TAKE DOWN NOTICE

Winding Down Root Operations

To the Root Protocol Community,

As you may recall, Root’s spiritual predecessor, AmpliFi, was decommissioned after over a year
of tireless work by our core contributors amidst the USDC de-peg event. Our goal was to
relaunch and rebrand with an ETH pairing to ensure safety by removing reliance on centralized
parties. Since inception though, Root Protocol was met with skepticism from the community and
the DeFi space at-large, rather than enthusiasm.

Our core contributors powered through, aiming to build an omni-chain governance aggregator
and the first-ever DeFi SuperApp by consolidating next-gen DeFi resources into one singular,
familiar, intuitive, and easy-to-use hub.

A Venture Capital firm theorized that Root might need over twenty million dollars in funding to
achieve such a feat, yet we firmly believed we could execute with quality and precision on a
comparatively shoestring budget.

As development commenced, though, Root was met with great and unexpected resistance at
every turn. Despite enthusiasm from our community falling to an all-time-low, we built Root into
the functional dApp and layer-zero-compatible cross-chain governance aggregator that it is
today.

Two days ago, however, we received a Take-Down Notice from the world’s largest law firm,
Dentons Kensington Swan, with 20,000 attorneys, representing “Futureverse” and “The
Root Network.”

We have tried our absolute best; we’ve given this our greatest collective efforts for well over a
year, but now, facing these ramifications and concerns over our personal safety, we are forced to
perceive this as an omen, and with Root as a pariah since inception, we must wave our white
flag and surrender. This obstacle is a final hurdle which we cannot overcome.

BACKGROUND

Rewinding back many months, as our engineering team (former developers and engineers behind
several well-known blue-chip projects) began creating Root’s smart contracts (originally
expected in May), Root’s operations team felt comfortable turning their attention to Stems,
aiming to complete development on Root well in advance of the others.

At the height, Root employed as many as 22 individuals, from front-and-backend engineers to

designers, a CTO, co-founders, Business Development representatives, a Project Manager/Scrum
Master, an operations team, graphic designers, a contracted branding expert, a social media point
of contact, DeFi writers, and more, all coordinating across Telegram, GitHub, GitBook, Medium,
Substack, Discord, Twitter, Slack, email, and Monday.com.
However, development on Stems dragged on at a much slower pace than anticipated, and the
burn rate for our contracted engineers was high, exceeding $125K per month on engineering
alone. As developers worked in smaller, segmented teams aiming to complete multiple Stems at
once, Root’s operations team opted to forego salaries for several months to prioritize
development.

Each Stem, however, was delayed, and while back-end codebases were functional, their
respective front ends failed to achieve fidelity with intended designs. Months in, it was brought
to our attention that our designers and engineers were creating and relying upon their own
independent systems, rather than using storyboards to ensure uniformity, which meant circling
back and redoing months of work, extending our costs even further. Likewise, audit costs
following smart contract adjustments reached up to nearly $50K for Root alone, with similar
expected costs for each Stem.

During this time, Root’s original engineers assured us we would launch by May. But May turned
to June, and June turned to July. Conversation after conversation, the engineers would suggest
Root’s bonds were almost completed, and that the veROOT lock mechanism or rootNFT’s LP
reward distribution system was taking too long, so they needed additional time. Each time, we
abided by our engineers’ requests and informed the community of the delays. With each delay
came frustration and hostility from the community, understandably so.

By August, it became apparent to our operations team that Root’s engineers lacked the skill to
complete their tasks, complaining of a ‘hostile work environment’ when we sought to check in
on their progress. This prompted us to yet again delay as we searched for a more qualified
engineering team.

It further became apparent over time that some engineers were ‘salary farming,’ prompting us to
remove those engineers and add greater oversight into GitHub commits, with greater care into
generalized Git hygiene. This was intended to ensure suspicious functions could not added into
codebases and to further tighten security parameters by separating permissions across
repositories to ensure the greatest level of safety possible. Further oversight of individual
developers’ progress was then prioritized even more.

With hundreds of thousands spent and limited progress made, we were forced to temporarily
pause Stem development and await the Root launch, deciding that a small raise on a per-Stem
basis, with expedited vest periods no longer than 16 weeks, would allow us to facilitate smooth
and seamless development on each Stem following our recent adjustments. However, the space’s
lack of interest in Root post-launch, coupled with “down-only” price action, demonstrated that
our idea of a post-launch per-stem raise would be impossible to generate support for.

