[TFIP-17] Extending the TrueFi Foundation Board of Directors

Summary

As TrueFi continues its transition, there is a critical need to strengthen the Foundation’s Board of Directors. Given the evolving scope of the Foundation’s responsibilities and the necessity for strong governance, we propose grandfathering the current Board of Directors in addition to three new Board members for an extension till 30th Sept 2025, with a simple extension till 31st Dec 2025 through a forum proposal.

If you believe you may be a good candidate to hold one of these three seats, please review this proposal and submit a platform statement before Monday, September 9th.

Background & Rationale

Ferengi, Nathan Vandy, and Masahide Hoshi (collectively, the “Directors”) have been serving as directors of the TrueFi Foundation (the “Foundation”) since 2024. With Masahide stepping down, it is important to elect additional directors to join the current Board members for an extended 1-year term to support the transition.

During this process, the current Board will also share its vision for how the next year will develop and the budget required to achieve these goals. This will provide clarity on the Foundation’s direction with TrueFi and its stakeholders and service providers to ensure that the newly expanded Board is aligned with these strategic objectives.

Election Process & Voting Details

If you are interested in becoming a director of the Foundation, please submit a platform statement explaining (i) how you’d contribute to the Foundation, the TrueFi Protocol, and the TrueFi community, (ii) what new ideas you will bring to TrueFi, (iii) why you’re a good candidate to hold one of the three (3) board seats through this next term.

Candidate Qualifications

We propose that candidates for the new Board positions meet the following criteria:

  • Crypto Experience: Candidates should have minimum three years and a proven track record in crypto, with specific reference to DeFi, and a deep understanding of both traditional and decentralized financial systems.
  • Legal and Regulatory Expertise: Given the Foundation’s critical role in navigating legal and compliance issues, candidates with backgrounds or understandings of crypto law, traditional finance law, or regulatory compliance are highly desirable.
  • Operational and Business Acumen: The Board will benefit from members with strong operational, governance, or business development backgrounds, particularly those experienced in scaling organizations or managing complex projects.
  • Commitment to Decentralization: Candidates should be committed to the principles of decentralization and demonstrate a clear vision for the future of TrueFi within the broader DeFi and RWA ecosystem.

Compensation and commitment:

Majority of Board members will not have a direct operational role, but for those that do, the compensation structure includes two components:

  • A monthly retainer of $2,000 for basic responsibilities, covering up to 4 hours of work per week (paid in stables or TRU)
  • Beyond the basic retainer, additional work and operational duties will be billed at a rate of $200 per hour

Process for Selection

The proposed process for selecting the new Board members is as follows:

  1. Call for Nominations: Candidates will have two weeks to provide platform statements up until Monday, September 9th, allowing community members and external stakeholders to nominate candidates who meet the qualifications outlined above.
  • Format: Platform statements should be submitted to the TrueFi Forum with the following title: [Board Candidate] FirstName LastName’s Platform Statement
  1. Community Feedback: 72 hours for the TrueFi community to give feedback on the shortlisted candidates, ensuring transparency and inclusiveness in the selection process.
  2. Tally Vote: Based on their alignment with theTrueFi’s vision and community sentiment, On Wednesday, September 11th, the current Board will put forward a Tally vote with the selected names of individuals who submitted platform statements.
  3. Final Appointment: The final selection of the new Board members will be made by the current Board, taking into account community feedback, legal compliance onboarding process and the strategic needs of the Foundation.

During this period, the current Board will present its vision for the next year, including a detailed budget outlining the resources needed to achieve TrueFi’s strategic objectives. This will provide a clear framework for the incoming Board members to build upon.

Conclusion

Expanding the TrueFi Foundation Board is a necessary step to strengthen governance and ensure the Foundation can effectively manage its expanded responsibilities. By adding three new Board members, we will enhance the diversity, expertise, and decision-making capacity of the Board, positioning TrueFi for continued growth and success.

We invite the community to support this proposal and participate actively in the nomination and selection process.

6 Likes

Just for clarity…

The original election was a 1-year term that began on January 1, 2024? And this proposal suggests extending that to September 30, 2025

“with a simple extension till 31st Dec 2025 through a forum proposal.” ← what does that mean exactly?

Given that Masa is stepping down and three more people are being sought out this means there will be a 5-person board going forward, correct? If 3 new candidates don’t come forward, would you settle for a 3-person board?

" 2. Final Appointment: The final selection of the new Board members will be made by the current Board, taking into account community feedback, legal compliance onboarding process and the strategic needs of the Foundation." ← why this point? What is the board and Tally for example disagreed?

2 Likes

Great questions, hope the response suffices.

The proposal for the current Board of Directors and the new inclusions to manage these responsibilities for one-year extension. The final process of the onboarding will start in September hence choosing the 30th Sept 2025 as the first extension date.

31st Dec 2025 as a date, is a simple six-month extension from 30th Sept 2025, where the community will be able to share their feedback including assessing if member(s) need to be offboarded. But another candidacy process won’t be required at that time.

After 31st Dec 2025, it would’ve been two-years that some of the Board of Directors would’ve held their seat and at that point, it would be fair to the community for another candidacy process to begin.

Lastly, it is always ideal with Board seats is always to have an odd number to prevent deadlocks. Anticipating the future workload of the Board is why having 5 members would be preferred, but we would also be able to settle for 3 otherwise.

There are a few considerations here. Firstly, although the community may have chosen candidates, these individuals would be required to pass our AML policy, and if there is any reason why that individual would be a risk to our current and future operations, then they would need to be replaced. Additionally, we are looking to ensure a well-rounded Board that matches the future vision of TrueFi as we expand our product line and partnerships. Therefore, the Board will ensure that we don’t have Board members with too similar backgrounds.

4 Likes

To follow up, thank you for everyone’s candidacies and the community’s feedback. After discussing with governance participants and in order to give members the ability to vote individually, the suggest is to use Snapshot rather than going straight to Tally

This would allow the process to be more democratic and would be similar to how the initial Board members were voted in: Snapshot

It would include polling the following candidates:

  1. [Board Candidate] Krysh Type3

  2. [Board Candidate] Gregoire le Jeune’s Platform Statement

  3. [Board Candidate] Romain Rechtman’s Platform Statement

  4. [Board Candidate] Sebastien Davies's Platform Statement

  5. [Board Candidate] StrategoHoldings Platform Statement

Happy to hear the community’s thoughts before going live with the weighted Snapshot in 24 hours.

3 Likes

The Snapshot vote is officially live:

https://snapshot.org/#/truefi-dao.eth/proposal/0x158e2a1aaa44156b579396d3914504bb35e0bd551478069af8bf27bbf1324ac8

Feel free to cast your vote on the candidates of your choice.

4 Likes

I wish the voting results to be beneficial for everyone for the future of TrueFi.
:pray:

4 Likes

Hello everyone, as a TrueFi community, we ask you to introduce TrueFi board members and share social media accounts, if any, to establish a more decent communication. Thank you very much in advance for your interest.

1 Like