Version 1.3 | Last updated: March 12th, 2024
1. Mission, Vision, and Values
1.1 Mission
MoonDAO’s mission is to create a self-sustaining, self-governing settlement on the Moon by 2030 to act as a launch point for humanity to explore the cosmos.
1.2 Vision
The frontier of space represents the greatest opportunity to redefine our civilization. As we step forwards into the unknown, we find ourselves at a crossroads for our future.
MoonDAO believes in a bottom-up approach, where we are united by principles of equality, freedom, pursuit of happiness, justice, privacy, decentralization of power, transparency, private ownership, sustainability, and equal access to opportunity for anyone in the world, regardless of their origin.
We aim to bring life outside of our home planet for the benefit of human prosperity to all corners of the Earth. Not for the benefit of a few at the expense of others. MoonDAO will act as a hub for scientists, engineers, artists, philosophers, lawyers, and everyday people to come together and collaborate to build an optimistic future for everyone.
MoonDAO will build, fund, and promote public goods that help humanity achieve its mission. This includes projects related to space research, exploration, education, and inspiration. We are nation-agnostic, radically transparent, bottom-up, and open to anyone in the world to own, govern, and work.
1.3 Values
Don’t Can’t Be Evil
All our finances are public. All our work is done in an auditable and transparent way on our MoonDAO official communication channels to the extent permitted by law or operational security of its members. All our code is open source and readable by the public. Everyone has access to the same information to ensure everything is auditable and the community has full access to the state of the DAO.
Experimentation and Exploration
MoonDAO aims to create a culture that encourages direct experience of the unknown. We encourage novel research and curiosity-driven projects that give us new information about our place in the universe. This not only includes experiments in space, but also in governance, incentives, and using new technology to help people collaborate in new ways. We reward risk takers and encourage people who think differently.
Abundance Mentality
In everything we do, we aim to create positive sum games so that everyone wins, not just a small group at the expense of others. This means our output is open source, in the public domain, and a public good. We compose, rather than compete. This means no premine of tokens for projects, no special access to particular groups on the basis of nationality or financial means, and everyone has the same level playing field to cooperate and win with us. We give open access to our work to anyone in the world, and let anyone participate in the future we want to create, no matter where they are from or how much money they have.
Community First
We are a community, not a company. We never intend to be a company. No one voice can trump the DAO’s will. All leaders in the DAO are servants of the community. We invest in our members and give them opportunities to grow with the DAO for the long term. We give priority of work to our community members first, over mercenaries outside of our organization. We give the community real power, and discuss everything openly, letting the best ideas rise to the top, bottom up.
Long Term Focus
We play long term games with long term people. We keep our eyes on the horizon, and always strive to make decisions that make us stronger in the long term, even if it means short term sacrifice. We invest in the long term growth of our community.
A Home for Dreamers
We are here to do what others think is impossible. No goal is too crazy, ambitious, or outlandish. We embrace dreamers. If there’s a plan, we will hear it out and keep an open mind.
2. Governance
MoonDAO is composed of three governing bodies: The MoonDAO Senate, Member House, and Executive branch.
Simple Majority
A simple majority is reached if votes in favor/against are greater than 50%.
Super Majority
A super-majority is reached if the votes in favor/against are greater than 66.6%.
Seasons/Quarters
Quarters refer to three-month periods. MoonDAO quarters are defined as follows: First quarter from January 1st to March 31st, second quarter from April 1st to June 30th, third quarter from July 1st to September 30th, and fourth quarter from October 1st to December 31st.
2.1 Member House
MoonDAO’s Member House is composed of the holders of voting escrowed $MOONEY ($vMOONEY), otherwise known as MoonDAO members. The total supply of $MOONEY is fixed, MoonDAO will never mint more of this token.
$MOONEY is found at Ethereum address 0x20d4DB1946859E2Adb0e5ACC2eac58047aD41395 $vMOONEY is found at Ethereum address 0xCc71C80d803381FD6Ee984FAff408f8501DB1740
The only way for an individual to receive $vMOONEY is by locking $MOONEY. The $MOONEY token must be locked for a period of at least seven days, to at most four years (1460 days). In return, the person locking the token will receive a wallet-bound $vMOONEY linearly proportional to the amount of time until the MOONEY can be unlocked.
Each member may only have one wallet registered with MoonDAO to determine their voting power. Members may delegate their voting power to other members. Voting power for each member is determined by the square root $vMOONEY.
2.1.1 MOONDAO LLC Membership
A MoonDAO Member is any individual who holds wallet-bound $vMOONEY in consonance with Article III of the MoonDAO Operating Agreement.
Rights
- Right to vote on MoonDAO Proposals that go to the Member House voting stage with $vMOONEY.
- Right to appeal removal from official channels of communication, as described in the ban appeal process.
- Members with more than 250,000 $vMOONEY have the right to submit proposals to the Senate.
