ParagonsDAO — Who we are, where we came from and where are we going?
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For me, it all started with the first Parallel pack drop. What a rush it was for most of the people involved, and boy am I glad I owned a Prime Key at that stage. I wasn’t actually able to get any cards in the initial pack drop but that never deterred me from getting myself involved and buying more of the insanely cool art that was on offer from the likes of Oscar Mar, Nacho Yague and Oscar Cafaro
I was drawn initially to the “First Son of Mars”, with its cybertruck-like structure standing tall in the red dusty glow of the Martian planet’s daytime sky. I wanted the Masterpiece and with the knowledge that the NFT was also an economic mechanic within the Parallel game, my DeFi interest was at peak curiosity.
So in an effort to trade for it in a Discord channel I’m part of, it was sniped by Sisyphus who was also in the channel bragging about it. I still wanted it. After some negotiations I suggested we pool the assets together in a multisig, and by this time we had already found another member in Convex Monster.
So the 3 of us just had a private chat thinking of what we could do with these assets. This was August 2021 and peak DAOism of everything, so we figured we could create a DAO with our pooled Masterpieces and make it something that is useful to the Parallel community.
After about a week and several discussions with people we knew who had Masterpieces, we now have a total of 10 Masterpieces and 7 members keen to contribute their assets and help form the foundation for something to support Parallel the game. MrKvak, Set Animals, Fiskantes, DeFi Chad, no_pets_allowed, KR and Joe Lhotse all were part of the group at this point.
This initial formation caught the attention of other like-minded Masterpiece holders and by the end of September we had 18 Masterpieces and 15 initial founders of the ParagonsDAO (which at that time, we were calling ParallelDAO as a nod to our beginnings, but which we swiftly changed to avoid potential confusion that we represented the Parallel brand).
At this point, we were focused on providing an index to give access to these very limited assets (and the rewards they would earn) to a broader group of holders, and with that we set off to talk to all of our crypto friends to see if they were interested as well.
Fast forward to January 2022 and ParagonsDAO was officially launched with our PDT token. However we were no longer just an index of Masterpieces, we had evolved. The gaming aspect of Parallel and the experience was going to form a large part of the foundation of our value to the ecosystem — and to deliver on this vision, we were going to need cards. Enter the Card Bonding Event, which sold out in 2 hours, and bonded $2M USD in Parallel cards to the Treasury. The vision was coming together.
Our launch wasn’t without its challenges. We had a lot of critics on many aspects of our launch, and to an extent, we still do. One of the key reasons, in my opinion, is due to the fact that ParagonsDAO is still perceived by many as 15 whales trying to dominate the Parallel market. We haven’t clearly articulated our vision towards the players and gaming community. So who are we, really?
We’re a web3 community, guild and pro-gamer collective building growth in the crypto-gaming ecosystem through innovative DeFi solutions, reducing barriers-to-entry, competing at top levels and community-building events & education.
Players, guilds and community are what we’re all about — the assets we hold and accumulate aren’t productive by sitting idle in a treasury, they need to be used. Right now, the biggest hurdle for the masses coming to play-to-earn gaming is the high cost and barrier that creates for players to join and participate. While there have been other games that are free to play-to-earn, these games suffer economically as the assets have no real value for trade and the token or earned reward suffers immensely.
So how do you retain the integrity of the value of the assets of the ecosystem while also reducing the barrier to entry by allowing anyone to participate? Enter ParagonsDAO
ParagonsDAO uses the protocol-owned liquidity model made popular with OlympusDAO, however we’ve removed the algorithmically-driven dilution model and choose to make decisions based on risk analysis and community votes as to if, where and when we dilute to obtain assets.
PDT is our governance token, enabling holders to help guide the direction of the DAO. Think ongoing gamers and guilds that are going to have access to the use of all these assets for gameplay (239 Parallel Parasets and counting!). As ParagonsDAO increases its users, they’ll have the ability to voice what assets the DAO acquires or gaming ecosystems ParagonsDAO should advance into.
The greatest outcome that can come from this is that the DAO, the assets and the ownership of the treasury returns are in the hands of the community and the gamers as a whole. Success is them having their future in their hands through ParagonsDAO.
The cross-section of crypto and gaming means that this market is uniquely positioned to expand itself to the financial world, much like art. Borrowing and lending against assets, derivative markets, yield aggregators and more will be at the fingertips of this new economy. ParagonsDAO is the link between the gamers, guilds and passive growth of their earnings.
This sector has the chance to provide life-changing returns for some, and for many, a chance of true wealth creation and ownership over that. The complex nature of DeFi protocols are the barrier to entry for most, especially anyone that is new, but we’re well-positioned to remove the complexity and focus on the end user — particularly those with limited web3 experience. UX is lacking in this space, and we feel the gaming industry can help bridge that gap.
There is so much yet to be done and soon we’ll outline the governance model and a clear structure for anyone that has been wanting to work in a DAO. All I can say is start campaigning…
The future is ours and we’re set up to be an agile community able to adapt and respond with this ever-evolving sub-sector of crypto and gaming. I can’t tell you exactly what we’ll look like in the years to come, but by bridging the gaps across traditional and web3 gaming and always focusing on community first, great things are on the way.
