ZKsync Governance Team Overview

Announcements
1

This post outlines the current role and responsibilities of the ZKsync Governance Team (Gov Team) to help Token Assembly members and Delegates understand the team’s activities. Please note that the role of the Gov Team may evolve over time depending on the needs of the ecosystem.

Roles & Responsibilities of the Gov Team

The Gov Team operates within the ZKsync Association and is designed to be a “utility provider” for the ZKsync Governance System and its governing bodies (Token Assembly, Security Council & Guardians). The Gov Team is tasked with upholding the processes and standards of the ZKsync Governance System, while championing proposals that support the ZK Credo & Governance North Star. With this mandate in mind, the Gov Team aims to offer support to governance bodies and strengthen decentralized governance by:

Providing infrastructure:

Upholding governance standards:

  • Championing governance and protocol security
  • Ensuring governance bodies understand the governance system and how to interact with it (e.g. setting up delegation, proposal submission, etc.)
  • Creating and sharing governance standards and operational protocols (e.g. proposal templates, feedback guides, metadata standards, etc.)
  • Upholding the Code of Conduct and ZKsync Delegate Standards

Supporting proposal development:

  • Guiding Delegates and other community members in developing high-quality proposals aligning with the ZK Credo & Governance North Star
  • Facilitating the alignment of the Token Assembly’s priorities with the technical roadmap of core development teams
  • Supporting proposal authors with program design (e.g. proposal allocation, token mechanics, council design, fee structures, legal contracts)
  • High-level editing on proposal drafts
  • Network navigation for proposal authors (e.g. help find a proposal sponsor)

The Gov Team has three team members (@rafa, @theshelb, and @alisha) covering token mechanics, governance experience, and protocol governance.

The Gov Team is dedicated to maintaining a neutral, transparent experience for all Delegates, developers and other community members. The Gov Team encourages as much communication as possible to happen on the forum so information is public and accessible.

What is it not?

The Gov Team is not meant to be a central controller for governance as seen in other onchain organizations. A few examples:

  • The Gov Team does not participate as a proposal author or Delegate sponsor.
  • The Gov Team does not police Delegates to follow every Delegate Standard. Delegates are encouraged to manage themselves and their proposals with a high degree of professionalism and be responsible for their own behavior. However, the Gov Team can help address violations of the Code of Conduct if necessary.

If you have questions, ideas for resources, or suggestions for the Gov Team, please start a thread on the forum (either under General or Delegates depending on the topic). This way, everyone can participate in the discussion!

Your Gov Team

3 Likes
2

:information_source: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): December 2024

Below are a few questions the Gov Team has already received from Delegates that might also be helpful to reference:

What will the ZKsync Governance Systems Team be focused on over the next few months (~3 months)?

Now that governance has launched, the Gov Team is focused on validating the governance system, building out any missing core governance infrastructure and resources, onboarding community members to governance, and helping governance bodies participate in governance easily.

The Gov Team refers to the ZKsync Governance North Star while planning initiatives.

Will the Gov Team be submitting proposals to governance?

Generally, no. In some exceptions, the Gov Team may help draft proposals that support the governance system and/or the ZKsync protocol. For example, writing a proposal to upgrade the governance contracts. However, the ZKsync Association does not have voting power and is not a Delegate. As a result, proposals drafted by the Gov Team will need to be sponsored by a Delegate with proposal power (voting power of 21m ZK or more).

Will the Gov Team provide funding or tokens to Delegates to write proposals?

No. The Gov Team can create and share general resources to the ZKsync community but does not provide direct grants nor other types of funding or tokens for proposal development.

Will the Gov Team publicly endorse proposals?

Generally, no. If directly requested, the Gov Team may provide feedback one-on-one or on the forum. Any feedback must be considered general advice and not interpreted as an endorsement or guarantee on behalf of the Token Assembly. The Gov Team is primarily here to help elevate the quality of proposals, aligning them to guidelines and procedure requirements. Overall, the Gov Team will strive to maintain a neutral perspective enabling the community to review and evaluate proposals independently. In certain exceptions, the Gov Team may provide unsolicited public structured feedback should a proposal impact Association operations, team structure, or governance system security, design, and/or management.

Will the Gov Team vote?

Although the Gov Team members may own ZK tokens, they are prohibited from directly voting on governance proposals to avoid conflicts of interest. Similar to other community members, they may delegate their voting power to others.

Will the Gov Team read my proposal draft?

The Gov Team is happy to read your proposal draft before or after it is shared on the forum for feedback. Before requesting feedback, proposal authors and supporting teams should read the corresponding Guidelines. The Gov Team also encourages you to reach out to specific Delegates who have relevant interests/areas of expertise to review proposal drafts and provide feedback.

Will the Gov Team be running an official Telegram channel?

The only channel run by the Gov Team is a ticker-style Telegram channel that anyone is welcome to subscribe to. This channel is structured to include announcements, reminders, and updates for ZKsync Delegates. The channel is open to everyone. Right now, the Gov Team plans to include broadcasts related to new proposal, voting, standing Delegate call, etc. The channel is read-only. For discussions, Delegates should use the forum.

2 Likes