Governance Weekly Recap

Week of August 15, 2022

TL;DR: Optimism is in the midst of a reflection period and considering significant updates to the governance process. See below for all the details.

Summary

A brief recap of where we’re at (it’s been busy!):

  • Season 1 of Optimism Governance voting ended on August 3rd with Voting Cycle #4.
  • We entered the second week of a reflection period during which ideas about and feedback on the governance process have been actively solicited.
  • A special Voting Cycle #5 will be held from August 25 through September 7 to vote on proposed governance process improvements.
  • Season 2 will begin on September 8 with Voting Cycle #6, which will enact any governance improvements passed in the previous cycle.
  • See this governance update from @ben-chain for a full review.

Proposed Changes

Operating Manual

Optimism’s Operating Manual, which describes the mechanics of the governance process, is being updated by the Foundation in response to observations made and feedback received. Draft v0.2, will go into effect with Season 2. Among the many changes contemplated:

  • switching from a two-week to a three-week voting cycle
  • increasing to two the number of delegate approvals needed for a proposal to move to a vote
  • changing the quorum from 10% to 30% of votable $OP supply

:speaking_head: This is the time to provide feedback on the draft if you haven’t already.

Proposal Template

A new grant proposal template has also been put forward by the Foundation during this reflection period. The draft template incorporates a number of suggestions from the community and should make the merits of each proposal easier to assess.

:speaking_head: Provide your feedback here.

Governance Committees

In response to observations made of Season 1 and in keeping with their experimental spirit, the Optimism Foundation has proposed the use of Governance Committees in Season 2. The committees (five in different areas are suggested) are meant to help distribute the work of assessing proposals, which has been overwhelming, particularly for delegates.

:speaking_head: The details of committee formation and responsibility are worth an attentive read.

Proposals for committees are to follow a specific template and will be voted upon in special Voting Cycle #5 (which opens this week, on August 25). Here are the committee proposals that have been put forward:

In The Forums

  • Delegate updates: The Delegate Updates Thread collects communications directly from a number (currently six) of active Optimism delegates.
  • Delegate commitments: Keep your eye on this thread to learn more about each delegate.
  • Valuable observations: @raho and @tnorm provide productive commentary on Season 1 of the Governance Fund. They’ve also created a spreadsheet that tracks the participation rate (among other things) of the top 50 delegates.
  • Pause for decentralization? @polynya suggests pausing Governance Fund voting cycles until “minimum viable decentralization” is achieved.
  • OP for gas? Long thread about whether to switch OP from being a governance token.

On Governance Calls

Governance calls are an excellent way to stay up-to-date and contribute:

  • @katie is organizing and hosting bi-weekly governance calls, and they’re open to anyone.
  • Recordings of the first call and the second call are available.
  • The next call is scheduled for August 30.

:speaking_head: Download the .ics file, import it to your calendar, and read the previous call notes here.

On Twitter

  • Delegate dashboard: Michael Silbering points us to Optimism’s dashboard on Dune.
  • Poor participation: @polynya argues that delegate participation “is getting very low.”
  • Token transfers: The Optimism Foundation explains recent $OP transfers from a multisig.
  • #OPSummer is heating up!
20 Likes

This is good summary, thank you for doing this.

We can also use such update to measure engagement, if same stuff is repeating or list is getting smaller, we know that the overall engagement is going down and vice-versa.

2 Likes

Week of August 22, 2022

Summary

Season 1 has ended, and the reflection period is over. Welcome to Voting Cycle #5, which began on August 25 and runs through September 7 (7PM GMT). This is a special, two-week cycle dedicated to proposals meant to improve Optimism governance processes.

Proposals

We have five proposals up for voting, each one for a Governance Committee (the purposes of which are described in full here):

Up to four committees will be approved for Voting Cycle #6. Committee proposals must first reach quorum, and then be approved by majority vote; the top four proposals that have met these thresholds will be implemented for the next cycle. Keep in mind that this could mean that fewer than four committees will be in place.

:speaking_head: Vote now! (on Snapshot or on Boardroom)

Season 2: Voting Cycle #6 begins on September 8 (7PM GMT) and will run for three weeks until September 28 (7PM GMT). The revised Operating Manual will go into effect with this Cycle; read through it carefully and take note of changes.

:speaking_head: Provide your feedback on Governance Fund proposals being drafted for Cycle #6.

In Discord

There’s a new gov-temp-check channel with a bot that makes it easy to post your proposal for a temp-check.

Should delegates vote for themselves? @millie asks whether delegates who are on the proposed committees above should be voting for themselves—with all the voting power delegated to them.

