Elect Nostra Labs as the service contractor of the Nostra DAO for the next year

General
1

GM Famiglia!

We are glad to have you all on board as we embark on the next chapter of Nostra’s journey.

I am excited to present this as the first official proposal for the Nostra DAO community. The purpose of this proposal is to put forward Nostra Labs Inc. (the successor of Tempus Labs Inc., i.e. “Nostra Labs”) as the service contractor responsible for the day-to-day running of the Nostra DAO.

Why does this matter?

The goal is to put in place the structure and processes necessary to make Nostra a fully Decentralized Autonomous Organization (“DAO”) by the end of July 2025. Nostra has been live and impressively growing since its launch in December 2022. However, we know that the DeFi landscape changes fast, and agility and quick response are highly beneficial. For that reason, we propose that to unlock Nostra’s full potential, Nostra Labs becomes the service contractor of the Nostra DAO.

This proposal places Nostra DAO towards this goal by giving NSTR tokenholders the power to:

  1. Elect Nostra Labs; and
  2. Remove Nostra Labs as the service provider, improving accountability and fostering decentralization.

Proposal

I propose Nostra Labs be elected as the service contractor responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and growth of Nostra (including the development of new features and products) on behalf of Nostra DAO for an initial 1-year term, starting from the date the Snapshot vote associated with this proposal is successfully passed. Nostra Labs will receive up to $2,500,000 of all revenue generated by the Nostra protocol over this period to cover development and marketing costs. Anything above this will go directly to the Nostra DAO treasury.

Scope of a Service Contractor

The day-to-day responsibilities of a service provider in this instance include:

  • Prioritising and executing the product development roadmap to build and grow a long-term sustainable protocol
  • Allocating the DAO Treasury to bootstrap the growth of Nostra and diversify protocol-owned liquidity over the 1-year term
  • Provide revenue and expenditure reports every quarter during the term

Re-election

I propose that Nostra Labs be eligible for re-election as the service contractor after its initial 1-year term has expired, subject to securing the requisite support from the NSTR tokenholders per the existing governance process.

Should NSTR tokenholders at any time wish to remove Nostra Labs as the service provider, they can do so, subject to securing the requisite support from the NSTR tokenholders per the existing governance process.

As such, the Nostra DAO can vote to replace the service contractor, or Nostra Labs can give the DAO one month’s notice to terminate the agreement.

For reference, details on the existing governance process can be found here: Nostra - Governance Process.

Other considerations

To make the distinction between the Nostra DAO and Nostra Labs even clearer, I would also like to highlight that:

Nostra Labs promises the Nostra community that it will not conspire with or exert any influence whatsoever over NSTR tokenholders regarding how they wish to vote on this proposal or, for that matter, any other proposal.

Next steps

This proposal will be open for the community to discuss until 5:00 p.m. UTC on Friday, July 5. Please indicate using the poll below if you are in favour of this proposal.

If this proposal is supported, Nostra Labs will launch a Snapshot vote for approval at 12:00 pm UTC on Monday, 8 July.

9 Likes
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Hi.

I have a few questions about this.

  1. How many full time people (estimate) on this?
  2. A rough idea on different budgets? (proportion)
  3. Since the proposal takes up to 2.5M of the revenue, is it reasonable to assume that we are talking about the entirety of the protocol revenue form that year?

I personally think Nostra Labs will do a great job but from an accounting perspective, isn’t it better to let the revenue flow into the DAO treasury and then allocate the funds on a quarterly basis?

1 Like
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BG @neozaru, welcome to the forum, and thanks for the questions. A few responses below:

Nostra Labs has a team of 12 full-time employees and hires 14 part-time moderators to assist with community engagement and initiatives.

Most of the costs will be allocated to salaries, with a smaller proportion earmarked for audits, marketing, and events.

It’s hard to predict the entire year’s revenue. There is a possibility the revenue doesn’t completely cover the running costs due to lack of activity, but rest assured, timely reports with the ability to verify will be provided quarterly per the proposal.

Nostra Labs would prefer not to operate under an arrears model for ease of cash flow management. This could be considered in the future.

3 Likes
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As a Nostra user and La Famiglia member, I favour electing Nostra Labs as the service contractor for the next year.

5 Likes
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My vote goes for YES!
Nostra Labs has the experience and “know how” to handle the service contractor duties.

5 Likes
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I support this proposal.

We’ve seen what the team has done over the past two years, the future looks bright.

Regarding this:

I disagree with the quarterly basis because that might be detrimental to the development roadmap. Also, harder to retain talent if devs can’t foresee their future beyond 3 months.

I agree with the proposed yearly contract in the OP. We can design a roadmap where contractor and DAO align development goals and metrics, and quarterly reports for transparency.

:rose:

2 Likes
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Update: We appreciate the community feedback on the first proposal for Nostra Labs to become the service contractor of the Nostra DAO.

