📑HDAO Whitepaper
Foreword
The cryptocurrency market has seen rapid growth since the inception of Bitcoin in 2009, and since then, it has brought an unprecedented shift to the entire financial ecosystem as we traditionally know it. Centralized Exchanges (CEXs) act as an important and low-barrier gateway for people from the general public to purchase and invest in digital assets without knowing and learning the entirety of blockchain technology.
Centralized Exchanges are becoming increasingly popular due to their user-friendly nature and transaction efficiency, it offers a streamlined cryptocurrency trading and purchasing experience for users from all walks of life. Despite the ease of use, the majority of the cryptocurrency industry has seen and is now moving their crypto-related interest toward Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) governance models, a science-proven governance model that is fair, open, transparent, and more decentralized than the existing centralized governance models that are embraced by most conventional cryptocurrency exchanges in the market.
Striving to solidify our status as the largest digital asset exchange in the Hong Kong region, HKD.com Foundation understands the importance of achieving true decentralization and is determined to help encourage further adoption of decentralized cryptocurrency usage. As such, we have created and launched the HKD.com Foundation DAO (HDAO) project, a decentralized-driven initiative that will provide greater support to users who wish to adopt true cryptocurrency decentralization and be involved with developing and promoting a sustainable digital asset ecosystem for the future.
Background
To this day, centralized cryptocurrency exchanges still play an important role for beginners and intermediate users to gain exposure to different blockchain projects. The cryptocurrency space is moving and constantly changing, with its related technology developing at an increasing pace and in all directions.
To achieve the ultimate goal of true decentralization where all trades and interactions are decentralized, fair, open, and transparent, a pseudo-decentralized cryptocurrency ecosystem is needed as a springboard to assist users transition from the centralized finance (CeFi) world to the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.
Blockchain technology can bring forth extended trust and transparency to the entire system. As a leading cryptocurrency exchange ecosystem and important stakeholder in the region, HKD.com is dedicated to fostering the Web 3.0 epoch through the construction and promotion of HKD.com DAO (HDAO).
1. About Token Issuer
The HDAO token is issued by HKD.com Foundation Singapore, a crypto-centric non-profit foundation established in 2019 with an ambition to accelerate the growth of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology adoption in Asia. HKD.com is a best-in-class cryptocurrency exchange brand that is affiliated with and commissioned to strategically assists HKD.com Foundation in achieving its goals.
Having obtained the Singapore MAS Exemption, U.S. MSB, Canada MSB, and Australia Austrac licenses, HKD.com is enabled to provide licensed crypto-centric offerings spanning from good old fashion spot trading, crypto custodian, liquidity as a service, and much more. Following a progressive roadmap, HKD.com has also extended its mass adoption-driven offerings to Fiat-to-Crypto On-Off Ramp, OTC Desk, NFT Marketplace, Crypto Exchange Whitelabel SaaS Solution, Crypto ATM, and Crypto POS Network.
2. HDAO Treasury
Decentralized governance has always been part of the design of HDAO since its inception. A governance portal will be made available to let token holders transparently govern the protocol. Upon day 1, the HDAO team has been serving as “Transparent Guardians”, utilizing the governance portal backend to carry out all key decisions on the protocol. For this to happen, a pre-defined amount of HDAO was minted and will be locked into the Governance address, enabling the HDAO team to carry out governance. These tokens may never be in circulation depending on realistic market situations, and their purpose is to ensure an ample amount of tokens for protocol governance.
Decentralization is becoming the new standard in the blockchain and Web3 space, and HDAO supports the notion of improving the decentralized elements of the HKD.com Foundation ecosystem. The HDAO token will be a platform token for the entire HDAO ecosystem, and the ecosystem will be made up of a community of HDAO holders, unlike conventional cryptocurrency ecosystems where only a minority of stakeholders are involved with decision-making and project coordination.
