• The Foundation has set the future of funding for the NDC based on significant milestones post V1 Governance
• The launch of the Grassroots Support Initiative where projects in need of funding or support can engage directly with the NEAR Foundation to discuss options in the interim of direct support from the NDC 
• If you are looking for support, you can schedule time with the team here

One of the central tenets of Web3 is decentralisation. Decentralisation is central to creating an open web because it underpins an ecosystem’s anti-fragility, sustainability, scalability, and censorship resistance (amongst other important characteristics). A core part of a decentralised ecosystem is a robust self-governance infrastructure that empowers users and the community.

Decentralisation is something that has guided the Foundation as a northstar, but as in all emerging fields sometimes the path toward that goal can be winding, complicated, and messy. That’s why we thought it would be important to take a moment to discuss the place of the NDC on that journey, the steps ahead, and how we can help the community get the support it needs along the way. 

Back in August 2022, the Community Working Group was formed by a collection of prominent NEAR community nodes with the purpose of establishing a new framework and implementation plan for ecosystem self-governance infrastructure and an associated treasury that could help ensure the ecosystem would continue on its path to decentralisation while giving everyone the chance to have their voice heard. This is how and why the NEAR Digital Collective (NDC) was formed. 

As the champion supporting the creation of decentralised governance infrastructure, the NDC plays an important role in the future of the NEAR ecosystem. Decentralised governance infrastructure will enable the community to vote (using an on-chain mechanism) on the allocation of funds, help ensure that decisions are made in a fair and representative manner, and further decentralise the NEAR ecosystem, something that is important both philosophically and practically for the healthy development of any Web3 ecosystem.

So far, the NDC has already successfully launched the NDC Community Treasury, the IAMHuman voting initiative and V0 Governance, all major milestones for the ecosystem and vital pieces of governance infrastructure.

Funding for the NDC

Understanding the important role that the NDC can play in the future of the ecosystem, the NEAR Foundation is fully committed to its long term success. Of the Foundation’s treasury, a substantial portion has been earmarked for community initiatives like the NDC, which the Foundation intends to advance to the NDC Community Treasury over time as the ecosystem’s governance infrastructure matures.

In order to further support the mission of the NDC as they continue to make progress, the Foundation is announcing today that it will provide an advance to the NDC Community Treasury in the region of 15M NEAR, subject to the successful completion of the V1 Governance elections. The criteria for this initial treasury advance will include (a) all V1 Governance elected positions being filled; and (b) the implementation by the community of a standardized funding request framework as a benchmark for responsible work moving forward.

After this initial advance, the Foundation is also reiterating its commitment to further treasury advances (up to 100M NEAR). These further advances will be based on careful work with the community to set out specific criteria for milestones that will ensure funds are deployed responsibly and in a way that helps achieve the long-term goals of the wider ecosystem. 

Once V1 Governance is live, the community will be able to create success metrics for the NDC and vote on them as a collective with the support of the Foundation and other ecosystem nodes. 

The Foundation is also aware that, as a result of various delays with the launch of V1 Governance, the NDC Community Treasury is close to reaching the original USD1.5m V0 Governance budget cap contained in the NDC Community Treasury trust instrument. To ensure the community can continue to move forwards to the critical goal of V1 Governance launch, the Foundation will support the NDC Community Treasury by providing an additional USD400k buffer above that original budget cap.

The NDC nominations for all 3 houses in V1 Governance are currently live until September 7th, with elections then kicking off on September 8th and running until September 22nd. We would encourage anyone who is interested in getting involved in this critical ecosystem milestone, and playing a role in steering the ecosystem forwards, to nominate themselves.

Support for grassroots projects

As part of the Foundation’s commitment to decentralisation and ensuring the voice of the community is heard, the Foundation announced in November 2022 that in most instances it would stop providing capital to the ecosystem through grants and instead have the NDC gradually take over that responsibility. While the Foundation understands that grants are a vital resource for grassroots projects to build and grow, we believed it was important to support moving them to a more decentralised model.  

However, since the timeline to implement V1 Governance has taken longer than anticipated, we recognise that ecosystem funding has been more limited, which has put significant pressure on builders in the ecosystem. Concerns around funding have been a major topic of discussion in the community over the last few weeks, and the Foundation appreciates that the community has rallied together to surface these issues in an open and constructive way. This feedback has helped the Foundation understand that it should have moved more quickly to provide interim support. 

To help address this issue, and to better support grassroots projects who are in need of support while the NDC continues to ramp up, the Foundation is launching a grassroots support initiative for any project in the ecosystem that is currently in need of urgent support. The Ecosystem Relations team is leading on the initiative from the Foundation and they have set up an open calendar for community members to connect directly with them to discuss how the Foundation can best support. 