Further, Root had already spent approximately $100K earmarked for threaders, callers, and other
marketing ahead of our previously announced launches, achieving temporary omnipresence
across crypto Twitter for a moment here and there – all for naught, as influencers ceased posting
about Root after weeks and months passed without a launch. By the time our October launch
finally came, Root lacked the funds to pay influencers in stablecoins or ETH and had no choice
but to pay in vested ROOT. However, to the handful of content creators, threaders, and
influencers that chose to support Root free of charge, we thank you for your trust, patience, and
enduring support.

DISCUSSION

We cannot request others to sink money into this project, as we have been burdened by massive
and unforeseeable roadblocks at every step of the way with no sign of these roadblocks letting
up, some of which we outline for you below:

As Root’s first Stem, Torus was ideated as a major improvement over Conic with the
introduction of both light and dark pools. Conic, however, was then exploited, reducing
community support for Torus and diminishing the overall economic outlook, prompting us to
focus on Cordyceps, Codex, Ironwood Protocol, and many others which hadn’t yet been revealed
to the community, including Atrium, Bonsai, and more.

Early on, in an effort to ensure both AmpliFi and Root Holders would be 100% satisfied with
the relaunch, we devised a new token “xROOT” to function as a secondary non-tradable
derivative token which would create liquid tokens, and off this basis, sought to facilitate a raise
to ensure a seamless development process. However, this idea was not well-received by
influencers, other DeFi projects, alpha groups, or DAOs; instead, we received ridicule.
Inevitably, xROOT had to be scrapped, and Root’s GitBook and Documentation underwent its 5th
or 6th complete overhaul, corresponding with a massively reduced raise.

Our firm and wholehearted belief was that we would be able to make it work, but difficulties
persisted. For example, our “blue chip” backend engineer at the time accidentally lost presale
ETH in a smart contract by failing to add a withdraw function and our Technical Lead over the
Summer allowed 2 Stems, Torus and Cordyceps, to continue incurring costs whilst draining
Root’s operating budget even after a project-wide Stem development pause was announced.

Recognizing Balancer’s technical superiority over Uniswap, we opted to create a Balancer pool
pairing as Root’s primary LP. We then sought to partner with Layer Zero for co-marketing. Both
of these protocols, however, are very well-established and well-funded and possess the ability to
counter small reputational hiccups should they arise, while Root unfortunately does not.
Additionally, we partnered with Limitless as an incubated Stem, until Limitless requested to
pause the partnership, citing legitimate and understandable concerns over delays.

With each delay, Root’s governance aggregator (“Orchard”) sat idly waiting, unable to deploy, as
many Solidly forks slowly lost market share as interest faded. The architect behind Root’s
governance aggregator, 1 of 3 founders, then exited Root the week leading up to launch, with our
BD head exiting just 2 weeks prior due to a falling out with this same architect. With salaries
long paused for everyone but the community mods, our remaining engineers, one graphic
designer, and our writer, a skeleton crew was all that remained. Even still, we sought to make it
work for the good of the community and for the future of Root.
With launch scheduled for the 28th of October, one of our engineers cited a need to expedite
launch due to an impending storm in his locale. On our accelerated launch day, however (the
27th), our primary backend developer lost internet connection for hours, forcing us to launch in
his absence to deliver on our promise.

Thankfully, one of our contracted engineers stepped up but was not informed by the primary
developer that the TGE claim functions needed to be manually activated to ensure holders could
claim their ROOT. Thus, as our remaining credibility was destroyed at the outset, and with a
faulty claim function, Root deployed quietly in the early morning hours with the world sound
asleep…

Of our many onboarded KOLs, some sold off the entirety of their first unlock immediately upon
accessing their claims. Still, we believed that even with a “down-only” chart and dust remaining
as operating capital, the project could be salvaged. We were prepared for the long haul, and we
were determined to find a way to make it work. With our bonding smart contract expected
functional on deployment, we hoped to add to Root’s runway, even if on a month-per-month
basis. However, as Murphy’s Law would have it, the Bonding contract repeatedly failed to
accurately price premiums and discounts, forcing us to deactivate it and instead utilize Bond
Protocol. While Bond Protocol’s platform is fully functional, almost no market participants
sought to Bond ROOT, rendering our remaining ‘funding mechanism’ inoperable.