In the Forums

What about the self-delegation of tokens received in grants? @AxlVaz raises important questions (some of which were previously raised) about a recent case of self-delegation, and the discussion that follows reveals different stances about how a governance token like $OP should (and shouldn’t) be used. The revised grant proposal template, which is now in effect, states that “the expectation is that token grants will not be self-delegated for use in governance”; but if you plan to self-delegate, “this should be made clear in your grant proposal along with your reasoning.”

Debate on the potential effect and utility of governance committees continues. The committees are an experiment for Season 2, at which point they will be re-evaluated.

On Twitter

The Optimism Foundation took stock: Check out the OP Summer thread here, read the summary, and examine the dashboard of ecosystem programs funded so far.

Governance Calls

Calls are held bi-weekly. Put them on your calendar.

:speaking_head: Join the next call, on Tuesday, August 30 (5PM GMT).

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

12 Likes

Week of August 29, 2022

Summary

We’re nearing the end of Voting Cycle #5, and ramping up for Voting Cycle #6. Remember that the new proposal template is now in effect, as are the new procedures outlined in the updated Operating Manual.

Proposals

There are five proposals up for voting in Cycle #5, which ends this Wednesday, September 7 (7PM GMT). Each one is for a Governance Committee; the top four Governance Committees will begin their work with Voting Cycle #6 — later this week!

:speaking_head: There’s still time to vote on Snapshot or on Boardroom.

Over 9,000 wallets have voted for each proposal so far :100:

A new proposal rhythm will begin with Voting Cycle #6, following a three-week pattern as described in the Operating Manual:

  • Week 1: proposals labeled [Draft] are posted in the forum for community feedback (there’s also a dedicated temp-check channel in Discord).
  • Week 2: Delegate feedback. Two delegates with >0.5% of the current votable token supply must explicitly indicate approval of a given proposal in the relevant discussion thread in order for the proposal to move to the Voting Cycle Roundup thread in the forum.
  • Week 3: Voting. Proposals in the Voting Cycle Roundup thread that meet the above requirements will be moved to Snapshot for voting.

As per the Operating Manual: “Each ‘week’ runs from Wednesday at 19:00p GMT (12p PST) until Tuesday at 19:00 GMT (12p PST).”

The quorum threshold for Governance Fund (Phase 1) is now 30% of votable $OP supply.

The approval threshold is 51%.

:speaking_head: Provide your feedback on Governance Fund proposals being drafted for Cycle #6.

In Discord

Given the high number of delegates implicated in the Governance Committee proposals for Cycle #5, Reformed_Normie asks whether “abstain” votes count towards quorum. @diligit pointed out in the forum that the answer should be specified in the Manual.

In the Forums

Soulbound badges in Optimism? @0xbendo (from Otterspace) makes the suggestion.

This recalls the “crown for delegatesdiscussion — an idea to make it clear which forum participants are delegates with >.5% of voting power.

See recent updates from @Bobbay_StableLab and @GFXlabs in the collection of delegate communications threads.

On Twitter

@linda put up a poll asking whether DAO delegates should vote on proposals when there is a potential (disclosed) conflict of interest, and then observes some of the possible drawbacks to abstaining.

Boardroom spoke with @fig and @GFXlabs about their proposal for a DeFi Governance Committee in the latest Roundup (brief proposal discussion begins around minute five).

Governance Calls

Discussion of governance committees was the main feature of last week’s call. Notes and a link to the recording can be found here.

:speaking_head: Join the next call on September 13 (5PM GMT, though that may change).

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

10 Likes

Thanks for your recap. Very good work.

3 Likes

Week of September 5, 2022

Summary

We’re now in the first week of Voting Cycle #6, with new proposals being crafted and set before the community. @ben-chain has summarized governance process changes from the reflection period and Voting Cycle #5, re-iterated the purpose and goals of the Governance Fund, and provided a look ahead to the full Season 2.

Four Governance Committees have been established and will begin their work this Cycle. @lavande has provided guidance for the committees. Expect feedback from each committee before the third day of third week of this Cycle; committees will post their recommendations in dedicated threads, such as this one. This week’s governance call (Tuesday, September 13, 5PM GMT) may include discussion of how the committees will distribute their work.

Proposals

A number of proposals have been submitted for community review — collected in this thread.

Those proposals that are marked “[Review]” by this Tuesday, 7PM GMT will enter the second week of the Cycle, which consists of delegate feedback.

A retrospective and brief analysis of proposals approved in Season 1 has been posted by @jackanorak.

:speaking_head: Provide your feedback on Governance Fund proposals being drafted for this Cycle.

In the Forums

A serious, lengthy, and at times heated debate about Governance Committees took place in the forums and on Discord. It concerned, among other things, the level of expertise needed to participate fruitfully in committees, whether someone should be able to serve on more than one committee, and whether proposed committee members should or should not have abstained from voting on committee proposals.

