- The DEF surprised the web3 world in 2021 when it sold half of the $1 million UNI grant it had been awarded.
Top decentralized exchange by transaction volume, Uniswap, has decided to continue funding web3 advocacy group DeFi Education Fund (DEF) indefinitely.
A temperature check proposal seeking an additional 1 million UNI tokens ($7.58 million) to sustain the DEF’s operations in opposition to legislative threats against the DeFi sector was approved by Uniswap governance on May 5.
The remaining assets will stream over a 12-month linear vesting term, with half of the payments going straight to DEF’s Coinbase account. The plan received more than 77% of the vote, with 10% voting against it and over 13% not participating.
DeFi’s policy challenges have increased in number, urgency, and reality during the past few years. Legislative threats that would force DeFi developers to impose protocol access limitations or requirements specific to CeFi firms have been repelled by DEF. Now is not the time to let up on the anti-crypto regulation, given the constant flood of proposals coming from congressional members and regulatory agencies.
A backup plan outlining different financial arrangements was approved with 33.5% of votes in favor of a funding allocation of just 300,000 UNI ($2.27 million), 29.6% of votes in favor of a funding allocation of 1 million UNI, and 27.6% of votes in favor of a funding allocation of 27.6%. The plan said that “the original Temp Check will take precedence if the DeFi Education Fund Temp Check passes.”
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was sued by the DEF in March in an attempt to set a legal precedent stating that tokens that are airdropped do not constitute securities investment contracts. The purpose of the measure was to shield projects airdropping tokens to early adopters from SEC regulatory action.
Following a governance decision, DEF promptly offloaded half of the one million UNI tokens it had acquired from Uniswap, which caused a ruckus in the Uniswap and web3 communities in July 2021.
Due to the DEF’s lack of prior notification of the sales, the cryptocurrency community expressed disapproval. The outcry grew when rumors spread that DEF committee member Larry Sukernik had sold $50,000 following the organization’s token dump.
Uniswap started selling its remaining assets in February as part of an 18-month sales plan designed to give the company a financial runway until July 2025. To finance monthly sales, the plan calls for quarterly transfers of 125,000 UNI from its multisig account.
In its most recent proposal, DEF promised to pre-disclose any transactions before selling UNI going ahead and to retain the monies for a minimum of 12 months from the date of receipt.
DEF claimed that because it pays lawyers, advocacy groups, and its own staff using US dollars, selling its UNI holdings was necessary.
The non-profit group Uniswap Foundation, which was established in August 2022 to aid in the growth of Uniswap, released its 2023 financial statements on May 3.
The foundation stated that after spending $3.56 million over the course of the year, it now has approximately $45.2 million in US dollars and stablecoins in addition to 780,000 UNI ($5.9 million). With over 70% of its non-UNI assets designated for grant financing from the past and present, $13.75 million is left over to support ongoing operations. According to Uniswap Foundation, the money will last until the end of 2025 to support its activities.
According to a governance proposal released on March 19, the Uniswap DAO had assets valued at close to $6 billion, the majority of which were made up of UNI. Given the 36% decline in UNI’s price, the DAO’s treasury assets may now be valued at $3.85 billion.
Disclaimer : This article was created for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. An asset’s past performance does not predict its future returns. Before making an investment, please conduct your own research, as digital assets like cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile financial instruments.
