[DAO Discussion] Introduce Treasury Operators w/ Trade Teams

[MattMacGyver]

Introduce Role of Treasury Operator w/ Trade Teams

High Level Overview:

Propose bringing on Two Treasury Operators to oversee and maintain the treasury when without an elected Treasury Manager. To incentivize performance, these individuals are eligible for a reward from profitable strategies they propose and deploy.

Treasury Operators can foster communication, monitor team productivity, and guide cooperation in developing and monitoring trading strategies with a team. They can help keep the multisig running smoothly and maintain reward payments when an elected Treasury Manager is in place. A Trade Team is suggested to reward individuals with expertise in various positions to add valuable insights and direction to treasury management strategies alongside the Treasury Operators during periods Wonderland is without an elected Treasury Manager.

It is the goal of this proposal to lay out responsibilities for the Treasury Operator role, establish guidance for expectations of performance, ensure secure and effective deployment of treasury assets, and suggest additional positions that would help facilitate maintaining treasury allocation in line with Holder’s interests.

Proposal:

When Wonderland DAO is without an elected treasury manager, Two Individuals should act as Treasury Operators. They should be incentivized to, but should not be considered responsible for, developing trade and market analysis.

Treasury Operator Responsibilities:

• Submit and Approve Mutilsig transactions to maintain treasury diversity
• Assure team submitted Multisig requests are checked and approved quickly
• Settle Rewards, Incentives, and Redemptions
• Provide Multisig key to new Treasury Manager
• Provide Multisig key to new Treasury Operator

If we have no Treasury Manager, less than 4 signers on a Multisig, and/or no Treasury Operators - the elected Senior Community Support manager should be appointed to hold the Treasury Operator position to ensure continued effectiveness and operational security. Being in this position now, Alice should be appointed Treasury Operator effective immediately if this proposal is passed - until Two Treasury Operators are elected and she is relieved of her Double Duty.

Application for Position:

Anyone who wants to be Treasury Operator should be a known member of the community that can prove they understand the requirements of the position with a forum proposal. Doxxing is not required in full, but Treasury Operators should be Doxxed to our Senior Community Support Manager and two other trusted community members in a way that ensures adequate privacy for elected Treasury Operators.

Reward for Service:

The responsibilities and liabilities involved in this position should not be understated. Treasury Operators should be rewarded for the service accordingly with 0.15 wMemo per month when an elected Treasury Manager is not in place. When we have an elected Treasury Manager and the Treasury Operators only need to settle rewards, offer additional perspective, and approve Multisig requests - their reward for service should be reduced accordingly to 0.05 wMemo per month.

To incentivize Treasury Operators to develop and present profitable trade and investment opportunities, they should be eligible for 1% of profits from strategies they propose, if the strategy is approved and deployed.

To incentivize other Team Members and Treasury Operators to assist in the development and deployment of proposed investments - Team Members and Treasury Operators should be eligible for a Trade Reward of 0.25% from the profits generated in strategies they significantly assisted with.

Duration and Accountability:

The Treasury Operator position has no predefined expiration date. They are either removed by governance, disciplinary action, or they step down. If they act against the interests of the protocol or exhibit an extended period of inactivity (60 Days) - they should be removed.

In order to foster continued progress when without an elected Treasury Manager, team members should communicate with Treasury Operators on a regular basis - at least every 14 days. Failure to communicate regularly will have negative impact on that member’s desirability.

To ensure Treasury Operators are acting in accordance with community interests AND they are receiving adequate communications to perform their duties from other team members - there should be an expectation for those communications to be released quarterly. This is to encourage compliance and ensure holder’s are provided necessary insights into the effectiveness of the protocol during periods without an elected Treasury Manager.

Further Considerations:

In periods without an elected Treasury Manager, on occasion Dani or other team members may suggest investments that should not go through governance - both to meet time requirements but also to avoid front running. To approve these investments or trades without DAO approval: a majority vote in favor of the strategy must be obtained out of a group of Five members of the elected support team, elected trading team, elected treasury operators, and founders.

Rewards for Service and Trade Rewards should be paid out quarterly, immediately before redemption periods. This should clean up any issues about being paid in Stable coins as they are free to immediately redeem their rewards or pass on redemption and grow their position. Trade Reward calculations are further defined in the attached document.

Treasury Operators are not Treasury Managers - they are established for operational stability, to maintain necessary functions when an elected Treasury Manager is not in place. Two Treasury Operators should be enough to secure the multisig and keep transactions moving smoothly in most conditions.

