Interested in Digital Assets? Get to Know the PlannerDAO

Are you a financial planner who believes in the potential for digital assets like cryptocurrencies to benefit your clients’ wealth-building strategies? If so, you may want to consider joining the PlannerDAO.

In this article, we’ll explain what the PlannerDAO is, its unique governance structure, the professional designation it now oversees, and its growing online community of financial professionals and industry stakeholders who are enthusiastic about the potential for digital assets and blockchain technologies. 

What is the PlannerDAO?

The PlannerDAO is a decentralized community of financial planners promoting economic freedom, universal fiduciary standards, and permissionless access to financial services.

If you want to strengthen your knowledge of digital assets and cryptocurrencies, PlannerDAO offers a wide range of resources to its members you’ll likely find valuable. And you’ll be on the cutting edge of the latest Ethereum technology, with opportunities to learn how the blockchain can improve the financial planning industry.

PlannerDAO’s mission is to democratize access to wealth-building strategies around the globe. According to the organization’s website, it brings together professionals with a diverse set of talents, skills, and experiences, which it uses to promote economic sovereignty for all individuals. PlannerDAO believes in understanding digital assets, emerging financial technology solutions, and studying their potential benefits.

PlannerDAO implements these strategies using different methods on varying timelines while pooling resources to learn about them together.

PlannerDAO members collaborate to educate themselves and their clients. Their website claims the world is changing, and planners need to focus on what is working. The group aims to start a discussion and share best practices with planners worldwide.

The DAO works together to stay compliant, share best practices, and deploy resources to customize digital solutions for planners to deliver to their clients. It is also focused on innovation as it believes there is no limit to the influence the digital economy and crypto can have on people’s lives. The fiduciaries on the front lines should shape this potential according to PlannerDAO.

Governance

PlannerDAO’s structure is unusual. DAO stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization. DAOs are intended to be an effective and safe way to work with like-minded folks around the globe. 

Think of a DAO like an internet-native business collectively owned and managed by its members. They have built-in treasuries that no one entity has the authority to access without the group’s approval.

Decisions are governed by proposals, and voting is conducted to ensure everyone in the organization has a voice. There is no CEO who can authorize spending based on their whims and no chance of a dodgy CFO manipulating the books. Everything is out in the open, and the rules around spending are baked into the DAO via its code.

At PlannerDAO, proposals are voted on by the PlannerDAO community, with each plan token representing one vote. PlannerDAO does not have labor costs, rent payments, or other overhead expenses. It is a governance organization with a community treasury created to promote fiduciary financial planning. 

Proposals successfully passed by the PlannerDAO community are implemented by the community and the firms they work for. Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

• Coordinating partnerships
• Managing certification programs
• Hiring outside contractors
• Creating educational material
• Implementing marketing and advertising proposals
• Applying for grants in the Ethereum community

Who Created the PlannerDAO?

PlannerDAO was created for the financial planner community by Steve Larsen, CPA, CFP, and Adam Blumberg, CFP.

Steve Larsen is Co-Founder of PlannerDAO. He is also Co-Founder of the Certified Digital Asset Advisor (CDAA) designation, an Adjunct Professor of Finance at Gonzaga University where he teaches classes in cryptocurrency and financial planning, and President of Columbia Advisory Partners, a financial planning firm headquartered in Spokane, Washington.

Adam Blumberg, CFP, co-created PlannerDAO. Blumberg is also the co-founder of Interaxis, which helps educate investors and financial professionals on topics including cryptocurrency, blockchain technologies, and digital assets. 

Interaxis is centered on the education and interaction of technology and finance. The group researches and explains financial and investment concepts, including the newer technologies: artificial intelligence, blockchain, and decentralized finance (DeFi). Blumberg also runs Chart Wealth Management, where he primarily works with owners and executives of closely-held and family businesses.

PlannerDAO Education Initiatives

PlannerDAO contracts with education providers in the community to create and disseminate educational materials to promote topics important to financial planners and their clients. 

DAO Working Groups manage certification and endorsement programs for planners, including the Certified Digital Asset Advisor designation it now administers.

Oversight of the Certified Digital Asset Advisor (CDAA) Designation

First created in 2020 by Interaxis, ownership and oversight for the Certified Digital Asset Advisor (CDAA) program was transferred in 2021 to PlannerDAO. 

