TLDR: Index Coop seeks to re-organize its existing structure to further decentralize the protocol, increase efficiency in its decision-making, and maximize security.

Index Coop launched in 2020 and quickly rose to prominence as a model for DeFi and DAOs more generally. The organization successfully launched on-chain structured DeFi products empowered by a large community of contributors progressively decentralizing the protocol. More recently, financial realities have quickly set in, and further exacerbated by a bear market, Index Coop realized it needed to cut costs.

In April 2022, leadership at the Index Coop sounded the alarm about the dire financial situation facing the protocol. A forum post, co-authored by the protocol’s investors, called for a change. This post sparked the beginning of a months-long transformative phase for the DAO that is still ongoing.

In June 2022, the Index Council published a forum post to further accelerate this cost-cutting process. Index Coop announced they were reducing contributor spend by 40%, effectively marking the end of the DAO and the start of a much leaner and financially sound organization.

As the organization enters the new year, it looks to restructure and start fresh with a more empowered and streamlined organization, using new DAO tools to better serve the evolving needs of the protocol.

On December 16th, Anthony Bowman of Index Coop presented a proposal with plans to modify the organization’s existing structure. In his proposal, Anthony and the broader Index Council suggests implementing a v1 structure that leverages existing DAO tooling to replace the leadership council model. The goal of these changes is to decrease reliance on individuals, increase on-chain governance, and prioritize token holders, all with the ultimate aim of further decentralizing the protocol.

The proposal, formally known as IIP-170, will integrate Metropolis Pods to power the new structure. Pods are a permissions wrapper built around a Safe multi-sig, a tool that is being adopted across the DAO ecosystem, most famously at ENS. These pods allow token holders to delegate power to groups of contributors within a DAO in a trustless and on-chain manner, giving working groups autonomy while also providing on-chain checks and balances to hold them accountable.

The structure will consist of three core pods: the Engineering Pod, the Operations Pod, and the Treasury Pod. Each pod is responsible for core functions within the organization and can easily deploy additional sub-Pods as they wish. All Pods will be 3-of-5 multisig Safe’s that include three individual members and 2 representatives from the other pods.

In addition to the Pods, a Delegate Safe will be implemented temporarily to enact changes voted on by INDEX token holders, including the election of Pod representatives as signers within these Pods.

Also included in the proposal is a reduction in the number of Directors within the Cayman Foundation from three to one and the dissolution of the Index Coop Council should the proposal pass. Structural implementations will occur on or before December 31st, 2022.

Governance at Index occurs primarily off-chain, empowered by Snapshot. INDEX tokenholders are granted governance rights at the protocol to enact change. The proposal follows the IIP process put in place at Index to make governance changes more approachable and standardized. A proposal begins in the forums as a draft which lasts a minimum of 48 hours before it can be raised to a vote. Once this time has elapsed an individual with 1000 INDEX can post the proposal to Snapshot to begin voting. Voting on proposals lasts 72 hours and has a minimum quorum of 473K (10% of the votable supply).

Today, IIP-170 sits in the feedback discussion phase with minimal reception in the forums. Index finds itself faced with a low turnout, at least so far. Expect the proposal to go live and be voted through with minimal pushback.

Organizations such as Index Coop that believe in progressive decentralization need to create persistent and yet pliable structures that will get them there over time. This appears to be what the Coop is attempting to do: give INDEX token holders increasing power to enact governance directly. But it is difficult to do this in one fell swoop, especially as Coop governance remains off-chain and reliant on a group of people to execute what token-holders want. The intermediary step here, at least in view of the proposers, is to have Pods of humans in charge of the executable code be subject to token-holder approval — Pod members are voted in or out, as described above.

We’ll be tracking this proposal activity closely at Boardroom, follow our newsletter to stay up to date. If you’re a voter in a protocol, make sure to check out Boardroom Portal.

Metadata:

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TLDR: Index Coop seeks to re-organize its existing structure to further decentralize the protocol, increase efficiency in its decision-making, and maximize security.