Projects will be able to ask for emergency support, either financial or otherwise, by booking time with the team. This initiative will remain in place until NDC funding options become more readily available. While the Foundation will not be able to fund every request, we are committed to carefully reviewing every one we receive and prioritizing them based on immediate need and how well they line up with the goals of the broader ecosystem. 

You can book time with the Ecosystem Relations Team here.

Grassroots projects and the community are the lifeblood of the NEAR ecosystem and the Foundation is committed to ensuring projects have the resources they need as we continue to create a thriving, decentralised ecosystem together.

The post An Update on the NDC Funding and Support for Grassroots Projects appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

After laying this decentralization groundwork, the NDC is gearing up for its first elections. As of July 19th at 15:00 pm UTC: I-AM-HUMAN OG SBT Soul Bound Tokens holders can now nominate themselves for office. This is your opportunity to upvote and to comment on candidates you believe in and who could add the most value to the future of NEAR! 

What are the key dates to remember for the NDC election?

• July 19, 15:00:00 UTC — Start date for candidacy submissions on BOS and get I-AM-HUMAN SBT
• September 1, 23:59:59 UTC — Deadline for Voter Registration via I-AM-HUMAN
• September 1, 23:59:59 UTC — Deadline for applying for an OG Badge for candidacy eligibility
• September 7, 23:59:59 UTC  — Deadline for candidacy submissions
• September 8, 00:00:00 UTC —  Voting begins at Near APAC in Vietnam
• September 22, 23:59:59 UTC — Voting ends

Below you will find a list of frequently asked questions about the elections, from how participation and voting works to candidate selection, election integrity, and more.  

NDC V1 Governance Structure

NDC V1 Governance includes three elected houses, a voting body, and a community treasury. The qualification to run for V1 governance requires an OG SBT. Elected Community members (OG’s) of each house are responsible for planning, overseeing, and allocating funding aligned with the ecosystems Northstar to grow and decentralize NEAR. 

What will the NDC government look like?

The NDC government will be composed of three houses, structured as following:

Nominate Yourself for Candidacy

Who can run for office?

In order to run for office, you must hold an OG SBT. These aren’t given out to just anyone; these are for people that have been actively contributing to the NEAR ecosystem for extended periods of time. If you already have an OG SBT, you can self-nominate yourself right now.

To find out the full criteria and to see if you qualify, please refer to Safeguards and OG. If you still require help, head over to the official NDC Telegram and ask a member of the team for help.

Why should you run for office?

If you’re an OG, we need your expertise and authentic commitment to the continued growth, success, and most importantly… Decentralization of NEAR. This is an opportunity for you to actualize an incredible future for NEAR.

What information will be available in the candidate profiles?

The candidate profiles are on BOS Nomination and will contain their name, background, affiliation, and policy positions. The profiles should give you a clear overview of what to expect should you select them as your preferred candidate. You can choose to upvote the candidate and comment on the candidate profiles as long as you are registered through I-AM-HUMAN.

Election Overview

Nomination starts the NDC v1 governance process and runs for 50 days and allow the community to rally their candidates. The nomination ends on September 7, and the election starts on September 8 and runs for two weeks. The elected representatives are onboarded for one week, and begin to organize the first government for the NEAR ecosystem.

Nomination Period: July 19th to September 7th, 2023

Election Period: September 8th – September 22nd, 2023

Start of 1st Congress: October 1st – April 1st, 2024

How can my vote shape the future of the NEAR ecosystem?

By engaging in the election process, you get to help determine the direction of the NDC and the future of decentralization on NEAR. This is not like a presidential election where your vote is a thimble of water added to a sea. Every vote in the NDC election actually makes a difference, and some of the elected positions will likely come down to just a few votes. When the candidates have very different policy positions, each vote has a potentially outsize impact.

How else does my vote matter?

By participating in the elections process and on-chain voting, you are also contributing to your own on-chain reputation.

Participation

How can I participate in the NDC election?

The main ways to participate in the NDC election are of course voting for candidates or running as a candidate, but there’s a lot more to it than just that. Through our Nominations platform, voters and candidates will be able to engage with one another discussing policy positions and contribute to candidacy social proof through commenting or upvoting.

What is the eligibility criteria to vote?

Any person with a Face Verified Soul Bound Token (SBT) is eligible to vote, and anyone can get one with a NEAR wallet through I-AM-HUMAN.

What is the eligibility to run in the NDC election?

