Optimism Gov Summary | May 24th - June 6th
We are in the final cycle#38 of Season 7.
We’ll share the latest activity in the Collective. You will find in this brief:
- Voting updates
- Commissions & Councils Updates
- Forum updates
- What’s New in the Collective?
- Upcoming Calls
Voting Updates
Season 8 and 9 Milestone and Metrics Council Selection
This vote is active until June 11th! Remember delegates are asked to vote on approving these criteria (30% quorum, 51% yes) but not on the experiment itself.
In Season 8, it’s planned to pilot selecting “civil servant” roles (non-political contributors) without elections, starting with the M&M. Instead of voting, the Token House will ratify eligibility criteria (skills, reputation, opsec) and any qualifying candidate can submit a Charter to run as Lead in Voting Cycle #39a. Once the Charter sets the Council size (e.g., three members), the Foundation will randomly sample from all opted-in eligible addresses using a verifiable block hash seed. This temporary sampling lets us gather data on candidate attestations before moving to a ranked selection. Council rewards and accountability remain unchanged, and if the selection criteria aren’t approved, a traditional election will be held, delaying Season 8.
Commissions & Councils Updates
Grants Council
There have been no official updates from the Council to date. As mentioned in the previous gov summary, the Grants Council officially closed Season 7. Still, its work continues and members are following up with applicants to conduct NPS surveys, track TVL growth, and begin laying the groundwork for an AI tool to support operations in Season 8.
Anti-Capture Commission
- The Future of the Anticapture Commission
- This discussion document from the ACC reviews its mandate and outlines its structure and key actions since Season 5. It explains governance capture risks, traces the ACC’s timeline and major decisions, and highlights how token unlocks could shift voting power. Finally, it discusses potential futures for the ACC, such as streamlined procedures, on-chain veto rights, or a research focus, and asks whether it remains necessary.
- Anticapture Commission - Season 7 Retrospective
- Now in the final phase of Season 7, the council’s retrospective was posted, featuring concrete participation data, areas for improvement, and suggestions should the commission continue into Season 8. However, it is important to clarify that the Foundation has indicated they do not recommend renewal for the next season.
Milestones & Metrics Council
- Season 8 and 9 Milestone and Metrics Council Selection
Perhaps the most important post of the past week. It announces that for Seasons 8 and 9, the Foundation will experiment with alternative selection methods. Earlier in this post, we shared a brief summary of the changes currently up for vote.
Forum Updates
New posts and announcements on the forum:
-
The Weight of Influence: An Analysis of the Power in the Collective
This research from SEED Gov shines a light on the distribution of voting power within the Optimism Collective, unraveling whether its governance lives up to the proclaimed ideals of openness and collective input. With data, comparative analyses across past seasons, and a functional definition of “whales,” it’s a snapshot about how voting power is distributed and how it shifted season by season. -
Retro Funding: on Memecoins and Onchain GM
Jonas shared that The Retro Funding Onchain Builder Program currently rewards any onchain project (like memecoins) based on metrics such as transactions and unique users. These projects are seeing high engagement, but there’s a debate: should they continue to receive Retro Funding, given concerns about long-term value and airdrop farming, or should funding focus more on innovative, sustainable contributions? Community feedback is needed! -
Season 7 Guest Voter Selection Experiment Outcomes
Season 7’s Guest Voter experiment showed two voter types, one conservative and intent-aligned, the other public-goods focused with larger budgets, and found that personal values outweighed roles in decision-making. Low builder turnout skewed results, so we recommend lowering barriers, enabling organizational votes, balancing stakeholder influence, and using expertise signals for budgeting under an optimistic approval model. -
Grants Council Wider Picture (Season 6 & 7)
In this report, SEEDGov review the last two seasons of the Council, following the approach of our previous Big Picture report. Over Seasons 6 and 7, the Grants Council shifted gears to keep pace with the Collective’s evolving priorities and along the way, you can learn a few key lessons. In Season 6, a broad, four-team structure tackled decentralization, new chain integrations, and developer support, channeling most of its resources into Superchain security while approving roughly a third of the 344 proposals it reviewed. By Season 7, the Council had one single focus: maximizing Total Value Locked; evaluating just 102 unique submissions and ultimately funding under 9 percent as budgets tightened and audit requests rose in prominence. If you’re thinking about applying, take note: understanding the season’s core intent (whether it’s security, expansion, or TVL growth) and crafting your proposal around that goal from day one will vastly improve your chances of success.
What’s New in the Collective?
- @kent made updates in the Agora Optimism Governance Feedback here. The vote.optimism.io interface now makes delegation simpler by displaying a banner for users who haven’t yet delegated. Delegate lists can be sorted and filtered by criteria like most or least voting power, top delegations, and oldest delegation. Additionally, the Voter page is twice as fast, with participation rates loading instantly, thanks to backend improvements.
- Calling all Superchain builders! There’s an event with Unichain: the InterOP UNIverse
. Optimism and Unichain will be hosting a gathering for Superchain builders, focusing on interoperability, scaling, and DeFi. Don’t miss this chance, join it in NYC for an unforgettable day of collaborations More here. - Exactly Protocol and the Exa App - Scaling onchain finance on Optimism shared some updates on the forum.
Next Calls
- govNERDs Community Office Hours on Tuesday, June 10th.
- DAB Office Hours on Tuesday, June 17th.
- The next Joint House call will be on June 17th. Optimism will host only one Community Call per month.
- Delegate Monthly Onboarding Call, on Tuesday, June 17th.
All Optimism governance events can be added to your calendar here
Are we missing something? Feedback and suggestions are always welcome 
, please leave them here