PROPOSAL: Incorporate the Veres One Non-Profit Foundation

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*Greetings Veres One Community, *

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One of the first orders of business for the Veres One Project is to 
incorporate as a nonprofit, as the Veres One Foundation. We have 
identified Switzerland as the ideal home for the Veres One Foundation 
because Switzerland is globally viewed as a neutral country and is home 
to many international non-profits and UN agencies. As Swiss cultural 
support for civil society organizations is strong, we believe that it is 
the best place to base an organization that will oversee a global 
internet utility such as Veres One.


However, Swiss incorporation requires $65K USD in startup costs and up 
to $10K USD per year in operating costs compared to incorporating in the 
US where startup costs are approximately $3K and operating costs for low 
revenue foundations are less that $1K per year. Swiss incorporation also 
presents additional regulatory risks since the Maintainer/Founders 
(DIgital Bazaar) are US-based and the nonprofit Foundation would be 
Swiss-based. The risks are minimal and the additional costs are not 
astronomical but it would be far more lean and cost effective to 
incorporate in the US.


Proposal:Incorporate as a nonprofit in the US as the Veres One 
Foundation with a contractual obligation to close down the US Foundation 
and migrate the entity to a Swiss-based nonprofit Foundation once the 
US-based foundation has $100K in savings, which based on the current 
funds distribution breakdown <https://veres.one/network/funding/>would 
require a minimum of $435K *(23% is 100K)* of revenue to flow through 
the network.


Funds allocation, other than the 5% to founders, can be modified by the 
CG to reach the $100K mark at a faster rate. In addition to fee-based 
revenue revenue can also take the form of a donation.


Questions:


 1.

    Do you have any reservations about incorporating in the US as an
    initial phase of the Veres One Foundation? If so, what are they?

 2.

    Do you agree that Switzerland is a good long-term home for the Veres
    One Foundation? If not, why? Do you have suggestions for a preferred
    nation of incorporation? What are the specific advantages of
    incorporating in that country? Would you be able to facilitate the
    incorporation process in that country?

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-- 
Adam Lake
Director, Business Development
Digital Bazaar