DAO-adjacent entities
Currently, Beam Foundation and its subsidiaries, function as so-called ‘DAO-adjacent entities’ in relation to BEAM DAO. The Beam Foundation is a memberless non-profit foundation based in the Cayman Islands, dedicated to the objectives set out in its governing documents, including the decentralization, adoption and security of the Beam ecosystem. It has a mission to make the Beam ecosystem a home for all the gaming needs of users, where users can interact with game related blockchain elements and other applications in a frictionless and user-friendly manner. It being memberless means that there are no ‘owners’ of it, making it compatible with crypto values, such as decentralization. As it has no members (shareholders) and is non-profit, it cannot distribute dividends - any assets it owns may be deployed solely towards furthering the growth and development of the Beam ecosystem in accordance with the scope set out in law and its governing documents.
DAO-adjacent entities, such as the Foundation group entities, enable a DAO to simply be a DAO, while pushing the largest liability vectors (which would be business activities) to limited liability entities that are able to comply with regulations. Beam DAO and tokenholders will not be controllers or managers of the Foundation group (the entities are sovereign), but the Bylaws, Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association mandate certain checks and balances on the Foundation group for the purpose of holding the Foundation group accountable, as follows:
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Onchain: If applicable, by use of certain programmatic, smart contract-based features, BEAM holders can give onchain feedback to, and provide onchain vetoes against, certain decisions by a Foundation group company.
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Offchain: By (i) limiting the scope of operation of the Foundation group (i.e., the Foundation group can only operate within the parameters set out in these documents), (ii) having a co-approval right in relation to, and vetoing against, certain decisions by a Foundation group company, or (iii) enabling BEAM holders to seek enforcement actions against a Foundation group company or certain personnel via an ‘Emergency Supervisor’ in case of an “Adverse Event” (as defined in the documents).
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Transparency: By requiring the Beam Foundation to publish and keep publicly available the governing documents, certain reports (including treasury reports) and information as referred to in the documents. The governing documents will remain publicly available (and up-to-date) at all times to enable the Beam community to continue to exert checks and balances on the Foundation group.
The structuring of the Beam Foundation and its subsidiaries is inspired by this article about ‘BORGs’ and Metalex’s work on ‘BORG’ formation.