The proposal appears to have no major concerns. As such, we will move this forward to governance voting soon once we complete the final test for cross-chain governance voting.

1 Like
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Hi.As a holder of nstr, I am extremely disappointed with this proposal. I feel that there is an issue with our governance, where the interests of the holders and the team are not aligned.

A $2.5 million expenditure is a very heavy burden for the protocol, and the value acquisition for token holders is far from sight. The current market value of nstr has already fallen to $6 million, which has already expressed the attitude of some holders. They feel disappointed and have chosen to sell.

We would prefer to see most of the team’s income related to nstr. For example, the protocol’s revenue could continuously repurchase nstr and distribute a portion to the team as a bonus. Or, similar to the ve models of Curve, Pendle, and Chess, the protocol’s revenue could be returned to stakers, and the team could also obtain income through staking.

The current proposal makes many people feel betrayed. The Lab wants to take all the income without mentioning the token, and this kind of thinking will hinder our long-term development and violate the spirit of blockchain.

2 Likes
9

Hi
where and how does the Catalyst program come into play? Is the Catalyst program money meant for treasury of the DAO or will Nostra Labs receive that?

If the DAO will receive it, I think this proposal is good and we should go with it. If Nostra Labs receives it I think the budget would be quite high and more detail should be provided on the use.

1 Like
10

Hi Alex, as mentioned earlier, the $2.5 million budget has been proposed to ensure the protocol has enough resources to remain secure and functioning and to advance the product roadmap.

Regarding NSTR, the team has been very transparent, and you can check all NSTR transactions on-chain. Nostra does not control NSTR’s market price, and we cannot control whether people sell.

Unfortunately, this is not a viable solution for Nostra Labs.

We are exploring different options for staking NSTR and will discuss them further on the forum in the coming days. Depending on the outcome of this proposal, this approach could be something that is adopted later down the line.

2 Likes
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Hi Marek,

The STRK grant Nostra Labs received recognizes our innovation and development over the past two years. These funds willl not be included in the proposal’s $2,500,000 budget.

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So now, when you say the majority of $2.5 million, if we calculate it as $2 million, are you saying it will go to the salaries of around 20-21 people, including 12 full-time and 14 part-time employees, with an average monthly salary of about $10,000? And a small portion will be allocated for audits, marketing, and events?
Everyone on the team would gladly approve this.
My vote alone won’t be enough, but I will say NO.

2 Likes
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Voting on this proposal is now live. Please cast your vote here: Snapshot

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This proposal has passed.

Nostra Labs has been elected as the service contractor of Nostra DAO for the next year.

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Hey! I’m NSTR holder and, well… I’m definitely late for this discussion. But better late than never.

A few points I’d wanna highlight:

  1. day-to-day maintenance and growth of Nostra

Given your description of these operations, your main task will be “prioritising and executing the product development roadmap to build and grow a long-term sustainable protocol”. Can we see the roadmap?

  1. the goal is to put in place the structure and processes necessary to make Nostra a fully Decentralized Autonomous Organization (“DAO”) by the end of July 2025

With this proposal passed by the end of July 2025 Nostra will become fully DAO with almost $0 assets in treasury (besides NSTR) - how do you imagine its operations after July 2025?

  1. Nostra Labs will receive up to $2,500,000 of all revenue generated by the Nostra protocol over this period to cover development and marketing costs. Anything above this will go directly to the Nostra DAO treasury

We had $466k in revenue in the last quarter (Nostra Revenue Report Summary (Jul - Sep 2024)). It means that literally nothing will go to Nostra DAO treasury in the following months

  1. should NSTR tokenholders at any time wish to remove Nostra Labs as the service provider, they can do so

Is it technically possible? What will happen in this case - will you hand over the control of Nostra treasury and interfaces to the community or other service provider?

  1. Nostra Labs promises the Nostra community that it will not conspire with or exert any influence whatsoever over NSTR tokenholders regarding how they wish to vote on this proposal or, for that matter, any other proposal

Isn’t it your account that holds >60% voting power (Snapshot)? If so, it’s understandable why you will not “conspire with or exert any influence whatsoever over NSTR tokenholders”

You guys have a great product, amazing UX, and impressive metrics. But to be honest, this decentralization theater looks kinda pitiful and hilarious. Hope you will not leave Nostra with an emptied treasury after July 2025

Also hope you’ll check how your colleagues in AAVE, Compound, etc. handle decentralized governance - being transparent, accountable, and truly decentralized (without concentration of %50+ of voting power) AND being the main service provider at the same time is possible, pls try to at least start moving in this direction

4 Likes
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Thank you for your feedback and for taking the time to share your thoughts in this important discussion.

1. Roadmap Visibility
The Nostra roadmap is available and regularly updated on our website. We’re committed to transparency, and the community can track our progress and give input at any time.