In order to be eligible to run in the NDC election, candidates will need to be one or more of the following:

• A Champion of the NDC that is still actively contributing to the ecosystem. Champions are ecosystem leaders that run nodes or projects and contribute to a workgroup or initiative they feel passionate about to help bring NDC V1 Gov online. They contribute by lending time or resources and also help by referring or recruiting contributors to help deliver objectives.
• An NDC Contributor that forfeited or received a bounty through June ’23 that is still actively contributing to the ecosystem.
• A member of NEAR Inc or NEAR Foundation before the Pagoda rebrand in Feb ’22 that is still actively contributing to the ecosystem.
• A member of VCs, nodes, projects, or spinout founders in the ecosystem before the Pagoda rebrand in Feb ’22 that is still actively contributing to the ecosystem (including, but not limited to, Aurora, NEAR UA, Proximity Labs, Lyrik(MOVE) Capital, NEAR Balkans, MetaWeb, MetaPool, Orderly, NEAR Vietnam, Satori, Open Shard Alliance, Open Forest Protocol, Human Guild, HAPI Labs, Calimero, OnMachina, Ref, PemBrock, etc.).
• A known OG and Community member for at least one year that is still actively contributing to the ecosystem.

Remember: bids for candidacy can be turned in as soon as July 19 and no later than September 7th. Give yourself ample time to fill out a form detailing your background, experience, and what you plan to bring to NDC governance. This material you provide helps the NEAR community make an informed decision about your candidacy.

Election Integrity

What procedures will be in place to ensure election integrity?

We would love to see every single person in the NEAR ecosystem vote in NDC elections, but in order to maintain election integrity, there is one important requirement in order to cast a valid ballot. You will need to have a Face-Verified Soul Bound Token (SBT) linked with a NEAR wallet. You may use your main wallet or create a new one explicitly for the purpose of voting.

Does Face Verification mean you have a picture of my face connected to my wallet?

No. I-AM-HUMAN does not store your biometrics. You are also free to request the deletion of any and all data collected in this process should you decide to forfeit your FV SBT.

Will there be any election oversight?

It goes without saying that we want as fair and transparent an election as possible. Given that we are remote, and that the internet can be a strange place, there have been certain safeguards implemented into all NDC elections, that deter poor behavior, and also guarantee that bad actors are punished if they are able to manipulate an election. Election integrity can ultimately be broken down into six clear safeguards: 

Safeguard 1. Fair Voting Policy (voters agreement to not sell votes). On behalf of all voters, holding an I-Am-Human verified account, you agree when you vote, that you will not sell your vote. If it turns out that you do sell your vote, you are eligible to post-election enforcement from the TC (see safeguard 6). 

Safeguard 2. Candidate Agreement to Transparency and Accountability to not buy votes. On the candidates’ side, they all also agree to not buy votes for their election, and are equally eligible for post-election enforcement if they are found guilty. 

Safeguard 3. Implementing a Vote Bonding: Vote bonding is a mechanism designed to deter malicious voting behaviors. Participants must stake a certain amount of NEAR tokens, as a bond to vote. This bond ensures good faith participation and can be reclaimed post-voting if all rules are adhered to. However, if participants engage in vote manipulation, such as buying or selling votes, the bond is forfeited. This mechanism introduces a strong financial disincentive to engage in fraudulent activities, safeguarding the integrity of the voting process. Recently, in a NDC produced EasyPoll, the community had a majority vote to have a bond for the vote.

Safeguard 4. Pikes Peak review Election results ongoing/after. NEAR is fortunate enough to have the data visualization and tracking capabilities of Pikespeak, active and involved in the ecosystem. As a core supporter of NDC, Pikes Peak is also going to be monitoring election results both during and after the election to identify any anomalies and ensure it is done as fairly as possible. 

Safeguard 5. Whistleblower program and bounty. In addition to the technical safeguards and Pikespeak oversight, the NDC is also instituting a whistleblower incentive program whereby anyone who has knowledge of potential election fraud can receive a bounty assuming their claims as to people and impact are justified and accurate. 

Safeguard 6. Enforcement by Transparency Commission. In the event of any serious election fraud the investigation, and decision to remove, or forever ban either a voter or a candidate, will lie with the Transparency Commission. This means that there is ultimately no escape for a wrongdoer once they have been discovered or accused. The official Transparency Commission process is to field a complaint, investigate the complaint, and then publicly move to either remove, or ban the member in question from further participation. 

With these six safeguards, we are hopeful that all elections for the V1 framework will be fair and transparent.

Is NEAR Foundation or any other organization external to NDC involved?

No. The NDC community is the sole administrator of this election, though NDC funding originated at NEAR Foundation.

Voting

Voting powered by I-Am-Human proof of personhood soul-bound tokens (SBTs). 1 Human, 1 Vote kickstarts voting. future versions factor in activity throughout the NEAR Ecosystem, giving merit based on contribution and reputation.

What date does voting start for the NDC General Election?

The NDC Election starts on September 8, 00:00:00 UTC, which coincides with NEAR APAC in Vietnam.

How can I vote in the NDC election?

Voting in the NDC election is designed to be as simple as possible and will take place on NEAR’s Blockchain Operating System. A link to voting will be found on the NDC’s Medium, Telegram, and Discord. You’ll simply log in, review candidate profiles and their platforms, and submit your choices. Be sure to vote within the designated time frame to be sure your voice is counted.

What should I consider before voting for a candidate?

