The launch of the FawkesDAO token heralds the birth of a new true decentralised community, with a main goal of creating a decentralised marketplace, creating a new cryptocurrency economy available to all.

We believe that the main ethos of Bitcoin, for a peer to peer payment system, has been lost. With the almost global approval of ETFs, the truth is that Bitcoin is now just another cog in the excising global financial system.

Bitcoin is now just a store of value, like a form of digital gold, which is hoarded for future profit in exchange for FIAT by most. And of course, Bitcoin is simply too slow for a peer to peer payment system and for small payments far too expensive. In 15 years of existence, Bitcoin’s actual peer to peer payment usage is still minimal with existing Bitcoin peer to peer systems being to at least some degree centralised. The main Bitcoin blockchain may have been lost to tradfi, but through the development of Bitcoin layer 2s and side chains, such as Stacks, which harness the security and reliability of Bitcoin, with fast transaction speeds, we can still achieve the financial freedom we desire, but only if we unify and focus on Bitcoin’s original goals which have been forgotten by most. The time has come for the people to reclaim Bitcoin! The time has come to fight back!

The main method employed by most starting to acquire cryptocurrency, is simply to sign up to an online crypto exchange, then transfer funds from their bank account, which is then used to buy cryptocurrency. This though is no longer a straightforward process, as banks are reducing the financial freedom of their customers, by clamping down on cryptocurrency purchases and in many cases actually closing accounts. Here in the UK there is a growing number of banks that don’t allow their customers to directly transfer funds to a cryptocurrency exchange or allow debit cards to be used for the purchase of cryptocurrency. Sadly the UK is not alone in blocking its customers from the cryptocurrency economy, as it is becoming a common ploy used by banks around the world.

But the current squeeze on the free economy is not restricted to cryptocurrency. Cash deposits and withdrawals are also being restricted by financial institutions around the world, perhaps in preparation for the rollout of CBDCs, which will reduce our financial freedom even further.

Centralised cryptocurrency exchanges are being heavily restrained by government regulations plus many “so called” decentralised exchanges are far from decentralised and are simply using the decentralised “tag” as a marketing tool.

Just getting a foothold into cryptocurrency is a lot harder now than it was, even just a few years ago, and by all accounts its going to get even more difficult in years to come. And also please note that there are literally millions of people in the western world who are unbanked and a much higher number in eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.

If you don’t have access to a traditional bank account, or your bank does not allow crypto transactions or you simply don’t have available funds to invest in crypto, then you are locked out with no chance of the financial freedom of crypto currency. It is a fact that even in the US, the percentage of working people, surviving from pay check to pay check, with little or no disposable income, is rapidly increasing. For these people, it’s virtually impossible to “on-ramp” into Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies because they simply don’t have any disposable income to do so.

If as expected, CBDCs are rolled out around the world, and cash is banished, then our financial freedom will be dramatically reduced even further. Now is the time to build new methods that allow anybody to build crypto wealth outside the existing restricted financial system before its too late!

FawkesDAO Main Goals

Our main goal, and indeed the core driving force behind the FawkesDAO is to create a decentralised protocol that allows “ANYBODY”, no matter where in the world they may live, or their current financial status and most importantly without prejudice, in regards to having an active bank account to build crypto wealth without a centralised controlling entity.

FawkesDAO aims to achieve this by simply getting back to basics, with the creation of an online market place, with cryptocurrency being the ONLY currency used. Anybody will be able to list for sale, pre-loved items from sporting goods to TVs, or even clothes to furniture in a similar manner to Facebook Marketplace, instantly receiving cryptocurrency as payment, so in effect bypassing the existing financial system. This will of course give all the chance in owning cryptocurrency, simply by listing an item for sale and successfully selling it.

In one form or another, marketplaces have been around for thousands of years. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to adapt existing tried and trusted traditional trading concepts to cryptocurrency. Yes it’s as simple as that, although we know it will take time and plenty of dedication and effort.

Just taking a look at the usage of Facebook Marketplace, there is no doubt that it has become one of the most successful online marketplaces.

• In an average month, up to 1.228 billion online shoppers buy something on Facebook Marketplace.
• Up to 40% of Facebook’s 3.07 billion monthly active users shop on Marketplace,
• An estimated 491 million or 16% of active users log in to Facebook for the sole purpose of shopping on Facebook Marketplace. Source: https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/facebook-marketplace-statistics/

Building a successful online marketplace, with cryptocurrency as the main financial base is of course going to take time. We believe though, that with the current financial system strongly clamping down on our financial freedom now is the time to do so!

FawkesDAO Economy Tokens

Decentralisation is the heart of our main ethos for the FawkesDAO so we aim to have a dedicated DAO community token (FawkesDAO) and a working token (Bitz).

The FawkesDAO Token

The FawkesDAO token will be the governance token of the new ecosystem we are creating. Those who hold the FawkesDAO token will be the owners and decision makers of the marketplace and indeed all other future projects created by the FawkesDAO. In regards to governance, rather than taking the existing approach of one vote per token, which we know favours large holders, we intend to have a voting structure which gives 1 vote per account which meets a modest minimum threshold, so each and every Fawkes holders will have a voice no matter how many tokens they hold.

