Weekly newsletter of DAO highlights | Issue #32

From malicious billionaire execs to notable metaverse plays, we’ve compiled the latest happenings within DAO communities and the most relevant news from the DeFi space.

DAO Stats

As of July 24, 2023, the total number of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) listed on DeepDAO was 20,106. This represents an increase of over 1,100 over the past week, suggesting more entrants into the DAO space.

Along with the positive growth in the number of decentralized organizations, the assets under management in DAO treasuries also saw an uptick. Between July 17 and July 24, the assets held in DAO treasuries grew by $1.9 billion and currently sits at $23.6 billion.

Major DAO Highlights

Bored Apes go to Hollywood

Although initially met with mixed reactions from the BAYC community, ApeCoin DAO has approved $300,000 for the production of an animated series pilot and three (3) spin-off comics based on $Ape and the lore around the coin.

Dubbed “Bored Apes Storm Hollywood (BASH-AIP): Expanding the Ecosystem with Battle-tested IP Veteran and the Batman Producers,” AIP-279 is supposed to “raise awareness of ApeCoin beyond ‘Crypto Twitter’ and secure international distribution through established production pipelines.”

Meanwhile, in another proposal approved on the same day, ApeCoin will be integrated into the Meta Merge game, a pet collection and mobile evolution game powered by AIGC and Ultiverse.

Aave DAO approves stability module for new GHO stablecoin

Days after executing the proposal approving the launch of its new GHO stablecoin on Mainnet, another proposal seeking to introduce the GHO Stability Module (GSM) has passed Temperature Check. The TEMP CHECK, which requests the introduction of a Peg Stability Module for GHO, enjoyed unanimous support from Aave DAO, suggesting that the proposal will eventually be ratified.

Upon launch, the GSM will implement a Fixed Pricing Strategy and later transition to a Dynamic Pricing Strategy through a governance vote.

dYdX DAO leans toward Market Maker Rebates

In February 2023, dYdX DAO backed a proposal to launch a market maker rebate program. Months later, the DAO is looking to shift from LP rewards to Market Maker rebates. On July 22, the group approved a proposal seeking to increase rebates from 0.5bps to 0.85bps while reducing the per-epoch LP rewards by 50% from 1,150,685 DYDX/epoch to 575,342.50 DYDX/epoch. The move is expected to improve exchange liquidity near the top of the book of the decentralized exchange.

DeFi News

Kuwait Takes Aim at Crypto, Placing Blanket Ban on Payments, Investment, and Mining

Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has banned the use of cryptocurrency for payments, investment, and mining. The CMA issued a circular last Monday stating that the prohibitions are aimed at coming into compliance with the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) global recommendations for crypto assets.

The circular also warned citizens of the risks involved in volatile, encrypted currencies that do not have legal status. Any violations of the prohibitions would result in penalties, the notice said. The CMA's decision is the latest in a series of moves by regulators around the world to crack down on cryptocurrency. In recent months, China, India, and Russia have all banned or restricted the use of crypto.

McDonald's Takes a Bite Out of the Metaverse with McNuggets Land

McDonald's has launched a metaverse game called McNuggets Land in The Sandbox, an Ethereum-based virtual world. The game is a celebration of the 40th anniversary of McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, and it features a variety of activities, such as collecting digital McNuggets, playing mini-games, and customizing a virtual avatar.

Players can also earn SAND, the native cryptocurrency of The Sandbox, by completing quests and participating in activities. The SAND tokens can then be used to purchase digital items in the game or to trade on cryptocurrency exchanges.

FTX Exec's Doomsday Plan: Buy an Island and Build an Apocalypse Bunker

In a rather shocking revelation, a lawsuit filed by Sam Bankman-Fried's former business partner alleges that Gabriel Bankman-Fried, Sam's younger brother, proposed using FTX Foundation funds to buy the island nation of Nauru and build an apocalypse bunker. The lawsuit also alleges that Gabriel Bankman-Fried wanted to use the bunker to house "effective altruists," or people who believe in using their resources to help others.

The lawsuit is part of a larger legal battle between Sam Bankman-Fried and his former business partner, who is seeking to recover hundreds of millions of dollars from FTX. The lawsuit alleges that Sam Bankman-Fried used FTX funds for personal expenses and to prop up other businesses.

DAO Governance Updates

Completed

• Bankless DAO has agreed to delegate its VITA token voting rights to DAOstewards.eth in a bid to improve the DAO’s participation in VitaDAO’s governance.
• An attempt to implement shielded voting on ApeCoin DAO elections and AIPs has failed. Nearly 70% of the voting power opposed the idea.
• Bancor DAO has approved the sale of all token surpluses from Bancor 3 pools that have been disabled.

Active Voting Rounds

• Members of Galxe DAO are currently voting on an interesting proposal that seeks to improve the security and uniqueness of user interactions in the crypto space by developing a cross-platform device identification application and an NFT minting system.
• Things are not looking so good for AIP-264. The resubmitted proposal, which was rejected back in April, wants to create a multi-language information hub for the Ape ecosystem. However, most of the voters have already kicked against the idea. Voting will be open until July 27.
• In response to previous cases where funds were allocated through binding governance proposals, Decentraland DAO has begun voting on a proposal to restrict the appropriation of funds from the DAO treasury to the established Grants Framework.
• If approved, BIP-368 will give Balancer DAO the go-ahead to allocate 100,000 USDC from the treasury towards 12 weeks of incentives for the protocol's launch on Avalanche.
• Amid reports that Sushi DAO and Head Chef Jared Grey were served with a subpoena by the U.S. SEC in March, the DAO is currently voting on hiring leading law firm Gresham International.

Upcoming Votes

• Voting on a proposal requesting 11,890 APE (approximately $25,000) to integrate ApeCoin DAO with Degenda, a community engagement platform, will begin on July 27.
• Later today, Unlock DAO will commence voting on a retroactive funding proposal to allocate 100 UDT to community members for their contribution.