KIP-41: New Sophon Nomination: Nathan

kip: 41
title: new sophon nomination: Nathan
category: other
author:  @jasonw
status: final (adopted)
created: 2023-02-23
replaces: KIP-1
dependencies: 

Proposal

Onboard @Nathan_ as a Sophon to replace @Doge.

References

[1] KIP-1: Initial Sophon Onboarding
[2] Forum post: Our first trial of Sophon onboarding
[3] Forum post: Hearing from the Sophons: poll results

Background

The first batch of Sophons were nominated and elected via KIP-1 [1] in October 2021, and have served continuously in that role for 16 months. @Doge, one of the current Sophons, began to indicate their desire to offboard from that role in late 2022, leading us to workshop several possibilities for how to address his replacement as a DAO. Key among these was the idea to use this changeover to trial a revised election process that spans three stages [2]:

  1. Nomination of the candidate, including information about the candidate’s background and contributions to the DAO.
  2. Evaluation of the candidate by the community, including public sessions with the community and the candidate.
  3. Voting on Snapshot for 5 days.

Rationale

The Sophon to be offboarded and replaced in this proposal is @Doge, who was described in the initial proposal as a community member as well as a researcher and token strategist [1].

Nathan’s nomination is based on the results of a poll of the Sophons last year about what makes for an effective Sophon [3]. In that poll, the two strongest requirements were detailed knowledge of the Rook Protocol as well as of the Rook DAO and community. As a prominent MEV searcher, Nathan has a high level of knowledge of the Rook Protocol and where it sits in the modern MEV landscape, and has even advised on the design of several aspects of the system in the past. As a longtime DAO member, Nathan has always championed Rook inside the industry, and has participated in DAO-led podcasts, interviews, and other events to help Rook’s message reach a wider audience.

Nathan has provided the following information to the community in support of his nomination:

  • ENS address
    • nathanw.eth
  • Discord and forum handles
  • Twitter handle
    • @NathanWorsley
  • Background and Web3 expertise, and how this will benefit Rook DAO.
    • Nathan runs an MEV firm as well as a crypto exchange, and also works as an advisor to several projects. His unique perspective as both a user of the protocol (as a searcher) and an expert within this market segment, will ensure that Rook is able to tackle new challenges using its governance.
  • Knowledge of Rook and prior contributions to the DAO
    • Nathan was an early DAO community member and served as an advisor to Rook on MEV and protocol development. He sat for podcasts with the DAO and has also shipped code across a few early Rook products.
  • Current ROOK/xROOK holdings
    • Nathan has received 1000 ROOK for prior advisory work.
  • Potential conflicts of interest
    • None
  • Intent to abide by the Sophon KIP evaluation criteria (link)
    • Yes.

Specification

  • Once posted as a KIP Draft to the forum, set at least one date for community interaction with Nathan, ideally at a governance workshop
  • After reaching soft consensus per our usual governance process, set up a 5-day election on Snapshot
2 Likes

UPDATE: Nathan had a positive public AMA with the Rook community on 2023-02-27. For more details, see the session’s transcript and summary here: Sophon Candidate AMA - Nathan Worsley

1 Like

UPDATE: This proposal will be LIVE for voting starting at noon today, and will be open through Tuesday, March 7th at noon at Snapshot

It would be highly informative to obtain clarification on the following queries:

  1. What is the business model employed by Convexity and is there an established business relationship with Rook that has demonstrated success? This information is crucial in order to assess any potential conflicts of interest that may arise.
  2. Given his current responsibilities which include operating a firm, overseeing a company, and advising multiple projects, it would be beneficial to determine whether he possesses sufficient time to actively engage with Rook.

Hi Pierandrea,

  1. Convexity is a trading firm, and there is no business relationship between Convexity & Rook, although I have a longstanding relationship with Rook as an advisor. Should there exist some conflict of interest between Convexity & Rook in a Sophon decision, I would decline giving input or voting on that particular decision
  2. I’m actively involved with Rook already and to me this is an extension of my efforts to push the project towards greater success :slight_smile:
3 Likes

UPDATE: This KIP is adopted based on a unanimous vote of No objection, confirmed by the Sophons. Congratulations and welcome to @Nathan!