Exploring the Boundaries: A Deep Dive into Aragon

• Aragon's Narratives: Decoding The Highs And Lows
• The Journey of Aragon
• A Turn of Events
• A Tale of Two Technologies
• The Future of Aragon

Aragon's Narratives: Decoding The Highs And Lows

A young woman peers into the camera through a barely opened door. A sense of mischief in her narrowed eyes, her head tilts downwards, then the hand slowly closes the door shut. An ominous development is brewing in the backdrop, it's capitalism, or so suggests a distant, reedy voice-over.

In 2017, Aragon, following a successful $25 million token launch, channelled some of their windfall into creating a revolutionary-chic video. The clip, brimming with hefty cigars, grainy samizdat, and a steadfast group treading towards a gigantic blue blockchain gateway, strikes a chord of absurdity while also engendering a sense of charm. An air of nostalgia wafts as one watches it, remembering Aragon's early days, a stark contrast to its current phase, standing on the precipice of conclusion.

The Journey of Aragon

Steered by Joshua Tan, research at Metagov, a collective focusing on governance research, Aragon set off on their journey not long after the emergence of the first Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO). They were the pioneers of the DAO platform. Their main objective was to assist others in launching their own DAOs. Capitalizing on the growing enthusiasm for crypto, they successfully crowdfunded a substantial sum and developed some functional code. This code played a pivotal role in securing Lido's governance, controlling virtually a third of all stake on Ethereum$2,315 -2.42%.

However, the journey was not without its bumps. Team turnover, governance stagnation, and operational missteps led to the product falling behind its industry counterparts. The funds from the token launch, managed by the Aragon Association, a Swiss nonprofit, swelled to a massive $200 million owing to the rally in Ethereum.

A Turn of Events

During a planned governance transition from the Aragon Association to the Aragon DAO, some activist investors, or governance raiders as they are often referred to, assumed control of the DAO and initiated the liquidation of the treasury managed by the nonprofit. This attack, aggrandized by internal discord within the nonprofit board, set off a sequence of complex legal and financial maneuvers. This led to the exit of about $75 million from the ecosystem, along with the effective liquidation of the nonprofit, DAO and the token. Aragon, albeit in a diminished capacity, continues in the form of a new nonprofit funded by the residual funds from the liquidation.

The story of Aragon can be viewed from two perspectives. One argument paints a picture of aspiring youngsters who understood that building a new world order was far more complex than drafting a white paper or creating a slick video. It stakes a claim to the narrative of a project, which promised a revolution against capitalism, brought down by unchecked capital.

Alternatively, Aragon can be perceived as a high-tech corporate thriller involving a concealed network of self-serving anons, a fluctuating battle for community opinion, and huge sums of money gained and lost. Aragon's story exposed an undeniable truth: DAOs are as susceptible to power games as any traditional entity. But it also emphasized how governance genuinely functions on-chain, and how it could be improved.

A Tale of Two Technologies

The essence of Aragon is rooted in two technologies. Aragon DAO had embedded a set of corporate incentives through its token: token holders sought to maximize returns, team members vied for career advancement, and the underlying blockchain operators were after their fees. On the contrary, the Aragon Association, a Swiss non-profit, was organized around a mission. Its board was legally and ethically bound to fulfill that mission.

Questions arose about the mutual obligations of these entities. For instance, what were the legal and ethical duties of the non-profit towards the token holders in Aragon DAO? Also, what did token holders in a specific smart contract owe to the mission of a Swiss legal entity? Did that smart contract also have a mission?

Aragon's governance was unable to reconcile the inherent conflict between profit and mission. However, this failure was not a priori. Modern corporations have both boards and tokens. A great many of such boards are entrusted with missions beyond turning a profit, spanning from Patagonia to Bosch to OpenAI.

The Future of Aragon

Aragon's journey doesn't end here. Post the liquidation, between $10 to $50 million will be channeled into a third nonprofit. This new avatar of Aragon, devoid of its founders and token, will need to chalk a fresh route and then build an organization that encompasses a board, a team, and

Edited by Jonathan Stoker