Any holders of an adequate capacity of HDAO token can freely create proposals on matters revolving HKD.com Foundation ecosystem, including the likes of project listing, partnership building, blockchain integration, and other technology upgrades. HDAO holders are encouraged to be active members of this transparent ecosystem.
3. HDAO Overview
HDAO token will be the essential fuel and catalyst that will make HKD.com Foundation ecosystem a constantly improving platform for users from all walks of life. HDAO holders may be provided the enablement to participate in exclusive token staking programs, and as HDAO is created under a fixed maximum supply model of 500 million tokens with a deflationary design, HDAO holders who actively participate these community events may be rewarded lucrative returns.
HKD.com Foundation will also be dedicated to exploring the empowerment of having HDAO as its platform token, which can involve further use cases and utilities that is exclusive to HKD.com platform users, including trading fees reduction, purchasing of NFTs, LP services, collateralizing assets, as well as voting rights on executive proposals, launchpad whitelisting, and other exciting community activities. The HDAO team will continuously work on exploring and including additional HDAO token utilities and exposure in both the CeFi and DeFi spaces.
Furthermore, the HDAO reward mechanism will help to encourage additional users to join and become a part of the HKD.com Foundation community. Through incubating and introducing top-tier crypto projects in the HKD.com ecosystem, HDAO will strive to become an important catalyst to propelling the growth of world’s digital asset adoption, enabling HKD.com to realize its full potential, increase the overall decentralized elements, and transition into a community-centric digital asset exchange platform.
The vision of HDAO is to:
Foster a fair and open ecosystem via its unique tokenomics. HDAO will be dedicated to becoming one of the most robust and truly decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) recognized by all major stakeholders in the cryptocurrency space.
Create a community-centric ecosystem for project incubations, transparent governance, and streamlined operation, enabling HKD.com Foundation to extend its interest in the DeFi, NFT, and Web 3.0 sectors, provide user education, share essential market insights, and more.
Forge meaningful strategic partnerships with reputable chains, other active DAO communities, and resourceful crypto ventures.
Formulate and educate users about the benefit of having a sustainable, constantly evolving, and decentralized governance structure.
Explore and cultivate the usage of a governance portal for HDAO holders to fairly coordinate decisions and upgrades within the ecosystem.
Create and nurture a unique-to-HKD.com Foundation decentralized community and social media presence, allowing users, token holders, and community members to discuss and exchange insights and information relating to the future of cryptocurrency, DeFi, Web 3.0, and the ecosystem.
4. HDAO Governance
The governance involved with this token can be understood as a breakdown of multiple phases.
During the initial phase of the initiative, the governance may be done on a snapshot basis during the voting event period. Results will be posted and delivered to the core development team for final implementation. Relevant HDAO stakeholders may be enabled to create proposals and trigger a voting event to take place, other HDAO token holders are then encouraged to vote, and if the proposal is passed, the core development team will assess whether the proposal is viable and technologically feasible before executing the changes posted in the protocol via a multi-sig consensus mechanism.
Upon maturity of the ecosystem and governance structure, the mechanism will then be worked and transitioned towards a decentralized methodology where a clear and transparent indication of proposal requirements, voting weight, voting period, and other variables can all be part of HDAO holders’ initiative to can take on an increasingly active role in greater HKD.com ecosystem, all done through a seamless governance portal.
5. HDAO Utilities
HDAO is the utility token that will be used across the greater HKD.com Foundation ecosystem. The core purposes of the HDAO token are to:
Incentivize usage of the HKD.com platform
Encourage users to get involved in the decentralized governance portal
Enable a wide variety of token holder's privileges surrounding core technologies and ecosystem offerings
Listed below are some of HDAO token’s generic utilities surrounding core technologies and ecosystem offerings. We will continue to update this section as the project develops.
Token Swap: HDAO token can be used as a form of token exchange in the greater HKD.com Foundation ecosystem upon further technological development and ecosystem maturity.
