DAO Uniswap plans to create Uniswap Foundation with $74 million fund

The Uniswap DAO is discussing the possibility of creating an independent Uniswap Foundation to work with Uniswap Labs to grow the protocol. A new governance body for one of the most popular Web3 exchanges has been proposed.

A proposal was submitted to today in the Uniswap governance forum to create an independent Uniswap Foundation. The purpose of the Foundation would be multiple: to support the growth of the protocol, to reinvigorate its governance process, and to advocate for the decentralized exchange protocol.

The proposal calls for $60 million for the foundation to operate a Uniswap grants program. This program would fund projects dedicated to protocol growth, community growth, research and design, decentralized decision making, and governance management. An additional $14 million in operating funds to pay the team for three years is also requested. After eighteen months, the Foundation will return to DAO with a new proposal for additional funds.

The proposal requests an additional 2.5 million UNI tokens (worth $21.7 million) to participate in governance. The amount will be revocable by the DAO and may not be used for any purpose other than governance.

Although it declares itself “totally independent” from Uniswap Labs, the foundation would nevertheless be led by former Uniswap Labs chief of staff Devin Walsh and grants program manager Ken Ng. Devin Walsh and Ken Ng plan to hire ten other members to work on the foundation’s various projects. Four advisors have also been appointed, and a third member will join Walsh and Ng on the board within three months of the proposal’s passage.

1/ Sooo excited about this proposal for a Uniswap Foundation 🦄🦄🦄

TLDR: It’s a new entity (fully independent from Labs) that would help grow the Protocol and facilitate community contribution and governance, led by outstanding community members. https://t.co/2nOxYe47Zv

– hayden.eth 🦄 (@haydenzadams) August 4, 2022

Following the announcement, Uniswap creator Hayden Adams posted on a series of tweets sharing his enthusiasm, stating that “after this passage, the Foundation will be yet another team working toward a future where the protocol doesn’t just survive – it thrives!“.

Uniswap announced in June that it would soon offer its users the ability to trade NFTs in addition to crypto-currencies.