2.2 Senate
MoonDAO’s Senate is composed of Senators. Proposals are first voted on by the Senate before being presented to the MoonDAO Member House. See section 2.4 for more information.
2.2.1. Senators
Election
Each Quarter, five contributors (excluding Astronauts) are elected based on their performance in the previous quarter in order of retroactive rewards from the prior quarter. In addition, each active Project can select one Senator to serve on behalf of their Project for the quarter.
Term Limit and Removal
Senators are active until the end of the quarter that they were appointed.
Rights
- Right to one vote in the Senate.
- Right to distribute rewards in the Quarter’s Community Circle (see Project system) and vouch for members to be included in that circle.
2.3 Executive Branch
MoonDAO’s Executive Branch is composed of Astronauts and the Treasury signers (hereinafter known as ‘signers’) of the MoonDAO treasury located at Ethereum Address 0xce4a1E86a5c47CD677338f53DA22A91d85cab2c9. There will only be seven signers, with an execution threshold of five signers.
2.3.1 Astronauts
Astronauts are trusted members of the DAO that have the responsibility to represent MoonDAO’s mission and values externally and provide leadership to the DAO internally.
Election
MoonDAO members may hold an election for a new Astronaut if there is a vacancy. Candidate Astronauts may be nominated by MoonDAO members and must have been part of the Senate for at least 180 days. Each nomination must go through the senate with a super majority vote. If there are multiple nominations that go through the Senate, then the DAO will vote among the candidates using $vMOONEY with Instant Runoff Ranked Choice Voting.
Term Limits
Astronauts serve for a three-year term. After three years, the DAO must re-vote with a super majority to confirm they stay as an Astronaut. They are eligible to remain an Astronaut for multiple terms. There can only be a maximum of three Astronauts at any given time.
Removal
Astronauts may be removed through the creation of a Proposal that is approved by the Senate with a super majority vote, and the MoonDAO members with super majority vote over a five day voting period.
Rights
- All Astronauts unanimously have the right to propose the appointment or removal of Treasury Signers. Appointment or removal must be ratified by the Senate and Member House with a super majority vote with a voting period of five days, and approval of 5/7 of the treasury signers.
- All Astronauts unanimously have the right to propose the removal of any member of the Senate for breaking the Code of Conduct, by providing evidence of a reason for removal to the Senate transparently. This can be appealed and voted on for re-entry by a random drawing of seven MoonDAO Senate members.
- All Astronauts unanimously have the right to jointly propose the termination of MoonDAO projects.
- Right to appoint or remove MoonDAO moderators on official channels of communication.
- Right to individually propose a salary approved by the Senate and DAO members.
- Right to one vote in the Senate during the season(s) they are active.
2.3.2 Treasury Signers
Signers must create and sign transactions within five days of a proposal passing. Failure to do so may result in a warning and removal at the discretion of the Astronauts.
Signers’ identity must be made public by the DAO. Sensitive legal documents (such as Passports, ID Cards) will be securely stored by the DAO with only the Astronauts having access to it. Treasury signers must provide contact information where they can be reached in cases of emergency.
MoonDAO signers are required to have at least 250,000 $vMOONEY.
Election
Treasury signers are appointed by the Astronauts, and approved by the Senate and Member House with a super majority vote, and approval of a minimum 5 signers shall also be required. Astronauts may also provide a list of people and allow for the Member house to choose by ranked choice voting.
Term Limits
There is no limit to the length of time a member can serve as a multi-signature member.
Removal
Treasury signers members can be removed by the Astronauts, and approved by the Senate and Member House with a super majority vote, and approval of a minimum 5 signers shall also be required.
Rights
Right to object to a MoonDAO Proposal. Provided that the signer(s) provides written reasoning to the DAO with respect to such an objection and how such a proposal will affect the DAO in the long run.
2.4 Proposal Process
All MoonDAO proposals must go through the following process.
2.4.1 Creation
Any MoonDAO member can suggest a proposal and discuss them on the MoonDAO governance forum. The Proposal must follow the templates provided by the DAO, if the proposal does not follow its relevant template then it will not be considered valid and will not go forward for a Senate vote.
2.4.2 Feedback from DAO members
Proposals will go through a feedback process on the forum for at least a week, and the author may integrate feedback from the DAO. To officially submit the proposal to the MoonDAO senate, the proposal must be sponsored by a MoonDAO member with more than 250,000 $vMOONEY.
2.4.3 Senate Voting
At the Senate voting phase, the proposal will be active for no longer than 30 days since its publication in the governance forum. In order for a proposal to be voted upon by the MoonDAO Member House, it must first be approved by the Senate. For the proposal to receive approval, it must receive a favorable vote from a super majority of the Senate members. The minimum quorum of Senate members required to vote in order for the proposal to be voted upon is 70% of the total number of Senate members. Each Senate member has only one vote.