Trade Teams:

It is advised to develop a Trade Team for continued support with proposing profitable strategies, developing actionable market data, maintaining treasury accounting, and assisting in the deployment of strategies and investments. All Trade Team Members should be expected to provide reasonable contributions each month when holding the position.

All Trade Team Members should be eligible for a Trade Reward equal to 1% of profits generated from strategies they proposed and they should be eligible for a Trade Reward equal to 0.25% of profits generated from strategies they significantly helped develop and/or maintain.

Below, I list a few Trade Team positions I believe would be useful in maximizing our potential. But this list is not exhaustive and community members are encouraged to submit applications for positions they believe would bring value to our protocol.

Market Analysis and Treasury Accounting: A Trade Team Member responsible for compiling market data, tracking investment health, and organizing Treasury Data for use by Wonderland Community and Managers.

Candidates should have experience in accounting and developing actionable reports. Should not require trading experience. Applications should include references to examples of previous work along with a breakdown of Wonderland treasury holdings and activity over the 14 days prior to submitting their proposal - in a format they would feel comfortable producing every other week.

Directional Asset Strategies: Responsible for researching and proposing strategies to acquire and/or deploy directional assets. These members should continuously monitor any positions they propose, if approved and deployed.

Candidates should have experience in trading directional assets. Applications should include suggestions for strategies they would consider implementing if approved for the position.

Stable Asset Deployment: Responsible for researching and proposing strategies to deploy stable assets. This member should be capable of seeking out new opportunities that arise in the market, prepare investment strategies, and continuously monitor approved positions they proposed.

Candidates should have experience in trading. Applications should include suggestions for strategies they would consider implementing if approved for the position.

Shorting Strategies: Responsible for seeking out, assisting with, proposing, and monitoring Shorting Strategies. Should be capable of providing adequate market analysis to support proposed shorting strategies for internal approval.

Candidates should have considerable experience in implementing shorting strategies. Applications should include suggestions for strategies they would consider implementing.

Trends and Seeds: Responsible for seeking out new projects and following market trends. Should present potential opportunities and strategies for further internal research and consideration. Not necessarily responsible for developing investment proposals, but should be capable of presenting market sentiment reports to managing members and the community on a regular basis.

Candidates should be following and connected to many social groups within the market. Applicants should have legitimate experience in conducting research and networking. Applications should include an outline of their experience, examples of current noticeable trends, resources they historically use for research, and a condensed list of social connections they feel bring value to their insights.

Conclusion:

With these Trading Team members and oversight of Two Treasury Operators: Wonderland DAO should be in a reasonably safe position to monitor market conditions, provide adequate data to our community on trading schedules, and maintain a treasury in line with Holder interests.

You probably have many questions or concerns about points made, I know I did while constructing this. It is my intention to plug as many loopholes as possible while maintaining a level of reasonable flexibility to allow for growth and adaptability. I have prepared a more thorough breakdown of this proposal, linked here: Treasury Operators Breakdown PDF

If I may ask that you read the full breakdown to see if your concern or question is answered within, it might save us both a lot of time. No matter, there is no such thing as a bad question. I hope to further develop this through community discourse and find a solution to our current predicament together.

Dedicated Wonderland Community Members who are willing and capable of maintaining Treasury Operator responsibilities are encouraged to put your hat in on the forum. Everyone is encouraged to consider Trade Team positions they feel they could bring value to, whether the position is on the list or something else you’ve got that you think we need. Rewards suggested in this proposal are simply suggestions — you know your value.

Technical Requirements:

1. Our Senior Community Support Manager will need to be added to the Multisig

2. After a Treasury Operator is elected, that individual will need to be added to the Multisig

3. When there are Two Treasury Operators and Four or More individuals on all Wonderland Treasury Multisig, our Senior Community Support Manager should be Removed from the Multisig

4. In the event any Wonderland Treasury Multisig has less than four signers, our Senior Community Support Manager, whoever that may be at the time, will need to be Added to the Multisig, unless otherwise indicated by future governance processes.

5. Allocation of 0.15 wMemo per month, per Treasury Operator

6. Allocation of 0.2 - 0.4 wMemo per month for Trade Team members collectively

7. DAO approved outline of Treasury Allocation Suggestions to help Treasury Operators and Trading Teams maintain treasury diversification in line with Holder’s expectations in various market conditions

8. Established lines of communication between All team members and Treasury Operators

9. Approved method of Recording Votes for Internally Approved Investments and Trading Schedules

Special Thanks:
I greatly appreciate all the help I received throughout the process of initially constructing this proposal. @Bamchicka @AliceInWonderland @Deal @kyle @The_Ferengi @isthatlowfat @Catalyst @jclemons and others.

