The Importance of Decentralized Governance
Decentralized governance has become a buzzword in the blockchain space, and for good reason. It represents a paradigm shift in the way communities and organizations can govern themselves, with greater transparency, inclusivity, and accountability.
With decentralized governance, decision-making power is distributed among all participants, instead of being concentrated in the hands of a few select individuals or entities. This ensures that the community’s interests are prioritized, and decisions are made in the best interest of the ecosystem as a whole, rather than any one individual or group.
At OATH, we believe that decentralized governance is crucial for the long-term success and sustainability of the platform. It empowers our community members to actively contribute to the governance process, propose innovative changes, and collectively steer the direction of the OATH ecosystem.
The OATH Governance Specification
The OATH Governance Specification is more than just a set of rules and guidelines. It represents our commitment to transparency, inclusivity, and innovation, providing a solid foundation for collaborative decision-making and fostering an environment where every voice matters.
The Governance Specification comprises two distinct phases, designed to progressively enhance governance oversight by engaging active OATH governance participants through the advanced Voting Mechanism. The ultimate aim is to realize a state of broad and diverse community decentralization in Phase II, where every participant has a voice.
Phase I serves as a pivotal milestone, empowering OATH Community Delegates to spearhead governance operations within the Governance Proposal Review Committee (GPRC). These six dedicated Delegates navigate the intricacies of the governance landscape, ensuring transparency, accountability, and community engagement. They will also identify potential areas of opportunity to implement prior to moving towards full decentralization in Phase II.
In Phase II, the OATH ecosystem training wheels come off. The GPRC will expand its composition to include seven elected Community Delegates, revolutionizing the governance landscape by amplifying community representation and decision-making authority.
The Role of Community Delegates
At the heart of the OATH Governance Specification is the role of Community Delegates. These individuals are nominated and elected by the community to represent their interests within the GPRC and ensure that the governance process remains transparent, inclusive, and accountable.
Community Delegates are required to meet specific requirements, including:
- actively moderating the governance forum and associated social media channels,
- disposition of all governance proposals submitted to the GPRC within 28 days of initial receipt,
- attending a minimum of 75% of GPRC proposal review meetings,
- maintaining sufficient working knowledge of the OATH ecosystem, and
- serving for a six-month term, among others.
To compensate Delegates for their time actively moderating the Governance Forum, reviewing governance proposals, and working on the GPRC, a token grant consisting of 30,000 in OATH shall be distributed monthly to each Delegate.
The Different Types of Proposals
Each proposal type has a specific purpose within the governance process, ranging from gauging community sentiment to incentivizing the development of the ecosystem.
Ecosystem Sentiment Votes will gauge the sentiment of OATH governance participants on a particular topic (e.g. partnering with Balancer, Lido, etc.). These votes will be non-binding and will only serve as a way for governance voters to share their views. Thus, no contributor to the OATH ecosystem is required to implement any approved ecosystem sentiment proposal option.
Funding Proposals will be used for governance proposals that require work to implement (e.g. integrating a new dApp to an OATH ecosystem dApp, Reaper supporting a new network). FPs must be approved by governance via Snapshot Vote, have a technically/practically feasible specification and execution plan that are consistent with applicable laws, the requirements of the OATH Foundation’s governing documents, and this governance specification. They must also satisfy any applicable vote threshold of approval set forth herein or in any previously-adopted and still effective FP.
Gauge Votes will be utilized to distribute OATH emissions to designated gauges where applicable in the OATH ecosystem.
OATH Improvement Proposals (OIPs) will be proposals utilized to perform maintenance, upgrades, or improvements to existing OATH ecosystem dApps/software/front-end websites.
Token Grants will be utilized to incentivize development of the OATH ecosystem via new contributors and associated marketing efforts by individual contributors, consultants, or development teams. They are open for users to define how the grant would be used to further the OATH ecosystem.
The Voting Mechanism
The advanced Voting Mechanism is at the core of the OATH Governance Specification and is designed to ensure that every stakeholder has a voice in the governance process. The Snapshot tool or equivalent will be utilized as the Voting Mechanism, ensuring that proposals that meet the MIT will be accepted as approved. Proposals that do not meet the MIT will not be approved.
The MIT to pass a governance proposal in the OATH ecosystem for Phase II shall include a minimum token threshold and minimum number of voter threshold. The minimum token threshold is equal to 10% of the circulating token supply, equivalent bOATH, or a combination of both. There shall be a minimum number of voters threshold that shall be equal to 10% of OATH holding wallets across all chains on which OATH exists (currently Arbitrum, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Fantom, and Optimism).
In Phase I, proposals that meet the Minimum Implementation Threshold (MIT) in the affirmative shall be considered approved. Proposals that do not meet the MIT or that meet the MIT but in a negative stance shall not be considered approved.
Just Getting Started
The OATH Governance Specification marks a major breakthrough in our efforts to achieve community-driven decentralized governance. Our framework is comprehensive and inclusive, and it allows both token holders and active participants to actively contribute to the governance process. This system encourages innovative proposals, and it provides a platform for community members to collectively steer the direction of the OATH ecosystem.
As we continue with our phased approach to decentralization, we remain committed to our goal of fostering transparency, inclusivity, and community-driven decision making. Our cutting-edge technology is what sets us apart, and it allows us to achieve this goal. We believe that an ecosystem that thrives on technical excellence is essential, and we invite you to join us on this exciting journey towards a fully community-driven ecosystem.
We believe that consensus-driven decisions are the key to success, and we encourage community members to share their aspirations and perspectives. By working together, we can build an ecosystem that hears the voices of all its members loud and clear. We are committed to achieving this goal, and we invite you to join us on this journey towards a decentralized ecosystem that is powered by the community.
