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Zug, Switzerland, December 16th, 2024, Chainwire

Atom Accelerator (AADAO), a governance-mandated DAO of the Cosmos Hub, will close its operations and return remaining funds to the Cosmos Hub Community Pool. Alongside this, AADAO contributors have unanimously declined their Performance Bonuses for the year, returning 88,056 ATOM tokens (approximately $817,159) to the Community Pool. 

The returned funds represent the entire remaining balance of the Performance and Retention Pool initially allocated through Cosmos Hub Proposal 865 to fund AADAO’s second term. The contributors are foregoing over $817K in bonuses, continuing to fairly manage shared resources.

AADAO announced that it would enter ‘Maintenance Mode’. During this period, the DAO will cease processing new grant applications, focusing solely on completing existing grant obligations. A crew of 3-4 contributors will remain on reduced payroll to manage outstanding grants, ensuring a responsible wind-down process. By December 31, 2024, all funding applications will have been processed, providing clarity on AADAO’s remaining obligations.

During its time, AADAO has also executed on six venture investments on behalf of the Cosmos Hub, with a further seven investments set to be executed in the coming weeks. A trustee has been instructed by the DAO to safegaurd these investments till 2028, by which time it is expected that all investments will have a token sent to the ATOM Community Pool. AADAO’s venture portfolio includes Elys Network, Drop Protocol, Sphinx, Plaza Finance and Union Labs. This portfolio represents $1.1 million in assets, with a further $750k in venture investments pending. It is expected that once these projects TGE, the ATOM Community Pool will receive tokens from these projects, well exceeding the $1.85 million the Cosmos Hub invested.

The decision to sunset follows extensive internal deliberations and reflects the assessment that AADAO, under its current structure, faces significant constraints in delivering value to the Cosmos Hub. Nevertheless, the DAO achieved numerous milestones during its operation—securing critical infrastructure, supporting testnet programs, and promoting ATOM utility across various platforms, most notably in NFT-fi.

“This decision was not made lightly,” the AADAO contributors stated. “We poured our hearts into delivering value for the Cosmos Hub. However, after assessing whether the DAO could still provide meaningful contributions, we concluded that stepping back was the responsible course of action.”

In addition to the $817k of performance bonuses sent back, AADAO will return nearly $2 million from its treasury to the ATOM Community Pool in the coming week. Some funds are being held back to cover the anticipated Maintenance Mode expenses, approved grants with unfinished milestones, and a small contingency for unforeseen costs. At the conclusion of Maintenance Mode, any remaining funds will be returned to the Community Pool, including amounts allocated to grants that do not meet their milestones.

In addition to sunsetting, AADAO made changes to its compensation framework prior to entering Maintenance Mode. Contributors ceased receiving ATOM token-based retention compensation. The Oversight Committee will continue its duties during Maintenance Mode, and contributors will remain available to assist with governance-related tasks without compensation.

About Atom Accelerator DAO (AADAO)

Atom Accelerator DAO (AADAO) is a governance-mandated DAO of the Cosmos Hub. They have been formed and mandated to drive value for the Cosmos Hub & ATOM, supporting initiatives that either directly create economic impact or produce value that can drive its growth. From this, their current primary mandates are public grants & venture grants.

Atom Accelerator’s venture arm strategically invests in promising early-stage web3 founders and startups both within and outside of the Cosmos Hub’s ecosystem. As experts within the Cosmos ecosystem, Atom Accelerator offers expertise, guidance, and support while driving value toward ATOM.

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