IIP-59-Final: Data Economy Index (DATA)

[Thomas_Hepner]

@jdcook Firstly, thank you for being a big supporter of the product (DATA) itself from the beginning and providing @Kiba and myself lots of great feedback during the process from the initial Request for Discussion to DG2.

@jdcook

I am a big proponent of this Index - the vision of Web3 relies on decentralized data economies. This sector has massive growth potential, and I believe a substantial short-term AUM to be gained. I have heard rumblings about this type of index at the Coop for a few months, so it is great to see this proposal come through!

I understand and empathize with your concerns, but am still disappointed to learn you will be voting AGAINST the proposal, especially just minutes before the beginning of the DG2 vote.

The terms of the mutually agreed upon deal were posted 11 days ago in the forum. I wish both you and @overanalyser would have posted your concerns publicly before the vote started so we could have worked with you and others to construct a final deal acceptable to all involved.

Given that voting has already begun, we’re committed to seeing it through.

I also want to address this specific comment you made in regards to the off-boarding clause:

@jdcook

My read of the situation is that it is more likely than not that the clawback option gets used by the DATA methodologists. The outcome I see in which they do not exercise the clawback is if we can re-work the initial methodologist bounty program. I am doubtful this gets accomplished in a way that satisfies the DATA methodologists and the scale of renumeration they are looking for given the stalemate that has occurred on the subject for the past couple of months.

Titans of Data (@Kiba and myself) have worked tirelessly with the Index Coop community for the past 3 months to launch DATA through Index Coop. We see tremendous value in the community here and that’s the biggest reason we were excited then, and now, to launch DATA through Index Coop. Our investment of time and energy without compensation is a reflection of the immense value we see in this community.

From my perspective, the product onboarding process went smoothly from Request for Discussion (6/2) to Request for Comment (6/18) to a successful DG1 vote (7/16). It was only when conversations began about changing the existing structures and incentive mechanisms for methodologists that that we ran into significant challenges during the product onboarding process.

While developing the IIP for the DATA proposal, I realized that the Methodologist Bounty Program that had initially attracted me to become a Methodologist for the Index Coop was unfair to new products and methodologists like ourselves. These sentiments have been shared by community members across the Index Coop and are acknowledged in the final fee split offer:

@BigSky7

Before laying out the official offer, we acknowledge that the current methodologist reward system is flawed and requires an eventual overhaul. The current system does not incentivize outside methodologists to support their products and is value extractive for the Coop. Creating dynamic and compelling products is vital to the growth of the protocol. To accomplish this, we need to design a long-term sustainable system for the Coop and our partners.

We’ve thought deeply and analytically about the incentives for methodologists working with Index Coop. I developed and put forward a Request for Discussion around a possible Methodologist Accelerator Program that I think is the first draft of a much better construct for aligning methodologists with the Index Coop. We hope to continue participating in ongoing conversations to re-design incentives for methodologists in the “methodologist committee” proposed by @snasps in such a way that is equitable for both methodologists and IC.

I’ll reiterate a portion of my original comment for this IIP:

@Thomas_Hepner

Let us be clear - Titans of Data wants to launch DATA through Index Coop and keep it with Index Coop for the long-term.

The off-boarding clause gives Titans of Data and the Index Coop community the time we need to reach consensus around a future methodologist fee split/reward program that is fair and reasonable to all methodologists, present and future, as well as the Index Cooperative.

Titans of Data is committed to contributing and participating in these tough conversations in good faith with the Index Cooperative. We are incredibly excited to build a long-term partnership with Index Coop that shares in the success of the DATA index. We ask for your support and vote for DG2!