:speaking_head: Keep questions and considerations in mind as we proceed through Season 2. Governance Committees are an experiment limited (for the moment) to this Season, after which the community will reflect on their utility.

Should protocols be discouraged from borrowing against their granted OP?

@diligit asks that we use the filters on the the delegate information page to promote “diversification of voting power and more decentralization.”

In Discord

A quick overview of Season 2 Cycles and dates is provided by @lavande.

There were issues in Voting Cycle #5 with certain multi-sig wallets not being able to cast their votes, and questions about how votes not counted would have affected the outcome.

Given the above problem, there were requests to approve all five proposed Governance Committees. The Optimism Foundation ultimately decided to stay with the original plan of four committees, as explained fully here.

Here’s another good discussion among delegates about whether those who were on proposed Governance Committees should or should not have abstained from voting on committees.

On Twitter

Governance Calls

:speaking_head: Join the next call, hosted by @michael, on September 13 (5PM GMT). The agenda is posted in this thread.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

7 Likes

Week of September 12, 2022

Summary

We’re reaching the end of the second week of Voting Cycle #6 — and about to enter the third (or voting) week. Here’s a handy Google calendar for Optimism governance, created by @bobby. Need to review the proposal and voting cycle process? The Operating Manual is the ultimate source of information concerning governance procedures.

:speaking_head: Keep an eye out for Governance Committee recommendations this week, and be prepared to vote on proposals that have made it into the Voting Cycle #6 Roundup thread.

Proposals

Roundup: At the time of writing there are two proposals that have made it into the Voting Cycle #6 Roundup thread, which is reserved for those that have received explicit approval from two delegates with >.5% voting power.

dHedge: dHedge describes itself as the “only decentralized asset management platform currently on Optimism.” This revised proposal asks for 350k OP to split across DHPT (dHEDGE Pool Token) Incentives (70%) and Liquidity Mining (30%) over the course of six months.

Otterspace: Otterspace is “building a flexible and easy-to-use infrastructure for DAOs to use non-transferable NFTs” (Badges), which have a number of different uses. The proposal asks for 100k OP, 70% of which would be used to incentivize user adoption, onboarding users to Optimism “with enough funds to mint their first badge and experiment with a few other transactions on Optimism.” The remaining 30% would be used to incentivize integration partner adoption.

:speaking_head: Provide your feedback on Governance Fund proposals being drafted for this Cycle (the relevant ones are tagged “cycle 6”).

In the Forums

Report: State of Optimism Governance. @tnorm and @raho from Messari have written up this insightful report, which reflects back on Season 1.

A helpful proposal process flowchart was posted by @OPUser in their delegate communication thread.

Anti-rug pull suggestion: @ovetta wonders whether a phased rollout of funds to grantees, as they reach successive milestones, might be worthwhile.

The grant proposal template was updated to include a field that asks the proposer to identify the voting cycle they are participating in.

Aelin Protocl GF Phase 0 Token Distribution. @OPUser has raised the question of whether the protocol has significantly changed how it had proposed to deploy the 900K OP it received.

In Discord

Optimism will be re-organizing the forum and moving it to a self-hosted site.

Here’s a productive discussion among Governance Committee delegates about how to sort proposals to review, and at what stage to review them.

Governance Committee channels: the Tooling committee as well as DeFi committees A and C have dedicated discussion channels.

:speaking_head: Check in on the #gov-temp-check channel to respond to proposals looking for feedback.

On Twitter

This week in Optimism.

Introducing OP Radio, a weekly Twitter Spaces event “covering a wide range of topics in the Optimism ecosystem.” First on deck, @qx_app, on Wednesday, September 21, 3PM GMT.

WTF is retroactive public goods funding?” @binji_x lays it out.

@flipsidecrypto highlights this Optimism dashboard by @SocioCrypto. (And, separately, all Optimism data has been backfilled at Flipside: “queries are now fully supported, from beginning to end infinity.”)

Governance Calls

The most recent call has been summarized by @michael. The conversation was lively, and included such topics as how the Foundation will handle voting problems going forward, creating the governance culture we want to create, and how the two DeFi Governance Committees will split their assessment work.

:speaking_head: Keep your eyes peeled for details about the next call, which will be on September 27.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

8 Likes

Week of September 19, 2022

Summary

Well here we are in the final, voting week of Cycle #6. There was a flurry of activity (and some confusion) as teams got their proposals ready to be included in the Roundup and the newly formed Governance Committees got to work. Some proposals didn’t make it in time for this Cycle, but you can still take a look at what’s being put forward for the next Cycle.

