Litepaper
TOC
1. Introduction
GreenYield DAO LLC (GreenYield) is a decentralised autonomous member-owned organisation (aka a “DAO” or “Decentralized Autonomous Organisation”) with the purpose and mission as specified in its operating charter to
“Facilitate the global transition towards renewable energy by crowdsourcing renewables infrastructure projects and thereby help the world in the fight on the climate crisis for the benefit of future generations.”
GreenYield aims to provide an opportunity for its equity members and for those participating in the GreenYield ecosystem as holders of the DAO utility token $GreenYield to contribute to this purpose.
GreenYield will initially focus on solar energy plants and the necessary infrastructure to build and operate these, incl. establishing an organisation and the development of intellectual property, etc., needed for GreenYield to deliver on its mission. GreenYield is owned by its members which are equity holders in the GreenYield DAO LLC., where they can participate in the GreenYield DAO decisions via its governance protocol.
GreenYield will continuously re-invest its profits from the production of green energy in more infrastructure to accelerate the transition towards a renewable energy society. GreenYield thus essentially auto-compounds the greenhouse offset and asset holdings over time - a unique and very attractive feature allowing members to auto-compound their participation.
GreenYield will be developing various additional - non-tokenized offerings - related to providing accessibility for people to more directly help the global transition towards renewable energy via participation in the GreenYield ecosystem.
GreenYield offers green energy Investments with auto-compounding interest
delivering both greenhouse offsets and attractive investment returns.
2. Problem
2.1
The possibility for everyone to directly contribute to the transition to a renewable energy future is hindered by several factors, including
The majority of us can’t host renewable infrastructure like solar panels at our homes And even if we can, that comes with overhead, maintenance, and other challenges
Residing/operating in locations where it's not allowed due to local regulations and where solar power installations are ineffective (low amount of sun and/or high levels of sand dust).
The pricing for solar when building small production facilities (on your house, for example) is significantly higher than through the use of economies of scale.
2.2
A significant increase in the amount of investments in renewable energy is needed, in particular, traditional renewable energy investments have been by large companies or institutional investors with limited access for smaller private investors. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 4.5T USD is needed annually, and this amount will keep increasing until we "catch up". 4.5T USD is approximately 4% of the global GDP, which means that most people and entities need to be mobilized to be able to reach that target, this is not possible with the current level of access to renewable energy investments.
2.3
Large companies and public entities equal a significant amount of bloat, and being less lean, this eats into the potential return of investors and makes renewable energy investments less interesting from a financial point of view than other investment opportunities.
2.4
Traditional renewable energy investment opportunities are relatively illiquid. Selling a renewable energy plant, or a company that holds them has a limited market of buyers, and that leads to the investment opportunity being less interesting from a risk assessment point of view as well.
2.5
High energy prices lead to a competitive disadvantage, in addition to higher inflation and pricing for consumers. Lower energy prices will lead to economic growth, which will create more jobs, lower inflation, and help everyone, in particular the disadvantaged, with lower prices.
2.6
Geopolitically, renewable energy will make countries less dependent on other nations for their energy needs, creating a more democratic and fair world, we believe that every nation has the right to be completely independent and without foreign pressure because of energy dependence on other nations.
3. Solution
GreenYield offers a solution to these challenges by providing easy access to participate in the GreenYield ecosystem and allow GreenYield to develop and operate large and highly effective solar energy parks, financed by DAO Members and by offering the $GreenYield utility token so that everyone independent of how and where they live can offset their impact and contribute to this highly attractive ecosystem.
In addition to this, at GreenYield, our vision is to create an environment where we make renewable energy the most attractive investment opportunity possible, as this is needed to solve the problems we face. We will make it possible for any person, entity, or public body to invest in the GreenYield project for a hands-off investment in renewable energy. We believe that by creating this ease-of-access and a lean organization, we can make it possible for everyone to invest, and with a relatively high yield, and will make the world reach net-zero faster than otherwise possible.
Anyone that passes the investment requirements can invest directly in the GreenYield DAO and choose if they prefer to use “paper” (digitally) or tokens ($GYMember) to represent their equity stake. With DAO equity follows “member” status whereby direct governance allows participation in the decisions of the GreenYield DAO.
