DAOs, Risk and Economic Organization for the 21st Century with Eric Voorhees CEO of Shapeshift | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Shapeshift, a crypto interface company, is decentralizing its operations and moving to a token-based model of governance and value accrual.

Key Insights

• 👶 Shapeshift's decision to decentralize demonstrates a new model for economic organization in the 21st century.
• 👻 Decentralization aligns incentives, allowing users and the community to have more control and economic interest in the company's outcome.
• 🛄 The distribution of governance tokens by Shapeshift aims to avoid concentration and ensure a broad participation in decision-making.
• 🤑 Crypto has provided a unique opportunity for people to both earn money and pursue their passions in projects they believe will bring positive change.
• 🤗 Incentive alignment and economic incentives in crypto can create sustainable models for open-source software development.
• 🤑 Shapeshift's decentralization signifies a shift towards self-sovereign money and separating money from state control.
• 🛄 By decentralizing and involving the broader community, Shapeshift aims to make the value accrual more equitable and inclusive.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: What is Shapeshift's background and how has the company evolved over the years?

Shapeshift was initially an exchange allowing people to trade digital assets without an account or intermediary. It has since transformed into a full-featured crypto interface working across chains.

Q: What does Shapeshift's complete decentralization entail?

Shapeshift is dismantling its corporate entity, open sourcing all technology and applications, and implementing governance and value accrual based on a token model. This move aims to make the company more global, immutable, and compatible with an open-source crypto interface.

Q: How did Shapeshift distribute its governance tokens?

A significant number of addresses, over a million, received governance tokens through the largest airdrop in history. Past Shapeshift customers and members of certain DeFi communities were included in the distribution.

Q: How is Shapeshift promoting incentive alignment and avoiding concentration of tokens?

The majority of tokens are now in the hands of those unrelated to insiders. The founder, Eric Voorhees, owns around five percent of tokens, and the next largest owner holds only one or two percent. This distribution aims to decentralize control and ensure transparency.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Shapeshift has transformed from a digital asset exchange to a full-featured crypto interface that operates across chains.

• The company announced its complete decentralization, dismantling the corporate entity and open sourcing all technology and software.

• Shapeshift's governance and value accrual will now be based on a token model, giving users more control and ownership.