Index Coop launched in 2020 and quickly rose to prominence as a model for DeFi and DAOs more generally. The organization successfully launched on-chain structured DeFi products empowered by a large community of contributors progressively decentralizing the protocol. More recently, financial realities have quickly set in, and further exacerbated by a bear market, Index Coop realized it needed to cut costs.

In April 2022, leadership at the Index Coop sounded the alarm about the dire financial situation facing the protocol. A forum post, co-authored by the protocol’s investors, called for a change. This post sparked the beginning of a months-long transformative phase for the DAO that is still ongoing.

In June 2022, the Index Council published a forum post to further accelerate this cost-cutting process. Index Coop announced they were reducing contributor spend by 40%, effectively marking the end of the DAO and the start of a much leaner and financially sound organization.

As the organization enters the new year, it looks to restructure and start fresh with a more empowered and streamlined organization, using new DAO tools to better serve the evolving needs of the protocol.

On December 16th, Anthony Bowman of Index Coop presented a proposal with plans to modify the organization’s existing structure. In his proposal, Anthony and the broader Index Council suggests implementing a v1 structure that leverages existing DAO tooling to replace the leadership council model. The goal of these changes is to decrease reliance on individuals, increase on-chain governance, and prioritize token holders, all with the ultimate aim of further decentralizing the protocol.

The proposal, formally known as IIP-170, will integrate Metropolis Pods to power the new structure. Pods are a permissions wrapper built around a Safe multi-sig, a tool that is being adopted across the DAO ecosystem, most famously at ENS. These pods allow token holders to delegate power to groups of contributors within a DAO in a trustless and on-chain manner, giving working groups autonomy while also providing on-chain checks and balances to hold them accountable.

The structure will consist of three core pods: the Engineering Pod, the Operations Pod, and the Treasury Pod. Each pod is responsible for core functions within the organization and can easily deploy additional sub-Pods as they wish. All Pods will be 3-of-5 multisig Safe’s that include three individual members and 2 representatives from the other pods.

In addition to the Pods, a Delegate Safe will be implemented temporarily to enact changes voted on by INDEX token holders, including the election of Pod representatives as signers within these Pods.

Also included in the proposal is a reduction in the number of Directors within the Cayman Foundation from three to one and the dissolution of the Index Coop Council should the proposal pass. Structural implementations will occur on or before December 31st, 2022.

Governance at Index occurs primarily off-chain, empowered by Snapshot. INDEX tokenholders are granted governance rights at the protocol to enact change. The proposal follows the IIP process put in place at Index to make governance changes more approachable and standardized. A proposal begins in the forums as a draft which lasts a minimum of 48 hours before it can be raised to a vote. Once this time has elapsed an individual with 1000 INDEX can post the proposal to Snapshot to begin voting. Voting on proposals lasts 72 hours and has a minimum quorum of 473K (10% of the votable supply).

Today, IIP-170 sits in the feedback discussion phase with minimal reception in the forums. Index finds itself faced with a low turnout, at least so far. Expect the proposal to go live and be voted through with minimal pushback.

Organizations such as Index Coop that believe in progressive decentralization need to create persistent and yet pliable structures that will get them there over time. This appears to be what the Coop is attempting to do: give INDEX token holders increasing power to enact governance directly. But it is difficult to do this in one fell swoop, especially as Coop governance remains off-chain and reliant on a group of people to execute what token-holders want. The intermediary step here, at least in view of the proposers, is to have Pods of humans in charge of the executable code be subject to token-holder approval — Pod members are voted in or out, as described above.

We’ll be tracking this proposal activity closely at Boardroom, follow our newsletter to stay up to date. If you’re a voter in a protocol, make sure to check out Boardroom Portal.

Metadata:

{{Brief16//indexCoop;cHJvcG9zYWw6aW5kZXhjb29wOnNuYXBzaG90OjB4NWQ4MDljMDJhNmNmY2UwYzE0ZDAyMjM4M2ZiODE3MTUxZGUwNmE0Njc5NGRiMmExNzBmMjI4YmE3NTFmODYxZg==}}