Governance 2.0: Establishing the SSV Foundation & Community Empowerment

The term Governance 2.0 refers to the next stage in handing over the ssv.network protocol to the community. Like most of the top protocols out there, ssv.network consists of three parts: the open-source protocol, The SSV DAO, and now, The SSV Foundation.

SSV DAO is on the road to full community governance. This post will tell you more about these steps, important proposals that have gone live on the forum, and decisions by the core team to delegate voting power to the stewards of the protocol.

TL;DR

• Big picture of the SSV DAO
• Understanding the recent governance proposals that give the community more power and enable the establishment of the SSV Foundation.
• A look at the new Core Team voting policy, how it works, and why it’s important.

The Big Picture

The ssv.network was developed as an open-source public good — which, according to the vision & purpose — is run by the community. Enabling a community to fully govern a protocol (and the ecosystem that comes with that) is a socially, legally, and technically complex process. Besides developing DV tech, this has been a critical goal of the ssv.network.

On the road to this vision, the SSV DAO has made various steps to make this possible, but as with the early days of the protocol, a framework needs to be created. In the following weeks (and pending a DAO vote), the next era of governance starts coming into effect as the DAO finalizes the establishment of the SSV Foundation.

The proposal is also accompanied by an updated voting policy from the Core Team, who are happy to be participating, as many others in the industry, in the delegation program. The Policy also includes the Community Empowerment Program that aims to do exactly what it’s named for.

Steps Toward a New Era in Governance

The DAO is thrilled to announce that the Foundation Working Group (FWG) has finalized its comprehensive proposal for the establishment and operationalization of the SSV Foundation! Back in March, the ssv.network DAO passed the Incorporation of the SSV DAO’s Foundation. This proposal outlined the steps and motivation for the establishment of a Cayman foundation for the ssv.network DAO — The SSV Foundation.

[DIP-13] ssv.network DAO Foundation incorporation presents a comprehensive account with all the essential details of the formation of the SSV Foundation. If the proposal passes, the relevant service providers will begin the execution of the documents found within the proposal, as well as any other administrative and procedural actions necessary for the incorporation and operationalization of the SSV Foundation.

The following are summarized SSV Foundation specifications:

• A professional director from Hash Directors and Leeward Management Limited. However, Foundation documents have been drafted in such a way that allows the token holders to have all the power. Considerable steps have been taken to allow token holders to have as much say as legally possible.
• Carey Olsen is on board as legal counsel to navigate through legal challenges and regulatory landscapes.
• A proposed annual budget of 400,000 USD will ensure the smooth operation of the SSV Foundation.

How Does Creating a Foundation Help the SSV DAO?

• Creating a legal entity gives the DAO “arms and legs” to operate in the real world. It offers operational ease for activities like banking, contract signing, asset ownership, physical infrastructure, and hiring DAO contributors.
• Establishing a foundation can help further decentralize governance and control by fostering participation and encouraging decentralized decision-making without impeding the process.
• It also gives the DAO the necessary service providers to have operational capacity for the DAO

Empowering Community Members

The Core Team has opted to update its voting policy. The proposal will commence the Community Empowerment Program, allowing a portion of its voting power to be delegated to community members operating, making decisions, and furthering the SSV DAO and protocol. The policy also describes how the mechanism for future Core Team voting works.

In mid-August, Karma’s proposal to create a delegation dashboard for ssv.network was passed, followed by its development. Since then, the SSV community members have been able to delegate their voting power to active community members who espouse the same values that they do. This is an important step that has many benefits. Read the official blog post to find out more about how delegation works and why it’s important.

Using SSV’s delegation dashboard, the core team seeks to empower the decision-making of the ssv.network community and the DAO through Community Empowerment and Empowered Community Members.

The Core Team will still be able to vote, but having a framework in place enables the automation of re-balancing delegates’ power as their rankings change on the dashboard.

Here’s a simplified step-by-step process of how the voting mechanism works:

1. The Core Team checks the total supply of SSV tokens.
2. Identify the number of tokens that have been used to vote for a specific proposal.
3. For every 0.5% of the total token supply (excluding Core Team and Empowered Community tokens) that votes for a proposal, the Core Team can vote with up to 25,000 SSV tokens.
4. For instance, if 2% of the total SSV tokens have voted, the Core Team can use up to 100,000 SSV tokens to vote.
5. The Core Team determines the percentage of the total SSV supply that has voted when they cast their votes. After their vote, any votes from other token holders won’t affect this percentage.

The Core Team will use neutral and objective methods and tools to measure different metrics and statistics relating to engagement with the ssv.network project and community. The core team will delegate tokens for voting to the 10 highest-ranking members, besides those who cannot or are barred from becoming an Empowered Community Member

All of the additional details regarding becoming an Empowered Community member, as well as exclusions, can be found in the proposal. Remember, the proposal is live on the forum until it goes live on Snapshot for voting after a week.

Become Part of an Empowered Community

As the Launch phase continues rolling out, it is more vital than ever that there is community participation. The recent proposals and policies coming into effect will allow — now more than ever — the community to be the stewards of the protocol and DAO.

Check out the new governance page and become part of the ecosystem!

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