The FawkesDAO token will be utilised for voting rights and used for subscription to to the community. Any potential advertisers, that may wish to advertise on the community or marketplace, subject to approval by the FawkesDAO, will only be able to do so by purchasing FawkesDAO tokens for use as payment. All Bitz tokens “spent” for sales listings, feedback and other services will go to the FawkesDAO holders.

The Bitz Token

The Bitz token will be the actual working currency for the marketplace and future protocols created by the FawkesDAO. This token will be utilised for:

Pay For Sales Listings / Feedback On The Bitzbay Marketplace.

Pay For Listing On The Bitzbay Services / Commercial Directory

Pay For Other Services Such as Highlighted Listing Entries and Advanced Sales / Purchases Reporting.

How Will The FawkesDAO Token Gain Value?

All Bitz tokens spent on marketplace listings will be pooled back to FawkesDAO holders.

Advertising on the FawkesDAO community and marketplace, plus future protocols, will only be able to be purchased by using the FawkesDAO token, with ALL revenue distributed to the FawkesDAO token holders.

On launch, ALL FawkesDAO token holders will be airdropped an allocation of Bitz tokens to kick start the FawkesDAO Marketplace.

The FawkesDAO Dapps

FawkesDAO Community

Over the last decade or so, most online communities have migrated from self owned Bulletin Boards, IRC Channels and a multitude of chat scripts to social media platforms. In hindsight, this has been a mistake, as these communities have not only lost control of their content, but also have become heavily censored and in many cases closed down to due draconian censorship. Fact Checkers which block and remove content not towing the line of the corrupt system are now standard. Those who speak out against authority are targeted, and are either removed from social media platforms or have all revenue withheld. Also, most Social Media platforms, especially in regards to cryptocurrency posts / content, are infested with scammers. You only need to take a look at comments posted on the likes of YouTube, Twitter, Discord and Facebook to see this. Surprisingly the moderation of giant Social Media platforms seem happy to tolerate this which is not acceptable.

Another problem is that since Covid, there seems to be a culture of towing the line and not speaking out. It is clear to those, with even basic blockchain knowledge, that the narrative of Bitcoin Layer 2s and side-chains is being used by many projects that are no more than scams. If you dare to questions such projects then you are quickly attacked and blocked. The only platform that still allows true free speech, to some degree, is X (Twitter), although there is no guarantee this will continue for the long term and unfortunately X is riddled by an array of scammers which frequent most crypto tweets.

FawkesDAO first move will be to create an online community away from social media, owned and run by the FawkesDAO community, without the shackles of social media. This will be a safe haven to discuss the development and direction of the FawkesDAO ecosystem, to honestly critique up and coming DeFi projects, to call out scam projects and to harness and act upon the thoughts of the Fawkes community.

Bitzbay Marketplace

The Bitzbay Marketplace will be the main engine of the Fawkes community. The marketplace will empower anybody to earn cryptocurrency, initially by offering up for sale pre-loved items in return for cryptocurrency. Bitzbay will initially function in a similar manner to Facebook Marketplace where the seller and buyer meet in a safe public place, the buyer inspects the item for sale, and if the buyer is happy with the item, a payment is sent to the seller using the stacks network. The buyer then enters the Stacks transaction number and feedback is given to the seller and buyer. Users will be encouraged to create a dedicated Stacks compatible wallet for use with Bitzbay as their wallet account number will be a key component of their Bitzbay account.

Of course we realise our marketplace model will have problems. We don’t want the Bitz Marketplace to become another Silk Road littered with illegal items for sale. There will be strict moderation in regards to what items can be offered for sale. We will need to recruit trusted mods from the FawkesDAO community to help with moderation. Unfortunately there will be always those who try and ruin it for others.

The key to making the marketplace a success is good moderation and a legitimate feedback system which will evolve over time.

Bitzbay Commercial Marketplace

Our commercial marketplace will be an online directory for those who offer their services and products in exchange for cryptocurrency. Our goal is to build a global directory of merchants that offer products or services with payment by cryptocurrency. Payment for a listing on the commercial marketplace will be solely with the Bitz token. Revenue generated will go to the FawkesDAO token holders.

FawkesDAO Decentralised Exchange

We as a community are going to need a true decentralised exchange that offers “swaps” between FawkesDAO tokens and of course quality Stacks tokens such as STX and sBTC. The long term plan is to build a true decentralised exchange with a limited amount of quality tokens WITHOUT any bridges, which of course dilute decentralisation and security. This is not going to happen overnight! At first we are going to have to utilise existing exchanges that are up and running on Stacks. We believe that once the rollout of the Stacks Nakamoto update is complete, together with the sBTC update, we’ll see many more DEX’s on the Stacks Blockchain.

So initially we’ll partner with one of the leading existing DEX, currently operating on Stacks, selected by a vote put to the community.

Our long term our plan is to have a dedicated TRUE DEX for the FawkesDAO community or maybe even seek out a partnership with an existing DEX that can offer us a “white label” version of their Dapp, exclusively for the FawkesDAO community.

2024 Objectives

• Get the whole concept of FawkesDAO online to build a community for those who have the same ethos as us.
• Build an online community portal away from social media.
• Publish full tokenomics with guidance and acceptance from the community.
• Start to distribute the FawkesDAO token, initially with an airdrop to those who are prepared to help promote FawkesDAO, then with a ICO, with all proceeds going to a provide liquidity, with ALL LP tokens burnt to protect FawkesDAO holders.
• Launch the online marketplace as soon as the Stacks Nakamoto update is live!