How do we fix the GNO distribution problem?

Governance
16

Another thing to add here. For the SAFE Token proposal (GIP-2) we have defined a distribution philosophy to guide design decisions around the token distribution. It looks like this:

Distribute the SAFE Token fairly and sustainably across a wide range of relevant stakeholders to foster active governance of the Gnosis Safe ecosystem.

  • “Fair”
    • SAFE rewards must be proportional to the contribution to the Safe ecosystem
    • There should be no way to benefit from insider knowledge or other ways of “gaming the system”
  • “Sustainably”
    • We don’t want to create a pump & dump scheme, so the distribution should be designed with a long-term perspective.
    • The SAFE governance should not be exclusively controlled by early participants, rather future stakeholders should also have means of becoming involved.
  • “Wide range”
    • We want the SAFE distribution to be as inclusive as possible, so the governance will benefit from a wide range of interests and opinions.
    • In order to achieve a plurality of perspectives, different types of stakeholders should become SAFE Holder, including investors, builders and users.
  • “relevant stakeholders”
    • While we want a wide distribution, we don’t want to drop tokens to everyone. So SAFE should only be rewarded to parties that have an actual “stake” in the Safe ecosystem
    • These stakeholders should be aligned with the with the objectives of the Safe ecosystem
  • “Active governance”
    • We don’t want the SAFE token to become a speculative asset. Rather, we want to distribute the token to parties that we think will be interested in participating actively in SAFE governance
    • Our end-goal is to remove Gnosis as a gatekeeper so we are aiming to achieve active governance participation

I think something similar could be adopted for making decisions around the GNO distribution. With some adjustments such as:

  • Future GNO Distribution should not be made at expense of current GNO holders or only if the resulting upside justifies the dilution
  • GNO might also be seen as a tool for future fund-raising for the GnosisDAO
  • GNO should be used to incentivize active participation in the GnosisDAO governance process (something similar to the DAOstack’s “DAOstake”
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