SPS DAO Town Hall Summary - March 29, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/live/m1115N4vBcs?si=yKKBEYjDh6jgOOVF

Clayboyn - SPS DAO Community and Project Manager
PJ (Patrick) - Splinterlands CTO

Validator Purpose and Decentralization

The launch of validators for Splinterlands was highlighted as a significant milestone for the token, DAO, and community. It was clarified that validators are for validating the state of the chain, not for managing consensus, and building a consensus mechanism on top of Hive's delegated proof-of-stake is not the correct approach. The decentralization of truth around SPS is a key benefit of validators, allowing the community to verify the state of SPS independently of Splinterlands.

Fiat On/Off-Ramping and Foundation

He found a company willing to work with Hive once their onboarding is complete, a process hindered by Hive lacking a central entity. This was a key reason for establishing the foundation, which involved significant legal work with figures like Matt Clark. PJ is also involved in design and testing for Conclave Arcana as the DAO's project manager.

Importance of DAO Structure and Payment Processors

He highlights the importance of legal structure, asset management, governance, brand building, partnerships, and long-term mission alignment for a successful DAO. He commends the work done on the SPS DAO. Regarding payment processors, PJ is impressed with securing an agreement with one, with SPS integration expected in about four weeks. He is also in talks with another processor for a potential free listing.

Core Team, Land, and Market Understanding

PJ praises the core engineering team at Splinterlands, noting their passion and value-driven approach after a period of high hiring. He mentions extensive discussions about land development and a document shared with key individuals containing community feedback. PJ emphasizes his strength in understanding the market aspects of Splinterlands and the untapped potential of its aggressive economy of scale.

Community Contribution and DAO Ownership

PJ encourages community contributions and development alongside the core team, with the DAO taking ownership of certain aspects. He sees the validators going live as a proxy result, with top-voted validators like Pete Monsters and others developing tools like a Discord account security alert system. This system quickly notifies users of account activity like card unstaking.

2FA Limitations and Security

PJ recounts the SIM swapping hack of Michael Turpin, who had $24 million in Bitcoin stolen despite using 2FA linked to his mobile phone. This highlights the vulnerabilities of traditional 2FA methods. PJ emphasizes the importance of a different level of responsibility in managing crypto funds and the terrifying nature of events like the supposed Safe hack.

Redundancy and Key Management

PJ stresses the critical importance of redundancy in backing up keys and digital assets, sharing his personal practices of multiple backups in different locations. He recounts an incident where his laptop failed, underscoring the need for backups. Clayboy echoes this advice, emphasizing the pain of recovery even with redundancy. PJ also mentions helping others with account recovery.

Ultimate Backup and Future Tech

PJ shares a tragic anecdote about a friend who lost everything despite fireproof precautions. He humorously describes his method of memorizing keys by singing them to song melodies. They briefly touch on the potential impact of AI and quantum computing on blockchain security.

Technical Explanation of Validators

PJ provides a more detailed explanation of delegated proof-of-stake and why building another consensus layer on top is problematic due to potential conflicts and chain reorganizations ("reorgs"). He explains how staking assets provides "truthiness" and the risk of conflicting information from mining pools. He contrasts this with layer-1 consensus mechanisms and the statistical probability of transaction finality after a certain number of verifications. He emphasizes that validators allow independent re-validation of SPS state.

Validator Practicalities and Decentralization of Truth

PJ discusses the ease of syncing validator nodes and the cost of the R2 instance on Cloudflare. He mentions a validator now running its own backup service, aiming to further decentralize infrastructure. An upcoming consensus-breaking validator version is planned. PJ stresses that validators shift the source of truth for SPS from Splinterlands to a decentralized ecosystem, which is crucial for the DAO's legitimacy.

DAO Bridges and API Access

Validators enable the DAO to potentially run its own bridges, moving away from third-party bridges that extract value. PJ suggests that in the future, the entire Splinterlands API could run on a validator-like system, providing more value and decentralization. Running L2 validators is less costly than Hive nodes, offering more participation opportunities.

Community Ownership and Excitement

PJ expresses excitement about the community having more ownership and influence, with validators being a tangible step forward. He notes the increased Splinterlands content creation and the positive motion within the community. He agrees on the importance of bridging and proposes the DAO running its own bridges and creating an open-source library for others.

Bridging and Cross-Chain Development

PJ emphasizes that bridges are fundamental for capital formation and attracting other chains to work with Splinterlands. He has the capacity to implement bridges across multiple chains (BNB, ETH, others). While launching EVM-based chains is feasible, maintaining capital is key. He sees Splinterlands as a strong use case for other blockchains seeking engagement.