[isthatlowfat]

Amazing write up Matt. This is proper business continuity planning and not a moment too soon. I hope this passes through governance swiftly and allows for some interesting candidates to apply for the treasury operator role for Wonderland in the coming weeks.

As the Treasury Operators gain experience, their insight will be valuable in selecting or vetting future TM applicants as well.

This is very good for Wonderland IMO.

[Deal]

You did an awesome job on this Matt…appreciate all the time and effort you put into this. I think this might be a great option as opposed to the alternatives which would be to have Dani managing the treasury in the interim (which he seems too busy to do) or to sit in stables until the next TM comes along. It also addresses concerns regarding not having enough multi-sig members as that is important to maintain as well. I would like to hear more input from the community as to whether they think this is viable and if they support it or not.

[bottlecapman]

I love every bit of this, I see no holes and it adds so much necessary depth to the organization of the dao. bravo my friend, you are no noob.

[MattMacGyver]

I appreciate the positive feedback. I’m a big fan of criticism, so please jeebus tell me I f***ed something up.

I hope I see proposals from all y’all for some of these positions! We have some hella smart folks in this community.

[MattMacGyver]

If @TheSkyHopper and/or @Sifu are up for it and the community thinks it’s a good idea; I would like to add in the proposal allocating 1 wMemo to each, for providing a sort of on-boarding assistance to the first two elected treasury operators. Basically, requesting they privately provide a few insights on how things worked while they were in the position, situations to expect along the road, answer questions regarding the implementation of various strategies or previously deployed smart contracts (ie. redemption contract), and other questions the elected TO’s may come up with in their first few days.

[kyle]

This is a great direction for the interim times we do not have management delegated to a individual.

[Bamchicka]

@MattMacGyver

exhibit an extended period of inactivity (60 Days) - they should be removed.

I‘d maybe lower that to lets say 28 days/2 missed meetings that are supposed to happen every 14 days. 2 months seems really long in that case. Add maybe that it can be „escalated“ by vote majority or something similar (as idea, maybe others have a better idea - just spitballing, as usual).

Lovely proposal, you deserve all the praise!

[Deal]

Should be an expectation that all treasury team members are actively involved. The team operator (or all team members with majority vote) perhaps should have sole discretion to oust anyone they feel is not contributing without some long drawn out process. Also thinking the performance bonus should be allocated to all team members since they will also be advising in some respect. Would simplify the compensation based management of the idea Matt has presented.

[bottlecapman]

this decision would have to be independent of financial incentivization and require significant support before any kind of defining vote is put on bulletin.

[MattMacGyver]

I think these are all great concerns.

On your second point: I definitely agree that All team members should be expected to contribute to All deals and trades in a meaningful way. My intention with outlining a definition for entitlement to the trade rewards for assistance (0.25%), is to encourage compliance. I felt language like “Significantly Contributes” leaves enough room for TO’s to withhold assistance rewards from team members that underperform on their responsibilities. Not being eligible for assistance rewards on too many deals should be a good indicator for community members to gauge the value of that members contributions on a quarterly basis. I definitely think it would be fair for all members to reasonably expect that they will get rewards for all deals they help with, even if only contributing data and insights. The possibility that they might not, is what I was aiming at. Maybe that’s not necessary though.

On your first point: Accountability is very important to me. I agree, I think this proposal could definitely benefit from including some way to hold Trade Team members accountable without governance. I mention within the proposal a mechanism for keeping TO’s in check, it would probably be useful to include something similar for the Trade Team too.

[MattMacGyver]

I really like this suggestion. I didn’t want it to come across to strict, but I 100% agree that 28 days of unreasonable inactivity or contributions to their post is more than enough time to merit an internal inquiry at the least - swiftly followed by removal if immediate actions are not taken by the member to step up their game.

[Deal]

I agree with Bamchicka…28 days seems sufficient.

[NalX]

First off, love the initiative!
Hopefully this can help avoid these stale periods we have.

I do have a few questions/comments:

@MattMacGyver

Team Members and Treasury Operators should be eligible for a Trade Reward of 0.25% from the profits

Is that 0.25% each member ? Or for the whole rest of the team ? Could make a decent difference depending on how many team member there is.

