Security Council Season 7 Retroactive Funding Request

Elected Representatives 💼 Renewal
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OPSC Season 7 Retroactive Funding

Abstract

The Optimism Security Council (OPSC) is requesting 346,920 OP from the Season 8 & 9 DAO Operating Budget for Season 7 retroactive funding.

This request is being put forward to account for the significantly increased workload carried out by the OPSC during Season 7, compared to the responsibilities that were known to the OPSC at the time Season 7 funding was requested.

The work of the OPSC has been, and continues to be, mission-critical to the Superchain.

Motivation

[Please note this section was originally included in the Season 8 & 9 Operating Budget Request for the Security Council, and has been separated into a new proposal at the request of the Foundation]

To reflect the increased workload during Season 7, the Security Council is requesting 346,920 OP in retroactive compensation for the period from 1 January 2025 - 30 June 2025. This amount will be divided equally across all signers (13) and the Lead (1), with each recipient receiving 24,780 OP for Season 7.

Since the Season 7 budget was approved in December 2024, the Security Council’s operational scope and responsibilities have expanded substantially:

  • The OPSC is now signing for 5 OP Stack chains, in addition to Optimism Mainnet.
  • The frequency of signing ceremonies has materially increased:
    • In Season 7, the OPSC completed 19 upgrade ceremonies over a six-month period.
    • In comparison, only 6 ceremonies were required across the entirety of 2024.

Specification

A request is made for 346,920 OP from the Governance Fund.

As OPSC Lead, I determined the appropriate amount based on:

  1. An amount comparable to the percentage of Retroactive funding the OPSC received historically when voted on by the Citizens House; and
  2. Taking into consideration the difference between the Season 8 budget request and the Season 7 request, on the basis that the workload is expected to be similar across Seasons.

The price of OP is calculated using an average OP price for Q2 (1 April 2025 - 30 June 2025) of $0.67.

If approved, the amount requested will be distributed to Season 7 members of the Security Council unlocked, as soon as funds are made available.

A note on Proposal Versions

7 Likes
2

We agree with @Alisha (and @GFXlabs) in exploring a retroactive budget in terms of ETH and it makes sense that S7 budgets are not included in the S8/S9 Budget Board allocated budget.

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

3 Likes
3

I support this request.

The security council is absolutely essential to Optimism and the retroactive request is reasonable given the work done.

That said, the OP request would put us over budget for this season. There is no reason to go over budget this season based on work done last season.

That leaves two options, pull OP from a source other than S8&9 budget or use ETH from chain revenue. Both of these seem reasonable to me.

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

4 Likes
4

We are an Optimism Delegate with sufficient voting power, and we believe this proposal is ready to move forward to voting.

2 Likes
5

I am one of the Synthetix Ambassadors, and I am an Optimism Top 100 delegate [Delegate Commitments - #65 by mastermojo ] with sufficient voting power, and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote

6

GM! I’m supportive of the Security Council receiving Retroactive Funding absolutely; however, I’m not sure about requesting ETH. Why? From my understanding, ETH revenue is supposed to be distributed to public goods, even though currently RetroFunding comes from the initial allocation. In my opinion, this seems like a topic that requires more discussion with the wider community because it could set a precedent for any council to request ETH instead of OP, which could be problematic in the future.

Also, I’m not sure about the price being considered. According to CoinGecko, the 7-day average price of ETH on July 16 should be ~$3,000. Based on that, and being 100% honest, I would prefer to repurpose funds from past seasons, for example, unspent funding from the Grants Council.

1 Like
7

Not the best solution, I would prefer to repropouse funds from previous seasons but if this is the only option I’ll support it to see the collective opinion.

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

8

It is not possible to make this request in sequencer ETH (as there is not an valid proposal type to do so and also because sequencer ETH is managed by the Citizens’ House, not the Token House.) This request must be made in OP from the Governance Fund. Please update the proposal to reflect this or it will not move to a vote.

9

Easy solution. Let Citizens’ House vote on it.

2 Likes
10

This proposal has been updated to request OP from the Governance Fund.

1 Like
11

The Foundation communicated that this proposal would note be put to a vote in Voting Cycle #39 because it failed to receive 4 Delegate approvals after an edit was made to the proposal (the edit was to swap the request back to OP from ETH at the request of the Foundation).

Would appreciate it active Delegates on this thread could comment their approval for this to go to have the opportunity to go to a vote in Voting Cycle #40.

cc @Michael @PGov @GFXlabs @mastermojo @brichis @Gonna.eth

2 Likes
12

We are an Optimism Delegate with sufficient voting power, and we believe this proposal is ready to move forward to voting.

13

We are an Optimism Delegate & Top 100 Delegate with sufficient voting power, and we believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

14

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

15

I am an Optimism delegate with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

16

I am an Optimism Delegate with sufficient voting power, and we believe this proposal is ready to move forward to voting.

17

I am one of the Synthetix Ambassadors, and I am an Optimism Top 100 delegate [Delegate Commitments - #65 by mastermojo ] with sufficient voting power, and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote

18

This proposal is now live for voting on vote.optimism.io.

Delegates, please feel free to DM me or comment on this thread with any questions.

2 Likes
19

After speaking with a Security Council member, I will support this request as a one-time exception. The SC delivered mission-critical work across multiple OP Stack chains with a materially higher cadence of upgrade ceremonies. Rewarding for work already delivered is reasonable.

My support comes with expectations for future policy:

  • One-time, scope-based exception. This approval is for Season 7’s unexpected workload increase, not a price adjustment. It should not set a blanket precedent for retro requests.

  • Price policy going forward. Budgets denominated in OP carry price risk for recipients. There should be no retroactive changes due to OP market price moves. The Collective should not hedge downside after the fact without symmetric clawbacks on upside.

  • Workload formula for S8/9 onward. Encode the new reality up front: base stipend for on-call readiness plus per-ceremony and per-chain adders, with a seasonal cap. This avoids end-of-season top-ups.

  • Transparency. Add a brief S8 activity summary by chain and ceremony, and share distribution transactions after execution. We can use this data to calibrate future budgets.

I value the Security Council’s work and reliability. My goal is predictable rules for everyone: no retro price backstops, clear workload formulas, and simple transparency so we do not need retro requests in the future.

3 Likes
20

The following reflects the views of L2BEAT’s governance team, composed of @kaereste, @Sinkas, and @Manugotsuka, and it’s based on their combined research, fact-checking, and ideation.

We voted FOR.

The Security Council plays a unique and irreplaceable role in maintaining the trust, reliability, and resilience of the Optimism ecosystem. In Season 7, its responsibilities expanded significantly, requiring greater time commitment and coordination from its members. Providing this retroactive compensation acknowledges that effort and ensures the individuals serving in these roles remain adequately incentivized to continue delivering at the high standard the ecosystem requires.

Looking ahead, as we noted in a previous comment, we believe the Council’s funding should not depend on seasonal proposals. A stable, long-term mechanism would better reflect its importance and guarantee the Security Council has the resources needed to fulfill its mandate with continuity and confidence. We want to call for a broader debate on alternative or modified funding mechanisms for the Security Council in the future.

Finally, as a disclaimer, L2BEAT is itself a member of the Security Council. Our position is guided by the conviction that properly supporting this body is in the best interest of Optimism’s governance and its security.

1 Like