What is this about?

The LBS Blockchain Society, a well-established society at the London Business School, is seeking delegation for the Arbitrum network. The society, which has grown to over 700 members since its inception in 2021, is dedicated to education, career opportunities, entrepreneurship, and governance in the web3 space. The society has a strong entrepreneurial background, with alumni having founded over 560 companies. They have previously been a delegate to MakerDAO and Aave, and believe their governance expertise will be beneficial in decision-making on Arbitrum.

How is the community reacting?

The LBS Blockchain Society has become a highly active society at LBS, hosting a variety of events, including a flagship Blockchain Conference. They see potential for partnerships beyond the governance programme due to their presence in Europe and their objective to connect talent in their community to the industry. They are committed to dedicating their time and resources to help accelerate Arbitrum’s development and growth, and to leverage their global network, business knowledge, and entrepreneurial mindset to drive value for Arbitrum token holders. However, Lbsblockchain has proposed the Arbitrum Coalition, but has voted against it due to concerns about the high proposed budget, lack of detailed cost breakdowns, and potential centralization of voting power. They suggest a thorough budget reassessment and more detailed financial breakdowns and specific KPIs. They are willing to support a revised proposal².

Why this is positive?

The society's commitment to voting independently and impartially, and to providing frequent updates to the community, is a positive sign. They also commit to dedicating their time and resources to help accelerate Arbitrum’s development and growth, and to leverage their global network, business knowledge, and entrepreneurial mindset to drive value for Arbitrum token holders. The society's presence in Europe and their objective to connect talent in their community to the industry could lead to potential partnerships beyond the governance programme. They also voted in favor of consolidating security proposals into a Request for Proposal (RFP) process. They believe this will prevent any single auditor from dominating the space, maintain the decentralized ethos of the DAO, and foster a competitive yet collaborative environment for better cost-effectiveness, higher quality, and more flexibility in response to the needs of the ecosystem².

Why this is negative?

The society discloses that members of their team are founders of projects in other Layer 1 and Layer 2 ecosystems and hold personal portfolios of network tokens. While they currently do not have any material conflicts of interest regarding Arbitrum, they agree to keep the Arbitrum community updated should any future conflicts of interest arise. This could potentially lead to conflicts of interest in the future. Furthermore, by delegating to LBS Blockchain, delegates acknowledge and agree that LBS Blockchain will participate on a best-efforts basis and will not be liable for any form of damages related to participation in the Arbitrum Protocol or this DAO. Lbsblockchain has proposed to backfund successful STIP proposals from Round 1. They believe that the estimated 21M cost for the 26 approved projects, which is about 10% of the budgeted spend for Q4 2023, is a good investment for growth, ecosystem development, and support for smaller, innovative projects. However, they caution against the repeated use of backfunding as it could set a wrong precedent for overruling due process, including funding prospects for STIP Round 2³. Lbsblockchain has proposed a funding gas rebate and trading competition program to boost Arbitrum's ecosystem growth. However, they voted against the proposal due to several concerns. They believe the requested funding of 1.5M ARB is excessive considering the current status and maturity of Rage Trade, especially as V2 is still in beta. They also expressed concerns about the risk of favoritism if trading is incentivized on a single platform, which they view as poor DAO governance. They also shared concerns raised by other community members about the long-term impact and sustainability of such initiatives. If a similar proposal is considered in the future, Lbsblockchain recommends inviting proposals from a wide range of DEX protocols, not just Rage Trade, to ensure incentives are distributed broadly and fairly⁴.