According to a September 24th blog post from the team behind stablecoin project Maker, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) bought 6% of Maker’s MKR tokens for $15 million.
The Maker team says Andreessen Horowitz will now play a part in governance operations related to MakerDAO and the Dai Credit System.
As part of the deal, MakerDAO will now reportedly receive capital through “the next growth stage,” get three years of support for their community, and also be able to rely on operational support from members of Andreessen Horowitz’s team.
However, Meltem Demirors of CoinSharesCapital took to Twitter early on September 24th to raise some questions and about the deal.
Failure In Governance And Project Management?
In a series of Tweets, Demirors pointed out how there was not a vote prior to Maker’s decision even though governance is “a core tenant of the project.”
1/ let's talk about today's @MakerDAO / @a16z announcement. for those who missed it, A16Z's crypto fund bought 6% of Maker tokens for $15M, at a 25% implied discount to the current price of $MKR. https://t.co/8FnLNXWG9b
— Meltem Demirors (@Melt_Dem) September 24, 2018
She seemed to express concern a big chunk of tokens was sold to a sole investor without any consultation with the Maker community or other MKR holders.
Demirors also questioned where the 6% supply came from, citing available “data” on her part that seemed to already account for the ownership of MKR tokens, especially since, according to her, Maker sold $12 million worth of MKR to investors who were lead by Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital in late 2017.
Demirors also noted how the sale seemed to imply Andreessen Horowitz got a 25% discount relative to the price of MKR.
A Clever Move By Andreessen?
Demirors asked others on Twitter to chime in about what they thought about the deal, and said she was sure the Maker team would have additional information and context about the deal.
She suggested it:
highlights the need for better financial planning and more transparent funding mechanisms.
Overall, Demirors wrote how it “makes me believe” entities like Andreessen will be a “lender of last resort” for teams who run out of money.”
She is clear to say her comments are not meant to be taken as a criticism, but casually observes how it’s a “clever move for a fund” to engage in “opportunistic capital” with “distressed token teams.”