Proposal Creation: Official DAO proposals are the only method to create community-driven changes to the greater HDAO ecosystem. These community-driven changes can be related to the usage of the exchange platform, how future governance can be shaped, and HDAO holders’ privileges surrounding core technologies and ecosystem offerings. To create a new proposal, the user will need a predefined minimum amount of HDAO tokens and be willing to lock it for an extended period of time. Once the proposal is submitted, users are encouraged to engage with members of the community who have questions about the proposal.
Voting: HDAO token holders have the right to participate in voting events that are driven by official DAO proposals that are successfully created and submitted by other community members. It is anticipated that these proposals would surround changes and suggestions that would directly impact HDAO token holders in general; therefore, HDAO token holders are encouraged to interact in the HDAO community to learn more about the suggested changes.
Transaction Fee Discounts: Holders of HDAO tokens can enjoy reduced or discounted fees during the use of platforms in the greater HDAO ecosystem. These platform fees may be in the form of transactional-related fees on the HKD.com trading platform, launchpad, NFT marketplace, and more. When the fee discount framework is finalized and announced, an exclusive member-leveled structure will also be introduced and will operate in the general direction of a greater holding of HDAO tokens would entitle the holder to a more prestigious membership level which would enable greater transactional fee discount.
Incubation of New Projects: It is envisioned that HDAO token holders can help the core team decide on the incubation of new projects in the greater HDAO ecosystem. This can take the form of helping projects obtain the eligibility to get on the ecosystem’s launchpad, rating new projects’ confidence level, signaling other community members for new project red flags and mission-critical bugs, as well as listing and delisting new project tokens. The end goal is to enable a fair, safe, and self-governed environment.
Priority Access: Through staking HDAO tokens into the ecosystem, community members are enabled to obtain priority and early-bird access to promising projects that are made available on the launchpad, unlocking better pricing and more up-side for participants.
Minting and Swapping of Limited Edition NFTs: At the HDAO ecosystem, it is envisioned that limited edition NFTs will, from time to time, be made available for minting. These minting privileges will be made exclusively available for holders of HDAO tokens. Upon successful mint, holders of these limited edition NFTs can conduct swaps, exchanges, and transferrals as they deem fit. By holding one or more of these limited edition NFTs, users can showcase their loyalty and prestigious membership level to other members in the greater HDAO ecosystem.
Airdrops and Giveaways: The HDAO ecosystem is built with a community-centric focus. As such, community members who are HDAO token holders are encouraged to stay active and participate in community events such as platform activities, voting on proposals, and more. In return, HDAO token holders will be rewarded through periodic airdrops and lucrative giveaways.
Evangelism: HDAO token holders are encouraged to become our ecosystem’s evangelists by engaging with technical audiences to influence the adoption of HDAO ecosystem offerings. Through educating, enabling, and exciting new users to use HDAO products and services, evangelists can turn audiences into HDAO advocates within their communities. HDAO token holders who wish to take on evangelist responsibilities can be rewarded for content creation and curation within the HDAO community.
HDAO Ecosystem Growth
6. HDAO Growth & Expansion
At this moment in time, the HDAO token primarily serves as a utility token for HKD.com platform users. In the near future, the HDAO token will be widely promoted and adopted across all offerings under the greater HDAO and HKD.com Foundation ecosystem. With further expansion of ecosystem offerings, the consensus foundation of the HDAO token will also be expanded, extending to greater token utilization and more upside for token value. The team strongly believes that HDAO will become one of the greatest and most widely adopted platform utility tokens as the HKD.com Foundation ecosystem continues to expand.
Stage 1: Price Discovery
The underlying value of HDAO tokens derives from their utilities. The token will thrive as the greater HDAO ecosystem continues to grow. As an integral part of the HDAO ecosystem, the HKD.com platform will strive to continue growing its user base, including new projects on platform offerings, and provide new digital assets adjacencies services.
