Atom Accelerator (AADAO) Returns Funds Raised to Cosmos Community Pool

Atom Accelerator (AADAO), a governance-mandated DAO of the Cosmos Hub, announces the closure of its operations and reimbursement program to the Cosmos Hub Community Pool. Alongside this, AADAO contributors have unanimously declined their performance bonuses for the year, roughly equal to $817,000.

Atom Accelerator (AADAO) sunsets, returns funds to community

According to an official statement by Atom Accelerator (AADAO), an ecosystem DAO of the Cosmos Hub, its operations are coming to an end. Also, the accelerator team is returning 88,056 ATOM tokens to Community Pool of Cosmos Hub.

The returned funds represent the entire remaining balance of the Performance and Retention Pool initially allocated through Cosmos Hub Proposal 865 to fund AADAO’s second term. The contributors are foregoing over $817,000 in performance bonuses for 2024, continuing to fairly manage shared resources.

AADAO announced that it would enter "maintenance mode." During this period, the DAO will cease processing new grant applications, focusing solely on completing existing grant obligations. A crew of three to four contributors will remain on reduced payroll to manage outstanding grants, ensuring a responsible wind-down process.

By Dec. 31, 2024, all funding applications will have been processed, providing clarity on AADAO’s remaining obligations.

ATOM Community Pool will also get AADAO's portfolio tokens

In their last statement, AADAO contributors shared their thoughts on the decision, its possible effects and the next milestones in Cosmos' community development:

This decision was not made lightly. We poured our hearts into delivering value for the Cosmos Hub. However, after assessing whether the DAO could still provide meaningful contributions, we concluded that stepping back was the responsible course of action.

Over the course of its lifespan, AADAO has also executed on six venture investments on behalf of the Cosmos Hub, with a further seven investments set to be executed in the coming weeks. 

A trustee has been instructed by the DAO to safeguard these investments until 2028, by which time it is expected that all investments will have a token sent to the ATOM Community Pool. AADAO’s venture portfolio includes Elys Network, Drop Protocol, Sphinx, Plaza Finance and Union Labs.

This portfolio represents $1.1 million in assets, with a further $750,000 in venture investments pending. It is expected that once all tokens of incubees are live, the ATOM Community Pool will receive assets from these projects, well exceeding the $1.85 million the Cosmos Hub invested.