CALL NOTES / LINKS
Thanks to everyone who joined the Standing Delegate Call yesterday! As promised, below is a collection of summarized notes and links shared in the call from yesterday.
As folks keep asking for recordings of these calls, I am working getting approval to create a ZK Nation youtube channel where I could post the recordings of these calls. I will keep everyone updated.
If you have feedback or opinions on the Standing Delegate Calls, feel free to leave feedback here
Resources & Reminders:
- TPP FAQ: This new resource aims to help the community better understand TPPs and provides some examples to help start reframing terms and mechanisms that have become typical for onchain organizations.
- If you have not already, please subscribe to the ZKsync Delegate Announcements TG channel. This is where all relevant Delegate announcements & reminders will be shared.
- The forum is the main place where governance discussions take place. Subscribe to receive notifications from specific categories or sub-categories to always be up to date by clicking the “bell” icon in a specific category and selecting a notification level.
Discussion: TPPs
Dr. Nick outlined some key aspects his is recent post on the forum: Token Programmes as a Path Towards a True Cybernetic Governance Framework
- Key question this model is focused on answering: How do we become more decentralized in DAOs while addressing inefficiencies of traditional Delegate-based decision making?
- The TPP framework outlined here suggests using smart contracts that initiate, execute, and terminate actions based on governance decisions, with limiting human involvement in the operational loop. Dr. Nick envisions creating a system where governance within a TPP happens automatically and continuously, without needing constant oversight from Delegates or program managers - which can become sites of control, gatekeeping and power.
- TPPs should aim for trustless execution of transactions fully onchain based on automated mechanic outlined in a token program. However, achieving this probably won’t happen immediately. There is recognition that some human oversight, such as program managers controlling multisig wallets as admins of capped minters, may still be necessary before moving fully to automated smart contract governance for TPPs.
- The point of designing mechanisms for TPPs is to gain accountability in decentralization. TPPs are attempting to a new standard for onchain governance. It adds in a certain type of friction from traditional proposal processes. The transition period to get used to this type of thinking and framing for TPPs may be an adjustment, but the more we iterate and improve to process the easier it will be to transition to automating these purely based on onchain date eventually.
- No one model for TPPs: There is no single model or approach for TPPs. There are specific aspects that TPP authors should keep in mind when designing a token mechanic, but each TPP will look slightly different and will have different considerations based on the aim of the token program, and may require different levels of complexity. There will likely be many “pluralistic mechanisms” that run alongside each other.
Concerns raised by Delegates on call:
- Although everyone seems to share the excitement about experimenting with TPPs, the approach outlined in Dr.Nick’s post seems quite complex and not necessarily realistic in the near future. Feels like a risk to focus on one format.
- High barrier to pass TPP means this could lead to less spending initially in ecosystem which could have consequences. Although it does avoid overspending upfront.
- Short iteration cycles for experiments for TPPs: Short timeframes may not allow for enough time to truly test or justify for large-scale programs.
How to ensure the success of TPPs
- TPPs require a certain technical understanding to set up (e.g. deploying a capped minter, thinking through distribution mechanics). The process needs to be accessible for anyone to be able to set up. Many agreed it would be helpful to have further templates and tools at the ready for proposal authors to use when imagining TPPs.
- Based off of the learnings from TPP001, the Gov Team is working to identify the missing information and resources needed to make it possible for anyone to launch a TPP. We have already pushed for the creation of a capped minter factory - which will make it easy for anyone to deploy a capped minter - which should go live on mainnet this week.
- Other guiding questions: How can we use infrastructure from other TPPs when drafting new TPPs? How can we build on top of existing TPPs and reuse mechanisms?