A Foundation Is Born

In the cryptocurrency world progress is often accompanied by pomp and circumstance, for this humble beginning I can offer only words. The date was October 9th, 2018 when the Electra Foundation was born in the Netherlands, a small European country along the North Sea.

The effort took multinational communication, coordination, and, of course, the physical action needed to see things through; As a result of their tenacity many of the dedicated investors of Electra have been handsomely rewarded. Besides being a part of the small group of cryptocurrencies that actually have a foundation, investors can now feel an additional degree of confidence knowing that, (among other things) their views and interests are being securely represented. This representation is shown through the board of the Electra Foundation, which is entirely filled by community members of Electra, as well as other community-driven, decision-making initiatives that will be implemented over time. Suffice to say, no big decisions will be made without the Electra community having a voice in the matter and the proper board member representation to back it up.

The creation of the foundation was actually a condition for funding made by E01, the founder of Electra. Being a community-run project without an ICO or CEO has left us in a position where nearly all networking and development had to be done by volunteers without a dedicated startup budget to speak of. However, with the creation of the foundation, E01 will donate 300,000,000 ECA to the foundation for the community to use in whatever way the community sees fit in furthering Electra’s development. Seeing as these funds amount to almost one-third of the total Electra premine, it was crucial that they be legally protected from potential theft of mismanagement. This protection manifests itself in the form of Dutch law that the foundation would be subject to as a registered legal entity. While the creation of an entire foundation as a precondition for funding may seem extreme, it’s important to understand that E01 is essentially giving 300M ECA to people he had never even met. As such, the entire endeavor actually seemed quite rational.

With these newly allotted funds, the foundation will be able to continue the development of Electra without having to secure approval for continued funding from E01, every step of the way. Additionally, all donated funds will be tax-free due to the tax exemption that foundations can enjoy under Dutch law. This was one of the big reasons that it was decided to form the foundation in the Netherlands, along with the country’s crypto-friendly atmosphere, ease of navigation with regards to coordinating between current board members and lawyers/notaries, and two of the Electra Project’s core team members already living there. Currently, the foundation’s board consists of:

Bob van Egeraat — Chairman

Raymond Vlieland — Secretary

Robert Bakker — Treasurer

Under the legally binding, “Articles of Association”, no board members will be compensated for their work. This was done to ensure that there would be no corruption or conflict of interest among board members and to maintain altruistic actions as much as possible. Beyond working for free, Bob, Raymond, and Robert have also essentially put themselves at personal risk as they’ve exposed their personal identities and, by extension reputations to potential public scrutiny. In short, we owe these men a debt of gratitude for spearheading the entire operation and seeing it through to completion.

As more time for development continues community involvement will be a very important factor within the foundation. Structured and regulated procedures for voting and input will be implemented and a separate, ‘Community Representatives’ board will be created as well. A group of ‘Foundation Advisors’ will also be formed from long-term team and community members that have relevant qualifications within the crypto/blockchain space, business sector, and/or any other useful technical experience that could serve to help the foundation further the development of the Electra Project. Some potential areas that the ‘Foundation Advisors’ could provide help in would be things such as examining potential partnerships, collaborations, exchange listings, and doing general due diligence.

As the financial landscape of Electra changes, it will eventually be more viable for future board members to fly out to the Netherlands and be formally installed within the board by appropriate notaries. Ideally, the board will eventually top out at around five to seven members.

In the spirit of transparency, within the next few weeks, the foundation’s, “Articles of Association” and other relevant documents will be translated from Dutch to English, and the foundation will have a dedicated section within the new Electra website to increase the ease of accessing all of this information. Additional items of interest such as wallet addresses owned by the foundation, withdrawals, and deposits will all be made available as public information as well.

At the beginning of this year, I never would’ve thought that something as big as the formation of a foundation for the Electra Project could’ve been accomplished. Despite time differences and international borders, we as a community have — and continue to foster an environment where the Electra Project can thrive. Even now, the Electra Foundation has already acted as an independent entity, submitting numerous listing applications, communicating with other projects and companies, and even signing an exchange agreement.

I know that at times, it may seem like progress is slow on the outside, but believe me when I say that work is always being done. The foundation itself speaks volumes to that.

I’d like to thank Bob, Raymond, and Robert for all their hard work, as well as E01 for pushing us towards making this a reality and supporting the Electra community’s development.

I propose we officially add October 9th as the second Electra “holiday”, with it being the foundation’s birthday.

To conclude, I’ve included some of the more technical information regarding the foundation below:

Official Name: Stichting Electra Project

Trade Name: Electra Foundation

Entity: Foundation

Tax Exemption: Donations are wholly exempt

Address: Zilverenberg 36, 5234 GM’s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

Dutch Chamber of Commerce Identification Number: 72822120

The Foundation’s Mission:

- Furthering the development of the Electra Project.

- Fostering community growth and community direction of the Electra Project.

- Working to increase the mass adoption of Electra, blockchain technology, and other cryptocurrencies in general through the collaboration of projects, companies, and partners.

• Trippy