Near-Term Bridge for Fiat On-Ramp

Clayboy highlights the immediate need for a DAO bridge to facilitate the fiat on/off-ramp, allowing direct in-game SPS purchases. Most payment processors don't currently support Hive, making RAMP the most promising option due to ongoing discussions with Hive. PJ negotiated for native SPS support on Hive with RAMP if the integration succeeds. A DAO bridge is seen as a crucial stopgap to avoid third-party value extraction and ensure smooth token delivery from BSC in-game.

Conclave Arcana and Onboarding

PJ expresses strong anticipation for the Conclave Arcana launch and the need for easy onboarding for new players. He notes the unreliability of existing solutions like Transact. The goal is to have multiple payment processor options for redundancy. He emphasizes that many potential players are unfamiliar and concerned about the complexities and risks of bridging and liquidity pools.

New Player Experience and Market Expansion

Clayboy agrees that the new player experience is improving but still has pain points. PJ emphasizes the need for more wins to excite the community and attract new players. He believes Hive should be more aggressive in payment integration and cross-chain support. The lack of a Hive RAM token is frustrating for market making. Multiple market outlets promote volatility, volume, and ultimately a more stable and valuable asset.

DAO Funding and Sustainability

PJ notes that Splinterlands currently is the primary funder of the DAO but suggests exploring other options for the DAO to capitalize itself, including bridges, marketplaces, and expansions. These should enhance, not compete with, the Splinterlands experience. He plans to gather feedback from key DAO stakeholders regarding these opportunities.

DAO Roadmap and Bridging Process

PJ inquires about a collective DAO roadmap, which Clayboy confirms doesn't really exist, with decisions often made on a case-by-case basis. The current bridging process involves treasurer management of liquidity across third-party bridges, which can be cumbersome. PJ advocates for the DAO managing its own bridges to capture value and have more control over issues like lost transactions. He trusts the community to make better decisions than third-party services.

Decentralization and Roadmap Development

Clayboy notes that the lack of a roadmap is a consequence of decentralization, but those with the most stake are incentivized to make good decisions. PJ plans to have further behind-the-scenes talks with key stakeholders to better understand their views and then discuss roadmap opportunities with the wider community.

Perpetual License for the DAO

PJ raises the crucial point of the DAO obtaining a perpetual license to the Splinterlands IP for security and continuity, even if the company faces unforeseen issues. Clayboy indicates that Azeran supports this idea.

Survival Mode Discussion

PJ credits community contribution and feedback for its development, emphasizing the value of differing viewpoints. He hints at a more extensive vision for survival mode, including bot integration and asset sinking. The idea is to potentially turn bot competitors into contributors by creating a format they can participate in, driving card usage and SPS demand.

Hardcore Mode and Land Integration

PJ discusses the potential of survival mode (now "hardcore mode") to lock up assets and create demand, impacting asset prices positively and potentially tying into land value. While the current implementation is a good proof of concept, he suggests tweaks like hiding opponent battle history. He strongly prefers a tie-in with land in the future.

Partnerships and Community Engagement

PJ highlights the value of Splinterlands content creators and suggests engaging with other ecosystems. He mentions the limited activity with Rooney on Ethereum and calls for ideas on chain partnerships and collaborations with other communities sitting on unused treasury funds. He encourages anyone with partnership ideas to reach out.

Expanding to New Chains and New Player Experience

PJ considers expanding to Solana, Base chain, and newer L1 blockchains, joking about meme coins. He emphasizes the crucial need to focus on the new player experience and acknowledges the improvements being made. Clayboy affirms that new player experience is actively being worked on.

Team Dedication and Future Prospects

PJ commends the hard work and dedication of the Splinterlands team members, including Royal Eagle and Harry. He describes himself as a critical voice internally, pushing for improvements. The upcoming campaign mode is mentioned as a part of the new player experience enhancements. PJ expresses excitement about the future.

Bringing Back Old Players and Community Sentiment

PJ highlights the importance of bringing back old players and notes that asset prices influence their return. He emphasizes the need for positive community sentiment and the concept of reflexivity, where market perception impacts the market. He urges the community to promote positive sentiment, even with disagreements, as it directly correlates with asset value.

DAO Utility and Roadmap Website

PJ reveals he acquired the SPSDAO.com domain and wants to help set up a simple website with a more intuitive roadmap for the DAO and foundation. He intends to turn over all related assets to the DAO. He reiterates the need for community conversations about the future of SPS and reaching a $1 valuation.

Market Making for SPS

PJ references a market-making presentation for SPS he created, emphasizing the need for more players, which can be achieved by bringing back old players and expanding to new ecosystems. He stresses the importance of the fundamental utility of SPS and calls for community input. He believes a clearer roadmap on SPSDAO.com would be beneficial.