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Dash is approaching the end of the voting period for the Dash Investment Foundation Supervisors election (July 2nd 23:59 UTC) that will select six supervisors to ensure that the foundation is making wise investments on behalf of the network.

Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core Group, previously appeared on the podcast to discuss various aspects of the Dash Investment Foundation (DIF). Throughout the podcast, he caveated many of his answers with the fact that whatever his opinion about how the DIF should make investments is irrelevant since those decisions will be made by the directors and elected supervisors by the network. Ryan will simply be involved at the beginning to offer advice and transitional support.

“Let me caveat my answer by saying that my answer is irrelevant. What I want to happen is irrelevant because this was designed intentionally to be controlled by the network through the supervisors. … You should elect the people that are representing the viewpoint that you have on how this should be handled.”

This speaks to Dash’s desire to keep funding methods at least somewhat decentralized and answerable to the network. Ryan also explored the thought about whether the network wants to pursue risky investments to make the network a financial foundation or risk-adverse investments to make the network better through community and code development. This will also be up to the DIF directors and supervisors, but Ryan’s hypothesis is that “based on comments [he] has seen from some of the supervisors as well as from the community, [the DIF will] focus on increasing the capabilities of the network and not so much on absolute investment returns.

New investment possibilities for the network and participants



“The grant system can only get you so far. Grant system works great for cost centers or areas that aren’t meant to generate a profit, like the code creation (like what we do), but when it comes to funding startups and things, there is definitely a different mechanism here.”

Ryan explained the advantages of an incentive driven, free market investment system to ensure that network demands are being met. Ryan also discussed how the supervisors will be responsible for solving the question of how to handle the profits/dividends from investments made. Ryan then went into explaining the benefits of “burning the profits” to make Dash more scarce versus taking the profits directly for the network or investing in the network.

“They could chose to lock those funds away in Dash or actually destroy the Dash. In the act of destroying Dash, what you’re doing, essentially, is removing some of the supply from the marketplace. In so doing, you make Dash incrementally rarer, and all else being equal, the market cap being equal, that means a higher price per Dash than would otherwise be the case. … It’s a bit like a stock buyback. Companies do stock buybacks to make there be fewer shares on the market.”

Burning, or as Ryan also called it, a buyback, of the Dash helps distribute the profits from wise investments to all Dash holders rather than only the Masternodes or indirectly through network improvements.

Dash investing in its future



The Dash Investment Foundation is the latest iteration of new Dash innovations that will make it more robust during bear markets. Dash’s DAO Treasury has helped Dash grow significantly over the past couple years by funding community outreach groups and coders, but it still has weak points by not taking equity in a person’s business and instead hoping that the venture’s improvements to the network will boost the usability and value of Dash enough to compensate the original investment grant. Additionally, while Dash has seen significant adoption, until Dash becomes more commonly used, many DAO Treasury proposals are evaluated in USDs or other fiat rather than only Dash, which causes the treasury to be stressed during bear markets. The Dash Investment Foundation enables more flexibility in investments and money management during these difficult periods.