Mango DAO Embraces SOL, Rejects BTC With $1M Treasury Investment

Mango DAO, the governing assemblage for Solana-based crypto trading hub Mango Markets, connected Tuesday approved a $1 cardinal treasury concern successful Solana-linked tokens conscionable hours aft overwhelmingly rejecting calls to bash the aforesaid for bitcoin.

Mango DAO’s astir $700 cardinal treasury volition present diversify beyond USDC stablecoins for the archetypal time. And it volition bash truthful not successful bitcoin – the eponymous crypto plus that MicroStrategy made celebrated arsenic a treasury reserve – but successful mSOL, a token tied to SOL that pays retired staking rewards.

Mango Markets is simply a borrowing, lending and trading decentralized concern (DeFi) protocol connected Solana. Its Mango DAO governing assemblage is 1 of Solanaland’s much built-out decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). MNGO token holders ballot connected everything from token listings to enactment funding; they besides oversee Mango’s hulking treasury, which is funded done trading fees.

Plenty of DAOs person embarked connected treasury diversification campaigns before. There’s been governance token firesales and partnerships with concern managers. More uncommon is the up-down assemblage ballot to swap stablecoins for volatile assets similar solana.

Brian Smith, a Mango DAO contributor who helped spearhead the treasury proposals, told CoinDesk the mSOL connection was palmy due to the fact that it “hedges retired immoderate of the aboriginal terms risk” that Mango Markets incurs by operating its trading rails with SOL. Plus, mSOL, the Marinade Finance-issued liquid staking token, offers the payment of staking yield.

“We were holding 100% USDC and not earning immoderate involvement connected that capital,” helium said successful a Telegram message.

Smith is present tasked with executing the mSOL bargain via a delegated relationship that helium said Mango acceptable up.

MNGO holders’ beardown rejection of bitcoin (that ballot ended with 99.5% against) stands successful opposition to caller pro-BTC movements successful the cryptosphere.

Do Kwon, the laminitis of Terraform Labs and the main figurehead of the Terra blockchain, is presently barnstorming a program to backstop Terra’s UST stablecoin with up to $10 cardinal successful bitcoin.

As of Tuesday, that is decidedly not the way for Mango.

“The radical person spoken and nary 1 wants BTC,” wrote Smith connected Mango’s Discord Monday aft the bitcoin connection went down successful flames. “Only 26k yes votes has got to beryllium the slightest enactment for immoderate superior connection successful Mango DAO’s history.”

Part of the community's wariness with bitcoin was the information risks of buying a wrapped asset, Smith said. And the mentation of bitcoin they’d person to bargain volition soon suffer enactment connected Solana, helium said. Plus there’s the optics:  “Some radical whitethorn not deliberation BTC is simply a bully acceptable for a Solana DAO.”

Still, determination were signs Tuesday that Mango voters mightiness travel astir to bitcoin investing. Some members of the project’s Discord said mSOL was a much applicable trial lawsuit for Mango’s archetypal treasury diversification ballot than bitcoin. Mango co-founder Daffy Durairaj advocated for going with mSOL first.

Operating decentralized governance tin beryllium a situation for Solana-based projects. Despite its increasing prominence successful DeFi circles, Solana has obscurity adjacent arsenic overmuch DAO enactment arsenic Ethereum. That’s partially due to the fact that it lacks the governance infrastructure that Ethereum projects enjoy.

But that’s opening to change, Smith said.

“Solana governance tools are being developed astatine a accelerated complaint (with a batch of contributions from the Mango dev team) and I’m hopeful governance go overmuch much effectual successful the future.”