Noticing the negative press surrounding Root, many of our other partners (some previously
Stems operated by outside teams) were understandably forced to disavow our partnerships. To all
of our former partners, we wish each of you the greatest success. To our former partner Ramses
Exchange, we will return all NFTs provided to their multi-signature wallet as soon as possible.

BASIS FOR WINDING DOWN

Within just days following launch, Root’s contributors noticed on Etherscan that ROOT was
being flagged as a scam and delisted for “Brand Infringement.” Our dApp was then listed as a
“Phishing Scam” [paraphrasing] by Zerion. And shortly after, ROOT was unexpectedly delisted
from CoinGecko, while our Bond issuance integration with Bond Protocol was delisted from
their front page (at no fault of their own) due to the CG/Etherscan API issue. These issues alone
would ordinarily signal the final “nail in the coffin” on any web3 project.

The next day, however, we then discovered the letter from the firm issuing the Take Down
Notice providing the effective equivalent of a Cease and Desist. We possess neither the capital
nor the manpower to defend against this suit.

Root was intended to be a decentralized hub for all; we never intended or foresaw ourselves
being placed in a situation such as this. In fact, this situation was entirely unforeseeable even
employing a “worst case” scenario.
Now, our core contributors fear for their personal safety and well-being upon being confronted
by a threat of this size and caliber, rendering them extremely uncomfortable with the prospect of
continuing on. In fact, our last remaining engineer abandoned the project this morning, leaving
us with limited access to Root’s front end (e.g. Moralis, etc).

Root’s treasury cannot sustain another deployment, the costs of which would effectively destroy
the LP and devour remaining treasury funds; doing so would be virtually impossible and a
tremendous disservice to the community.

Instead, we wish to return funds to our holders.

For these reasons, we have no choice but to wind down operations.

NEXT STEPS AND CONCLUSION

Root’s Balancer 80/20 ROOT/WETH pool and the Uniswap v3 LP shall remain active and fully
functional. Pursuant to this Take Down notice, however, we are forced to shut down Root’s
current website and dApp due to our branding and lack of technical resources. Pursuant to same,
all “ROOT” related content must be removed as per the Demand letter.

Instead, Social media accounts will remain visible but will similarly be renamed “Sprout.” For
users who seek to claim rewards previously accessible through the dApp, users should instead
claim directly from the pertinent contracts through Etherscan.

The entire remainder of the treasury will be added into the Uniswap LP, which will remain
permanently active. ROOT, the token, shall remain permanently tradable, enabling all affected
participants to withdraw as much of their capital as possible over the next 5 months (as 5 unlocks
remain). Following adding all treasury funds into the LP, Root’s remaining contributors shall
seek to burn the LP tokens and will aim to lock and renounce all smart contracts for which we
possess the permissions to do so.

We will burn all the core contributors’ ROOT tokens by November 20th, ensuring we receive no
capital intended for users, and we will similarly open-source the GitHub and all Stem codebases
and repositories in the spirit of decentralization should any individuals wish to continue in our
footsteps.

Most codebases are 80-100% complete with Cordyceps and Torus having previously been
deployed onto Goerli testnet. Likewise, we will aim to open source the front-end designs created
for each Stem in the event any community member wishes to use them.

Lastly, Root’s contributors will continue working in a ‘customer-service’ capacity over the
coming weeks to ensure all eligible users can claim ROOT. The final remaining movements from
Root’s treasury will be to manually distribute ROOT to the small handful of users who received
incorrect airdrop claims and to pay one final payment to our faithful moderators whose final
payments were due October 31st.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank each of you for believing in us and giving us an
opportunity to try and create something beautiful, intuitive, and unifying for the space. From our
year plus of interactions with each of you, we hope to have made a positive impact in your life,
by demonstrating that there are good actors in this space, that there are honest and ethical teams
and engineers in web3, and that innovation and room for improvement are sparks that can never
fade, even in the most turbulent conditions. Increasing regulatory concerns and complexities,
though, such as the one we’re currently facing, have led us to permanently step away from
further development in the space.

In closing, we're eternally grateful for your enduring faith in us. We hoped to bring much needed
innovation and positivity to this space, which at times can feel shrouded in darkness. The lessons
learned and experiences shared will forever resonate with us. We hope, through our experience,
that teams can learn from our difficulties and use them as steppingstones to build great products
to improve across web3 for years to come.

With immense gratitude,

Root DAO