Just like in any civic election, you should familiarize yourself with the policy positions of the candidates as well as their backgrounds. All candidates will have been vetted and have an “OG SBT,” but will likely have widely divergent views on the direction of the NDC. Asking questions and commenting on their platforms can also be a valuable way to get clarity on any positions that seem unclear to you.

Can I change my vote once I’ve submitted it?

Since all votes are recorded on the blockchain, they are immutable and cannot be changed after submission. Therefore it is in your best interest to triple check your selections before hitting that “submit” button.

Information & Support

Where can I find the most accurate and up-to-date information about the NDC election?

You can find the most accurate and up-to-date information on the NDC’s Medium, Telegram, and Discord.

Where can I get support if I have any issues or questions during the election process?

You are welcome to reach out for support on Telegram or Discord.

Post-Election

How will the election results be announced?

Election results will be announced on the NDC’s Medium, Telegram, and Discord and will also be viewable in the Election UI. Winning candidates will be highlighted in green.

What happens after the election results are announced?

After the election results are announced, the elected representatives will convene for the first time in the first NDC governance town hall, where we will hear from elected members from the three branches of NDC governance.

The post NDC V1 Governance Elections FAQ appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

This critical milestone underscores the NEAR Foundation and NDC’s commitment to fair and equitable digital governance and representation built on NEAR.

The impact of I-AM-HUMAN’s 1,000 verified users

What does it mean to have 1,000 verified users? Simply put, it means 1,000 verified, unique human voices; 1,000 individual perspectives; and 1,000 contributors to NEAR Foundation’s mission of democratizing the digital world. 1,000 verified community members now have the opportunity to engage in governance voting, build an on-chain reputation, drive grassroots funding, and unlock the truly transformative power of DAOs.

This active engagement is helping reshape the way key decisions are made, moving away from centralized control and towards a truly decentralized, democratic governance model. 

Distributing voting power to the people with “Soul Bound Tokens”

I-AM-HUMAN is all about fairly distributing voting power to the people. At its heart is the concept of “Soul Bound Tokens” or SBTs. These aren’t your average digital tokens —each SBT represents a real individual, flesh-and-blood human being, verified through our innovative and user-friendly proof-of-humanity identity verification process. SBTs are the digital embodiment of you, assuring that your voice counts, and making the principle of “one person, one vote” a reality in the digital realm.

Minting your SBT is easy and only requires a NEAR wallet and your (adorable) human face. And don’t worry about what you look like since the image is encrypted and never seen by anyone. In fact, you always have the right to request the deletion of your data from I-AM-HUMAN and our partner Fractal. If you haven’t yet done so, give it a shot! It only takes a minute or two and we would love to have you be part of this important initiative. 

We’ve made sure the process of getting your unique SBT, or putting a digital stamp on your individuality, is simple and accessible. With Fractal’s help, we’ve been able to keep this process secure and respectful of your privacy rights, which for the NDC, is of paramount importance. 

“With the creation of the I-AM-HUMAN protocol, NDC sets a new standard for on-chain identity verification, empowering individuals to assert their humanity securely and transparently in the digital realm,” says Jane Wang, Product Lead at NDC Governance Working Group. “The I-AM-HUMAN protocol opens up a world of opportunities, from secure voting and governance participation to fair airdrops and reputation systems. We’re thankful for our partnership with Fractal, who has made the journey smooth with their field-tested identity solutions at NEAR.”

Other NDC Initiatives on the horizon

As NEAR Foundation and the NDC celebrate this major milestone, the commitment to innovation and improvement continues. The NDC is determined to provide an ever-improving experience for users, with initiatives underway to constantly improve user experience, strengthen data privacy, and expand our availability within the NEAR ecosystem. The NDC is actively creating a partnership roadmap for other organizations to leverage our proof-of-personhood solution, helping to empower our partners to ensure equitable decision-making within their own ecosystems.

The journey to 1,000 users has been exciting, but the NDC is far from finished. Every new user brings us one step closer to NEAR’s vision of a digital world where each individual’s voice is respected, and where the democratic process isn’t just a principle, but a practice.

So, if you haven’t already, we invite you to become a part of this revolutionary journey. Mint your own SBT, join our community, and make your unique mark in shaping the future of decentralized governance.

The NDC extends its deepest gratitude to each and every one of you for taking the opportunity to unlock elections, governance, and community treasury with us. These first 1,000 users are opening the door for thousands more to come. 
For updates, follow NDC on Medium and stay connected with us on this revolutionary journey!

The post NEAR Digital Collective’s I-AM-HUMAN Welcomes Its First 1000 Verified Humans appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

The launch of the NEAR Community Treasury has been championed by the Governance Working Group (‘GWG’), a group focussing on ecosystem governance initiatives as part of the NEAR Digital Collective (‘NDC’). The NDC is an ambitious grassroots initiative that brings together users, projects, stakeholders and partners of the NEAR ecosystem to promote self-governance, aiming to empower the ecosystem to collectively make decisions on everything from funding to elected representatives and more. It is a significant step towards an even further decentralised network.

