My Statement on Blackball Gate

GM Dash Family,

I have thought a great deal about whether or not I should make a public statement regarding "Blackball Gate" and ultimately I have decided to speak up and do it publicly rather then anonymously. In my opinion, the situation and how it has been handled in regards to Mark Mason is not a one-off accusation but rather something that has happened to others as well, myself included.

For those of you who don't remember I used to run "Green Candle" which acted as an escrow entity for the network during some of our most successful years. This entity was self-formed and funded by myself personally to fill a void the network needed (escrow) and to provide accountability to the network. At our peak, we were escrowing large amounts of funds, in addition to signing MOU's on behalf of the network to hold contractors accountable, and I wanted the network to feel safe knowing that there was a legal entity they could hold accountable rather than just some words on a website and a handle.

Prior to starting Green Candle I had also started working as a Network Engineer for Dash Core Group. I originally was brought on to help with a large email migration moving all of the DGC tech stack into new cloud based services that would allow further interoperability with our teams geographically spread out over the entire world. Later this morphed into a full-time job helping to keep the network's infrastructure running. Prior to starting Green Candle my relationship with DGC CEO Ryan Taylor was good. We shared one-on-one lunch and we built a rapport where he would ask me questions directly, even sometimes late at night or in the evenings via a direct message to my cell phone. To me, it felt very much like I was providing value to the entire Dash Network by making sure that I supported its CEO in any way possible.

Then strange things started to happen behind the scenes. Things that at the time I didn't have the ability to understand. Responses that at one time had been cordial suddenly became much more scarce. As a result, tasks started to take longer to accomplish because it became hard to do our job for the network. Whether it was information we needed to disseminate or questions we needed answered, it became harder and harder to complete. Now at this time I was still a contracted employee of DGC as well as the Director of Green Candle, which was working directly for the Dash DAO but not funded by it. I was wearing many hats but so were others inside of our constantly changing and growing DAO.

Being a contracted employee for DGC allowed me to have a special perspective because for years I was behind this curtain of secrecy that the community actively wonders about. I was present at the first Dash Open House, BTC Miami, the first Dash Conference in London, Money 2020, I got to travel the world and promote Dash and along the way accomplished a lot of firsts in industries that are still being targeted today.

After reading all the dialogue and following Dash from afar for the last few years it is my opinion that Mark isn't the first person to be given this blackball treatment. Rather I think he comes as the last in a line of people that have suffered this fate after working inside of Dash Core Group and not staying quiet and following the status quo. It is my opinion that similar things happened to people before me. It is my believe that myself, Andy Freer, and now Mark Mason have all suffered from a blackball gate event.

I'm sure there are others out there and it is my hope that as more people speak up this barrier of secrecy that DGC has kept up since the days of Daniel Diaz will finally be torn down. It is also my hope that by speaking out and drawing a line in the sand both as a masternode owner and as a former employee of Dash Core Group that together we will make the Dash network stronger and more robust.

Situations like these are hard. Removing emotions from your decisions and statements is even harder, but my choice to speak out was one of providing due dilligence to the MNOs that have supported all of my efforts towards making Dash better. The more stories they hear, the more information they can be given, the better decisions they can make for the network.

To Ryan - if you are reading this, thank you for everything you have done at Dash. Working for the network is an overwhelming experience filled with firsts and Dash wouldn't be what it is today without your efforts and guidance. Thank you for everything you have done for Dash. This discussion isn't about one person. This discussion is about the health of Dash and the power and simplicity of our DAO. I hope these discussions bring the Dash community together and make it even stronger then it ever was.

There will be two sides to every discussion and if you agree with me, that the current structure of Dash Core Group allows for this type of blackball gate to happen then I ask that you stand along side me in my request that DGC address their lack of accountability, transparency, and respect for the communities requests by proving to us that if we all want a change in the CEO or any of the DGC employees that they will make this happen promptly.

I have remained quiet in the community for a long time since my exit from Dash. Watching what is unfolding with Mark Mason has compelled me to speak up. It has forced me to ask myself the question whether some of the actions behind the scenes from this culture that has been festering during this period of Ryan leading Dash isn't more to do with our severe under performance than us being so obviously rejected by the market. The person Dash needs leading the way is one that should have qualities of building up and making stronger the brilliant minds around him, the minds that want to build and evolve the technology. Rather than a history of brilliant minds moving on from Dash due to frustration we should have a history of brilliant minds rising up through their partnerships and choices to work alongside Dash. These visionaries like Mark Mason, and before him Andy Freer, and before them all the other frustrated DFO members that have tried to work with the DAO only to leave frustrated, overwelmed, and under appreciated should be helped and supported in their tasks. This culture of exclusion doesn't mix with our decentralized focus. We need to all support each other and use these mediums to have open and transparent discussions for the better of Dash. The Dash DAO history shouldn't be one filled with holes left from frustrated projects, it should be one that shows a culture of inclusion, growth, and support for all participants.

If you made it to the bottom thank you sincerely for reading and if you have any comments on this please make sure you @ me so I can follow along.

Thank you,

@coingun