Proposal Type: Ratification
Executive Summary
This Ratification vote adds an Upgrade Authority Transfer policy to the Governing Policies section of the Standard Rollup Charter. It sets out how a Chain Governor may request that upgrade authority for its chain be transferred from the Security Council to an address of its choosing, so the chain can manage upgrades itself or through a third party.
Under the policy, the Optimism Foundation confirms a valid request and publishes a public notice on the Governance Forum. After a mandatory 30-day notice period, the Security Council is directed to execute the transfer. Once the transfer is executed, the chain ceases to be a Standard Rollup.
This is a non-fork upgrade. It changes Charter language only: no smart contract or node software changes are required, and this proposal executes no onchain transactions.
Motivation
The Standard Rollup Charter defines how a chain becomes a Standard Rollup, including authorizing the Security Council to perform upgrades. It does not define how a chain leaves. Today, a Chain Governor that wants to take back upgrade authority has no published path, and any transfer would require ad hoc governance action.
This gap matters for three reasons:
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Predictability for Chain Governors. Handing upgrade authority to the Security Council is a significant commitment. Chain Governors, particularly enterprises with formal risk and procurement reviews, need to know before they commit how they could exit. A clear, rules-based exit path makes joining the Standard Rollup a lower-risk decision.
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Protection for users and the community. A change in upgrade authority changes a chain’s security model. A mandatory public notice and waiting period gives users, applications and ecosystem participants time to understand the change and act on it before it takes effect.
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A clear role for each party. Chain Governors’ commitments around upgrade authority are often set out in agreements with the Optimism Foundation. The Foundation is best placed to confirm that a request complies with those commitments. The Security Council’s role is then limited to executing a verified, publicly noticed transfer.
Establishing this process in the Charter means every transfer follows the same governance-approved rules, rather than being negotiated case by case.
Specifications
Blockspace Charter: This Ratification vote would update the Standard Rollup Charter in accordance with PR #74. It adds one new subsection, “Upgrade Authority Transfer,” to the Governing Policies section. No other section of the Charter is changed.
The full text of the new subsection is:
Upgrade Authority Transfer
As further set forth herein, a Chain Governor may request that upgrade authority for its chain be transferred from the Security Council to an address specified by the Chain Governor. Given the significant potential risks and impact on a chain’s security model, the mechanics, notice requirements, and procedures may be further agreed to between the Chain Governor and the Optimism Foundation, including via a legal agreement, and nothing herein should be construed as superseding or modifying such arrangements or any limitations on when a Chain Governor may request a transfer.
The Optimism Foundation shall publish notice of a valid request on the Optimism Governance Forum. Such notice should identify the relevant chain, Chain ID, and material L1 contract address or addresses. The notice should also state that, if the transfer is effectuated, the chain will cease to be a Standard Rollup under this Charter.
Following publication of such notice, the Security Council shall wait no less than 30 days before effectuating the transfer. After the 30-day period has elapsed, the Security Council is hereby directed and authorized to promptly enact the transaction to transfer the upgrade authority, and cooperate with the Optimism Foundation and the Chain Governor as appropriate. The Security Council should verify that:
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the notice was published by the Optimism Foundation;
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no less than 30 days have elapsed since publication of the notice; and
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the transfer is made to the recipient address specified by the Optimism Foundation on behalf of the Chain Governor
Upon effectuation of the transfer, the chain ceases to be a Standard Rollup under this Charter. From that point forward, Optimism Governance and the Security Council no longer retain the same practical ability to enforce the governing policies of this Charter through the relevant upgrade authority.
No additional Optimism Governance approval is required to effectuate a transfer under this section once the Optimism Foundation has published the required notice and the 30-day notice period has elapsed.
How a transfer works
A transfer runs in five steps, each with a single responsible party:
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Request (Chain Governor). The Chain Governor requests the transfer from the Optimism Foundation. The request must comply with any commitments the Chain Governor has made to the Foundation or to Optimism Governance, including any limits on when a transfer may be requested.
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Confirmation (Optimism Foundation). The Foundation acts as the oracle for the process. It confirms that the request is valid and compliant, and provides the recipient address to the Security Council.
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Public notice (Optimism Foundation). The Foundation publishes a notice on the Governance Forum naming the chain, its Chain ID and its material L1 contract address or addresses. The notice states that the chain will cease to be a Standard Rollup once the transfer is executed.
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30-day notice period. The Security Council may not execute the transfer until at least 30 days after the notice is published.
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Execution (Security Council). After the notice period, the Security Council’s role is ministerial. It verifies that the Foundation published the notice, that 30 days have passed, and that the recipient address matches the one the Foundation provided. It then executes the transfer promptly.
No further Optimism Governance vote is needed for an individual transfer. Approving this proposal is the governance approval for the process itself.
After execution, the Foundation may post the transaction hash as a follow-up comment on the notice thread. This is a courtesy rather than a commitment; the transfer is publicly visible onchain in any case.
Impact summary
Adopting this policy has no immediate effect on any chain. Nothing changes for a Standard Rollup unless its Chain Governor requests a transfer.
For a chain that completes a transfer:
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It ceases to be a Standard Rollup, and the Superchain Registry will be updated to reflect this.
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The Security Council no longer holds its upgrade authority, so Optimism Governance can no longer enforce the Charter’s governing policies on that chain through upgrades.
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Its users and applications rely on the security model of the new upgrade key holder. External assessments of the chain’s decentralization stage may change as a result.
For all other Standard Rollups, nothing changes.
Public Notice Template
If a Chain Governor requests a transfer, the Foundation will post a notice in the following form on the Governance Forum:
Notice of Upgrade Authority Transfer Request for [Chain Name]
The Optimism Foundation confirms that [Chain Name], Chain ID [Chain ID], with relevant L1 contract address or addresses at [L1 contract address(es)], has requested the transfer of upgrade authority from the Optimism Security Council in compliance with their commitments to the Optimism Foundation and/or Optimism Governance.
If this transfer is effectuated, [Chain Name] will cease to be a Standard Rollup under the Standard Rollup Charter. Optimism Governance and the Security Council will no longer retain the same practical ability to enforce the governing policies of the Standard Rollup Charter through the relevant upgrade authority.
The Security Council may effectuate the transfer no earlier than 30 days after publication of this notice.
Action Plan
This Ratification vote requires no changes to smart contracts or node software, so rollout is minimal. If approved:
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The Foundation will merge PR #74 into the OPerating Manual GitHub repo, and the Upgrade Authority Transfer policy will take effect immediately.
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No transfers occur as a result of approval. Each future transfer will follow the process above, starting with a public notice on the Governance Forum.
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When a transfer is executed, the Foundation will update the chain’s status in the Superchain Registry.
Conclusion
This Ratification vote gives Chain Governors a clear, predictable path to take back upgrade authority, and gives users and the community at least 30 days’ public notice before any transfer. It replaces case-by-case handling with a single governance-approved process, with each party’s role defined in advance.