Proposals

Summaries of the dHedge and Otterspace proposals were in included in last week’s recap (see above); here are summaries of the remaining eight:

Across Protocol claims to be “the fastest, cheapest and most secure bridge between L1 and L2s.” With this proposal Across asks for 750k OP, 75% of which will be used to “subsidize bridge fees for users that would like to transfer assets to Optimism.” The remaining portion will be allocated as a reward to anyone who operates a relayer on Optimism. Across will also provide up to 320% ACX as a co-incentive for those bridging to Optimism. Across believes that the proposed incentive programs could create from $500m to $1b of volume on Optimism.

Bankless Academy describes itself as a “free-to-access, open-source, education hyper-structure seeking to empower internet society with the information and tools necessary to achieve financial self-sovereignty.” The Academy does this by creating lessons or “quests” that guide the user through the experience of using progressively more complex web3/crypto tools and platforms. This proposal asks for 33,000 $OP, 60% of which will be distributed to contributors building the lessons for onboarding Academy users to Layer 2s (including Optimism); the remainder will go to the community treasury to support future development of the Academy.

Interest Protocol, from GFX Labs, ****is as a “fractional reserve, overcollateralized borrowing protocol.” Deployment to Optimism is predicted in the “immediate future” should the grant be approved. Importantly, “Interest Protocol is designed to allow tokens held as collateral to still be able to participate in governance via delegation controlled by the user,” meaning OP holders could use the protocol without losing their ability to participate in Optimism governance. The proposal requests 31,764 OP to provide 50% of estimated developer costs to deploy the protocol on Optimism. Interest Protocol would then be able to accept OP as collateral, creating a “demand sink” for the token without sacrificing the token holder’s ability participate in governance.

The Kromatika dApp was first active on Optimism in December of 2021 and is one of the few (if not the only) DEX protocols with automated limit orders and a swap aggregator on Optimism. As the proposal states, “DEX trading is complicated, expensive and is limited in terms of convenience when compared to CEX trading. Kromatika hopes to solve this problem for the Optimism Ecosystem.” Kromatika’s goal is to make “DEX trading simple, accessible, and affordable on Ethereum L1 and L2’s.” The proposal asks for 300k OP.

OptiChads is focused on “improving Health & Wellness in Web3 through our art. We have a very active and passionate community of Chads focused on self improvement in and out of the gym.” The proposal asks for 50k OP, 100% of which will be used to incentivize health and wellness behaviors through the use of Web3 quests. As a co-incentive, 50 OptiChad NFTs will be given to the addresses with the highest completion rate.

The Revert Compoundor, created by Revert Labs, automates the compounding of fees for liquidity providers on Uniswap V3 — a function that can substantially improve returns for the user. The proposal asks for 240k OP to incentivize users to bring liquidity to Uniswap on Optimism (estimated to increase by ~20m USD) via the Compoundor. 100% of OP incentives will go to Compoundor liquidity providers over the course of three months.

Socket is an interoperability protocol for secure & efficient data and asset transfers across chains.” The project aims to create “seamless user onboarding,” which is, as the proposal describes in detail, often complicated, onerous, and expensive. One million OP are requested, 60% of which would be used to subsidize 90% of fees for every user that onboards to Optimism via Socket. The remaining 40% is allocated to builders that integrate Socket into their UX or their dApps.

Tarot is a decentralized lending and leveraged yield farming protocol that has been on Optimism since May of 2022. This proposal, which was initially introduced in mid July, requests 600k OP, 90% of which will be “allocated to liquidity bribes and incentivization mechanisms on Velodrome, Beethoven X, and/or other major DEXs on Optimism to incentivize TAROT-based liquidity.” The remaining 10% is allocated to the Tarot team, which will pair the OP with TAROT to provide initial liquidity on Optimism for a minimum of 12 months.

:speaking_head: Check out the Governance Committee Recommendations concerning the above proposals:

:speaking_head: Vote now! — voting is live only until September 28, 7PM GMT. That’s Wednesday.

In the Forums

Shadow Governance Committee: DeFi Committee B, which is not an official Governance Committee, has posted its recommendations, which are “just suggestions that we hope are coming from a helpful, informed perspective.” This has been, unsurprisingly, controversial.

Delegate communication. @polynya has updated their thread, outlining their approach to the new season.

Another delegate commitment. @Tjark, on behalf of a collective of PoolTogether community members, has laid out their delegate case.

A grant update from PoolTogether, “the front door to defi on Optimism,” has been posted by @Leighton.

Proposals for retroactive public goods funding. @Jonas has posted some recommendations for the next experiment.

In Discord

Lots of discussion in #gov-general about seeking delegate feedback and approval.

Formally signaling that a proposal is ready for the voting cycle is not an indication of a delegate’s endorsement of the proposal itself.