The GreenYield DAO receives the profits from the operation of the renewable infrastructures e.g. the solar parks. The DAO charter outlines that these profits are to be reinvested into more renewable infrastructure - ie. more parks, thus auto-compounding the equity. Via the governance process the members may from time to time decide to pay out dividends to the members.
To further incentivise participation in the GreenYield ecosystem the DAO offers utility tokens as outlined in "GY DAO Tokenomics" (see summary below).
4. Technology
The initial renewable infrastructure will be based on high quality Bifacial Solar panels placed in self-built parks in southern Italy - due to the stability, land-cost, high-market price of KWh, and low cost of land, as well as high solar energy intensity and a high annual number of sun hours. Over time, GreenYield may expand to other areas based on their attractiveness for the DAO and its backers, and the ecosystem will be opened for others wishing to run renewable infrastructures.
GreenYield DAO will leverage mainstream blockchains to ensure transparency and immutability in its operations. The DAO will use open-source based smart contracts built with OpenZeppelin libraries for token issuance and to automate governance processes and manage membership. See the technology section of the Tokenomics for details. The aim is to be chain-agnostic.
The DAO will operate an Aragon DAO instance for its owner/member governance, treasury etc
5. Organization
GreenYield DAO LLC is the parent company of the GreenYield ecosystem, and it’s owned and operated by its members. The GreenYield DAO was initiated by the GY Foundation – 100% non-profit member managed DAO - which now holds equity membership in the GreenYield DAO LLC, provided the initial funding and fiduciary guidance via governance in operating GreenYield DAO and all tokens related to the ecosystem.
GreenYield DAO LLC is the 100% owner of GreenYield Switzerland LLC, a limited liability entity regulated under the laws of Switzerland, where the daily operations of the GreenYield business operates and FIAT offerings for participation will be developed. The Swiss entity may also – depending on regulatory approvals, in time and if allowed by regulators, offer the DAO tokens as an agent on behalf of the DAO (Which operates initially in non-FIAT currencies only).
GreenYield Switzerland GmbH will be the 100% owner of GreenYield Italy S.R.L., a limited liability entity regulated under the laws of Italy, where the operations of the Solar parks are placed.
The GreenYield DAO pledges a minimum of 1% of the EBITDA of the operational/production companies, initially "GreenYield Italy S.R.L." to nature conservation. The GreenYield DAO will over time, though governance voting and when the project has reached a certain maturity, be inclined to put a larger part than 1% of the EBITDA into a fully transparent DAO foundation, name TBD, to be initiated for the purpose of owning land and performing reforestation and renaturing around the world along with wild life conservation efforts, contributing to a natural fauna and ecosystem. The DAO Foundation for conservation will be as lean as possible, with a heavy emphasis on volunteering and non-remunerated work, and will only provide housing and food for the volunteers while they perform their duties in the name of the foundation. The DAO Foundation will only if absolutely necessary pay any salary, bonus or otherwise remunerate anyone to make sure that the maximum amount of conservation is possible.
6. Tokenomics
See the Tokenomics document for the latest updated version. Here follows a summary that may be outdated.
The GreenYield ecosystem will use three tokens with distinctly different properties. In summary, they are:
$GreenYield - which has been structured to allow anyone a simple and easy means to participate in the GreenYield ecosystem. The $GreenYield token has a ratio-linking to the corresponding installed Wp capacity and will be vested over time as the ecosystem grows. They’ll be freely tradable across multiple chains and markets.
$GYWatt representing a 1:1 measure of the installed (nominal) Wp capacity, to ensure verifiable and audited guarantees backing the DAO investments. The DAO charter states the $GreenYield tokens may be released for raising funding ahead of building the corresponding capacity (as expressed in the amount of $GYWatt) up to 12 months ahead to allow the DAO to run effectively and take maximum advantage of the economies of scale.
$GYMember is the equity representation of ownership in the DAO LLC and will not be freely transferable. Holders may need to provide necessary information for compliance, and trading will require pre-authentication of the buyer and their eligibility to become DAO LLC equity members. Membership is not available to all locations and is explicitly not open where local regulation would prevent membership.
The $GreenYield token is a fixed total supply utility fungible token. The token itself is not yieldbearing as it’s not a security.
