--- tags: Forum at a Glance --- # Forum at a Glance: March 24 - March 30, 2022 ![](https://i.imgur.com/Ehc9Nt0.png) Welcome to the one-stop shop for a TL;DR on everything discussed on the MakerDAO forum. *Links reflect my view of the most noteworthy activities in the governance, risk, and oracles categories. Disagree? Think something should be added? Leave a reply or send a PM.* <details><summary>Where else can this post be found?</summary><br> [Online Anon PDF version](https://pdfhost.io/v/HToQMFDkM_Forum_at_a_Glance__March_24_30_2022) [Medium]() *publishing soon!* | [GovComms Medium Account](https://medium.com/@MkrGovComms) </details> ## Three-Point Summary ‘What is the most relevant information on the forums this week for MKR and Dai holders?’ - A new Core Unit is being [proposed](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/ses-incubation-announcement-legal-and-transaction-services-core-unit-lts/14192) for incubation. The Legal and Transaction Services Core Unit aims to create a network of legal professionals who can help onboard new real-world assets in a scalable way. - [Towards taking asset risks - A primer](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/towards-taking-asset-risks-a-primer/14265) analyzes several assets in an exploration of ways to invest Maker revenues into productive assets. - The GovAlpha Core Unit will be trying out a [system](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/introducing-impact-estimations/14267) of impact estimations, making it easier for community members to gauge the importance of new governance items. *February's Expenses vs Budget is now up! [Check it out.](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/makerdao-actual-expenses-vs-budget-february-2022/14327)* --- ## News and Announcements **[Introducing Impact Estimations](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/introducing-impact-estimations/14267)** <details><summary>Summary</summary><br> The GovAlpha team is currently looking into applying "impact estimations" to active MIPs and Signal Requests. The primary goals are to: 1. Provide delegates, core unit members, and the wider community with an idea of how important it is to pay attention to a given governance item during a limited time. 2. Provide a clear escalation path for reviews within GovAlpha (e.g., if a newer member of the team reviews something they think should have a "high" impact score, it can be escalated to a member with more experience). For this initial trial period, GovAlpha will give a "low," "medium," or "high" impact score to active governance items for the next several months to gauge their effectiveness and measure community sentiment about the initiative. While each impact estimate will ultimately depend on the person making the judgment, GovAlpha will generally attempt to adhere to a basic set of guidelines: **Likely High Impact** * Anything that adds concretely identifiable risk to the Maker Protocol * Anything the DAO is doing for the first time * Anything that removes a non-trivial amount of money from the surplus buffer * Core Unit onboarding and offboarding * Anything that permanently changes governance processes or structures within MakerDAO **Likely Medium-Impact** * Items that may lead to later decisions that add risk or deplete the surplus buffer * Anything that removes a trivial amount of money from the surplus buffer **Likely Low Impact** * Minor wording changes and/or fixes to existing MIPs </details><br> **[Attention TUSD-A Users: Collateral Offboarding Timeline Update](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/attention-tusd-a-users-collateral-offboarding-timeline-update/14264)** <details><summary>Summary</summary><br> MakerDAO TUSD-A users have been unable to change their vaults for the past several weeks due to a change in the token's implementation. A March 25 [executive vote](https://vote.makerdao.com/executive/template-executive-vote-authorizing-the-esm-on-dssflash-and-adding-support-for-tusd-implementation-march-25-2022?network=mainnet#proposal-detail) has returned full access to these Vaults for affected users. Users now have two weeks to make the necessary preparations before TUSD-A is offboarded. </details><br> **[SES Incubation Announcement: Legal and Transaction Services Core Unit (LTS)](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/ses-incubation-announcement-legal-and-transaction-services-core-unit-lts/14192)** <details><summary>Summary</summary><br> @christiancdpetersen of the Real World Finance Core Unit made a post announcing plans to incubate a Legal and Transaction Services Core Unit. The idea of this CU is to develop an independent network of legal professionals with the skills and expertise to help scale the onboarding of new real-world assets into Maker vaults. Why a legal CU? @christiancdpetersen explains what makes transaction lawyers valuable and what they could bring to the Maker ecosystem: In real-world finance, transaction lawyers: * Collaborate with commercial, risk, and technical teams to identify and find solutions to mitigate various commercial, legal, technical and other risks. * Drive and manage deals towards closure. * Communicate with relevant stakeholders. * Manage and supervise external counsel. * Generally support the financing process. ![](https://i.imgur.com/fYoPHxN.png) LTS lawyers will have similar roles for support opportunities that reach the DAO. They may: * Undertake transaction due diligence involving the legal structure of entities, counterparties, and fiat/Dai flows. * Research applicable legal requirements and obtain local counsel as needed. * Negotiate commercial and legal