Should Governance Committee recommendations be posted earlier in the voting cycle?

In the future, Governance Committee recommendations may be linked to in Snapshot.

New and improved Gov docs have been put out there, incorporating feedback.

:speaking_head: Check in on the #gov-temp-check channel to respond to proposals looking for feedback.

On Twitter

This week in Optimism.

OP Radio is a weekly Twitter Spaces event “covering a wide range of topics in the Optimism ecosystem” — every Wednesday at 3PM GMT.

Optimism Docs are now available as an app for mobile and desktop.

Claim your Delegatooor.

A proposal tracker, courtesy of @OPGovWatch.

Governance Calls

:speaking_head: Join the next call (Discord event link) — which is sure to be lively — on September 27, 5PM GMT. Call details and agenda items are in this forum post.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

8 Likes

Week of September 26, 2022

Summary

We’re in Week 1 of Voting Cycle #7, and coming up on Week 2, which begins on Thursday, October 6 at 7PM GMT. Week 2 is Governance Committee review week.

There have a been a few small but important changes to the Operating Manual, summarized here. These include an update to Governance Committee operations. In particular, “proposals that are not included” in the Roundup thread (see below) by the end of Week 1 (October 5, 7PM GMT) “will not be reviewed by Committees.”

Proposals

Seven of the 10 proposals from Voting Cycle #6 passed. See them at a glance by selecting the “passed” tag in the forum and scanning for “cycle-6.”

Remember: only those proposals that have “received explicit approval comments from two delegates with >0.5% voting power” will be included in the Cycle #7 Roundup thread.

:speaking_head: Take a look through all the proposals tagged “cycle 7,” ask some questions or leave some comments if you are so moved.

In the Forums

Delegate communication threads have been updated to include voting rationales.

There’s a good exchange about self-delegation, started by @jackanorak, which led to clarification of ambiguity in the grant proposal template.

Governance fund accountability: @OPUser has started a thread to provide a “low level overview” of funds “usage and impact on OP ecosystem.”

There’s a new delegate commitment from @iover2020

Create a subDAO for OP holders to explore governance?

Anyone want to meet up at Devcon?

In Discord

Should you delegate to yourself?

Still issues for some voting through Snapshot.

:speaking_head: Check in on the #gov-temp-check channel to respond to proposals looking for feedback.

On Twitter

When your protocol service provider contract comes with governance tokens there’s a “clear first mover advantage,” @francisgowen says. How to handle it?

Why retroactive public goods funding (RPGF) matters, by @binji_x.

This week in Optimism.

OP Radio, a weekly Twitter Spaces event “covering a wide range of topics in the Optimism ecosystem.” Wednesdays at 3PM GMT.

ETHonline Optimism Hackathon winners announced.

Optimism Kovan testnet will be fully decommissioned on October 5.

Governance Calls

A thorough and helpful recap of the last call has been provided by @Michael, who also hosted and moderated.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

8 Likes

Week of October 3, 2022

Summary

We’re coming to the end of week 2 in Voting Cycle #7. Proposals included in the Roundup thread will soon be receiving assessments from Governance Committees and will be posted to Snapshot for Week 3, which is voting week. Week 3 begins this Thursday, October 13, at 7PM GMT and will end on Wednesday, October 19, 7PM GMT.

:speaking_head: Optimists are at ETHBogotá and Devcon from the 7th-14th; you can see where they’ll be and check out the project prize list here.

Proposals

:speaking_head: Look over the 16 (!) proposals in the Roundup thread.

There are already several proposals drafted and tagged for Voting Cycle #8.

In the Forums

Continuing thoughts about how to bring “no coiners” into Optimism, via a university or a curriculum, from @TheDoctor.

A conflict management guide, courtesy of Gravity DAO via @juankbell, following up on the idea of a conflict committee.

Is OP overlooked in social media? asks @Ovetta.

Yield farming / staking tokens while maintaining voting rights: At least a couple of projects are working on this.

In Discord

The Uniswap Foundation has posted a request-for-comments in their forums to get feedback on the structure of the liquidity mining program for which they were granted $1m OP during Phase 0 of the Governance Fund.

What if a proposal changes significantly after having received delegate approval?

How flexible or rigid should we be about Voting Cycle rules?

:speaking_head: Check in on the #gov-temp-check channel to respond to proposals looking for feedback.

On Twitter

“¡que tal nerdos!” It’s this week in Optimism.

OP Radio Featured a conversation with PoolTogether.

Voter participation in Optimism has increased, according to this thread by @flipsidegov.

Governance Calls

The next call is on Tuesday, October 11 at 5PM GMT, hosted by @lavande.

