DENVER, CO — May 18, 2022 — ShapeShift DAO, a decentralized, non-custodial cryptocurrency platform and community, announced today that ShapeShift AG, the centralized corporate brand, has formed the FOX Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with the charter of overseeing the final steps remaining in fully decentralizing the well-known trading platform and its assets. The FOX Foundation’s charter will include:
- Hosting and maintaining all of the legacy, centralized infrastructure for ShapeShift until those systems can be migrated to decentralized alternatives and sunsetted
- Handling necessary things that the DAO itself cannot today, such as paying bills in fiat currency and hosting servers
- Supporting the DAO in replacing all centralized dependencies with decentralized alternatives, such as replacing ShapeShift's backend node infrastructure with FOXChain, a decentralized node infrastructure project in development with Coinbase Cloud
The majority of DAOs form from the ground up, as DAOs from the outset. ShapeShift made history as the first company to announce it would fully decentralize all corporate structure and open source all code in July of 2021. Venturing into uncharted waters, the establishment of the FOX Foundation was a solution that offered some degree of neutrality—the Foundation isn’t led by either ShapeShift AG or the ShapeShift DAO, and instead has the singular charter of decentralizing assets and infrastructure as efficiently as possible, using decentralized solutions as are currently and soon-to-be available. Once its mission is complete, the foundation will dissolve and distribute all remaining funds to the ShapeShift DAO treasury.
“ShapeShift has made strong progress in decentralizing already, such as launching the DAO, releasing the new open-source platform and implementing solutions such as SafeSnap, which give FOX Token holders autonomous control of the treasury,” said Willy Ogorzaly, head of decentralization for the FOX Foundation. ”While the necessary tooling and infrastructure are maturing rapidly, it will take time for the DAO to achieve its final, fully autonomous form. The FOX Foundation exists as a stepping stone in this journey, fulfilling the legacy centralized responsibilities while supporting the DAO in implementing sustainable, decentralized alternatives. I’m super excited about the stellar team we have at the foundation to take this over the finish line.”
The FOX Foundation team includes:
- Willy Ogorzaly: Head of Decentralization
- Phil Elsasser: Head of Technology
- Adam Samere: Chief Architect
- Will Stiern: Head of Infrastructure
- Michelle Petrescu: Chief of Staff
About ShapeShift
Since 2014, ShapeShift has been pioneering self-custody for digital asset trading. Today’s ShapeShift DAO is an engaged community of builders working to advance the state of crypto trading, investing and access to open, decentralized financial systems. Our web and mobile platforms empower users to safely buy, hold, trade, invest and interact with digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cosmos.
All Chains, All protocols, All Wallets. Share Our Vision at app.shapeshift.com.
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