positions, implementing the DAO’s legal risk appetite. * Review borrower-provided lending documents, supporting the process through closing and disbursement. * Coordinate cross-Core-Unit initiatives to solve multidisciplinary challenges. * Perform transaction management by preparing and negotiating the term sheet, financing agreements and ultimately coordinating transaction scheduling. * Perform post-closing transaction management, providing administration of events during the deal’s life. * Provide transparent and open communications with all stakeholders and the MakerDAO community. The proposed facilitator of this CU is Christian Petersen, an experienced lawyer and the author of this post. </details><br> **[MakerDAO Actual Expenses vs Budget - February 2022](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/makerdao-actual-expenses-vs-budget-february-2022/14327)** <details><summary>Summary</summary><br> The February update on monthly Core Unit expenses is hot off the presses, including forecasting for March, April, and May. In a nutshell: * Dai expenses decreased by $0.3M to $2.3M * Forecasted Dai expenses are expected to increase to $3M/month by April ![](https://i.imgur.com/TxL3e1O.png) Adding in estimated annual Oracle gas costs of $5.1M, these metrics bring us to an annual cash burn rate of $41.4M, representing a $0.6M decrease from January's estimate. Additionally, we have enjoyed a significant decrease in gas costs associated with Oracle use as the NFT market slows down and gas prices fall. </details><br> --- ## [Active Discussions](https://forum.makerdao.com/latest) **[Towards taking asset risks - A primer](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/towards-taking-asset-risks-a-primer/14265)** <details><summary>Summary</summary><br> ![](https://i.imgur.com/T2AnXRr.gif) This week, we highlight @SebVentures' post exploring ways to invest the MakerDAO balance sheet into productive assets. In the [Asset-Liability Management (ALM) Framework](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/alm-framework-for-makerdao/12994) for MakerDAO, asset risk is defined as "asset fluctuation risk over the long-term," plus an additional value at risk (VaR), thought of as "the minimum amount of equity required to safely hold such an asset and be in line with MakerDAO risk appetite." If you want to learn more about VaR, check out [Measuring Market Risk by Kevin Dowd](https://www.wiley.com/en-dk/Measuring+Market+Risk,+2nd+Edition-p-9780470013038) and [Risk Management in Banking by Joël Bessis](https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Risk+Management+in+Banking%2C+4th+Edition-p-9781118660218). (Note: It is important to be aware, as the author points out, that the VaR paradigm remains fiercely debated in the finance world.) After providing a formal definition of VaR, we encounter our first case study: ETH. The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of ETH, while volatile, is impressive overall. ![](https://i.imgur.com/JlRLtWj.png) As @SebVentures points out, we know that much of the price action going forward will be linked to the burning mechanism and the inflation rate. While these are expected to eventually settle into low single-digit numbers, a 50% or 100% metric for return on assets (RoA) is prudent for the coming years. The VaR/RoE model is given below for 50%, 100%, and 200% RoA. ![](https://i.imgur.com/ZZJoiXj.png) Judging by our model, @SebVentures concludes that ETH seems to be an investment option worth exploring despite its high volatility. However, this strategy will require a bigger Surplus Buffer and will not help make Maker's idle assets more productive. Check out the full post for further case studies and conclusions on gold, short-term corporate bonds, short-term treasury bonds, and short-term blended bonds. ![](https://i.imgur.com/lkPJdpF.png) </details><br> **[Request to Poll for Maker Wormhole Deployment and Associated Risk Parameters](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/request-to-poll-for-maker-wormhole-deployment-and-associated-risk-parameters/14209)** <details><summary>Summary</summary><br> In support of [MIP69: L2 to L1 Fast Withdrawals](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/mip69-l2-to-l1-fast-withdrawals/14041), the Protocol Engineering Core Unit is requesting a poll on approving L2 to L1 Fast Withdrawals. This will require the approval of several parameter changes. **Parameter Summary** Approve the following gateways (domains), as documented in [MIP69](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/mip69-l2-to-l1-fast-withdrawals/14041) and the [GitHub](https://github.com/makerdao/dss-wormhole#readme) implementation: * Optimism * Arbitrum *Debt Ceiling Parameters* * Set the Optimism Debt Ceiling parameter to 1M Dai * Set the Arbitrum Debt Ceiling parameter to 1M Dai * Set the Global Debt Ceiling to 2M Dai, as a sum of all debt ceilings for each domain *Wormhole Fee Parameters per Domain* * Set the Arbitrum Wormhole Fee parameter to 0 * Set the Optimism Wormhole Fee parameter to 0 *Approve Oracle Quorum of (TBD) Feeds* This is the minimum number of feed attestations required to complete a Fast Withdrawal transaction and will comprise any of the 25 oracle feeds provided by the Oracles team. </details><br> **[Clarity Around Collateral Onboarding Process](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/clarity-around-collateral-onboarding-process/14221)** <details><summary>Summary</summary><br> The Collateral Engineering Services Core Unit (CES) seeks to clarify and expand the collateral onboarding (COB) process. So far, we have primarily been using the COB process outlined [here](https://collateral.makerdao.com/). By this process, the COB process should begin with a collateral onboarding application, as defined in [MIP6](https://github.com/makerdao/mips/blob/master/MIP6/mip6.md). This is how we have defined "greenlit" collateral up to now: "something that has followed the MIP6 process leading to an onchain poll." However, the community has been experimenting with different signaling support methods for different collateral types. Going forward, CES will recognize collateral as “greenlit” if a non-MIP6 is ratified or an onchain passing vote has taken place for it. </details><br> ------ ## [Seeking Consensus](https://forum.makerdao.com/tag/active-signal) ‘Yo, do you even signal?’ **[[Signal Request] Onboard PAXG](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/signal-request-onboard-paxg/13768)** <details><summary>Summary</summary><br> Sebastien from the Strategic Finance Core Unit revisits the topic and attempts to push PAXG to be onboarded. All risk assessments have been submitted during 2020: - [[PAXG] ERC20 Token Smart Contract Domain Community Assessment](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/paxg-erc20-token-smart-contract-domain-community-assessment/3443) - [[PAXG] Collateral Onboarding Oracle Assessment (MIP10c3-SP16)](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/paxg-collateral-onboarding-oracle-assessment-mip10c3-sp16/5376) - [[PAXG] Collateral Onboarding Risk Evaluation](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/paxg-collateral-onboarding-risk-evaluation/4833) Additionally, PAXG was [previously approved](https://vote.makerdao.com/polling/QmYwY5gP) for onboarding through a governance poll. Today, both market cap and liquidity for PAXG have significantly increased, and the Uni V2 poll, although small, is handling 2M of hourly volume and 50M daily. Parameters proposed for PAXG are a Debt Ceiling of 5M, a Liquidation Ratio of 125% (which may be instead set to 130%), and a Stability Fee of 4% that may also be altered based on current situations. Sebastien provides the pros and cons of onboarding PAXG and concludes the signal request by asking the community whether they want to onboard PAXG as a collateral type in Maker's MCD? **Vote will run until April 5, 2022.** Here are the current voting results: ![](https://i.imgur.com/xa0sqpN.png) </details>><br> ----- ## [Ongoing Initiatives](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/governance-initiatives/1347) ‘Oh my god, this is taking ages; why can’t things be simple?’ [Maker Operational Manual](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/announcing-maker-operational-manual/12553) - @GovAlpha-Core-Unit release the launch of the Maker Operational Manual and invite all members and Core Units to reach out if they wish to provide any help or documentation to add for the Manual. [Recognised Delegate Requirements](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/recognised-delegate-requirements/9421) - @LongForWisdom writes a detailed overview of the current requirements and application system to become a delegate in the Maker community. Check out this [thread](https://forum.makerdao.com/search?expanded=true&q=%40LongForWisdom%20%23governance%3Adelegates) for more posts related to delegation. [Where to Find Opportunities at MakerDAO](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/where-to-find-opportunities-at-makerdao/10076/2) and [Open positions at MakerDAO](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/open-positions-at-makerdao/12197) - Looking for job opportunities at MakerDAO? Perfect! @Davidutro and @manomad set up individual threads containing resources to help find available job listings and hiring practices. *If anybody has additional information on unique hiring practices or job listings, please comment on the thread.* [:mega: Collateral Calls - Calling all Projects!](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/collateral-calls-calling-all-projects/3715) - @juan sets up a signup thread for projects wishing to present on the bi-weekly collateral call. Know any potential collateral partners that want to present? Refer them here. [Collateral Status Index](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/collateral-status-index/2231) - Confused about the current status of the various collateral types discussed recently? Check out this post to determine the status and current position within the onboarding process. [Weekly MIPs Updates](https://forum.makerdao.com/tag/mips-update) - @blimpa brings the latest updates in the world of MIPs. [The Official Welcome Thread](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/the-official-welcome-thread/771/4) - A welcome and introductions thread. Not strictly governance, but if anyone new or old wants to introduce themselves, now is your chance! ----- ## [Help Wanted](https://forum.makerdao.com/c/miscellaneous/help-wanted/11) ‘Oh %#\$?, we need a doodad, and we need it now.’ [Wanted: Governance Contributors for GovAlpha](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/help-wanted-govalpha/8811) - @LongForWisdom puts out the call for new team members! Different tracks are available depending on interest and time commitment. We could always use help reviewing [MIPs in the Request for Comment phase](https://forum.makerdao.com/tag/rfc). ## [Feedback Survey](https://survey.sogosurvey.com/r/qTb1p7) *Please, check out the [Forum at a Glance feedback survey](https://survey.sogosurvey.com/r/qTb1p7) to help us improve and scale these reviews - It will be fun, I promise.* Credit: @nothsa @Artem_Gordon @blimpa for introducing the details menu ability on markdown! Thanks!