Stage 2: Utility Expansion
HDAO token’s underlying value may see appreciation through the introduction and maturing of all sorts of offerings that are affiliated with the HDAO ecosystem. HKD.com would be the first of many to transition into product maturity as the platform enters the completion stage of license acquisition in Hong Kong and other important targeted regions. Additional core offerings such as Launchpad and NFT Marketplace will so also be introduced and nurtured into product maturity as the technology team delivers with its core systems passing security audits. As these HDAO ecosystem offerings continue to be introduced and nurtured into product and market maturity, the utilities, functionalities, and adoption of HDAO tokens within the ecosystem will also see increasingly positive progressions.
Stage 3: Flourishing & Sustainability
Upon completion of product and market maturity, HKD.com Foundation ecosystem offerings will be able to become a fully flourished and tight-knit network of services that will also be sustainable in the ever-growing and ever-changing cryptocurrency space. HDAO tokens will operate on an increasingly decentralized mechanism, and their utilities will be further enhanced by the research and benefits of decentralized blockchain governance technology.
7. HDAO Token Distribution
In order to better cater to future business expansion and technological advancement, a strategic HDAO proposal was passed and executed amongst all HDAO transparent guardian committee members. HDAO Transparent Guardian Committee's current active participants include HDAO’s strategic backers, HKD.com Foundation, and the HDAO core technology development team. As such, HDAO Foundation and its stakeholders have built the consensus to strategically execute a transparent restructuring of HDAO token distribution. The entire HDAO token ecosystem will be shifted from its original prime chain to the Polygon network in order to better cater to increasingly demanding business expansion ambitions and technological advancement goals.
Polygon Network is a Layer 2 scaling solution that enables rapid, cost-efficient transactions and allows for better and more efficient decentralized application constructions for the HDAO core technology development team. Polygon network uses a network of side chains to offload transactions from the main Ethereum chain, which can provide the enablement of faster overall transaction speed and reduced transaction costs compared to Ethereum. Polygon Network also has great compatibility as it is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), meaning that the HDAO core technology development team can utilize the same tools and languages to build on Polygon Network as they would on other ERC20 chains. Polygon Network is also modular, which means it is more suitable for HDAO and HKD.com ecosystem expansion as it can be customized to fit different needs and use cases.
The HDAO Foundation has burnt ninety percent (90%) of the total original amount of HDAO tokens since mint, reducing the total supply from the original five (5) billion to five hundred (500) million tokens. The token burn resulted in a significant reduction of HDAO’s total supply in the market and helped to further increase the scarcity of HDAO tokens that are already in circulation.
8. HKD.com Roadmap
Coming Soon.
9. Risk Disclaimer
This is the Risk Disclaimer of HKD.com Foundation, in the following referred to as “HDAO”.
Risk Warnings
Extreme Market Volatility Risk
Participants must be aware that cryptocurrency and tokens are extremely volatile and carry significant and unpredictable financial risks. This can be impacted by the events, rhetoric, understanding (or misunderstanding) for any or no reason, and token holders must ensure they are fully aware, accept, and are able to deal with these risks, the volatility, and the potential loss that may come as a direct or indirect result.
Capital At Risk
The value of products and the income you may generate from cryptocurrency can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Purchasers may not get any return or money from products purchased. The figures shown relate to potential or predicted performance. Past, present, and future performance is not guaranteed and is not a reliable indicator of current or future results, and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product or strategy.
Past Performance Risk
Past performance is not an indicator of current or future returns and cannot be relied upon as an indicator of any performance. There are inherent risks with acquiring cryptocurrency, and digital assets and performance are never guaranteed.
Blockchain Risk
Blockchain system congestion may cause transactions to be processed late or be invalidated. The HDAO team cannot be held accountable for any damage done by bugs, deficiencies, or related problems to the underlying blockchain structure as they relate to our Products and Services.