The NEAR Community Treasury leverages an innovative legal framework that builds on work that has already been done utilising Guernsey Special Purpose Trust frameworks elsewhere in the industry. The NEAR community hopes that this framework should help to bring much-needed clarity to participants in decentralised autonomous organisations (‘DAOs’). Below for discussion purposes only is a high-level summary of some of the key features of the NEAR Community Treasury framework.

What is the NEAR Community Treasury and how is it structured?

A trust is a mechanism for holding assets so that the legal title to those assets is separated from the beneficial interest in those assets. One or more trustees are appointed as the ‘legal’ owners of the assets in question, and those trustees are bound by various duties and obligations to hold those assets either:

1.  for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries; or in certain cases,
2. to further one or more specified purposes (with a trust of this nature typically referred to as a ‘Purpose Trust‘).

The NEAR Community Treasury is a type of Purpose Trust, specifically a Guernsey Non-Charitable Purpose Trust (a ‘GNCPT’). A GNCPT is brought into existence when assets are transferred to one or more trustees (the ‘Trustees‘), and those trustees enter into a written settlement of trust (the ‘Trust Instrument’) with another party termed an enforcer (the ‘Enforcer‘) which determines how the assets subject to the trust will be administered.

The Trust Instrument sets out the duties and obligations of the Trustees and Enforcer, and also the various purposes that the NEAR Community Treasury was created to support. The NEAR Community Treasury is governed by Guernsey law at its inception (although this can be changed by the Trustees with NEAR community consent). The Trust Instrument has been drafted to deliberately minimise the trust that the NEAR community needs to place in the Trustees, the Enforcer and any centralised administrator. The NEAR Foundation has no control over the NEAR Community Treasury, nor any ownership right or interest in respect of any assets held in the NEAR Community Treasury.

The Trustees are required to administer the NEAR Community Treasury in accordance with the terms of the Trust Instrument and are also subject to various fiduciary duties which require them to, for example, always act honestly and in good faith and exercise their powers in furtherance of the purposes of the NEAR Community Treasury. The Trustees are also subject to a duty of care which requires them to employ the care, skill and diligence of a prudent person of business when administering the trust assets. Both the Trustees and Enforcer are also required to comply with all applicable laws and regulations in connection with their roles.

The Enforcer has a fiduciary duty to enforce the NEAR Community Treasury in relation to its non-charitable purposes and has a proactive oversight function, monitoring the Trustees and their administration of the NEAR Community Treasury to ensure they are complying with their duties and obligations. The Enforcer has the power to request information and documentation from the Trustees; and also has the power to remove one or more Trustees in certain circumstances (more on this below).

The Trustees can use the assets in the NEAR Community Treasury for any transaction or arrangement that furthers one or more purposes of the NEAR Community Treasury, provided the transaction and/or arrangement has been approved by the NEAR community. 

At this stage, the NEAR community has not yet launched any on-chain voting mechanism (although there are various potential implementations in development). The Trust Instrument therefore also provides the Trustees with a limited power – subject to various constraints – to use assets in the NEAR Community Treasury for any transaction or arrangement that furthers one or more purposes of the NEAR Community Treasury without requiring approval of the NEAR community (the ‘Limited Trustee Power‘). Once an on-chain voting mechanism is launched by the NEAR community, this Limited Trustee Power will fall away permanently.

The Trust Instrument was reviewed by a set of skilled external and community legal counsel in Switzerland, the US and Guernsey. A group of lawyers from the NEAR community also reviewed the Trust Instrument, alongside various members of the GWG. The Trustees are required to make a copy of the Trust Instrument available to the NEAR community, and a copy of the signed Trust Instrument will be stored on IPFS (and this post will be updated with the IPFS link once it is confirmed by the Enforcer). 

The NEAR Foundation does have any control over, or ownership of, the NEAR Community Treasury

What are the purposes of the NEAR Community Treasury?

The purposes of the NEAR Community Treasury are set out in Schedule 3 of the Trust Instrument, and consist of two types of purpose:

     (i) Core Purposes: to support and promote the operation and/or development of the NEAR Blockchain and/or associated ecosystem. These Core Purposes cannot be changed by anyone, although new Core Purposes can be added by the Trustees with NEAR community consent.

     (ii) Subsidiary Purposes: there are various Subsidiary Purposes including to stake the majority of the Trust Fund that is NEAR denominated, and to consider and if thought fit approve funding proposals from the NEAR community. Subsidiary Purposes can be added or removed by the Trustees with NEAR Community consent.

Any assets held in the NEAR Community Treasury must therefore be used by the Trustees to support one or more of these Core and/or Subsidiary Purposes.

Who are the Trustees and Enforcer of the NEAR Community Treasury?