@MattMacGyver

Duration and Accountability:

Agreed with the 28 days instead of 60.

I think we need to rethink the 14 days better. I would argue that a team operator that only shows up once every 14 days (without any kind of heads up/reason why), is not communicating regularly.

As for the quarterly communication release, what does that entail, your full breakdown gives a better idea of what is expected. Seems quite similar to the [RFC] Periodic Treasury Reporting proposal. We could potentially use that to better define the requirements.

@MattMacGyver

Two Treasury Operators should be enough to secure the multisig and keep transactions moving smoothly in most conditions.

There’s been a lot of talks about multisig delay and such. Adding two operators would increase the number of signers, but should most likely also increase the numbers of signature required. So while it should help, I believe we may very well still run into these delays.

I understand, this may not be expected to fix that. I just wanted to explicitly point it out

PS: I edited your post a little to put each trading team position in bold to make it more obvious.

[MattMacGyver]

This is awesome and thorough input, @NalX! Thank you!

@NalX

Is that 0.25% each member ? Or for the whole rest of the team ? Could make a decent difference depending on how many team member there is.

As I imagined it, it is 0.25% per contributing member. With 4 members that’s an extra 1% sliced off profits, on top of the 1% that goes to the person who proposed the trade. I see most of the value proposition for serious candidates within the % they can earn.

What are your thoughts on the figure?

@NalX

I would argue that a team operator that only shows up once every 14 days (without any kind of heads up/reason why), is not communicating regularly.

I would absolutely agree with your argument too. Same as the 60 days reasoning, I didn’t want this to come off too strict. What would you consider about every 7 days?

To be frank, I initially made that 14 day thing for “Team Members” wink wink nod nod to ensure TO’s are getting the necessary support they need. With a reduction to this specific point in the proposal, I think it might be prudent to include a definition in that separation between Team and Trade Team, unless we think All of our team members should be expected to report at the same rate.

@NalX

So while it should help, I believe we may very well still run into these delays.

I’d agree with you again here too. We definitely don’t want to put ourselves in a position to get stalled. My insistence on Two is specifically because after Sky leaves, we will only have 2 signers on a Multisig - it’s advised to have 4. When we get a new TM, it would probably be best to trim at least one TO. In the event we lose some of our current signers in the future, I can imagine we may need to maintain two TO’s on the books to keep it at 4.

@NalX

As for the quarterly communication release, what does that entail

My intention was to put something in there that calls out the TO to relay communications they had with team members about trades each quarter. At the end of each quarter that a TO is maintaining the treasury, Holder’s could align communications between members with trading decisions and conclude for themselves whether adequate analysis was conducted, votes were taken in accordance with holder expectations, and adequate support was provided to TO’s by All team members. I left it open for interpretation as best I felt I could. I don’t know if this would be necessary, and if we keep it, what holder’s should expect each quarter could probably be defined a little more thoroughly.

@NalX

Seems quite similar to the [RFC] Periodic Treasury Reporting proposal. We could potentially use that to better define the requirements.

I can’t believe this is only in RFC! I can’t say I ever saw this but it’s absolute gold. Can we resurrect this? I fully imagined the “Market Data and Treasury Accounting” trade team member mentioned in this proposal to do this.

In case it is unclear: When I refer to “Team Members” I mean anyone who has control over our multisig, makes financial decisions on our behalf, and/or holds a position of protocol management.

[NalX]

@MattMacGyver

What are your thoughts on the figure?

I’m not against the 0.25% per team member as long as we know what level of work needs to be done for it to be rewarded. For example, singing the txs shouldn’t get you the 0.25%. Helping the main contributor fleshing out the strategy probably should.

To what extend ? That could be something that is defined internally by the trading team members (or proposed to the DAO by them) and contribution is explicitly explained in the quarterly report.

@MattMacGyver

unless we think All of our team members should be expected to report at the same rate.

Sounds like we need an HR department to lay down these law

Would need someone like Senior Mod/TM/Operators to ensure basic expectations are met. I’m just unsure how you can properly manage/be part of a trading team without proper/regular communication. Especially when there is needs for multiple transactions to be signed.

If everyone just shows up once every 7 days we’re trading on Italian time

@MattMacGyver

Can we resurrect this?

We totally could and I agree that having someone in that market data/treasury accounting position would be the perfect fit.

