Stanford Professor Jeff Strnad Joins Advisory Panel of Q International Foundation to Address DAOs’ Governance Challenges

Liechtenstein,
July
10,
2024 — Professor
Jeff
Strnad from Stanford
University has
joined
the
Economic
Advisory
Panel
of Q
International
Foundation,
the
not-for-profit
organization
behind
the Q
Protocol.
The
collaboration
between
Q
International
Foundation
and
Prof.
Strnad
aims
to
address
the
pressing
governance
challenges
faced
by
Decentralized
Autonomous
Organizations
(DAOs).

Addressing
DAO
Governance
Challenges

DAOs
suffer
from
a
fundamental
dilemma:
On
the
one
hand,
they
need
to
be
decentralized—otherwise,
there
is
no
point
in
organizing
as
a
DAO.
On
the
other
hand,
decentralization
often
comes
with
negative
side
effects:
absence
of
leadership,
slow
decision-making,
and
lack
of
accountability
are
problems
that
are
all
too
familiar
for
many
DAO
participants.
The
result:
most
DAOs
do
not
meet
expectations,
and
many
are
outright
failures.
DAOs
face
significant
governance
challenges,
as
evidenced
by
recent
controversies
with
prominent
DAOs
such
as MakerDAO, Arbitrum
DAO,
or SushiSwap’s
DAO.
These
organizations
have
struggled
with
issues
like
leadership
conflicts,
slow
decision-making,
and
lack
of
accountability.

Innovative
Governance
Concept:
Contestable
Control
Approach

In
a groundbreaking
paper,
Professor
Strnad
proposes
a
novel
solution
to
the
perennial
issues
of
decentralization
in
DAOs.
His
“contestable
control
approach”
allows
for
DAOs
to
remain
decentralized
while
ensuring
efficient
and
effective
management.
The
essence
of
this
framework
is
that
control
of
the
DAO
is
continuously
up
for
grabs
to
the
highest
bidder.
Successful
bidders
are
rewarded
for
the
value
they
add,
and
DAO
token
holders
benefit
from
an
increase
in
the
token’s
price.

Professor
Strnad
explains, “DAOs
have
immense
potential,
but
they
often
struggle
with
decentralization
leading
to
inefficiencies
and
lack
of
accountability.
The
contestable
control
approach
provides
a
solution
that
ensures
that
DAOs
can
be
both
decentralized
and
effectively
managed.
I
am
excited
to
work
with
Q
International
Foundation
to
put
this
into
practice.
The
Q
Protocol
with
its
in-built
ability
to
enforce
non-deterministic
rules
is
an
ideal
platform
for
testing
novel
ways
of
DAO
governance.“

Collaboration
with
Q
International
Foundation

This
partnership
will
leverage
the
Q
Protocol’s
capabilities
to
enforce
the
necessary
conditions
for
the
contestable
control
framework.
The
collaboration
aims
to
create
a
practical
implementation
of
this
governance
model,
filling
the
gaps
that
cannot
be
addressed
by
smart
contract
code
alone.

“Professor
Strnad’s
approach
to
DAO
governance
aligns
perfectly
with
Q’s
mission
to
advance
decentralized
governance.
Together,
we
aim
to
set
a
new
standard
for
DAOs,
ensuring
they
are
not
only
decentralized
but
also
accountable
and
efficient,”
comments
Martin
Schmidt,
a
key
contributor
to
the
Q
Protocol.

This
partnership
marks
a
significant
step
forward
in
the
evolution
of
DAO
governance.
By
combining
Professor
Strnad’s
innovative
contestable
control
framework
with
the
Q
Protocol’s
decentralized
governance
infrastructure,
this
collaboration
aims
to
solve
some
of
the
most
pressing challenges
facing
DAOs
today.

About Q
Protocol

Q
is
a
novel
blockchain
protocol
acting
as
a
fundamental
governance
layer
in
Web3.
Going
beyond
the
code-is-law
paradigm,
it
combines
the
benefits
of
a
public,
open,
and
decentralized
ledger
with
the
transparency
and
predictability
of
enforceable
private
contracts.
Q
enables
adoption
by
many
use
cases
that
desire
decentralization
but
require
scalability
and
dependability.

About
Professor Jeff
Strnad

Professor
Jeff
Strnad
is
Charles
A.
Beardsley
Professor
of
Law
at
Stanford
Law
School.
He
teaches
various
courses
on
blockchain
and
cryptocurrencies,
including
a
course
on
blockchain
governance. 

Prof.
Strnad’s
research
spans
the
fields
of
taxation,
public
finance,
finance,
and
empirical
analysis.
He
has
published
leading
works
on
the
taxation
of
financial
instruments
and
on
the
application
of
Bayesian
empirical
methods
to
law.
An
innovative
teacher
of
quantitative
methods,
Professor
Strnad
has
created
original
courses
in
empirical
analysis
and
game
theory.
Before
joining
the
Stanford
Law
School
faculty
in
1997,
he
was
a
professor
of
law
and
economics
at
the
California
Institute
of
Technology
and
the
John
B.
Milliken
Professor
of
Taxation
at
the
University
of
Southern
California
Gould
School
of
Law.

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