The initial Trustees are the following individuals from the NEAR ecosystem:

• Alina Tustanovska  
• Carolin Geier 
• Rahmat Albariqi (Riqi) 
• Rune Bentien 
• Antonio Morales Cordoba 

The initial Enforcer is Francesco Paolo Piatti, who is an experienced lawyer in the Web3 space. The initial Trustees and Enforcer were selected by the GWG, a grassroots community group that has been working on various ecosystem governance initiatives. The process the GWG used to select the initial Trustees and Enforcer is set out in detail here.

How do the Trustees and Enforcer operate?

There must always be a minimum of 3 Trustees (although there is no upper limit specified in the Trust Instrument). Trustees can be appointed and/or removed by the Enforcer at the direction of the NEAR community. The Enforcer also has the power to remove any Trustee where that Trustee has committed a breach of a purpose or a breach of fiduciary duty. Conversely, the Enforcer can be removed by the Trustees at the direction of the NEAR community.

Each Trustee has one vote on any proposal. Trustees are required to disclose any direct or indirect conflict of interest in respect of any proposal, and by default cannot participate in any vote where they are conflicted. The Trust Instrument prohibits the same person occupying the role of a Trustee and Enforcer simultaneously.

The Trustees and Enforcer are entitled to be paid a reasonable remuneration for performing their respective roles (and the NEAR community has control in respect of this remuneration on the basis that, to the extent any remuneration is put in place that the NEAR community disagrees with, the NEAR community can remove the Trustees and/or Enforcer).

What assets are held by the NEAR Community Treasury?

At the outset, the NEAR Community Treasury will hold 5,662,061 NEAR that was donated to the NEAR Digital Collective initiative by the NEAR community (along with a nominal amount of USDT that was donated by the NEAR Foundation, consistent with its legal purpose, as part of the administrative set-up process). The NEAR Community Treasury wallet can be viewed here.

The Trustees will administer this initial trust property as a proof of concept, enabling the NEAR community to establish how to best utilise this GNCPT framework and demonstrate that the NEAR Community Treasury framework can be used effectively. Moving forward, the NEAR Foundation (as well as other NEAR ecosystem participants) can make further contributions of assets into the NEAR Community Treasury based on the needs of the ecosystem.

How will the NEAR Community Treasury operate in practice?

The Trustees provided NEAR addresses, as well as Twitter and Telegram handles (but not physical addresses), in the Trust Instrument. They are able to make decisions as they would normally in the absence of the trust (e.g. via real-time written communications like Telegram or Signal) without having to adopt any additional formalities or bureaucratic processes.

The Trustees control the NEAR Community Treasury multi-sig wallet and can execute transactions that support one or more of the NEAR Community Treasury’s purposes from this wallet, with a majority of Trustees required to approve/sign any transaction. Any such transaction or arrangement must support one or more of the NEAR Community Treasury’s purposes and would require NEAR community consent; however as discussed above until the NEAR community implements some form of on-chain voting mechanism, the Trustees have the Limited Trustee Power to allocate funds from the NEAR Community Treasury without requiring the consent of the NEAR community. Any such allocations would still need to support or further one or more of the Core and/or Subsidiary Purposes.

Based on the GWG’s proposed framework, the NEAR community’s intention during this initial period is for the NEAR Community Treasury to receive funding proposals just from the 3 ecosystem grassroots DAOs – being the Developer DAO, Marketing DAO and Creatives DAO. The NEAR Community Treasury’s scope will likely be widened moving forwards as determined by the Trustees and the NEAR community, potentially becoming the primary treasury/capital allocation node in the ecosystem.

Based on input from the GWG, the Trust Instrument envisages that the NEAR community will develop an on-chain voting mechanism that leverages proof of personhood technology (i.e. technology that can verify there is an identifiable, unique individual controlling a NEAR account).

Once the NEAR community launches this on-chain voting mechanism, the Limited Trustee Power will fall away permanently. The NEAR community will then be able to put forward and approve funding proposals, and also direct the Trustees to take various actions including:

• fulfill grant requests;
• add Core Purposes and add/remove Subsidiary Purposes;
• appoint/remove Trustee(s) and/or Enforcer; and
• change the NEAR Community Treasury’s governing law.

What are the benefits of the NEAR Community Treasury structure?

1. Participant Liability

One of the most significant legal issues currently facing DAOs and other decentralised initiatives is participant (or token-holder) liability. Recent legal developments (for example in connection with the CFTC’s enforcement action against Ooki DAO) have only heightened the uncertainty and risks in this context, particularly with respect to DAOs being classified as ‘general partnerships’ or ‘unincorporated associations’ and creating potential joint and several liability exposure for participants. This means participants potentially being held individually liable on an unlimited basis for their own actions, and/or the actions of the entire DAO/initiative, and/or the actions of certain participants.

