“Juicebox in the words of” is a series that highlights JB community members in interview form. Learn about members’ roles at JB and what makes them tick.
tankbottoms is a new contributor to the JB space. He contributes to JB, Wagmi productions and MovementDAO, and is a passionate software developer with a unique handle to say the least. Read on to learn a bit about his thoughts on the Web 3 space, DAOs, and his passionate interest in furthering humanitarian causes through MovementDAO.
First, the name– tankbottoms– would you mind walking me through that?
I wanted to draw attention that there are other articles of clothing that may not get the attention that they deserve, such as tankbottoms, and so that’s my contribution, fashion education.
How'd you get started with JB, and what attracted you to the platform?
I’ve been around six weeks or so. I’ve been in software development for a minute, and I met some anons who wanted to do this public good DAO, which is now called MovementDAO. It’s part seeding start-ups, part non-profit, part social movements. In researching platforms to work with I found two which I liked the most, OpenLaw’s TributeDAO Framework and Juicebox.
TributeDAO we updated all the tooling and added DeFi, and at the end felt it was not as accessible as we would have liked. We also took Juicebox forked it and launched it on Polygon (where Matic is used), which was more what we were looking for. However, we are not the kind of cats to fork and do stuff, its open source and its fair game, but we contribute, add value and divide up the work, so it seemed right to contribute to helping through v2.
One place it was mentioned where we could help was figure out the BannyVerse situation. I pinged Wagmi’s Mieos and started collaborating with constructing Banny to be mintable, worked on the TokenUriResolver how the veBannys were going to be selected, and planning on the BannyVerse would unfold NFT-wise.
That’s fascinating, you seem to be well-versed on the technical side of this stuff. In your opinion, how do DAO’s protect themselves from bad actors/sabotage?
A few DAOs have added a veto contract or function in existing contracts that can veto any pending proposals. This can be provided to a law firm, also called service provider, or retained by the founders until they revoke the right on chain at a later date. In other words, it’s designed to ensure nothing crazy happens.
Interesting. It seems like that mechanism kind of runs against the philosophy of what a DAO is, doesn’t it? How do you strike a balance between control and decentralization?
That’s the dichotomy– you can make a decentralized protocol that’s idealistic, and it functions, but then there’s the reality that people are involved, and if it has ETH, there needs to be emergency protocols in place – to guard against whether someone’s gaming, a flaw in the smart contract is discovered, or some bad actors reveal themselves. This whole space is a one large expensive experiment and so you really don’t know what may happen, so its safe to be prudent.
I always think of DAO/Crypto time similar to dog-years and aging: like one month of time in a DAO has gotta be at least 6 months or a year at a regular IRL company. You and I of course both help as contributors to Wagmi productions. How would you describe your role at JB and Wagmi after this first 6 weeks or so?
I like to think if there is code which expands the reach of the Banny, I am enabling this. I wrote the Juicebox TokenURI Resolver for the veBanny and make sure the composite Banny and appropriate metadata are deployed on IPFS. Additionally and more importantly, when Juicebox token holders go to stake their Banny and enter the Bannyverse, I aim to enable the experience to mint a unique Banny with anything from Hattori Hanzo to AK-47. A banana has got to defend himself.
I always ask about where all the assholes are, it seems like so many talented people working together should bring a clash of egos. Where are the assholes?
I think it starts from the OG contributors, and fortunately the OG contributors have set a tone to be inviting and respectful as well as reward contributors. I also think people who stick around are very talented, the Notion docs do a pretty good job about making it clear that you have to contribute before seeking a one-time or reoccurring payout. All the contributors are pretty cool about their talent. And that kind of sets the atmosphere.
Between you and me and the rest of the internet, who’s your favorite contributor, and why is it Mieos?
I think WAGMI makes it clear you can add a lot of value even if it’s not code. WAGMI’s pixel ninjas, 60 Minutes style interviews, and the enabling of the BannyVerse reinforces that throughout whatever the problem, we are all here to have fun; and reminds us all to no take yourself too seriously, and that says a lot. Mieos is very humble, even though he’s been around in the space for a long time and basically the OG JB whale. He’s pretty rad.
What’s a project (within or outside of JB) that you’re really looking forward to in the future?
MovementDAO, and the future of Juicebox v2 are both things that I am working on and that I am looking forward to enabling. We are all learning every day how things work and willing to change it up, but I want to understand some fundamental parts of what makes Juicebox successful not for just raising funds but to getting people to operate treasuries transparently. We (both JB v2 and MovementDAO) want to enable this with endowments, NFT businesses, start-ups, liquidity pools into a well orchestrated decentralized protocol.
What’s something people would be surprised to learn about you?
I don’t know, hmm… I lived in a monastery!