked, attacker steals $455k

Arcadia Finance, a non-custodial decentralized finance (DeFi) has suffered a security breach caused by a code vulnerability. According to blockchain security company PeckShield, the breach was caused by “the lack of untrusted input validation,” which allowed the malicious actor to drain funds worth roughly $455,000 from both the Ethereum (darcWETH) and Optimism (darcUSDC) vaults. In the meantime, the protocol has paused the contracts to prevent further exploitation.

While approximately 180 Ether of the stolen funds from Optimism have already been washed via Tornado Cash, about $103,000 in Ethereum is still untouched in the suspect’s wallet.

crypto-ecosystem-since-2012">Hackers have stolen over $30B from the crypto ecosystem since 2012

With constant security breaches in the crypto space, you may be wondering how much has been stolen by hackers. A recently published report from blockchain security company SlowMist has revealed that malicious actors have stolen more than $30 billion in crypto between 2012 and 2023.

The report found that the most common type of hack was a vulnerability in a smart contract, which is a self-executing contract that is stored on a blockchain. These types of hacks accounted for over $10 billion in losses. Interestingly, although the number of hacks has been declining in recent years, the total amount of funds stolen has been increasing. There have been 1,101 documented incidents to date.

DeSo Offers $1 Million for Decentralized Social Media Platform to Challenge Reddit

DeSo, a decentralized social media protocol, has announced a $1 million bounty for the development of a decentralized alternative to Reddit.

The bounty is being offered in response to the recent controversy surrounding Reddit's decision to limit API access. This move has provoked a series of 48-hour subreddit blackouts in protest, as it has made it more difficult for third-party developers to build applications on top of Reddit's platform. The bounty will be awarded to the developer who submits the most compelling proposal.

DAO Governance Updates

Completed

• BitDAO has ratified its MNT supply optimization proposal. As a result, the DAO has approved the non-conversion of 3 billion BIT tokens currently held in the Mantle Treasury.
• Aavegotchi DAO has approved the development of Gotchi Battler, an auto-battler game where two teams of five Gotchis battle each other.
• The Arbitrum community is set to fund a proposal from Questbook to launch an Arbitrum grants program with a budget of $1 million.
• Gitcoin DAO has endorsed a proposal seeking to introduce the Quadratic Experimentation and Development Program (Q.E.D.), which is expected to address the limitations of the current Quadratic Funding model.
• Following an approved governance vote, VitaDAO will be creating a new Steward position called the "Network Steward" that will focus on “evaluating longevity jurisdictions, fundraising, and strategic contributor relations.”

Active Voting Rounds

• BitDAO is currently voting on a proposal to establish the Mantle EcoFund with $100 million from the treasury.
• A compensation review proposal is being voted on by VitaDAO members. If approved, a three-man team will be created to perform the annual review of compensation and governance allocations.
• The Plurality Labs Team has a proposal requesting 3.971 million ARB to fund the first of three milestones in a plan to form an Arbitrum DAO Pluralistic Grants Program.