It hadn’t been pushed forward cause there was limited treasury movement anyway. Even when Sky came, a lot was just getting into stables due to the market, but with a better management around the treasury, I think this makes sense.

[MattMacGyver]

@NalX

For example, singing the txs shouldn’t get you the 0.25%. Helping the main contributor fleshing out the strategy probably should.

We’re definitely on the same page here. My concern with not providing that figure in the proposal and allowing the team to sort it out is that doing so may cause unnecessary internal disputes and/or diminished motivation due to not knowing what to expect. The team could sort it out and alter the figure slightly per occasion, if they need to, but they’d have a suggested figure the DAO has already approved is reasonable.

I felt like it was a fairly reasonable middle ground. Sometimes it might be a little more, sometimes a little less. For example, if one person brings the proposal for internal approval and another really puts in a lot of effort to help make it great, that assistance should be eligible for a little more reward. Conversely, if someone does bring a little value to a deal, but is incapable of providing any other contribution due to comparative inexperience in the area, maybe they get 0.1%.

@NalX

If everyone just shows up once every 7 days we’re trading on Italian time

My thinking here is that the team can probably maintain itself effectively without being on conference calls every day or having to meet hour requirements. Members can have their tasks, focus on them when they are best able to, and then present data and references for their input on a regular basis. The 7 or 14 or 28 day timetables are worst case scenario activity - things that, if met, result in reprimand. It should be encouraged to maintain regular communication between the team, maybe even set weekly gatherings to bullshit with each other, toss around ideas, check up on progress, request input or assistance, etc.

I’m unsure how lax the community is comfortable allowing the team to be. This is a really good point to get diverse input on.

[Holland66]

I like to show involvement in governance discussion. Reading what everyone has to say. Want to say thank you for writing up this proposal and all the people involved with this discussion.
I’m in the medical field and have no experience/knowledge of financial world. I’m reading and learning in discord everyday.
I’ve been in Crypto only since October 2021. ( I know; terrible time to start getting involved at the height of bull market. It has been a learning experience).
What I’m trying to say is that I think there are many people like me that seem to sit on the sidelines, learning and appreciating what all you smart brains are doing here for us and we will be involved with voting and supporting the proposals.
I personally rely on all your knowledge and ideas to help me make the proper decisions.
I know this doesn’t bring any value to the current discussion, but I think it is important that everyone knows that many members of this DAO are in this situation and supporting you and eventually have learned enough to actively participate.

[MarketWizard]

I believe the intention is key here and for that, I am grateful you raised such an important point. The mechanics of it however I must disagree with.

Let me go on a ledge and take up the following argument:

The DAO’s true intent and collective desire is to create a structure which is apolitical, loyal only to the DAO in safeguarding the treasury during times where leadership is absent; preferable anyone in this role holds day to day functions of the DAO Treasury as sacred. Let’s call them the “Guardians of the DAO” (PR value)

It would be obvious to the thinking person those who hold this position can never be incentivized with profit share. While a discretionary bonus at the end of a 12 month term, determined by the DAO through committee and then vote, would be more than generous, any ongoing compensation should be symbolic and the person(s) who hold the seat do so to give back to the DAO. Altruistic, maybe. Pragmatic? very.

They should also function as “Execution traders”, responsible for all trade executions during even times when leadership is anything but absent. They should be able to provide market color that the TM can use when deploying capital. But always will owe loyalty to the DAO community without trade override abilities. They can offer evidence-based, factual observation and present a case of supporting evidence behind their thinking, but overall trade authority resides in the TM, and absent a TM, their role is to preserve the treasury. To prevent the deer-in-headlights syndrome, they will have some flexibility that can be “activated” by a snap vote. Any directional trades will adhere to a risk protocol which will be drafted shortly. (e.g. minimum liquidity, minimum price/market cap. ) etc…

[MattMacGyver]

@MarketWizard I absolutely see where you are going with this and I really like it. It’s difficult for me to find confidence that many would take on such a responsibility without adequate incentives. I want to believe there are others out there who would, but I also don’t want to fool myself.

Do you think it would be a better balance to lay out some guidances on potential rewards that those holding the position could look forward to if their performance exceeds various predefined expectations? These benefits are never guaranteed but are suggestions for DAO consideration, kind of thing.

It was my intention with this proposal to allow for various non-experts to, collectively, maintain treasury performance during periods without an elected TM. I think some altruistic overseers would be great with or without a TM in place but I’m unsure if TO’s should fit that bill - especially under current circumstances.