Episode #199: July 14th, 2022

--- tags: G&R --- # Episode #199: July 14th, 2022 ## Agenda - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=0s): Introduction - [02:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=175s): Votes and Polls - [04:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=240s): MIPs Update - [07:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=472s): Weekly Forum Recap - [14:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=880s): Initiatives Update: Delegate Contract Migration - [18:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=1105s): Initiatives Update: June Financials - [52:42](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3162): Discussion: Active Core Unit Offboarding Proposals - [1:25:17](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=5117): Conclusion ## Video [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc) ## General Updates ### Votes #### Payton Rose [2:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=175s) ![](https://i.imgur.com/4zHs1Jt.png) > *Polls:* -- [02:58](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=178) > *Executive Votes:* -- [03:20](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=200) ### MIPs #### Gala [4:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=240s) [Weekly MIPs Update #96](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/weekly-mips-update-96/16688) ![](https://i.imgur.com/3APhIBf.png) ![](https://i.imgur.com/zUhf4sp.png) > - _July's Formal Submissions_ -- [04:24](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=264) > - _Proposals in RFC_ -- [4:39](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=279) > - _Special Purpose Fund_ -- [05:08](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=308) > - _Core Unit Budgets_ -- [05:28](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=328) > - _Core Unit Offboarding_ -- [05:55](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=355) > - _Facilitator Onboarding_-- [06:15](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=375) > - _Amendments_ -- [06:34](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=394) > :mag_right: _The last day to include modifications for proposals aiming to enter the August Governance Cycle will be on July, Wednesday 27th, by the end of the day._ ### Weekly Forum Recap #### Artem Gordon [7:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=472s) _Post:_ [Weekly Forum Recap: July 7th - 13th, 2022](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/weekly-forum-recap/16247/5) - _**News & Announcements:**_ - [Delegate Migration](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/announcement-delegate-migration/16603) - [DAO Resilience Improvement Initiative -- Status Update](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/dao-resilience-improvement-initiative-status-update/16413) - [Delegate Office Hours -- Includes poll for discussion topic](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/delegate-office-hours-includes-poll-for-discussion-topic/16571) - [MIP41c5-SP9: Facilitator Offboarding (SH-001)](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/mip41c5-sp9-facilitator-offboarding-sh-001/16439) - [MIP41c5-SP10: Facilitator Offboarding (IS-001)](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/mip41c5-sp10-facilitator-offboarding-is-001/16437) - _**Discussions:**_ - [[Informal Poll] Voluntary Budget Adjustment in exchange for 1 Year Guaranteed Budget](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/informal-poll-voluntary-budget-adjustment-in-exchange-for-1-year-guaranteed-budget/16445) - [Should governance polls include a Gantt chart?](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/should-governance-polls-include-a-gantt-chart/16510) - [[Informal Poll] Restructuring Incentives for Recognized Delegate Compensation](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/informal-poll-restructuring-incentives-for-recognized-delegate-compensation/16469) - [[Informal Poll] Transcriptions and Editorials for Publicly Recorded Calls](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/informal-poll-transcriptions-and-editorials-for-publicly-recorded-calls/16427) - _**Signal Requests:**_ - [Reset delegation metrics for Hasu](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/signal-request-reset-delegation-metrics-for-hasu/16533) ## Initiatives Update ### [Delegate Contract Migration](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=880s) #### DUX CU [14:59](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=899) [_Forum Post -- Announcement: Delegate Migration_](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/announcement-delegate-migration/16603) ![](https://i.imgur.com/l7niQmC.png) > - _Delegate contracts expire after one year._ > - _Expiration dates can be found in the Portal._ > - _Recognized Delegates will be able to migrate their contracts._ > - _Delegators should migrate their MKR to the new Delegate contracts as well._ ## Initiatives Update ### [June Financials](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yekcB68XALc&t=1105s) #### Adrian [16:52](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1012) ![](https://i.imgur.com/IW4Cg4n.png) > - _Disclaimer_ -- [18:33](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1113) > - _Agenda_ -- [18:49](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1129) > - _Executive Summary_ -- [19:00](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1140) > - _Overview