Aragon One CEO Jorge Izquierdo has stepped down, becoming the first high-profile person to leave the decentralized governance project following a series of seemingly controversial decisions.
A high-profile discharge arrives for the Aragon Association
“After a hectic few months, I spent two weeks completely offline following a doctor's recommendation,” Izquierdo said in a statement. "During my absence, a number of decisions were made in the Aragon Association (mainly regarding governance) that I disagreed with, both with the content of the decisions themselves and with the way they were made."
Izquierdo added: “Several proposals have been put forward to solve this problem, but there was no willingness to cancel or change these decisions. As a result, no changes were made.
This motivated the team to leave the project, and it's also the reason why I resign ”. However, Izquierdo plans to remain a member of the Aragon community, including serving on the board of the Aragon Association, he said.
The latest events related to the governance of the association
Launched in 2016, Aragon seeks to create blockchain-based digital jurisdictions for online businesses, especially decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). The project raised $ 25 million in ether (ETH) in an initial coin offering (ICO) in May 2017 and approximately $ 850.000 in two private sales with venture firms Draper Associates and Placeholder Ventures.
Until recently, Aragon One (A1) made up half of the project. The company was a recipient of a scholarship from the Aragon Association (AA). That role was apparently usurped following the acquisition of the Vocdoni decentralized voting project by Dvote Labs for an undisclosed amount, a purchase announced on Monday.
Vocdoni's news was preceded by the introduction of two new members to the AA team's board of directors, AA Executive Director Joe Charlesworth and Legal Director Jose Nuno.
Both Charlesworth and Nuno were added to the board along with Izquierdo and Aragon Network co-founder Luis Cuende. Izquierdo said his resignation "is not related to the acquisition".
Rather, “with the current status of the Association, I no longer think Aragon One can deliver on its commitments. I have done my best to push the changes in the Association so that the team does not leave, but these attempts make me feel empty, ”he said.
"The big disagreement concerns the governance of the Association and in particular its council," added Izquierdo. As for the project's funds, the accounts are jointly controlled by a multi-sig portfolio held by both Izquierdo and Cuende, Izquierdo confirmed. The AA recently converted approximately 52.000 ether (quotation ETH) (approximately $ 50 million) in stable assets (mainly USDT) in an attempt to diversify the project's portfolio.
