ENS DAO + Labs Token Equity Consolidation

đź’¬ General Discussion
1

Idea: $ENS and ENS Labs token equity consolidation.

If/when ENS Labs takes full control over ENS DAO’s treasury assets, it would be in good faith to convert ENS tokens into an equity stake in ENS Labs.
*I am aware ENS Labs is a non-profit and would likely have to be restructured in this scenario

The numbers:
-100M ENS supply
-$80-100M non ENS token treasury assets
-40M outstanding tokens

Give ENS holders the option
A. 1 ENS = $1-2 Redemption from DAO (probably $1 so Labs has at least 50% of liquid treasury)
B. 1 ENS = 1 Share of ENS Labs

ENS Labs would retain 60M ENS held by the DAO, while 40M of ENS in circulation can be converted to Labs equity through a legal process via KYC/Accredited investor laws. Ineligible holders or inactive participants after a certain date will default to a cash conversion of their ENS holdings.

This is the most equitable outcome if ENS Labs proceeds with current plans.

  • ENS holders would have the opportunity to be exposed to ENS Labs future success’.
  • ENS Labs can gain some goodwill from the community, while maintaining their goal of operating control.
2

Nobody is proposing that ENS Labs take over the DAO treasury. The temp check you’re referring to suggests that an empowered ENS Foundation - which already represents the DAO - takes over responsibility for managment of the existing treasury.

3

The overlap of individuals involved with Labs and the Foundation made me assume the motives were broadly aligned, and that moving treasury management out of the DAO and into the Foundation was partly meant to streamline initiatives without slow-moving DAO governance or potential community pushback.

Replace “Labs” with “Foundation” and the ethos of my idea remains.

Despite the clear documentation that ENS tokens have no financial claim on DAO assets or revenue, I think many tokenholders have still discussed and valued ENS as being backed by the business, its treasury, revenue, and assets. If treasury control is moving away from tokenholders, it feels reasonable to ask whether ENS holders should retain some meaningful economic exposure to the entity now managing those assets.