[PRC #0] - Constitution

Governance
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TL;DR:

  • Forming & encoding a mission & guiding principles of the PWN DAO
  • This is a kick-off thread - discussion should follow here.

Mode: Community
Proposal: WIP (TBD ETA 7 days)
I put up the placeholder proposal to start occupying your mental space with the constitutional agenda.

On-chain actions: Publish an IPFS hash of the constitution via a token vote

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Finally here is my proposed draft of the PWN DAO Constitution:

PWN DAO Constitution

This document constitutes the guiding principles of the PWN DAO and sets its core mission.

I. Pragmatic Idealism

While we set a course for operating a globally decentralized autonomous organization of PWN DAO in a way that increases individual liberties and fosters open access to safe and stable financial tools for everyone’s benefit, we do so acknowledging real-world constraints. We operate in the most resourceful and financially rational way possible to ensure the long-lasting operation of the PWN DAO and its services.

II. Credit Collective, Not a Bank

PWN DAO aims to become an open credit collective fostering services for its members and community, rather than competing with the most popular retail products.

III. True DeFi

Every service PWN DAO sets to build and provide must be operated in a non-custodial way at its core. This means that users maintain control of their funds at all times. PWN DAO shall not ever get to a position where it could seize funds in its contracts in a non-standard way (as any other user).

IV. Build Tools

PWN DAO’s goal is to build and maintain a comprehensive suite of relevant and useful products and tools surrounding the PWN Protocol. It should not become a single product initiative, as then it would fail to live up to its potential.

V. Reward Proactive Enthusiasm

PWN DAO sets to reward proactivity and community business and ecosystem development to ensure that others have an incentive to proactively push PWN DAO forward

VI. Giving Back

PWN DAO sets it as a cultural standard to contribute back to the maintainers of code it is using, after our own core operational costs and needs are fully covered. This may include financial contributions, code improvements, or other forms of support.

VII. Build to Last

We optimize for longevity and long-lasting impact rather than playing short-term games chasing ephemeral hype. While we can follow trends, we don’t do so blindly without a long-term thesis in mind.

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I love it, I’m definitely signing it :heart:

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The proposed draft of the constitution for PWN DAO manages to outline the most important aspects that we need to stay true to, mainly permissionless & self-custodial access to the open finance. Also love the attitude towards giving back to the ecosystem.

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Thanks for putting this together!
I’m fully aligned with the mission of building open and permissionless financial tools, and I look forward to continuing to contribute to it.

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I fully agree with this. Excited to be part of this journey! :slight_smile:

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gm,

I like this, I have one comment regarding VI - giving back.

I think we should also consider the cultural/community side of this space. We should not be just giving back in terms of money, but also in actual cultural contribution, and help to foster this space.

Sometimes, it can be way too noisy (and scammy) and the reputation of crypto is always at stake, why not take extra steps to preserve it and actually support the “soft” fundamentals – community, decentralization, connection.

I guess this all is implied in the “other forms of support”, but I think it deserves to be explicit.

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I agree with the above, it’s a clear outline of PWN’s objectives and principles.

Point II is especially important as a reference to the kind of protocol PWN is set out to become, with the structure akin to local economy institutions, guided by providing services and value to the community and not only increasing shareholder revenue.

Point III may be of some contention. I would like there to be a mechanism to perhaps freeze loans in case one of the users gets their wallet compromised, as I have personally been a victim of such in the past. PWN would not need to be the sole arbiter in cases like this, as there are cybersecurity firms better equipped to investigate true ownership of the wallet and provide information, but I would be against enshrining in the constitution an amendment that does not allow for recovery of funds locked in the platform. I believe it can be phrased differently.

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Hmm… To address the “recovery point” I don’t think that’s something we should be enforcing or even promoting as a DeFi project. Imho what you describe would be a core functionality of a wallet, not an app.

This is mitigable via Safe etc. and should be left to the user. I’d refrain from implementing any kind of forced ‘asset seizure’ outside of the loan terms all together, let alone making any of this to be part of the constitution.

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Also EDIT: I think we should publish an IPFS hash of the constitution to ETH mainnet.

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Agree with Josef on this one.

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Love these
II. Credit Union, Not a Bank
III. True DeFi
IV. Build Tools
VII. Build to Last

I. Pragmatic Idealism
agree

We operate in the most resourceful and financially rational way possible

Can be hard know this in forward how to do it. We may in some cases just use best intentions and intuition what we have and go with the risk.
Maybe it sounds too confident for me?

V. Reward Proactive Enthusiasm

once its core contributors exhaust their potential

Idk, I would prefer not operating with this idea in constitution even if it can happens. Or maybe the formulation somehow triggers me.

VI. Giving Back
agree

back to the maintainers of code it is using,

in the first part is something what makes it for me harder to read and understand.

fully covered

The absolute state may open question what it is exactly

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Thanks for input!
I guess you are right that counting with “exhausting potential of people” is realism and not idealism!

So I’m happy to reformulate! Unless you have a suggestion for the alternative formulation.

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Thanks, Some comments:

Maintenance)

  • How can the Constitution itself be changed or at least amended? Is it through voting on proposals? If so, we should mention this in detail here, IMHO.
  • If it cannot be changed at all, this seems to conflict with Build to Last

Operation)

  • I understand that the Constitution outlines general guiding principles and the core mission. For example, the governance part explains how the DAO will operate. However, we should at least mention here that operations will be executed in a specific way—unless modified by a newly executed proposal.
  • Similarly, how will operational costs be covered? Will they come from protocol fees? If so, how should those fees be allocated?
  • The same comment goes for Giving Back, how will contributions be tracked and assessed?
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maybe just omit that part?

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