Dear MNO Community,

Over the first term of the Dash Investment Foundation, the previous round of supervisors made an operational decision that the current round of supervisors feel is ineffective in the way the DIF currently operates. Legally, the DIF supervisors have a fiduciary duty to the network and have operational control over the funds the DIF holds.

In the course of DIF business operations, DIF supervisors are meeting and discussing many sensitive and private topics with potential investment opportunities - topics which are necessary to assess the risks and opportunities that may result from an investment - and are at most times legally bound (e.g., under NDA) to not discuss the information shared.

Many community members express the frustration of being asked to weigh in on DIF investment opportunities through decision proposals without the benefit of full access to information. It is impossible for MNOs to effectively assess opportunities in this manner. We therefore feel that as representatives of the network entrusted with our roles as supervisors, we should act in the best interests of the network as intended.

In order to more streamline the operations within the DIF to be able to offer the network the best service in terms of directing investments toward the best opportunities; the current round of supervisors has taken a unanimous decision to discontinue seeking MNO approval for each individual investment decision. The DIF supervisors will instead exercise their responsibility to make investment decisions on behalf of the network, allowing the MNO community to continue to influence the operations of the DIF via the selection of the supervisors and funding proposals.

Seeking approval for each investment was well-intentioned. While we value decentralization, we also recognize that tasking the MNOs with decision making that could only be effective with information inaccessible to them makes little sense. We believe this new approach will result in better outcomes for the network we represent.

-DIF Supervisors

Dash Investment Foundation Board of Supervisors 2020 Q3 Report

An election for Dash Investment Supervisors was completed in July. Darren Tapp and Hytham Abdel-Karim were elected to fill two supervisor roles. A third elected supervisor declined to accept. While the minimum two supervisors required by law was fulfilled, Michael Lewis agreed to continue in his role. Darren was onboarded as the only new DIF supervisor from the election.

Darren was elected chair by Hytham and Michael.

Ryan and Rodrigo were invited to DIF meetings to evaluate how they could contribute. A special meeting was held with only the three sitting supervisors, Darren, Hytham and Michael. At that meeting there was a unanimous vote to appoint Ryan and Rodrigo to fill two additional vacancies. The board is permitted to fill vacancies as required.

In September the DIF BoS met four times. We discussed these topics with the following conclusion.

• Should the DIF run masternodes?
  • There was general agreement that the DIF should not run masternodes.
  • Running masternodes will tend to dilute other masternodes of the DAO and would lead to potential conflicts with ability to vote on DIF proposals with network-provided funding.
• Set Goals
  • Mission and Vision for the organization should be made clear before taking any actions
  • General support for a balancing strategy among real assets
  • General support for investing in companies that support Dash’s growth
  • General support for acting as a DAO savings account (e.g., act a repository for the DAO to accumulate assets that it can vote to deploy toward investments)
• Jacob form ReadyRaider attended a meeting and the DIF BoS formulated a response to a proposal from ReadyRaider.
  • Outcome was a MOU contingent on their proposal passing.
• The DIF using reserves to improve mixing speed or privacy by providing mixing liquidity was discussed.
  • It is not clear weather providing more liquidity would speed up mixing experience of users significantly
  • Unanswered question about technical improvements being more helpful
  • Concern that transparency of the DIF might actually compromise mixing privacy.
• The DIF started evaluating Quadency third week of September.
  • Outcome of that is a proposal to the network
• Three other opportunities were explored. We are still evaluating two of them.

Dash

Dash was established to be peer-to-peer cash. It allows transactions over the internet without a intermediary such as a bank or credit card. The hope is that, those currently undeserved by the banking sector could benefit from the service Dash provides. It is also hoped that those currently served by banks could save on fees by using Dash. By cutting out the middle man, Dash will provide more value to customer and merchant.

What Makes Dash Different?

Dash is modeled after the original bitcoin.

Dash has:

• completed research that allows it to keep fees low, even with significant network traffic.
• diverts some of it's mining reward to provide powerful nodes to the network.
• Will launch Dash platform which will support a more user centric experience and provide native apps.
• diverts some of it's mining reward to provide for funding of projects that advance that dash ecosystem.

This last bullet is what established the Dash DAO.

Dash DAO

Dash established the oldest operating Decentralized Autonomous Organization, or DAO. That means that decisions can be made in a decentralized way as an organization. Often decisions involve payouts that are to be used to carryout the DAOs decision. Here are some examples of what the DAO is currently funding:

• Dash Core Group-- This pays for developers that develop the Dash client and other functions
• Dash Platform Incubator-- Provides bounties for deliverables on Dash Platform
• Dash Newsroom-- Provides an outlet for Dash related events and news.
• Dash Mall and Parking-- Showcases how Dash can be used to solve payment challenges in the real world. Skip long lines paying for parking at malls in Venezuela. This also encourages mall vendors to accept Dash.
• Dash Nigeria-- Encourages acceptance and partnerships providing Dash use cases in Nigeria.

It has been the case that operating as a DAO provides challenges when interacting with traditional businesses. The Dash Investment Foundation was established to support the network’s growth by enabling enforceable legal and financial arrangements between the Dash DAO and traditional businesses.

Dash Investment Foundation

The Dash Investment Foundation is established as a legal entity. It can do all the things a person can do legally. For example, it can participate in contracts and courts, it has its own bank account.

Generally speaking, the DAO has provided grants to carry out specific projects. These projects are not expected to turn a profit or be self sustaining. Previously, this grant system has incentives that are out-of-whack when funding for profit businesses. It doesn't really make sense to fund a project that will ultimately benefit one or a few owners. However, for profit companies can produce a long lasting impact for a infusion of startup capital. Much of the needed Dash infrastructure, e.g. exchanges, merchants, and point-of-sale soutions, are for profit.

In 2019 the inception document of the DIF was published. The DIF has been working since to establish itself as a thriving part of the Dash ecosystem.