2.4.4 Member House Voting
At the MoonDAO Member House voting phase, if the proposal has a binary (Yes/No) outcome, it will be adopted if the proposal achieves a super majority threshold according to the quadratic voting formula of $vMOONEY. If multiple options are presented, the proposal must have ranked-choice voting. The voting period for Member House voting will be no less than five days.
2.4.5 On-chain Execution
Following the approval of the Proposal by the Member House, if there is a transaction to be made from the MoonDAO treasury, the execution on-chain will occur within five days.
If any treasury signers decide to veto the proposal and not sign the transaction, they must include written reasoning and publish it for DAO members on why they believe the execution of the transaction would put in jeopardy the long-term health of the DAO.
3. MoonDAO Projects
MoonDAO is organized into sub-units called MoonDAO Projects.
MoonDAO Projects are non-perpetual, goal-based teams that are voted by the community to act as trusted executors on behalf of the DAO to complete an objective. Projects can apply for a budget from the community, and once the project is passed, then the project stewards (i.e. Rocketeers) have the authority to determine who can be part of the project, how the budget is spent, and the strategy around execution. Once the project’s original goal is achieved, the team may be disbanded to work on other projects. Specification for how MoonDAO projects operate can be found here: https://docs.moondao.com/Projects/Project-System.
Project stewards may have whatever consensus mechanism they would like internally (e.g. they may do one-person-one-vote, token voting, or just let the stewards have control). This includes how they decide over their votes in the Senate.
4. Rules of Coordination
4.1 Codes of conduct
MoonDAO members on official channels of communication are expected to be respectful to others and generally treat others as they themselves would like to be treated. Breaking these rules may result in removal.
4.1.1 Attack the idea, not the person
Disagreement of ideas is natural and discussion is encouraged, but no personal attacks are allowed. Attack the idea, not the person. Attacking or targeting community members will result in removal. We have a strict “no asshole” policy. This includes disrespectful comments on the basis of race, sex, religion, political belief, sexual harassment, or bullying.
4.1.2 Focus on the Mission, not $MOONEY
Keep comments about the token in designated areas. Our $MOONEY token is a governance token, and there is no expectation of profit with the token. Discussion about fluctuation of token prices is not productive towards our mission, MoonDAO is not built for day traders, it is built for long-term optimists. If you are here to primarily discuss the token rather than help build MoonDAO and progress its mission, this DAO is not for you.
4.1.3 No unrelated content
No spam, scams, explicit content, soliciting or advertisements.
4.1.4 Be honest
Although DAOs aim to be trustless, trust still forms the basis of all relationships. It is important to be able to trust members that you work with. Dishonesty that affects people’s ability to rely on you may result in removal.
4.1.5 No sabotaging members or governance
Any attempt made to sabotage the DAO or put it in a vulnerable position will result in removal. This includes sabotaging governance systems, blackmailing members, or preventing MoonDAO from proper functioning. This includes manipulating our governance with multiple wallets.
4.1.6 Transparent Communication
MoonDAO work is intended to be auditable and open to the community. Creating and participating closed channels of communication for work that should be occurring in designated MoonDAO channels may result in bans. Private communication for legal or operational security measures, however, is allowed.
4.2 Enforcement
Enforcement of the Code of Conduct will be done by MoonDAO Moderators.
4.2.1 MoonDAO Moderators
Moderators are guardians of the DAO, removing members that break the Code of Conduct in official channels of communication.
Election
Moderators are appointed and removed by the Astronauts at their sole discretion.
Rights
- Right to temporarily remove any member from MoonDAO official channels of communication for breaking the Code of Conduct. They must transparently provide a reason for the removal to the DAO. If the members have the right to vote in the MoonDAO senate, removal will require a review and approval by the Astronauts. If the member is a contributor on a Project, removal will require a review and approval by the Rocketeer overseeing the Project.
Once members have been removed they have to handover key information and assets required for proper MoonDAO operations (passwords, etc.).
4.3 Arbitration Process
Every MoonDAO Member has the right to appeal enforcement actions. After enforcement, members may submit an appeal within 30 days to info@moondao.com. Appeals will be reviewed by seven randomly selected Senate members, and through a simple majority vote they can decide whether the action should be reversed.
In general, enforcement actions are intended to be temporary. The community may forgive members, and apologies go a long way.
5. Amendment
A proposal to amend the constitution can be made by a Senate member, and ratified by the MoonDAO Proposal Process, with a threshold higher than 80% of the Senate majority and 80% of Member House majority. With a quorum of 80% in the Senate, and ten day voting period in the Member House.
5.1 Coming into force and transition period
Amendments of the Constitution will go into effect immediately after they are approved by the MoonDAO community by Amendment of the Constitution, as outlined in Section 5. There will be a three month Transition Period after the amendment is approved during which MoonDAO Members have the right to opt-out of the community by selling their governance tokens or if they are not able to sell their governance tokens they may notify the DAO in writing to info@moondao.com with their wallet address and indicating they want to opt-out. Three months after the amendment is passed, the change is binding and existing members are deemed to consent.