2. Post-2025 DAO Operations
By the end of July 2025, Nostra aims to be fully decentralized. Any community member will be able to submit proposals to become service contractors. As a contractor, their role would include:

  • Prioritizing and executing the product roadmap to build and maintain Nostra.
  • Managing the DAO Treasury, which will include NSTR, the USDC used to provide liquidity to NSTR pools on Starknet and Ethereum mainnet, and any revenue generated above the $2.5m mark.

3. Revenue Allocation and DAO Treasury
The claim that “nothing will go to the DAO treasury” is incorrect. With the increased utilization of lent funds and Nostra’s expansion to other chains like Monad, we expect higher revenues moving forward. This will directly benefit the DAO treasury.

4. Changing Service Providers
Yes, NSTR token holders have the power to propose the removal of Nostra Labs as the service provider. For that to happen, a proposal for a change in service provider would have to be formulated in the governance forum and then would have to be approved by a formal governance vote.

This is a key aspect of decentralization and community governance.

5. Decentralized Voting Power
The 100,000 NSTR voting power (of 60%+) represents only 0.1% of the total supply of NSTR, which is roughly $6,000 at current prices. You can choose to delegate your NSTR voting power to yourself as well.

Users voluntarily delegate their tokens to delegates, and Nostra Labs does not exert any influence over these token holders.

We strive to uphold the ethos of decentralization and transparency in all governance decisions. Your points on learning from other successful DAOs like AAVE and Compound are well-taken. We are continually working towards improving Nostra and the governance process.

If you have any specific actions or procedures that you think would benefit Nostra DAO, by all means, please share them.

3 Likes
18

Thx for your answer!

  1. Roadmap Visibility

Do you mean “road ahead” section? There is a pretty vague description of what you wanna achieve sometime in the future:

  • timeline is totally incomprehensible - eg, Nostra iOS App and Prepaid credit card integration will be implemented in the next 9 months? I guess no
  • Nostra EVM launch (Monad testnet) - why Monad, what is the motivation behind this decision?
  • what is “AI integration” - do you want AI to control risk parameters? or do you wanna Maker-style AI-powered governance system?

Compare your roadmap to how AAVE represented their roadmap (here [TEMP CHECK] Aave 2030 - Governance - Aave and here [TEMP CHECK] Aave Protocol V4 Development Proposal - Governance - Aave) - there is a big difference

Idk why you decided to launch a token and declare Nostra as a DAO, but if you’re truly “committed to transparency” and value community ideas/feedback, imho AAVE-style communication with the community is needed. Not just dropping your plans, but creating a fundament for fruitful discussions and ideas to emerge.

Understand that you don’t have tons of money and advisors as AAVE does, but another nice example of smaller DAO with a thoughtful communication framework is Index Coop.

  1. Post-2025 DAO Operations + 4. Changing Service Providers

And when/if another service contractor is chosen, will you open-source every piece of code and transfer control of all Nostra interfaces?

I mean, it seems like you’re presenting the community with options that are obviously unrealistic, which imho doesn’t look nice. We all understand that Nostra now is in a “paternalistic stage” where Nostra Labs takes care of everything and gradually hands over (hopefully) the control to the community. Would be cool if you spent some time to truly consider the way you wanna do it and share your thoughts on core steps and timelines.

  1. Revenue Allocation and DAO Treasury

Nobody knows what the revenues will be. Currently, there is no reason to think we’ll see >$2.5m in revenue.

  1. Decentralized Voting Power

Didn’t notice the numbers are so small (btw in Ethereum they’re bigger). Anyway, if you genuinely “strive to uphold the ethos of decentralization and transparency in all governance decisions”, you can check what Ekubo did on Starknet and how major DeFi-protocols on Ethereum push decentralization (mostly through convenient environments for fruitful communication, user-friendly delegation frameworks and the incentivization of delegates and/or community members). Imho it’s a holistic approach where strong initial input from Nostra Labs is needed.

Again, thx for your answers! Hope Nostra’s path will look more like AAVE/Maker, not like Instadapp.

1 Like
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A1) In a changing environment, there is a need to be agile. There are external dependencies and market timing. That said, Nostra’s vision and mission is clearly laid out in the docs https://docs.nostra.finance/.

A2) As you correctly pointed out, Aave has a substantial amount of resources and has been live for four years, so its DAO operations are much further along the maturity curve.

A3) It’s essential to grow, and we see many potential opportunities at Monad. You can see the thesis regarding the question “Why Monad?: here: x.com

A4) This will ultimately be up to the DAO. Of course, handing over to a new service contractor will require transferring control of the contracts.

A5) There are very few benefits in open-sourcing the code. I’m happy to hear your rationale for wanting to open-source every piece of code at this point. For integrations, we are working on a public API / SDK.

A6) Agree, yes, a path towards decentralization will be shared in due time.

A7) Correct, revenue is unpredictable. Nostra Labs must cover an operational loss if the revenue is less than $2.5m. However, we expect the revenue from Monad to be substantially additive to the current rate.

Thanks for your comments and feedback! We’ll take it onboard and look to share plans in the future.

2 Likes