🗳 This Week in Governance - July 20
A weekly resource covering crypto governance, politics, and power.
📣 Key Points
Polygon introduces new governance model, tokenomics for 2.0
Optimism articulates governance goals for upcoming seasons
Arbitrum introduces phase 1 of its Foundation Grants program
Compound considers new grants program
Voting Activity (L7)
🗳️ 93,258 ballots
👥 60,857 voters
📜 261 proposals
🌐 70 active DAOs
Let’s get into it 🔥
📰 News
Polygon introduces new governance model and tokenomics for 2.0
On July 19 Polygon introduced a new governance model for Polygon 2.0 that aims to decentralize decision-making across the Polygon ecosystem. The proposed framework is based on three governance pillars: Protocol Governance, System Smart Contracts Governance, and Community Treasury Governance, each with its own decision-making mechanisms and actors, inspired by successful blockchain governance models such as Ethereum's. Read more
Some days earlier, on July 13, Polygon had announced new tokenomics for Polygon 2.0: A post outlines POL, a technical upgrade of MATIC the native asset of the Polygon network. The POL token is designed to be a "hyperproductive" token, allowing holders to validate multiple chains and perform multiple roles within each chain, with the aim of aligning and incentivizing validators to perform useful work, thereby securing and promoting the growth of the Polygon ecosystem. Read more
Optimism articulates governance goals for upcoming seasons
The Optimism Foundation recently re-articulated Optimism’s principles and goals and identified key milestones for upcoming seasons. The Optimism Collective maintains a two-house governance system made up of the Token House (OP token holders and their delegates) and the Citizens' House (a one-person-one-vote system based on reputation). This design — which may evolve over time — allows for diverse representation, prevents concentration of power, and encourages decision-making from different perspectives. The governance system focuses on two primary goals: ensuring capture resistance and effectively allocating resources to support the Collective's vision. Key milestones for the next season (Season 5) include developing sequencer governance, joint-house voting, and replacing the Foundation’s multisig with a Security Council composed of community members “tasked with executing protocol upgrades at the will of governance.” Read more
Arbitrum introduces phase 1 of its Foundation Grants program
The Arbitrum Foundation has launched its inaugural grant program, aimed at fostering ecosystem growth in alignment with partner projects and educational initiatives. The program, which operates in distinct phases, will focus on decentralized applications and infrastructure for Arbitrum Nova and Arbitrum One in its initial phase, with grants issued based on milestones and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) established in collaboration with each applicant. Read more
📜 Proposals
Recently Closed
Nouns: Support Creative Commons
Creative Commons requested 100 ETH to support its general operations and license infrastructure. The nonprofit organization has been promoting open access tools like CC0 licenses, and seeks funding to sustain its work in advocating for open content, improving licensing infrastructure, and training creators and advocates. The proposal was cancelled.
Ending Soon
VitaDAO: VITA-FAST Governance and Constitution
The VITA-FAST Governance and Constitution proposal outlines a governance structure for stakeholders, which include VITA-FAST token holders, VitaDAO, the Korolchuk lab, Newcastle University, Molecule, and other interested parties. The governance model includes token-based voting, working groups, a multisig system, and a proposal process, with token holders having ultimate authority over the project. The proposal also introduces governance incentives and provisions for majority rule and minority rights.
Upcoming
Sushi: Legal Entity Update & Proposed Changes
This community-signal proposal aims to assess sentiment about updating the legal entity structure of Sushi DAO to enhance liability protection and expand global compliance. It suggests incorporating additional legal advice from Gresham International to develop a more comprehensive model beyond the initial proposal by Fenwick & West LLP, which would provide increased options for future business initiatives and ensure business continuity.
💬 Forums
Flipside reflects on private-voting trial in Aave
Flipside’s Fig acknowledges the efficacy of the Aave private voting trial (recently completed) and its influence on other platforms, such as dYdX. The post presents participation statistics comparing the period with private voting enabled to the period without it, noting increased general participation in the latter. The author shares their reflections on the implementation of private voting, emphasizing the need for the proposer to articulate clear opinions, the difficulty for the proposer in anticipating and planning for outcomes, and the impact on user experience.
Compound considers new grants program
AlphaGrowth has conducted a review of the Compound Grants Program 2.0 (which was managed by Questbook) and found that while grants are important, the protocol could benefit from another approach. They propose implementing a detailed plan for expansion and Request for Proposals (RFPs) to facilitate the growth of the Compound protocol. The draft list of RFPs for CPG 3.0 includes initiatives for vertical and horizontal growth, user awareness, alternative UI/UX for traders, delegate engagement, multi-chain expansion, and regulatory outreach. AlphaGrowth aims to gather feedback from the Compound community to finalize the RFP list and move forward with the Compound Grants Program 3.0.
Hop kicks off discussion about proposal to deploy on the Public Goods Network
The proposal suggests deploying the Hop Bridge to the Public Goods Network (PGN) mainnet. PGN is an L2 OP Chain dedicated to funding public goods, and deploying the Hop Bridge on PGN would expand the network's impact and strengthen the relationship between the Hop community and the public goods funding community. The deployment is seen as a low technical risk, and the PGN team is focused on mitigating any potential overhead associated with supporting the network.
Olympus discusses improvements in communication
The forum post aims to formalize the responsibility of the Olympus Governance Council (OGC) for ongoing communications within OlympusDAO. This includes responsibilities such as summarizing and disseminating information on proposals, engaging with the community, and responding to queries. The post suggests delegating specific communication tasks to functional counterparts within the organization and establishing clear guidelines, reporting, and accountability measures. Discussion appears to have led to consensus about an acceptable path forward.
Paladin presents Tokenomics 2.0: the vote flywheel
The forum post proposes the implementation of a Vote Flywheel (VF) to address three objectives: creating buy pressure for the PAL token, incentivizing hPAL locking, and preventing PAL emissions from being dumped. The VF would allocate emissions to different subsystems, namely "Quest PoL" and "Vote Flywheel," and stakeholders would have the ability to allocate votes and participate in these subsystems pro-rata. Further discussions and proposals will cover the total budget, the source of real-yield for LOOT, and the parameters of the boost system called Faith.
Safe weighs token value alignment program
This forum post proposes a Value Alignment Program (VAP) for Safe's ecosystem projects to pledge a portion of their tokens, equity, or revenue in exchange for Safe tokens, credibility, and ecosystem support. The VAP aims to capture value from ecosystem projects while providing mutual alignment, contribution, and social provenance. The proposal outlines the purpose, terms, selection process, risks, alternative solutions, technical implementation, and open questions related to the VAP.
📚 Reads
Nouns fork is perpetually vulnerable to a dishonest minority, by Charlie Feng
Ripple Is a Security and It Isn’t, by Matt Levine
Crypto Basics Series: DAOs Are Playgrounds for Growth and Development, by Siddhearta
On ENS, by punk6529
Why I think that representative governance via onchain elections is the future of rollup decentralization, by Frisson
A quick 101 on GHO, by nader dabit
🎧 Listens
Legal Framework for DAOs: HR & Incorporation with Adam Miller and Joshua Hale, on Crypto Sapiens
Launching a Public Goods Social Network with Glen Weyl, on Green Pill
Should XRP Holders Really Be Rejoicing, on The Chopping Block
How Ripple's Win Reshapes Crypto with Paul Grewal & Mike Selig, on Bankless
Does User Ownership Matter? On On the Other Side
💭 Ecosystem Takes
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