Objective: This proposal aims to build on the foundations of Proposals 18, 103, and 129, which are all passed proposals that the Secret Foundation (SF) has agreed to fulfill. This proposal recognizes that, as per Prop 129, No asset transfers have occurred yet, regardless of the reasons, and it should be noted that any lack of asset transfers is not the fault of SCRT Labs. It emphasizes the crucial need for formal audit requests and tax opinions to address community concerns effectively, as stated in Prop 103. By incorporating feedback from previous proposals and robust discussion, this proposal is designed to better align the Secret Foundation with the promises made and the community’s rights. The aim is to ensure that the final actions of the Foundation are in line with their promise of setting the highest possible standard for accountability and transparency, continuity for Secret Network participants, and the return of the community brand assets to trusted parties as promised by Tor or is otherwise the communities right to get back.
I. Introduction
This proposal addresses the shortcomings of Proposals 103 and 129, focusing on the need for audits to ensure community satisfaction, transparency, and accountability during the wind-down and transition period of the Secret Foundation.
II. Audit & Tax Opinion Requirements
The SF must obtain three independent quotes for audits dating back to its inception and present the quotes publicly, choosing one to pursue. (Note: SF or Secret Foundation mentions in this proposal are always references to for profit C Corp based in IL)
In accordance with the audit and tax opinion requirements outlined here, “independent” refers to organizations that have no affiliation or prior relationship with SF, its directors, or employees.
The financial statements must be prepared in US GAAP or IFRS and audited externally by a certified and independent auditor.
Make the audit report publicly available for community comment and visibility.
Request an independent party to provide a tax opinion on Secret Foundation’s Tax Liability, and make it public.
Should any amendments be made to the tax strategy or books after the initial tax opinion and audit are presented in the future, it would necessitate fulfilling these requirements again, as well as providing a new tax opinion and audit for transparency.
III. Trust and Information Sharing
Audits and tax opinions address community concerns by ensuring up-to-date and accurate information related to the use of community funds. In the current low trust environment, unaudited financials are incompatible as a reliable source of truth.
If changes occur in the future, repeating the audit and tax opinion process is essential to prevent stale information and maintain trust and transparency within the community, as without them, the Trustee’s final report would be deemed unreliable, hindering the transition process.
IV. Transparency and Accountability
A final audit and increased transparency from the Foundation are required for the community to understand how funds were spent from the beginning to the end of the Foundation. This information is vital to determine the amount of money that can be recovered and transferred to the new organization.
Moreover, custody transfer of the main brand community channels, including the website (scrt.network), the official SCRT discord server, github (Secret Foundation · GitHub), and the Telegram community (Telegram: Contact @scrtcommunity) should be transferred immediately to SCRT Labs’ control upon passing of this proposal. Note: The twitter was returned back to SCRT Labs already.
This proposal also affirms the community’s desire for the Secret Foundation to fulfill promises made in Proposals 18, 103, and 129 in a timely manner.
V. Conclusion
This proposal highlights the need for audits and increased transparency in line with community expectations as stated in Proposal 103. Additionally, it directly calls for ensuring that the commitments made in Proposals 18, 103, and 129 are abided by, further emphasizing the importance of transparency and accountability within the community.
The community must be presented with continuity of accuracy regarding the information on audits and tax opinions to ensure a smooth transition and a complete understanding of the Secret Foundation’s financial situation. This approach helps prevent future proposals from being needed to request the same information in case any relevant changes are made by SF.
Open communication, with the expectation that the Secret Foundation will share relevant information publicly regarding tax opinions/stances and audit results, is critical to ensuring the community stays informed, achieves a successful transition, and addresses concerns effectively.
Without an audit and tax opinion, there is no way to know what amount of community funds can be transferred to the new NPO. Additionally, it is crucial that the information presented remains up to date even in the face of future changes, ensuring continuous transparency and accuracy.
Vote “Yes” if you support the community getting a final audit, tax opinion, and agree to transfer custody of the main brand community channels to SCRT Labs as described in this proposal.
Vote “No” if you do not support the proposal objectives as described.
I fully endorse the Community Proposal for Secret Foundation Wind-Down Deliverables 1. My view is that the proposal seeks to formalize commitments already made to the community to abide by prior proposals, like conducting audits and obtaining tax stance clarification to ensure transparency and accountability during the wind-down period. It also calls for the transfer of custody of the main brand community channels to SCRT Labs, as it was already agreed to transfer them way from SF in various discussions. I think by voting “Yes” on this proposal, we can help ensure a smooth transition for the Secret Network community, and formalize things not explicitly mentioned in 129. Let’s work together to make it happen and please lets keep all drama outside of this post. This proposal is not dramatic or controversial and it may harm our chances of equitable outcomes to suggest otherwise.
Personally I care more about getting a second opinion on the tax liability, and once we know that number getting 100% of the remaining funds and moving on. Ultimately though the foundation breached its compromise to provide maximum transparency so if we can get an audit, great.
They did make committments to several community members in private channels and publicly that they would abide by proposal 103 which states the following.
Although I agree that three quotes being presented to the community for vote maybe a waste of time, its important that the community receives its transparency now more than ever. The previous foundation operating without any accountability/transparency to their community of supporters and builders who love this technology that provides transparent yet private solutions is disrespectful. Prop 103 was chance to come clean about previous mistakes and work with the community but it ignored. Moving forward, we must know the whole story to build trust so we do not repeat the same mistakes twice. A full audit must take place to ensure a newly structured entity can guide us to the next level without any baggage from the past.
Once we are past this the future is very bright. Great work to those continuing to build and fighting for what is right in this ecosystem. Since lack of transparency got us here, we should provide some tools for those who come next. I’d recommend the community works up a standard transparency report template with everything they want. To the point all they have to do is fill it out. This way, the community gets our transparency and if our demands can not be met, we can address the situation earlier.
ChainofSecrets.org support this proposal to bring the Secret Foundation in line with what was originally promised from the get go before the ENG to SCRT token swap.
Looking forward to this new era of NPO & transparency deliverables for SCRT Network & its community.
Thanks for supporting! Just wanted to note, “Audit quotes” will be adjusted based on feedback, but the audits, which were already asked for by community in 103 a proposal Tor already committed to working towards, will remain. No other proposals have canceled the need to fulfill proposal 103.
