The Aragon Association, the governing body for the aragonOS software, has announced its dissolution in a recent blog post. As part of the process, the association will distribute the majority of its assets to tokenholders. The Aragon Association, also known as AA, will distribute 86,343 Ether (ETH) from its treasury to tokenholders as it unwinds, with a current value of approximately $155 million.
To facilitate the distribution of funds, a smart contract will be set up on the Ethereum network. Each ANT tokenholder will receive 0.0025376 ETH (equivalent to $4.57 at the current price) per ANT they send into the redemption contract. After all the redemptions have been made, the association will burn all ANT tokens held in the contract and dissolve. Following this, ANT will no longer serve any utility, as stated in the blog post.
However, $11 million from the treasury will be transferred to the Aragon Shield Foundation. This amount will be held to cover outstanding obligations and mitigate regulatory uncertainty. The remaining team will be reorganized as a “company” that will continue to focus on developing Aragon products. To assist in decision-making regarding product development, a Product Council will be established.
Aragon is known for developing aragonOS, a set of developer tools used for creating decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). The company has also introduced the Aragon App, which enables developers to create DAOs without the need for coding.
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The decision to dissolve the Aragon Association was primarily influenced by bureaucratic complexity, misaligned stakeholders, and failed attempts at modifying governance. These factors created tensions within the project, making it impossible to find a viable way to continue the association. In an effort to salvage the situation, the organization rushed to vest control of the treasury directly in the hands of ANT holders. However, the significant gap between the value of the treasury and the token market cap posed a challenge, leading to the decision to return funds to investors and dissolve the association.
Earlier this year, the Aragon treasury faced an attempted takeover by a group known as “Risk Free Value (RFV) Raiders.” They purchased ANT tokens to gain voting power over the association, which was referred to as a “51% attack.” In response, the association abandoned plans to transfer power to tokenholders. Subsequently, the team launched a Base network version of its DAO creation tools on August 9th.
The decision to dissolve the Aragon Association marks a significant turning point for the project. By redistributing its assets to tokenholders and reorganizing as a “product-focused structure,” the remaining team aims to continue the development of Aragon products. The establishment of a Product Council will provide guidance and ensure effective decision-making in product development.
With the dissolution of the Aragon Association and the reorganization of the team, it will be interesting to see how Aragon moves forward in the ever-evolving landscape of decentralized organizations and blockchain technology. The focus on product development and the involvement of tokenholders through the distribution of funds demonstrates a commitment to engaging the community and fostering further innovation in the Aragon ecosystem.