The DAO will raise funds to build the solar panel capacity via:
Anyone who passes the requirements outlined in the DAO charter may buy equity directly in the GreenYield DAO Ltd and become “members” - which will be represented by a corresponding allocation of $GYMember tokens, allowing participation in the DAO governance.
$GreenYield offerings on relevant launchpads and private placements. This will be ongoing based on demand and capacity to expand.
External financing via banks, leasing agreements, and similar, incl. collateralization of infrastructure and via fiat leasing agreements to allow participation from non-token-based members.
Listing on relevant markets where green impact demand exists.
GreenYield may, to drive interest and attract further liquidity, from time to time sponsor staking contracts, where staked $GreenYield will receive a share of the $GreenYield vested as the amount of $GYWatt grows. GreenYield may distribute additional vested $GreenYield when GreenYield members, via governance, find this relevant.
7. Governance
The GreenYield DAO is governed by its members, who are equity holders and hold the $GreenYield token. Members can participate in the governance process by proposing and voting on proposals that affect the DAO's operations and future direction. The DAO runs an Aragon DAO instance for its governance and treasury to ensure transparency and fairness in the governance process.
Governance is specified in the $GreenYield DAO Charter.
8. Roadmap
The GreenYield DAO has a roadmap that outlines the key milestones for the project's development and growth. The roadmap includes plans for expanding the DAOs renewable (solar) energy infrastructure, developing partnerships with other organisations, and launching new initiatives to promote the adoption of renewable energy.
Revised Roadmap will be maintained on the DAO website.
9. Team
The GreenYield DAO is a member-owned and managed organisation and includes advisors and core contributors who are experienced professionals with a passion for sustainability and blockchain technology. The contributors have a proven track record in developing and managing successful projects in renewable energy and DeFi.
10. Community and Marketing
The DAO Charter will allow allocations of the DAOs treasury towards promotion activities, which may include listing fees, paid promotions, and community management of the DAOs channels. The DAO will seek partnerships with relevant influencer profiles around Impact/Green offset.
11. Disclaimer and Legal Notices
GreenYield DAO LLC, is a member owned and governed limited liability company (the “Company”) incorporated under the laws and regulations of the Republic of the Marshall Islands pursuant to the Limited Liability Company Act of 1996 of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (as amended from time to time, the “Act”) and the Marshall Islands DAO Entities (Amendment) Act of 2021 (as amended from time to time), act according with the laws of the Marshall Islands.
Due to GreenYield DAO being organised as a limited liability entity, no Member shall be liable as such for the liabilities of GreenYield DAO. The failure of GreenYield DAO to observe any formalities or requirements relating to the exercise of its powers or management of its business or affairs shall not be grounds for imposing personal liability on the Members, Directors, or others acting with fiduciary powers for liabilities of GreenYield DAO LLC
Participation in GreenYield DAO and its tokenized ecosystem isn’t a regulated securities offering, and anyone not familiar with or allowed to (in their local legal and regulatory environment) hold, trade, or similar are not allowed to hold, trade, or similar the $GreenYield utility token. Equity owners may choose if they prefer digital “paper” based member certificates or the tokenized version, but acknowledge that participation in the DAO governance is restricted to those holding $GYMember tokens.
Marketing of GreenYield DAO or $GreenYield and its various other offerings does not constitute solicitation of a financial investment or participation in a securities offering.
GreenYield encourages all who are considering doing transactions related to GreenYield to get solid advice related to all Legal, Compliance, and Commercial effects and restrictions. It is highlighted that GreenYield does not issue any guarantees on the performance of the DAO or any token, service, or product.
Participation in GreenYield DAO, as a Member, doesn’t grant anyone the right to claim direct ownership of a share of the DAO-owned assets, and the DAO explicitly states that any trading of $GreenYield isn’t guaranteed. The DAO may from time to time and based on member Governance, decide to offer token buybacks from the market.
Additionally, the DAO members must be aware of the general risks posed. This may include, but isn’t limited to, physical assets e.g., solar panels and cables, etc. which may be exposed to natural forces outside the control of the organisation, third party attacks on the DAOs treasury and other assets etc. Members of the DAO acting with fiduciary powers granted by the DAO can not be made personally liable for their actions and are permitted to refuse to execute DAO governance decisions known to be in violation of the DAO charter or any other legal regulation.
//GreenYield DAO LLC