It is the hope of the NEAR community that the NEAR Community Treasury may help to mitigate these potential participant liability issues:

• The Trustees undertake (in their capacity as Trustees) certain activities and actions (e.g. holding treasury, making grants) that might otherwise expose ecosystem participants to potential liability. Other ecosystem participants do not undertake these activities and instead exercise oversight over the Trustees and Enforcer.
• When the Trustees (a) act (as they are required to do) in accordance with the provisions of the Trust Instrument and their fiduciary and statutory duties as trustees; and (b) also make it clear to any third parties that they are acting in their capacities as trustees of the Community Treasury, then the liability of each Trustee should be limited to the value of the assets held in the NEAR Community Treasury.

In addition:

• The Trustees are indemnified under the Trust Instrument, meaning that they will be compensated for any liability/losses suffered by them in carrying out their duties as Trustees from the assets held in the NEAR Community Treasury.
• The Trust Instrument also makes it clear that the Trustees will not be liable for any losses arising to or suffered by the assets in the NEAR Community Treasury (save for any losses arising in respect of a Trustee’s breach of trusts arising from their own fraud, wilful misconduct or gross negligence).

2. Off-chain activities

Without a formal legal structure, if a DAO/decentralised initiative wishes to participate in an off-chain transaction or arrangement then typically individual participants would be required to enter into the relevant transaction/arrangement in their individual capacity (and/or some other affiliated legal person); exposing them to potential liability. While the NEAR Community Treasury is a ‘legal arrangement’ and so not itself a ‘legal person’ (i.e. it does not have a separate legal personality from the Trustees, unlike for example a limited liability company), the Trustees are able to interact with the off-chain world – in their capacity as trustees – in a similar way as other entities (for example, opening a bank account). 

3. Tax

Certain activities undertaken by DAOs, particularly holding a DAO treasury, can create complex tax consequences for participants (especially in the absence of any clear guidance). One critical risk is the possibility of tax liability arising in connection with DAO activities being attributed to (and so payable by) individual participants.

The NEAR Community hopes that the NEAR Community Treasury may mitigate that risk for participants by ensuring the relevant activities are being undertaken by the Trustees (in their capacity as Trustees). In addition, as the NEAR Community Treasury does not have any Guernsey resident beneficiaries or Guernsey-source income, it should not be liable to tax in Guernsey nor be required to make any on-going tax or reporting filings. 

4. Efficient and trustless

Unlike many other alternative DAO legal ‘wrapper’ or ‘proxy’ structures, the NEAR Community Treasury does not rely on a centralised administrative body to be brought into existence or maintain its legal standing – the execution of the Trust Instrument by the relevant parties is all that is required. As mentioned above, there are also minimal operational formalities, meaning the Trustees can make decisions as they would normally (i.e. as if the trust wasn’t there). 

Under Guernsey law, there is also significant flexibility regarding who can serve as a Trustee or Enforcer, including no requirement for a locally-registered professional trustee/trust company to serve as a trustee. To the extent any disputes were to arise in connection with the NEAR Community Treasury, these would be heard and ultimately determined by the courts in Guernsey.

What happens if the NEAR Community Treasury is terminated?

The NEAR Community Treasury is irrevocable and can continue to exist for as long as there are Core and/or Subsidiary Purposes to support. The NEAR community could however direct the Trustees to transfer all of the NEAR Community Treasury assets to another trust (provided such a transfer supported one or more Core and/or Subsidiary Purposes).

The Trust Instrument also contains various contingencies in the event all of the NEAR Community Treasury’s Core and/or Subsidiary Purposes cease to exist and/or one or more Trustees undertake a transaction or arrangement that is in breach of one or more Core and/or Subsidiary purposes. In such circumstances, the Enforcer (acting reasonably and in good faith) has the power to direct the Trustees to transfer the NEAR Community Treasury assets to a new trust or otherwise deploy them for the benefit of the NEAR community.

Some closing thoughts

The NEAR community hopes that the NEAR Community Treasury framework will enable the NEAR community to benefit from a decentralised treasury in a risk mitigated manner. For more information about Guernsey Non-Charitable Purpose Trust frameworks, a template Guernsey Special Purpose Trust Instrument will shortly be hosted on the NEAR Foundation GitHub (and this post will be updated to include the relevant link, once available).

Disclaimer: Nothing in this article/post should be construed as legal, tax or investment advice. This post might not reflect all current updates to applicable laws, regulations or guidance. Any templates or documentation referenced in this post are made available on a non-reliance basis and the authors do not assume any responsibility for their contents or any consequences of their use. The authors disclaim any obligation to update this post, and also reserve the right to make any changes to this post without notice. The subject matter of this post deals with an emerging and uncertain area of the law and there are no guarantees (and none are given, of whatsoever nature, by the authors or otherwise) that the NEAR Community Treasury framework will effectively mitigate any of the risks identified above. In all cases persons should conduct their own investigation and analysis of the information in this post. Please consult with a reputable lawyer in your jurisdiction for any questions or concerns and before making use of any templates or documentation referenced in this post. Neither this post nor the NEAR Community Treasury constitutes, or is indented to constitute, the offer or sale of any security or token.