:speaking_head: Check out the agenda and keep your eyes peeled for the Zoom link.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

8 Likes

Week of October 10, 2022

Summary

We’re in the third week of Cycle #7, which is voting week. We’ve got until October 20 (7PM GMT) to submit our votes for this Cycle. Community feedback week of Voting Cycle #8 begins thereafter.

Proposals

I’m not including synopses of the (14) proposals this time around since they have been collected and thoroughly assessed by the various parties noted below. And it would make this a very lengthy post. (If you have a different take, let me know.)

Here’s the Voting Cycle Roundup thread for Cycle #7. Note that the Curve, EthernautDAO, and Homora V2 proposals listed there did not make it to the Snapshot this time.

:speaking_head: Check out the Governance Committee Recommendations concerning this Cycle’s proposals:

:speaking_head: Vote now! — voting is live only until October 20, 7PM GMT. That’s Thursday.

In the Forums

DeFi Shadow Committee recommendations for Cycle #7 are posted in this thread.

Governance Committees are now expected to publicly identify their assigned proposals by the first day of week 2, and post their recommendations by the last day of week 2.

Additionally, as @lavande writes following discussion during a community call, if something isn’t spelled out in Governance Committee procedures, the committees have discretion over their own operations.

See the delegate communications category for updates from @ScaleWeb3 — and more likely forthcoming.

Delegate areas of interest. There’s more discussion about updating this page.

Community Mottos: Check out the brainstorm and contribute something pithy that captures the spirit of community interaction we’re looking for.

In Discord

Reminder: Governance Committees are a Season 2 experiment. Debates in #gov-general have been heated.

When DAO funding proposals go wrong — chills.

:speaking_head: Check in on the #gov-temp-check channel to respond to proposals looking for feedback.

On Twitter

Modular Rollup Theory through the Lens of the OP Stack, a talk by @kelvinfichter at Devcon.

Social coordination in DAOspressing issues.

Optimism NFT bridge. Official, via @qx_app.

This week in Optimism.

Governance Calls

Community Call #6 (last week) was hosted by @lavande and is summarized here.

:speaking_head: Join the next call, on Tuesday October 25 (5PM GMT).

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

5 Likes

Week of October 17, 2022

Summary

Eleven out of 14 proposals passed in Cycle #7. Rough math: 13-14K wallets voted on each proposal, which is significantly more than Cycle #6, which itself outpaced Cycle #5. That’s amazing. :sparkles:

We’re now coming to the end of week 1 of Cycle #8.

:speaking_head: Get those delegate approvals and move your proposal to the Roundup thread.

This is the last Voting Cycle of Season 2. We’ll be having an off season and reflection period.

Proposals

The Voting Cycle #8 Roundup thread has already started, with three entries as of today having received the needed delegate approval.

:speaking_head: You can view all Cycle #8 proposals — in “draft,” “review,” or “ready” states — by filtering with categories and tags.

In the Forums

Community Mottos brainstorm: there are a few more ideas and contributions — check them out.

The delegate updates category includes the latest reflections and recommendations from @GFXlabs, @OPUser, @polynya, @Bobbay_StableLab, and @Joxes.

“Incentives aren’t having much of an effect in incentivizing user growth,” says polynya, and suggests Governance Committees “start considering the results of previous incentives in greater depth” so as not repeat ineffective approaches.

Synthetix and Phase 0 delegation: @MattL explains the current stance of the Synthetix Ambassadors.

Don’t make Quest a large criteria for airdrop 2,” says @bangrygoose.

In Discord

Do delegates have to explain when they vote against a Governance Committee recommendation?

Resubmitting a proposal for Cycle #8 after changes have been made requires getting delegate approval again.

Delegates to submit solutions to GitHub: See @lavande’s post detailing an experiment to have delegates submit PRs for solutions to the last-minute-change-to-an-already-approved-proposal problem.

Can OP received via governance fund grants be sold to fund development and R&D, if so stated in a proposal?

Snapshot issues persist for some voters. Here’s the Optimism Foundation’s position.

:speaking_head: Check in on the #gov-temp-check channel to respond to proposals looking for feedback.

On Twitter

Play OPCraft!

This week in Optimism.

OP Radio: Autonomous World Building with Lattice.

Governance Calls

There’s a community governance call on Tuesday, October 25, (10am PT / 1 pm ET / 7pm CET) hosted by yours truly. All are welcome.

:speaking_head: Join in to reflect on Cycle #7 and help shape Optimism governance. Agenda-in-formation posted here.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

7 Likes

Week of October 24, 2022

Summary

Happy Halloween Optimists! :ghost:

We’re nearing the end of week two of Voting Cycle #8. Governance Committees will be issuing their recommendations for all the proposals that will be up for voting beginning on Thursday, November 3 at 7pm GMT. Keep your eye on delegate communication threads as well.