of Monthly Results_ -- [20:28](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1228) > - _Reconciliation of Monthly and Quarterly Results_ -- [20:56](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1256) > - _Monthly Income Statement_ -- [21:41](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1301) > - _Interest Income Decomposition_ -- [22:04](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1324) > - _Interest Income Decomposition - :new:_ [23:08](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1388) > - _Overview of Expense Rationalization Approaches_ -- [23:54](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1434) > - _Oracle Expenses by Collateral Type_ -- [24:49](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1489) > - _Cumulative Contributed Profit by Collateral Type_ -- [25:18](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1518) > - _Illustrative Financial Framework for Collateral Profitability_ -- [26:09](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1569) > - _Overview of DAI Utilization_ -- [27:10](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1630) > - _Overview of ETH Market Share_ -- [27:52](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1672) > - _Overview of WBTC Market Share_ -- [28:19](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1699) > - _Key Strategic decisions_ -- [28:31](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1711) #### [Q&A](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1759) [29:43](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1783) - **Adrian:** I just wanted to underline the introduction of the [Backed Finance MIP6](https://forum.makerdao.com/t/mip-6-declaration-of-intent-invest-in-short-term-bonds-proposal-for-implementation/16185), which will go to [Greenlight](https://vote.makerdao.com/polling/QmbDbzqW#poll-detail) next week, and is one part of what should be a multi-part approach to monetizing the PSM. [30:13](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1813) - _Q_ - **Frank:** Will Strategic Finance be able to do forecasting in the near future? [32:14](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=1934) - _Q_ - **Frank:** If you had the information needed to do such a forecast, do you believe you could give an outlook for Q3 or Q4 and inform us about the negative--or positive--sides of it? [33:59](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=2039) - _Q_ - **MakerMan:** Talking about forecasting: markets and crypto are cyclical. I would like to see estimates not only for Super Bear and Bear markets; I want a midline track followed by the high mark--which you have already addressed--. Nonetheless, I am not sure we have an accurate representation of the midline. Given the cyclical character of these variables, how do you think you will solve this issue? What numbers would you use to feed into such a model? [37:14](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=2234) - _Q_ - **MakerMan:** Maker's expenses are around 30M, 35M a year; our revenues are floating down to 10M; we have 15M still unreturned by CUs, and we are working the math for these numbers. Assuming nothing will change in the foreseeable future, as long as we can keep this revenue, our expenditures do not go over 40M, and we have 15M in the bank, we should be in the 60M range on the stability Surplus Buffer in a year. [39:30](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=2370) - _Q_ - **MakerMan:** Now that we are coming back down to earth, people under-appreciate how well Maker has done in the past two years. I want to let CUs, and everyone, know that you did a fabulous job. Congratulations are in order for everybody working here, and I want to quote Vitalik: _"Our job is not to out-compete. Our job is to outlast"._ [44:17](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=2657) - _Q_ - **Person 1:** Mark just mentioned trying to smooth revenue opportunities over the next six months, waiting for the crypto native land to pick back up again. I think it is a strong claim for RWA. Of course, there is a whole litany of discussions about which assets and how we should move on. [46:06](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=2766) - _Q_ - **Person 1:** I am curious about everyone's perspective on strategic opportunity, which seemed to be in line with Strategic Finance since your CU does not provide direction, but an idea of what would be best. Thus, allowing RWA to execute based on those parameters. [48:32](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=2912) - _Q_ - **Frank:** There was an interesting comment on the chat about crypto collaterals, and the CES--Collateral Engineering--CU mentioned that, for MakerDAO, onboarding should be at least a 30M minimum debt ceiling for the Protocol to achieve optimal stability fees. As Mark mentioned: there is a competitive market in RWA. [51:01](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3065) - _Q_ - **Frank:** I know that RWA is not the most innovative topic to discuss, but regarding Mark's comment on MakerDAO's stance in the RWA space, there are partnerships and third-party applications that could help. Centrifuge or Maple, for example. We should explore that. As Nick stated: we need to get at least a few collaterals that will give us a million on stability fees. ## Discussion ### Active CU Offboarding Proposals #### Thomas Flitter [52:42](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3162) Events Core Unit [53:38](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3218) ![](https://i.imgur.com/pk3N6yw.jpg) Immunefi Security Core Unit [54:55](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3295) ![](https://i.imgur.com/D80vmbc.jpg) Strategic Happiness Core Unit [55:49](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3349) ![](https://i.imgur.com/JXI4k3b.jpg) Core Unit Offboarding issues in question: [57:10](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3430) ![](https://i.imgur.com/tbldNlw.png) [57:51](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3471) - Thomas opens the floor for open discussion and Q&A on active Core Unit offboarding proposals. [1:01:10](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3670) - Andrew Burban talks about Strategic Happiness Offboarding. [1:02:24](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3744) - **Andrew Burban:** I proposed it as if everyone is so dissatisfied with everything after some time, then sure, I am willing to step back if I fumble this entire attempt to whatever it is. It is only about two months into it. We have all these discussions of cutting back expenses but no onboarding proposal. Maybe nobody wants any more spikes. I have money just sitting, having cleaned all the vessels and stuff. I did take a little bit of some of the salary compensation and just some other expenses so far to keep myself afloat. I have not touched the majority of this budget; it is all still sitting in the multisig. [1:05:31](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=3931) - _Q_: **David Utrobin:** Why should your CU not be a part of the Growth Core Unit? - Andrew Burban: It could be in principle, I think, while there is uncertainty in the entire space, I want to give an honest attempt at trying to do it on my own, if I decided, or everyone, after we go half a year, says okay, this was a waste entirely, then sure, I should just be part of the growth team. Of course, it could be part of the growth team, but not just off the bat album. Can I do the same job as part of the growth team possibly? Something to sit down with growth and discuss. There has not been much bandwidth on any means of time to sit down and see how to restructure things. [1:08:14](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=4098) - **Joshua:** talks on Immunefi Security Core Unit offboarding. [1:12:39](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=4359) - **Thomas:** Did protocol engineering handle Immunefi Security work in the past? [1:16:11](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=4571) - **Andrew Burban:** Is there an actual desire for Maker to have swag? If I was to create a drop shipping system - I want to post it. I was going to make a post at some point if there is a desire to have efficient merchandise for Maker. Then it could be done. Until some details with financing are worked out, I do not want to post how it would be structured. If I implement this thing, would be a massive reduction in overhead because it would not be me carrying things on planes and all that stuff. It would just be shipped out around the world like they are a drop shipper, which is way better than taking things on an airplane. When I started this, I had no experience in shipping or anything like that. I bought my swag and sent it out, and we are scaling up. I have been looking at a way to make it much more efficient. If I set up a store, it would just be a substantial reduction in costs overall or around. Do people even want this at all? [1:19:08](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=4748) - **Jon Perry:** I am the facilitator of the event team. Essentially, our focus is on helping in-person events to do with Maker branding and promotion. Essentially, it is a component of experiential marketing, which, on the full side of experiential marketing, you deal with tradeshow boost to light in-person campaigns. We have decided to focus on the event sides and mostly to host; some people like to call parties to do for the industry at conferences. We were just onboarded on May 1. We have been onboarded and vigorously reducing our budget. Because yes, we realize there is a bit of a bear in mind I keep going on. We should be conserving funds. A couple of ways we have done this is by selling the sponsorship slot to these events. For example, we are splitting Divinity in Paris cost with One Inch Perpetual, Trufi, and Oasis. Maker's covering half the cost, while the others are coming the other half. The strategy there so that Maker still has the most leverage for getting our brand out for advertising and ticketing. We can get protocols; we want their VCs and industry partners at these events. There is a bit more of a complete explanation about the financials buried within our events, offboarding about how much we are reducing our budget this year, and steps we can further take to reduce it—also dealing with some offboarding costs. Right now, we are running around 35% under our original budget. [1:21:14](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=4874) - **Katie:** Does the Growth Core Unit has a budget for an Events Core Unit? ## Conclusion ### Payton Rose [1:25:17](https://youtu.be/yekcB68XALc?t=5117) [Suggestion Box](https://app.suggestionox.com/r/GovCallQs) ## Credits - @Sol_Invictus produced this summary. - Andrea Suarez produced this summary. - Artem Gordon produced this summary. - Everyone who spoke and presented on the call, listed in the headers.