DeFi
Uniswap votes to transfer the second UNI grant of 1 million to the DeFi Education Fund
DEF shocked the web3 community by abruptly selling half of the 1 million UNI grant it received in 2021.
Uniswap, the leading decentralized exchange in terms of trading volume, has voted to renew its financial support for the DeFi Education Fund (DEF), a web3 advocacy organization.
May 5, Uniswap governance pass a temperature check proposal requesting 1 million UNI tokens ($7.58 million) in additional funding to support DEF operations opposing legislative threats targeting the DeFi sector.
Half of the funds will be immediately transferred to DEF’s Coinbase account, with the remainder of the assets distributed over a 12-month linear vesting period. More than 77% of votes were cast in favor of the proposal, with 10% opposed and almost 13% abstaining.
“Over the past few years, DeFi’s policy challenges have become more real, more imminent, and more numerous,” DEF said. “DEF has defended DeFi against legislative threats that would require DeFi developers to implement protocol access restrictions or requirements designed for CeFi businesses… Given the constant flow of anti-crypto rules from administrative agencies and some members of Congress, this is not the time to take our foot off the pedal.
A backup proposal suggesting alternative financing plans closed with 33.5% of votes in favor of an allocation of just 300,000 UNI ($2.27 million), followed by 29.6% of votes in favor of one million ‘UNI and 27.6% in favor of a 27.6% allocation. “If the original temporary control of the DeFi Education Fund is successful, then the original temporary control will take priority,” the proposal states.
In March, DEF sued the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in an effort to establish legal precedent that parachuted tokens do not include securities investment contracts. The move was intended to protect plans to airdrop tokens to early adopters from SEC regulatory action.
Bitter memories
In July 2021, DEF shook the Uniswap and web3 communities by immediately dumping half of the million UNI tokens it received from Uniswap following a governance vote.
The DEF did not inform in advance of the sales, which sparked reactions from the crypto community. The backlash intensified after reports claimed that DEF committee member Larry Sukernik, sold $50,000 after the organization gave up its chips.
In February, Uniswap began selling its remaining funds every 18 months. plan intended to provide the organization with a financial runway until July 2025. The plan involves quarterly transfers of 125,000 UNI from its multisig account to fund monthly sales.
In its latest proposal, DEF committed to holding the funds for at least 12 months from the date of receipt, in addition to pre-disclosing any sales before disposing of UNI in the future.
DEF said it paid law firms, lobbying organizations and its employees in U.S. dollars, which required the sale of its stakes in UNI.
The finances of the Uniswap Foundation
On May 3, Uniswap Foundationthe non-profit organization founded in August 2022 to support the development of Uniswap, published its financial results for 2023.
The foundation said it held approximately US$45.2 million and stablecoins in addition to 780,000 UNI ($5.9 million) after spending $3.56 million throughout the year . Nearly 70 percent of its non-UNI assets are earmarked for past and future grants, leaving $13.75 million to fund future operations. The Uniswap Foundation said the funds can support its operations until the end of 2025.
A governance proposal published on March 19 estimated that the Uniswap DAO held nearly $6 billion in assets, with the funds primarily comprising UNI. UNI price is down 36%, suggesting that the DAO’s treasury assets are currently worth around $3.85 billion.