The #gov-general channel in Discord exploded last week, until @lavande stepped in and provided guidance. The Optimism Foundation is working on an “enforceable delegate code of conduct”; in the meantime, we should be adhering to the Discord and forum codes of conduct.

Proposals

:speaking_head: Check out all the proposals in the Voting Cycle #8 Roundup Thread. Voting begins later this week.

In the Forums

Season 2 Feedback Thread. Contribute constructive thoughts here ahead of the upcoming Reflection Period. Lots of insight shared already.

Discursive health of DAOs. Here’s a brief research survey to complete, about governance.

Synthetix and Phase 0 delegation. This continuing thread is both contentious and important for OP governance. Take a read.

Concerns about OP governance. @ScaleWeb3 provides some thoughts and an analogy: “The lack of meaningful governance activity in this governance delegate model and the cartelization/oligopoly around grants reminded us of a good old article: Lisk - the mafia blockchain.”

In Discord

If you have the capacity, dive into the #gov-general exchanges from this week. Then go outside and touch grass.

:speaking_head: Check in on the #gov-temp-check channel to respond to proposals looking for feedback.

On Twitter

Optimists at ETHSanFranciscosee here.

This week in Optimism and @jinglejamOP on this episode of OP Radio.

What are the top apps on Optimism?

15k OP up for grabs in this metaverse hackathon.

Governance Calls

A recording of the most recent Governance Call can be found here. There was an excellent presentation by @haonan and @MSilb7 dissecting the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the Governance Fund so far.

:speaking_head: The next call is scheduled for November 8. Keep your eyes on this calendar for all things Optimism governance.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

5 Likes

Week of October 31, 2022

Summary

We’ve got 18 proposals up for voting; several were added late by Governance Committees, which had the discretion to do so.

Proposals

:speaking_head: Vote on Snapshot, if you haven’t already. We have only until Thursday, ~20:00 UTC.

Here are links to the Governance Committee recommendations:

Several delegates have updated their threads to detail their votes and reasoning or otherwise provide thoughts on Cycle #8: @Bobbay_StableLab; @polynya; @OPuser; @ScaleWeb3

In the Forums

The Season 2 feedback thread remains active — contribute here.

An old voter apathy thread has been resuscitated with some interesting observations, and a new one has been started. Take a look at both.

The governance accountability thread is updated by OPUser.

Support for partial delegation from new user @S4t0sh1.

A badge for Governance Committee members?

A new delegate commitment from @0x000.

In Discord

The OP Foundation to “open-sourcetheir thinking on Season 3 ahead of schedule.

An idea for tagging interested delegates on proposals, from @Gonna.eth

On Twitter

Vitalik presents an updated Ethereum roadmap diagram.

This week in Optimism.

OP Radio #6: Social Metaverse project Atlantis World. ****

What’s next for DAOs: with Optimism, GnosisDAO, Superfluid, and Snapshot.

Governance Calls

:speaking_head: The next call will be hosted by @Michael and is on Tuesday, November 8, 18:00 UTC. Call details in this post.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

6 Likes

Week of November 7, 2022

Summary

We’ve reached the end of Voting Cycle #8 — and Season 2. Thirteen out of 18 proposals were approved in this last round. We’re now in the “Off Season,” which ends on November 16.

:speaking_head: Read and respond to the Optimism Foundation’s Guide to Season 3, which puts forward new ideas, approaches, and proposals concerning the delegate code of conduct, the Governance Fund charter, and retroactive delegate awards, among other things. (Proposals are covered below.)

Reflection Period: November 17 - December 7

Special Voting Cycle # 9a: December 8 - December 21

Proposals

Moving to a Grants Council: A draft proposal from the Foundation to “restructure the grants process to overcome the challenges faced by committees, improve the proposer experience, create accountability for grant recipients, and reduce delegate workload.”

Protocol Delegation Program: Another draft proposal from the Foundation to “allow protocols to have a voice in governance without self-delegating grants.”

:speaking_head: Both of the above proposals will be voted on in Special Voting Cycle # 9a.

In the Forums

Delegate communication. Voting Cycle #8 and seasonal updates from GFX Labs and @Gonna.eth.

Is it time for on-chain OP voting? @GFXlabs and @millie get the discussion started.

Retroactive delegate awards for Seasons 1 & 2 are explained here.

The Season 2 feedback thread continues.

Incentives to address voter apathy. The discussion continues.

Delegate accountability. Karma shares progress on its grant-funded dashboard — check it out.

In Discord

The #gov-monitoring channel has been created to “discuss the monitoring and oversight of Optimism governance.”

Here’s what to do if you had any issues voting on Snapshot during Cycle #8.