The CDAA is a professional designation for financial professionals focused on helping individuals manage digital assets such as cryptocurrency and tokens. A goal of PlannerDAO is for the CDAA to become the leading provider of digital asset education for financial advisors in the U.S.

PlannerDAO Partnerships

PlannerDAO actively pursues partnerships that benefit the planner community. Areas of focus include DeFi, non-custodial wallets, and insurance solutions to assist with the safekeeping of the group’s clients’ funds. ‍Formal partnership opportunities are presented to the voting membership of PlannerDAO for approval.

Plan Token

PLAN is the DAO’s native governance token issued to licensed financial planners and used to coordinate economic and social activity within the community. It is on the Etherscan network under the name: Planner Token and ticker: PLAN. 

Plan Token Initial Distribution

PlannerDAO is creating 10,000,000 PLAN tokens for the financial planner community. Initial distribution will be as follows:

·         9,000,000 – PlannerDAO Community Treasury (90%)

·         1,000,000 – Founder Tokens (10%)

PlannerDAO Community Treasury – 90% ‍

The community treasury will issue tokens for new members. The DAO will also use PLAN tokens to compensate members for the implementation of initiatives or to reward members for their contributions. ‍As the PLAN token gains value, PlannerDAO will gradually swap PLAN for interest-bearing tokens to create an ongoing source of revenue to support the financial planner community. ‍

Founder Tokens – 10%

The founders are donating the CDAA certification course to PlannerDAO in exchange for PLAN. The tokens will also serve as potential reimbursement for time and costs incurred for establishing the DAO and aligning founder incentives to promote the PlannerDAO community continuously.

You can find out more about the tokens and plan issuance policy on the PlannerDAO website.

PlannerDAO Roadmap

If you’re interested in understanding where the organization plans to go over the next two years, check out PlannerDAO’s published future roadmap that includes the following milestones:

2022

• DAO Legal Working Group – Organization Recommendation
• Multisig Wallet/Community Treasury Approval
• International PlannerDAO Chapters
• Apply for Available Blockchain Grants
• DAO Technology Working Group – Tech Stack Recommendation
• DAO Created Skill Endorsements

2023 +

• Planner On-chain Records of Education
• Financial Planner License
• DeFi Protocol Partnerships Established

Introduction to the PlannerDAO Community

The PlannerDAO community (https://www.plannerdao.io/) lets those interested in the organization and digital assets explore topics, find members, and learn more about the PlannerDAO. You can search topics, events, companies, groups, courses and chat with members. Some of the currently active groups include:

• “The Certified Digital Asset Advisor – CDAA” for CDAA graduates and enrollees
• The Education Working Group
• Big Ideas
• Crypto-Only RIA
• IDX Digital Assets
• DeFi for Institutions

Topics covered on PlannerDAO include Compliance, Licenses and Certifications, The DAO, Education, Practice Management, Financial Planning Ideas, DeFi, Bitcoin, FinTech, Operations Working Group, CFP (Crypto for Planners) podcast, Bounty Board, and DAO Content & Media.

Anyone can join the PlannerDAO community. You can be a fly on the wall or become an active member. Those interested in joining can visit this page to enroll in the Welcome Introductory course to learn more about the DAO, its mission, and how you can get connected. You can also find the introductory course in the Courses section of the app.

The community has many ways to get involved, including polls, prompts, posts, and questions to bring more people into the conversation. Members can also send direct messages to each other and post in threaded discussions. 

Should you join the PlannerDAO Community?

Advisors interested in learning from peers and a community of like-minded professionals should consider joining PlannerDAO. You can improve your digital asset and cryptocurrency knowledge through this organization. You can also benefit from being on the cutting edge of the latest Ethereum technology and learning how blockchain technologies can improve the financial planning industry.

Ideas are shared, votes are conducted, and DAO members implement change. Financial planners drive positive changes to the financial planning community, and the conversation begins with this group, according to PlannerDAO.

You can join the community on PlannerDAO.io and you can keep up with PlannerDAO on the go with its mobile app. If you are interested in joining a decentralized movement of financial planners democratizing access to wealth globally, then PlannerDAO could be a good fit for you and your practice.