We are very thankful for the robust discussion that has happened over the past two weeks. Although @guil-lambert and I have not responded to every comment, we have read them!
In the responses, two general positions have emerged. The first position has been best articulated by @alanalevin. This position acknowledges there are potential regulatory risks with the proposal but ultimately advocates moving forward now. Recognizing some uncertainty will never be settled and “action begets action”.
The alternative position advocated by @Porter and others is to further de-risk some specific regulatory issues before moving forward. The most prominent of these being the concern some delegates have that fees generated could be considered taxable income.
Outside of these regulatory concerns, @Jack_Longarzo also did a good job articulating some of the broader risks any misstep could have on the largest DeFi protocol. We believe this is a very important point.
Similarly to previous discussions, the simple posting and planning for the vote also generated a high level of engagement from new and existing stakeholders which we are very happy to see.
In reading the feedback and having conversations over the last 2 weeks our view is that this proposal can be meaningfully de-risked in a short amount time. That can happen by putting in place a legal entity structure to alleviate concerns some delegates have around potential tax implications for the pilot. Our understanding from talking to stakeholders is there will be a thoughtful proposal on options to create an entity to handle this in a few weeks. From there, an option can be chosen and proposal can proceed with that aspect de-risked and we will put forward a vote!
That will enable us to move forward with the pilot in a unified way. We also believe this will set a much stronger foundation so that if the pilot is successful, there can be a path to transition from a pilot to larger implementation aligned with protocol growth (see @Porter last paragraph for one possible way that could look).
We know additional waiting will be painful to many but we truly believe for the good of Uniswap and DeFi as a whole it is crucial for us to set the best possible example.