Transaction Privacy Leakage
Your personal information is required to distribute and control HDAO tokens in the users' electronic wallets. HDAO Tokens stored in wallets may be changed or lost due to an internal or external factor, such as attack(s) from malicious code, software bugs, or blockchain network errors, as a result of a request from a regulator (where required to do so by law will we provide such information).
Security System Vulnerabilities
Users are responsible for taking appropriate measures in order to keep their wallet and HDAO Tokens safe from malicious attacks. The HDAO team encourages every holder to inform themselves about potential security risks that come with using blockchain products and services. HDAO Foundation and the HDAO Team will not be responsible for any breaches of security or security vulnerabilities for using, transferring, or otherwise in relation to HDAO and/or the HDAO Token.
E-Wallet Compatibility Risk
Participants must use an electronic wallet that is technically compatible with the HDAO Token to acquire or store the HDAO Tokens, Products, and Services. If a Participant is using a different wallet, the Participant may not be able to access the HDAO Token, and/or it may be lost. HDAO and the HDAO Team will not be responsible and will not reimburse for any loss or loss of HDAO Tokens because of such incompatibility or loss derived from such incompatibility.
Not Professional Advice
HDAO does not provide any form of recommendation, advice, or guidance on acquiring tokens, HDAO Tokens, Products, or Services, including (but not limited to) which staking protocols, investments, returns, or any other form of professional advice (including accounting, tax, legal, strategy, investment or management advice).
Please read and understand the following content carefully before purchasing, owning, holding, or being affiliated with any product or service.
You should always seek independent professional advice before using any content, purchasing, holding, owning, or trading any products or services from HDAO. HDAO will accept no responsibility or liability as a result of any consequence of using our content or products, or services.
The following, along with other policies (which may be created, published, and updated from time to time with or without prior notice), apply to all users of our website, customers, clients, readers, or otherwise in relation to using, reading, or purchasing (directly or indirectly) any HDAO content, HDAO products, HDAO services, and the HDAO Whitepapers (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Whitepapers”).
The following also applies to anyone who participates in the HDAO presale or any other token or coin offering. The Whitepapers provided by the HDAO Team (hereinafter referred to as the “HDAO Team”) and does not guarantee that any content in the Whitepapers will remain the same in the future.
The Whitepapers are written to provide information on the HDAO project. The Whitepapers are descriptive and are in no way legally binding. Any content in the Whitepapers should not be considered as an offer, invitation, or incentive to attract participation in any purchase of products or services (or any future products).
No warranties, promises, and/or representations of any kind, expressed or implied, are given as to the nature, standard, accuracy, or otherwise of the information provided in the whitepaper, on the website, or any other content, nor to the suitability or otherwise of the information to your circumstances.
The HDAO team does not provide financial advice, and the purchase of products and services does not constitute any relations between any (direct or indirect) buyer and seller. Statements contained herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not legal, tax, or financial advice. Statements and information based on future forecasts are uncertain as they include known and unknown risks. The actual outcome may differ from the one predicted based on the statements and information herein or the one that HDAO materials imply and present.
The HDAO Team shall not be liable for any loss or damage which may arise as a result of your use of (or inability to use) content, products, or services or from your use of (or failure to use) information, content, products, or services. HDAO and the HDAO Team shall not be liable, to the extent applicable laws allow, for any: (1) loss of profit, revenue, debt, or any other forms of monetary damages; (2) loss of income, sales, capital loss, liability and other losses incurred during business transactions, business activities, and profit-related activities; (3) data loss or corruption; (4) incidental or special damages; (5) wasted or lost administrative time; (6) pure economic loss in whatever form.(1) – (6) apply in all circumstances, whether direct, indirect, consequential, punitive, or arising in contract, tort, or otherwise.
