Friends of Cardano (US Chapter)

Create a space to disseminate and analyze Federal policies, and assess impact on Cardano communities.

10+ years training and experience codifying legislation into federal regulations, interpreting regulations and sub regulatory guidance.

Introduction: Keepers of legacy systems have resigned to accept that the production of public blockchain technologies fueled by digital assets is a durable innovation. In the United States (US), there are efforts under way to at best control, and perhaps limit, the advances that the innovations offer.

The Cardano protocol is configured in part to solve limitations that prior generation public blockchains encounter, and in doing so expand on real world use cases for the technology. Today, Cardano is the largest proof of stake protocol, a design feature that on its own merits favorable federal policy from a US Congress occupied by carbon footprints. Instead and unfortunately, federal policy has the potential to unevenly penalize Cardano and its stakeholders for the protocol's state-of-the-art design

US lawmakers are applying an "one size fits all" framework for federal rules, with some deference to certain regulatory oversight agencies; however, we know that no two public blockchains are designed, implemented and maintained the same.

Problem #1: Even where this federal framework and related policies are publicly known (e.g, digital asset broker reporting requirements), some entities (e.g., market makers) have unbalanced reactions; and, adversaries are prone to renew fear, uncertainty and doubt with iterative "reporting". 

Problem #2: An one size fits all approach to federal rulemaking will allow some protocols (and their stakeholders) to gain or lobby for the competitive advantage over other protocols.

Solution – Community led and informed efforts:

- Foster and cultivate a process for Cardano stakeholders to collectively assess the impact certain federal provisions have or may have on one or more particular stakeholder group (e.g., individuals, state pool operators that are or are not small businesses, developers, etc). 

- Establish dependable and well-founded resources for lobbyists and advocates so that intermediaries can fully grasp the undesired/desired policy outcomes for Cardano communities.

- Information sharing and collaborations with organizations similarly exploring ways to bring about more favorable laws.

- Improve situational awareness and policy literacy.

Desired Outcome: Buttress our ability as individuals and as a collective to objectively contribute and efficiently pursue outcomes that are responsive to Cardano protocol goals.

Funding would be used to: 

- Synthesize and catalog relevant information (high-level) into resource libraries. This would include various Reports to Congress (RTCs), draft and enacted federal legislation (with indicated implementation timelines), formal and informal policy statements from oversight agencies and summaries of any current regulations cited by such agencies. Information may also include retorts from reputable stakeholders, where related and appropriate. 

- Leverage the resource libraries to outline forum modules that connect impacted communities to relevant legal themes; and Establish the forum.

- Develop a landing page and a subscription service. 

- Draft and share requests for information (RFIs)/requests for comments (RFCs). Responses may be given without attribution. Note: Community engagement here can afford a structured way of assessing the perceived impact that legislative/regulatory policies may have on specific communities (e.g., developers, users, SPOs), once summarized, cataloged and analyzed. This can prove useful not only for interactions with federal oversight agencies, but also to inform and encourage IOG's timeline for enhancements that may mitigate certain regulatory actions. 

- Outreach efforts to introduce the forum to Cardano stakeholders; Outreach efforts to US projects with a similar focus to explore information sharing, specifically projects focused on state and local advocacy efforts. 

- Create educational(written and/or audio/visual) on the regulatory rulemaking processes and how the public can participate; Provide monthly updates on legal landscape; Provide alerts when we reach phases when stakeholders can join the public discourse and facilitate participation (e.g, how to phone a representative, how to submit comments in writing);  and Correlate the timeline(s) for implementing various Federal compliance laws to IOG's timeline for blockchain enhancements that may mitigate enforcement actions. 

The project team includes four persons with relevant professional and academic experiences.

Budget attached as supporting document.