[bisq-network/bisq] Running the numbers on Bisq DAO revenues (#5171)

Chris Beams notifications at github.com
Mon Feb 15 13:58:04 CET 2021


@cbeams wrote

> So, to everyone: what do you think the most important 3–5 accounting / financial metrics would be?

@pazza83 wrote:

> - Profit / loss statement (measured in BTC)
> - Balance sheet (measured in BTC)
> - Cashflow forecasts (measured in BTC)
> - BSQ/BTC
> [...]

In general, I think these are fine suggestions.

One way to make sure we land on the most useful set of initial metrics would be to express requirements for them as questions that different types of BSQ users need to be able to answer, e.g.:

- For contributors: How liquid is BSQ? Will I be able to cover my expenses with the compensation I earn?
- For investors: How sound are the fundamentals of the Bisq DAO? Is buying and holding BSQ likely to be a worthwhile investment?
- For traders:
  - How liquid are the currency pairs I'm interested in trading? How quickly, and how much volume am I likely to be able to trade?
  - How does the "total cost of trading" on Bisq compare to my other options (privacy premium + trading fees + mining fees)?
  - Should I buy and use BSQ? How much does my total cost of trading drop if I pay for my trading fees in BSQ vs BTC?
  - Can I profit as a market maker? How should I size and price my offers to optimize the likelihood of their being taken?

These are just a sketch, the first few things that come to mind, but you get the idea: these requirements are expressed strictly as _what_ information people need to know, and they avoid specifying exactly _how_ to provide it. The latter is important, but the former is _most_ important. If we're clear about the _what_, the _how_ will more easily follow.

This approach would allow us to validate that the metrics we're implementing are the right ones by completing the following sentence:

> We should publish `<metric name>` because doing so will help `<BSQ user type>` answer `<question>`.

As some readers will know, Agile development teams formulate these kind of requirements in a similar way, called _user stories_ that are structured like this:

> As a `<type of user>`, I want `<some goal>` so that `<some reason>`

Applying this structure to our domain, we might have a user story like this:

- As a _contributor_, I want _to be able to estimate how much BSQ I can liquidate in the next 30 days_ so that _I can decide how much of my time to spend on Bisq vs. other work._

We could then propose a particular metric or set of metrics that meet that requirement and go about implementing it.

It may often be the case that the "standard" accounting techniques like balance sheets and cash flow statements etc, are the best way to meet these requirements, but it's worth remembering that there's no particular way that we are forced to do our reporting. We shouldn't reinvent any wheels, but we are also free to structure this information in whichever ways we think will actually be most useful to current and potential BSQ users.

In any case, I don't mean to add any fluff or unnecessary process here. It's just important that we focus on what truly matters, and most of us (myself included) aren't deeply familiar with accounting and corporate financials, so it can be easy to lose the plot talking about the different kinds of reports and metrics. Framing things first in terms of real world use cases should help ensure we deliver financial reporting that's actually _useful._

**So, to everyone:** think about your own relationship to BSQ and Bisq DAO financials in general. What are the real-world questions _you_ need answers to? What are your "BSQ user stories"?



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