Dust Labs is the core software arm behind DeGods and y00ts, two of the worlds most prominent NFT collections. The mission of Dust Labs is to build software that brings value to holders of DeGods and y00ts. Currently, Dust Labs is focused on expanding the utility of their identity solution, de[id].
In July of 2023, Dust Labs approached Magna with operational and security questions regarding an imminent fungible token distribution for both team and investors. The team sought a solution that simplified the distribution of vesting tokens and addressed their key challenges:
- Manually handling vesting token distributions would be an operational burden.
Since the tokens for employees and investors were unlocking on different schedules, making sure the correct amounts were distributed on time to the right people would be an operational nightmare to handle manually. Dust Labs’ tokens were stored in a Safe multisig wallet, which meant that every transaction would require approvals from multiple signers to distribute tokens. Additionally, manually collecting and maintaining wallet addresses for each recipient introduced substantial opportunity for administrative errors (such as sending to the wrong wallet address).
- Moving large amounts of tokens to so many stakeholders posed a serious security risk.
Security was a major concern for Dust Labs, particularly since several investors had recently fallen victim to wallet-draining scams via fake claim portals. Furthermore, developing smart contracts to automate vesting would not only require significant resources, but also open up the possibility for exploits without expensive audits. Needless to say, Dust Labs’ appetite for security risk was next to zero given the amount of tokens that would be regularly distributed.
How Magna Helped
Dust Labs turned to Magna to help address these challenges and simplify token vesting.
Streamlined Token Vesting Operations
With Magna, Dust Labs was able to drastically reduce the time spent on vesting distributions. After setting up the vesting schedules and deploying a self-custodial smart contract with a couple simple steps, the rest was left on autopilot. Magna automatically calculated vested token amounts for each stakeholder, making them immediately available at each milestone via a secure claiming portal. Tokens were delivered to the right stakeholders, in the right amount, at the right time, without needing Dust Labs to sign transactions from their multisig wallet everytime.
Flexibility to Support Dust Labs’s Unique Needs
As projects often have their own preferences and practices in place when it comes to how they operate, Magna’s platform features allowed Dust Labs to structure the vesting process based on their needs. Of note, Magna allowed Dust Labs to:
- Manage schedules + stakeholders and distribute tokens from multiple different legal entities in one place
- Partially fund smart contracts with tokens for distribution as they vest rather than entirely upfront - granting the team much more flexibility with their allocated tokens
- Export data (e.g., vesting schedules and progress) in bulk for their own reporting needs
Security Measures Every Step of the Way
Implementing end-to-end security measures from onboarding to claiming, Magna enabled Dust Labs to confidently distribute tokens in a risk-controlled manner:
Vesting Set-up and Onboarding
- Providing a dedicated demo environment for testing vest schedules;
- Supporting multisig wallets - allowing Dust Labs to interact directly with Magna from the safety of their Safe wallet;
- Leveraging audited smart contracts (e.g., battle-tested by Ottersec, Trail of Bits, CertiK, and more) that were deployed and controlled by Dust Labs - meaning tokens remained under their team’s control; and
- Maintaining SOC 2 compliance and appropriate internal controls to minimize security risks
Vesting Management
- Requiring multi-factor authentication for stakeholders when logging in to the claim portal;
- Restricting permissions to the Dust Labs team - only admins could make changes to stakeholder information (e.g., wallet addresses, associated email); and
- Establishing dedicated, custom workflow in collaboration with the Magna support team to handle and verify inbound requests from investors
“Going with Magna was a no-brainer for us. The on-boarding was extremely smooth, their security protocols are second to none, and our investors and team continuously receive their allocations without a hitch. Bruno and the team are quick to respond to our questions and are extremely receptive to feedback and feature requests. Magna has brought both efficiency and peace of mind to our team, and I couldn't recommend it more."
Dust Labs
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About Dust Labs
Dust Labs is the core software arm behind DeGods and y00ts, two of the worlds most prominent NFT collections. The mission of Dust Labs is to build software that brings value to holders of DeGods and y00ts. Currently, Dust Labs is focused on expanding the utility of their identity solution, de[id]. De[id] allows holders of DeGods and y00ts to link their X, discord, and Telegram with NFT’s across Solana, Polygon, Ethereum, and Bitcoin into a single log-in. De[id] is the foundation for an exciting roadmap of social apps, games, and community tooling. Recently, the team announced a directional shift toward building the DeGods and y00ts communities into a Network State, leveraging de[id] as the core identity system. As part of this initiative, they introduced https://wen.de.xyz/, an interactive feedback platform that allows the community to provide feedback, product ideas, and work more closely with the core team. Dust Labs sits at the forefront of NFT software and community tooling, and is a must watch for 2024.
