Q&A: SC Member BoredApeG Has 3 AIPs On The Ballot This Week That Aim To Let 3rd Party Stakers Vote!

ApeCoin DAO Special Council Member BoredApeG has three Ape Improvement Proposals on the ballot this week that aim to give $Ape stakers on ParaSpace, BendDAO, and Jpeg’d the ability to vote and contribute at the DAO.

AIPs-309,310, and 311 titled ‘Allow for ApeCoin staked in ParaSpace, BendDAO, and Jpeg’d protocols to be counted for voting power,’ are Process Proposals written by ApeCoin DAO Special Council Member, BoredApeG.

“ApeCoin DAO members have the right to vote, and this right should not be limited by the ApeCoin staking protocol one wishes to use,” BoredApeG wrote. “By supporting this AIP, we can help more users to participate in governance activities and have a say in the future of the DAO.”

In BoredApeG's proposal, he explained that as of March 13, 2023, a total of 16,100,000 $Ape had been staked across ParaSpace, BendDAO, and Jpeg'd. This meant that there were 16,100,000 $Ape tokens that could not be cast in the DAO's weekly votes.

If AIPs-309, 310, and 311 are passed, these proposals will not cost the DAO anything and the Ape Foundation will work with ParaSpace, BendDAO, and Jpeg’d to find way to let their Stakers vote.

To find out more about these three proposals and what impact expanding the ability to vote to these third party stakers will have on the DAO, the Gazette reached out to BoredApeG for an interview. Check it out below:

1. In a sentence or two what is your AIP about?

"Allowing ApeCoin staked in UIs other than http://apestake.io to be counted in ApeCoin governance voting power."

2. What inspired you to write this AIP?

“@cryptobeaker and members of the ApeCoin community, including both users of these protocols and the protocol operators themselves.”

3. Why aren’t 3rd party stakers currently able to vote?

“An update to the voting power calculation on snapshot would be required, therefore, the ApeCoin community first needs to approve this change to its governance implementation.”

4. Have other DAO’s given 3rd party stakers the ability to vote? How did they do it?

“I could not speak to a specific other DAO, but in theory, it is generally not technically difficult to implement..”

5. What impact will giving 3rd party stakers the ability to vote have on the DAO?

I expect to see an increase in active participation in ApeCoin DAO governance. Users of these protocols (BendDAO, JPEG'd, ParaSpace) are inherently engaged ApeCoin users who are actively monitoring their positions. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that they are more willing to participate in ApeCoin governance versus an individual who may currently be staking on http://apestake.io that is a more passive user in our governance (e.g. those who stake but have not/minimally participated in governance).

6. If passed how soon do you think stakers will be able to cast their coins?

"I am hopeful it should be within a few weeks."

7. Do you have anything else you’d like to add or say?

"A common question asked about these proposals is something to the effect of 'why are we encouraging the use of leveraged protocols'? The reality is thousands of individuals have already chosen these protocols over the ability to participate in ApeCoin governance. Millions of ApeCoin continue to be locked in these protocols, no matter the risk of hacks that have already happened or may happen in the future; these protocols have already been hacked, yet ApeCoin TVL remains! If ApeCoin DAO does nothing, it is evident that it will not stop the use of these NFT finance protocols. Therefore, I personally believe the net benefit here truly leans more towards ApeCoin DAO in its opportunity to bring these users into participating in its governance."

The window to vote on these three proposals is currently open and ApeCoin DAO contributors have until Wednesday, September 20th, to cast their coins and vote on these AIPs.

$Apes can read BoredApeG’s three proposals here: https://snapshot.org/#/apecoin.eth

The Bored Ape Gazette will continue to follow AIPs 309,310, and 311 and will let you know how the community votes later this week. Stay tuned for updates!