2025 RareDAO Council Election Announcement
We are excited to announce the upcoming elections for the RareDAO Council. As our DAO continues to mature, this process is an important ritual that helps the DAO stay efficient, engaged, and secure. We invite community members passionate about the future of $RARE to run for the Council, and in so doing, share their expertise in DAO governance, protocol development, and treasury management with the community. Below you will find essential information about running for the council, the council’s mission, the nomination process, which kicks off on Wednesday, April 30th, and the overall election timeline. Please limit discussion on this post to questions and feedback about the election process as a whole, and refrain from campaigning for yourself or others.
TL;DR: Nominations for the council election will open on April 30th. On that day, a separate post will be created with specific instructions. Candidates will self-nominate by posting answers to a questionnaire on the forum and creating their own snapshot proposal which will determine whether they are included on the final ballot. On May 7th, the formal election will commence, ranking nominees via approval voting. Voting will last for one week. PLEASE NOTE: The 7 candidates with the most votes will be required to undergo KYC and regulatory checks with the RareDAO Foundation prior to their transition of power.
Why Run for the Council?
Service on the RareDAO Council represents a profound opportunity for stewardship of and contribution to the growth and operations of the Rare ecosystem. In addition to receiving a stipend of $1,000 USD equivalent per month (paid in $RARE using a TWAP), Council Members have the ability to expedite governance proposals, allocate community resources, and participate in high level decision making.
The Council’s Mission & Responsibilities
At the heart of RareDAO’s governance, the council plays a pivotal role in steering our collective journey. The Council’s mission is to steward the DAO’s strategy, resources, and technology in service of its continued growth and development. At a high level, the responsibilities of the Council include:
- Control over the Community treasury: You will have direct involvement in managing the DAO multi-sig, which holds the $RARE treasury and receives protocol revenue.
- Control over the Rare Protocol smart contracts: Council members have the authority to oversee all upgrades for Rare Protocol contracts, as dictated by the SIP process.
- Administration of DAO governance: Council members are responsible for facilitating and executing key aspects of community governance, including proposal sponsorship.
Council members have a low time commitment, less than 2 hours per month split roughly evenly between async coordination and a meeting every 1-2 months. While the expected time commitment may be low, the importance of responsiveness and availability is high. Timely responses to communications and gnosis signatures are what keep the whole operation running smoothly. Council members are expected to notify the group when they will be offline for extended periods and travel with their hardware wallet used for gnosis signing.
For a full understanding of the Council’s authorities and power structure, please see the recently updated RareDAO Foundation bylaws.
Election Process Overview
The election will occur over two phases, one composed of non-competitive nomination votes (Nomination Phase), and the other being a single competitive vote to select the final roster (Selection Phase). This process is heavily inspired by that used by ENS, though it has been refined and modified in consultation with the RareDAO Council, Foundation, and Hats Protocol, who are providing on-chain infrastructure for the transfer of power and ongoing operations. This process is largely identical to our 2024 Council Election.
Timeline and Key Dates
Wednesday, April 30th: Nomination instructions posted to forum, nomination formally begins.
Wednesday, May 7th: Nomination window closes; selection phase begins.
May 14th: Selection phase ends, KYC process and confirmation phase begins.
Nomination Phase (April 30th - May 7th)
Starting on Wednesday April 30th, candidates may self nominate by posting answers to the following questionnaire on the forum and as a proposal in a dedicated Snapshot space. Exact instructions on both of these steps will be provided in a separate forum post on the morning of April 30th. If a candidate’s snapshot proposal gets more than 1,500,000 votes (denominated in $RARE), then they will be included in the final snapshot proposal which determines the council’s composition. Each candidate will have a separate proposal, which makes the voting non-competitive (i.e. each voter may vote for multiple candidates, applying their entire voting power to each candidate).
In order to help would-be candidates prepare for nomination, the nomination questionnaire is provided below.
- Preferred name:
- Ethereum address / ENS name:
- Country of residence*:
- Relevant social links & NFT marketplace profiles:
- Which best describes your role in the crypto art ecosystem?
- Select: Artist, Collector, Curator, Builder, etc.
- Provide more details:
- Please share any relevant experience that would support your work on the Council.
- This might include governance, protocol development, treasury management, regulatory strategy, or other areas where you bring expertise or discernment.
- What commitments can you make regarding availability and reliability for transaction signing, async communication, and participation in meetings?
- Note: Council members are required to own and maintain a hardware wallet for transaction signatures, which should be carried even when traveling, if possible.
* Included for the sake of determining which regulatory jurisdictions would be represented by the new council, which may be valuable information for voters.
Selection Phase (May 7th - May 14th)
All of the candidates who received more than 1,500,000 votes on their nomination proposal will be included on the election ballot. The election ballot will be voted on in the DAO’s primary Snapshot space using the approval voting strategy. In approval voting, voters select any number of candidates from the list that they would like to support and each selected candidate receives votes equal to the voter’s $RARE balance. In other words, votes are not split between selected candidates - they all receive 100% of your voting power. Once voting is complete, candidates will be ranked based on the number of votes received. The seven candidates with the most votes will proceed to the confirmation phase for KYC and regulatory checks by the RareDAO Foundation.
Confirmation Phase (May 14th - Transfer of Power)
The RareDAO Foundation will work with each eligible candidate to obtain the required KYC information and sign service agreements which provide liability protection. If candidates cannot supply this information in a timely manner or are otherwise found to compromise the risk posture of the DAO and/or Foundation (over-representation of a high-risk jurisdiction, history of financial crime, etc), the Director may forfeit their spot to the next highest ranking candidate in the selection vote.
Once 7 candidates from the selection phase have passed confirmation, the RareDAO Foundation will work with the outgoing Council to facilitate the transfer of power.
Conclusion and Next Steps
This election is a cornerstone event for RareDAO. Your involvement is key, whether you are nominating, voting, or spreading the word. For a detailed breakdown of the election process, please keep your eyes on the forum and review the council proposal ratifying this process.
The election process will officially begin on April 30th with a forum post with instructions detailing how candidates can self nominate. In the meantime, please post any general questions about the process or DAO council as replies to this thread.