The allocation of retroactive rewards for Governance Committee members has been shared.

On Twitter

Here’s Optimism’s weekly update, which has a link to OP Radio #7 (Motorheadz Nostalgic NFT Collection).

How do you shuffle a deck of cards on the blockchain? A thread by @norswap.

Cycle #8 voting decisions laid out and explained, by @lefterisjp.

Governance Calls

  • Here’s a recap of last week’s community call, hosted by @michael, with a link to the recording if you missed it.
  • And here’s a recording of last Wednesday’s call with the Optimism Foundation about the Guide to Season 3: Course Correcting.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

6 Likes

Week of November 14, 2022

Summary

We’re reflecting. But only through December 7.

The Guide to Season 3 thread continues to see engagement; read up and contribute if you have something to say.

Proposals

—Still the same two we had last week. Discussion continues.

Moving to a Grants Council: A draft proposal from the Foundation to “restructure the grants process to overcome the challenges faced by committees, improve the proposer experience, create accountability for grant recipients, and reduce delegate workload.”

Protocol Delegation Program: Another draft proposal from the Foundation to “allow protocols to have a voice in governance without self-delegating grants.”

:speaking_head: Both of the above proposals will be voted on in Special Voting Cycle # 9a (December 8 - December 21).

In the Forums

Proposals are difficult to track on the forums. @GFXlabs calls our attention to this problem.

Where has the OP gone? @jackanorak has started a thread “loosely tracking” what happens to granted OP.

Delegate communication thread update from @Joxes.

Delegate pitch. @Juanbug_PGov of FranklinDAO describes the group’s approach.

Incentivizing OP delegation through quests. @jrocki.bedrock suggests a way this can be done.

Incentives to solve voter apathy. Discussion continues.

In Discord

Next snapshot of OP for the next round of voting: December 8, 19:00 UTC.

Retroactive delegate compensation has been updated.

On Twitter

Optimism Foundations sponsors season 7 of SheFi.

Governance Calls

The next community governance call is on Tuesday, November 22, at 18:00 UTC. See and contribute to the agenda here.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

7 Likes

Very concise and governance recap insightful.

1 Like

Week of November 21, 2022

Summary

We’re still reflecting — there’s much to consider.

In the meantime, here’s a screenshot of the schedule for the upcoming weeks and months. Further details can be found in the Guide to Season 3 thread (from which the screenshot is taken):

Proposals

Updates to the Grants Council proposal and Protocol Delegation Program proposal continue to be made. Stay current: voting will start on December 8.

In the Forums

What is votable supply? @diligit points to some guidance.

Karma’s delegate dashboard has been updated.

Rewards for users who didn’t sell everything after Airdrop #1 — and perhaps a punishment for those who did. This question has come up again.

In Discord

More information about the above proposals, voting processes, and Season 3 will soon be forthcoming from the Foundation (in the forums).

On Twitter

Quix is winding down, and going open-source.

This week in Optimism.

Beethoven X was on OP Radio

Governance Calls

Here’s @Michael’s excellent recap of call #9 on November 22; it includes links to the slides and the recording.

:speaking_head: Keep your eyes peeled for details on the next call, which will be on December 6.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

7 Likes

Thank you for putting this together. I will be hosting the next call. Looking to put everything together for that call within the next day or so

3 Likes

Week of November 28, 2022

Summary

We’re nearing the end of the reflection period, with the next voting cycle just ahead of us (see below).

:speaking_head: On November 29 the Optimism Foundation posted information about Grants Council membership — so if you’re interested in being on the Council, check it out.

Proposals

The Grants Council and Protocol Delegation Program proposals continue to see active discussion ahead of Voting Cycle #9a, which begins on December 8.

:speaking_head: Voting Cycle #9a is coming up!

In the Forums

Reporting requirements for grantees. Suggestions from the Foundation.

The Karma delegate dashboard continues to be developed. Try it out and provide feedback.

Delegate communication. @Joxes presents a “compilation of thoughts” on Season 2, gathered from the DeFi LATAM community.

The delegate code of conduct has been updated.

In Discord

Council Reviewers. Here’s an exchange about how council members might keep delegates informed.

On Twitter

“How can we get them to fork us more?” One of @divine_economy’s favorite things about Optimism.

Vitalik on governance rights and token value.

Happy birthday beacon chain!

This week in Optimism, with OP Radio #9 featuring Lido.

Governance Calls

:speaking_head: The next call, led by @jrocki.bedrock, is coming up on December 6 (18:00 UTC). Keep your eye on this post for further details.

Quick Gov Links: Working Constitution | Operating Manual v0.2 | Proposal template | Delegates | Snapshot | Optimism on Boardroom

6 Likes