Utopian is joining a new family! Imminent Changes
We would like to inform you that after several months of discussions, Utopian is ready to announce a big switch; a new company, comprised of a group of private European entrepreneurs with proven experience in managing and growing innovative startups on the blockchain and beyond, is getting formed.
New company, new management
As part of our strategic changes, a new board of directors is forming. We are planning to host a public video conference session to officially present the amazing people of the board and the new team members as soon as the transition is completed.
New brand
To make sure there is a clear transition between our Proof of Concept platform and operations and the final product, Utopian will undertake a full rebranding. Thus, expect changes to our current domain name, Steem accounts, and all our online properties. While we are not ready to fully disclose information about the new brand, we will make sure to provide all the exciting news in upcoming updates.
Some facts
- Utopian was the first PoC platform to reward open-source contributors via a blockchain-based reward mechanism
- Utopian has facilitated over 1.5M USD in crypto incentives for open-source initiatives
- Utopian was the first PoC platform to incentivize contributions beyond the code, including copywriting, graphic design, data analysis and more
The former CEO Diego Pucci, on the transition:
“We are forming a professional team of entrepreneurs, to back the development and growth of the Utopian project with a solid budget and an amazing set of skills. This is the ultimate step to drive Utopian forward and I am beyond excited about it. Utopian has been an incredible adventure, through which I have learned so much. I can say without a doubt that Utopian has been the most valuable journey in my career so far, especially thanks to the collaboration of so many talented professionals on the blockchain. I am now ready to hand over the management of the company, with great confidence and high expectations in the new team. I am personally going to focus on the growth of our project where I believe I can bring the most value, joining as a member of the Advisory board, with a special focus on the tech department.”
Imminent Changes
It is important that we use this opportunity to inform you about our most imminent changes.
In order for this transition to happen - with legal, accounting and branding implications - Utopian is obliged to pause any current activity until the new company is fully formed and our updated strategy and online properties will be ready to be released to the public. While we have been looking for a workaround to avoid a prolonged downtime of our operations, there is just no other way to achieve a smooth transition without stopping our current processes.
As of date 31st of July 2019, all the current operations will be halted, including curation, delegation rewards, moderation, and any other activity that Utopian has undertaken or is currently undertaking on the Steem blockchain and beyond. The Utopian Discord server will also be discontinued starting from 31st of July 2019, and we are preparing to launch a fresh one dedicated to the new brand.
We predict that the transition will last several weeks, during which our voting power will remain fully unused, thus we would like to inform you that we are requesting to Steemit Inc. to remove the STEEM POWER currently delegated to Utopian. We also would like to inform any other delegator that starting from the 31st of July 2019 their delegation should be removed in order to avoid any waste of STEEM POWER.
What’s next?
The Steem blockchain remains a vital component of our strategy and technology stack. We are planning to build several dedicated resources upon the Steem blockchain and possibly even contribute to its core. We will make sure to keep you updated on our process and to provide information about our roadmap as soon as the transition is fully completed.
We would like to thank our community of contributors and moderators for the support received during the operation of the Proof of Concept. We truly believe we are now on the right track for the success of our shared mission and excited about the opportunities the reformed Utopian is going to offer to us, our early adopters, and so many new members who are about to come on board.
Steem on!
The Utopian Team
Good luck and best wishes.
Thanks for everything you have done (but for the open source community and Steem), and good luck for the new adventure! I hope I will be able to join it at some point (you know my interests ;) ).
Best of luck.
So sad to read that ... Utopian was to my eyes the best project on the steem blockchain ... albeit one with a fragile business model. Good luck in your new endevours, Diego!
I wish @elear and the project a great new beginning filled with successes.
Live long and prosper
It's been a pleasure! Congratulations, @elear! Best of luck!
Every end marks a new beginning. The adventure continues ...
No wonder why utopian has been so quiet lately...
Wish you all the best, team utopian. I wish that you stay on steem in future. However, it is really important we should be more practical as the concept is to back open source developers.
I learned a lot on utopian. Honestly, it's painful that utopian is discontinued, as I have made good family friends and met fantastic people on it. However, the plan to launch a new brand is interesting. Utopian went through a lot, created a good community, did fantastic things, and made some mistakes as well. Eventually, I'm glad that a bold step is taken finally. Hey, @elear, I wish you all the best in your new endeavors and would love to commend your effort so far on how far you came with the project. I want to believe that better days are ahead and I'm pretty optimistic about it. Do have a nice ride to your new destination. I love utopian and would always do.