HDAO information may change, be created, or be updated from time to time depending on the HDAO development process, strategy, market changes, technological advances, and changes in Token Generation Event (TGE) or token regulations in whichever jurisdiction(s) that apply. The HDAO Team is not obligated to inform or report to readers about events, changes (including regulatory or legal changes), platforms, plans, changes in estimates, or changes in tolerance to content, products, and services. It is the users' and purchasers’ responsibility to ensure they remain up to date with such changes, which may be notified on the HDAO-affiliated website and/or HDAO-affiliated forums. While we make every reasonable effort to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, such material may not be complete, may change from time to time (with or without notice), and will never constitute professional advice (independent or otherwise).
The publication and distribution of the Whitepapers are prohibited in countries where the publication and distribution of the Whitepapers, tokens, digital assets, and cryptocurrency are forbidden, blocked, or illegal. The information contained in the Whitepapers has not been validated or approved by any regulatory agency, regulator, oversight committee, government, institution, or professional firm, and any action (direct or indirect) by users or purchasers that violates any applicable laws or regulations is not the responsibility of HDAO or the HDAO Team, and HDAO and the HDAO Team will accept no liability as a result.
We have made every effort to prevent the distribution or publication of our content and HDAO, generally in countries where the legal and regulatory environment prohibits such content and/or products and/or services. It is the user and purchaser's responsibility to understand and know the laws and regulations in their jurisdiction and adhere to them when using content and/or purchasing products and services. They must only do so in compliance with such laws and regulations. If you are prohibited from using the content or purchasing products and services offered by HDAO, you must not access or use content from HDAO or purchase or use products or services from HDAO.
The Whitepapers and website are the primary official source of information regarding the HDAO project and the launch of HDAO and the HDAO Token (“HDAO”). The information contained in the Whitepapers and on our website may be translated into other languages or used to communicate with potential partners and project participants. As a result, the translated version may differ in interpretation or meaning when translated from English to that language. HDAO and the HDAO Team accept no responsibility for differences or discrepancies in such interpretation, definitions, or meaning.
The HDAO Whitepapers, HDAO, and the HDAO Team reserve all intellectual property rights to the extent not prohibited by law or regulation, and any use of the HDAO Whitepapers, HDAO, and the HDAO Team is strictly prohibited unless agreed in writing by HDAO. You may download or print individual sections of the Whitepapers or other HDAO content only for personal use or other proprietary notices, but you are prohibited from using any material that may insinuate or infer partnership, joint venture, any form of relationship, or no relationship with HDAO. For the avoidance of doubt, no part of the Whitepapers may be reproduced in whole or in part, reproduced electronically or otherwise, or modified, linked, or used for public or commercial purposes without the prior written consent of the HDAO Team.
HDAO Tokens
HDAO does not recommend or advise purchasing tokens or products for speculative investment purposes. You should carefully consider and evaluate each of the risk factors and all information provided before deciding to purchase, trade, hold, keep, store, transfer, swap, get involved with, and/or be affiliated with a product or token.
HDAO is the native utility token of the HDAO ecosystem.
Users, clients, and customers should not purchase HDAO for investment purposes. Such tokens are not designed for investment purposes and shall not be considered as a type of investment. You acknowledge that all purchases of HDAO are final and non-refundable, HDAO is not required to provide a refund for any reason, and that you will not receive money or other compensation or any form of a refund, and where you purchase HDAO or a product or service you consent to no right of withdrawal from interacting with HDAO token.
HDAO Tokens do not entitle you to any equity, dividends, voting, governance rights, or similar right or entitlement in the HKD.com Foundation (including the corporate structure, holdings, subsidiaries, as a director, advisor, shareholder or beneficial owner) or in any of its affiliated projects including HKD.com (“HKD.com”). HDAO is not and shall not be interpreted, understood, marketed as, promoted as, be read as a security token (“ST”) under any jurisdiction.
The purchaser's personal information is required to distribute and control the sale of HDAO tokens. If any Personal Data is collected, it will only be stored for the purpose of verification and used solely to determine verification or where requested by a regulator or other governmental agency. Unless you opt-in, your data will not be used to market or provide information on offers. HDAO will not provide or sell your data to any third party.
Last updated