The post NEAR Digital Collective Legal Framework appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

The NEAR Digital Collective (NDC) is an ambitious project that brings together users, projects, stakeholders and partners of the NEAR ecosystem to create a radically new way of governing itself.  

By creating a framework that allows any member of the network to have a say in how NEAR is run, the NDC’s goal is to combine transparency, collective decision making, evolving governance models, and self-determination in a completely new way.  

The NDC plans on doing this by helping to create the NEAR Constitution, a unifying document that enshrines the ideas of self-governance and decentralization into the core of how the NEAR ecosystem works. 

Why is this important? 

The NEAR ecosystem is made up of over 1,000 projects, regional hubs, funding nodes, infrastructure providers, and more than 20 million wallets. That’s a lot of people. The NDC was established to help all those involved take an active role in how NEAR evolves. 

Whether that’s how funding is allocated, how elections take place, or who represents the mosaic of interests that make up this thriving and diverse ecosystem. The NDC wants to help everyone have a voice, and for those voices to be recorded on chain.   

How does it do that? 

The NDC is helping develop a system of governance. Once in place, it will allow people to vote on a wide variety of issues, elect members to different governing councils, and even make amendments to the constitution itself.

The essence of the NDC brings this radical framework to life, and allows the community to then engage and take part in actively shaping the future of NEAR. 

In its current stage, the NDC is working on a governance structure that includes the following sections: 

• Voting Body – This is every active near account, as qualified by the governance framework

• House of Merit – A group of experienced community members appointed by members of the ecosystem to represent them during votes and key decisions. 
• Council of Advisors – Advisors appointed to help shape the direction of the House of Merit.
• Transparency Commission – members of the community appointed to ensure checks and balances, are in place and upheld. 
• Community Treasury – Members of the House of Merit with support from the Council of Advisors help facilitate voting on how community funds are allocated. 

You can find more information on the above here. 

This is a work in progress, and is currently overseen by the Governance Working Group, or GWG. This is a collection of community members working on refining the models of governance that will help everyone have their say.  

The Collective and the GWG invites anyone to share and discuss ideas. All the details on how to do that can be found here. 

What is the scope of the NDC? 

While the constitution and governance models are key, the NDC will also help to shape, define and deliver the following: 

1. NEAR Constitution. 
2. Create and deploy local and global on-chain decision-making. 
3. Create and deploy a repository of local and global on-chain journals, logs, and minutes. 
4. Establish governing bodies, their operations, powers, and what checks and balances each one needs.
5. Create and maintain a community treasury with a complete set of operating procedures and safeguards.  
6. Create and maintain Community Guidelines, Code of Conduct, and Dispute Resolution protocols. 
7. Create and deploy a communications strategy to ensure the work carried out by the NDC and GWG is easy to access. 
8. A strategy to help the community find, access and use the NDC. 
9. Help develop and deploy a DAO Governance Model
10.  Facilitate growth of the NEAR ecosystem more broadly.

What role does the NEAR Foundation play in the NDC? 

The Foundation is a partner and contributor to the NDC. It supports the work being carried out by the Collective, and will ultimately look to hand over its funding role to the community once it is ready to do so. 

Who is working on NEAR Digital Collective? 

The Collective is made up for members of the NEAR ecosystem. Some are former members of the Foundation, others are founders of projects, and others still are long term users and supporters of the blockchain and the projects that are built on it. 

Feel free to reach out to any of the team leads. 

Why is Decentralization Important? 

Decentralization is a term that has become synonymous with blockchain, but has its origins as far back as the French Revolution in the 18th century. 

Decentralization then, and now is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group.

This is important because, as any student of history will tell you, when power becomes overly centralized, the opportunity for abuse increases. In 2022, members of the blockchain community experienced first hand what happens when centralized authorities abuse their power. 

Members of the NEAR Community believe that the goal of decentralization is to improve on what came before. It believes that increasing transparency and democracy creates a fair and more equal community for everyone. 

But to get there requires a commitment to a process. A process that will need to evolve and adapt to the needs of the community, and for that community to take part in shaping it.

Decentralization is vital for the long term health and sustainability of any collection of people and ideas. The NDC is how the NEAR community is trying to achieve that.   

How do I get involved? 

Any member of the NEAR community is free to join any of the following workgroups:. 

• Constitution
• Governance & Tech Governance
• Legal
• Community Engagement
• Communications

Get started by completing the Governance Working Group (GWG) onboarding process.

Or if you’re looking for a deeper dive into how all of this works, you can see the Overview page. 

The post What is the NEAR Digital Collective? appeared first on NEAR Protocol.