Proposal: Whitelist RAILGUN (RAIL) with 75k Co-Investment
The mandatory Tweet from the Railgun main twitter account is confirmed. Apparently, community engagement is high (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and more). The proposal also received a large amount of attention, but not suspiciously high - there may have been some spambot activity (on Twitter also), but importantly the voices of real community members are perfectly identifiable. Whether or not 100% of the engagement is organic is besides the point - it got Bancor in front of the faces of some new potential community members in a positive way. However, it is a little weird.
The proposal also attracted someone whom the DAO has never met before, @imchinese, who joined our Discourse page apparently to criticize the Railgun project in a public forum. While delivered completely without tact, and in an apparently deliberate, inflammatory manner, the comments should be considered carefully before whitelisting status is granted.
So, I have combed through some of the key accusations leveled against Railgun by @imchinese, @Winston-Smith and @Richard, and comment on them here:
Is Railgun a scam? Probably not.
A link to an apparent news vendor for crypto projects was provided; CryptoVigilanteNews claims to “keep you informed and up to date on the latest scams and nefarious figures within the blockchain space.” However, it doesn’t seem credible as a source. It’s Twitter profile has been active since August, but has only garnered 43 followers during the interim. The article reads more like a 4chan or Reddit post, than a news blog. However, despite the author’s lack of writing skill, and hyperbolic FUD-like manner, some of the arguments are very convincing. The concerning details are almost lost in the meandering ramble of the blog post - but not lost entirely. An apparent demonstration of the lack of privacy is presented (readers are encouraged to determine for themselves if the demonstration is sufficient to warrant suspicion), attention is paid to the founder’s alias, Emmanuel Goldstein (a character from George Orwell’s novel, “1984”) and his alleged AI-generated portrait, among other things. It should be noted that a pseudonym and fake profile picture are not out of the ordinary for crypto projects.
It should be noted that the proposal’s author, @ThePerpetual is an active and respected member of the Bancor community. That the proposal was created and submitted by one of our own makes the likelihood of a deliberate rug pull exploit even more remote.
It has to be said that this proposal, the obvious and non-obvious FUD surrounding it, the spam it attracted both on Twitter and our Discourse page, has been weird. In light of everything, it seems at least prudent to postpone the whitelisting of Railgun until a respectful dialogue on these topics can be established. A representative of the Railgun team/community was present on the last Bancor community call. It is reasonable to expect that if this attempt is unsuccessful, that we might invite them back to allay these concerns in an open discussion.
The Automaton will vote AGAINST the whitelisting status of Railgun until clarity regarding the criticisms it received during the voting period can be addressed.
Proposal: Increase Co-investment Limit to 2.1M BNT on the ROOK-BNT pool
The Automaton will vote FOR increased single-sided capacity in the ROOK pool.
Temperature Check: Rebrand Bancor as a part of v3’s marketing efforts
This proposal doesn’t contain any actionable items, other than to acknowledge that marketing is important, and that Bancor should have better marketing. While I think this is a non-controversial opinion - and one the Automaton would certainly agree to, the proposal spends a lot of time addressing Bancor’s logo and name - which are probably the least important aspects of an informed marketing strategy. The proposal is also suggesting that meme culture and the attention of Crypto Twitter is essential - whereas evidence suggests that demographic is quickly bored; appeals made to their satirical sensibilities or their appetite for new flavors of the week is likely to win their favor for only a short while. Bancor can, should, and will have better brand development and management, but I doubt it will require a meme logo.
All of that said, I think a mini-brand like BancorSwap is a good idea. The following text is attributed to Z of Harvest Finance, who has articulated my view better than I could.
…using a completely new name will lose the ability to leverage Bancor’s brand. For the same reason you’ve got
Samsung TV
Samsung Watch
Sony PlayStation
Sony Music
These brands leverage their names to bootstrap their new products vs. starting from scratch:
Super Forte TV
Spaghani Watch
B-ProSwap
etc.
Sushi is indeed throwing nuddles on the wall with their kashi, naruto, sakura, Orochimarubox. I have no freaking clue what their products are about. I’d learn from their mistakes and lean towards
Bancor Swap
Bancor DAO (see?)
Bancor Pay
Bancor Earn
Bancor Learn
Bancor [insert_any_top_keyword]
etc.
*Trying to reinvent the wheel might be very costly. *
Then with each new product, you not only get the bootstrap fame of the core ‘Bancor’ brand but also of its existing army of products. Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Mail.
The Automaton is voting AGAINST as a general statement of disagreement with the tone and specific arguments raised by @DarkKnight. However, Bancor’s marketing can obviously be improved (and it is being improved).
Proposal: Increase Bancor’s Bug Bounty Payout on Immunefi
This proposal appeared on Snapshot prematurely. The Automaton is Voting FOR, to indicate that this is how it will likely vote when the proposal appears on Snapshot in its final form, and following the mandatory wait time.