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Governance

Overview​

SELF Chain follows a progressive decentralization model, moving from core team leadership to community governance. This document outlines our current governance structure and future roadmap.

Current Governance Model (Phase 1: Foundation)​

Core Team Responsibilities​

The SELF Technology core team currently maintains:

  • Technical direction and architecture decisions
  • Security policy and incident response
  • Release management and versioning
  • Community moderation and support

Community Input​

While final decisions rest with the core team, we actively seek community input through:

  • RFC Process: Request for Comments on major changes
  • GitHub Discussions: Open forum for technical proposals
  • Discord Feedback: Real-time community input
  • Quarterly Surveys: Structured feedback collection

Decision Making Process​

1. Proposal Stage​

  • Anyone can propose changes via GitHub Issues or Discussions
  • Proposals should include:
    • Problem statement
    • Proposed solution
    • Alternative approaches considered
    • Impact assessment

2. Discussion Stage​

  • Community discussion period (minimum 7 days)
  • Core team technical review
  • Security impact assessment
  • Economic impact analysis (if applicable)

3. Decision Stage​

  • Core team evaluates community feedback
  • Decision published with rationale
  • Implementation timeline shared

4. Implementation Stage​

  • Development according to roadmap
  • Community testing and feedback
  • Iterative improvements

Types of Decisions​

Technical Decisions​

  • Protocol changes
  • API modifications
  • Performance optimizations
  • Security enhancements

Process: RFC → Technical Review → Core Team Decision

Community Decisions​

  • Code of Conduct updates
  • Community guidelines
  • Event planning
  • Educational initiatives

Process: Community Discussion → Rough Consensus → Implementation

Economic Decisions​

  • Token economics (future)
  • Fee structures
  • Incentive mechanisms
  • Grant allocations

Process: Economic Analysis → Community Input → Core Team Decision

Contribution Recognition​

Levels of Contributors​

  1. Core Contributors

    • Commit access to main repositories
    • Participation in security discussions
    • Vote in technical decisions

  2. Regular Contributors

    • Consistent quality contributions
    • Trusted reviewer status
    • Priority issue assignment

  3. Community Contributors

    • All external contributors
    • Access to bounties and grants
    • Recognition in contributor list

Becoming a Core Contributor​

Requirements:

  • 6+ months of consistent contributions
  • Deep understanding of codebase
  • Alignment with project values
  • Nomination by existing core contributor
  • Security clearance process

Future Governance Roadmap​

Phase 2: Community Expansion (6-12 months)​

  • Technical Advisory Board formation
  • Community grants program
  • Formal RFC process
  • Contributor DAO experiments

Phase 3: Decentralized Governance (12-24 months)​

  • On-chain governance implementation
  • Token-weighted voting for protocol changes
  • Community treasury management
  • Fully decentralized decision making

Phase 4: Full DAO Transition (24+ months)​

  • Complete decentralization
  • Community-owned infrastructure
  • Autonomous funding mechanisms
  • Self-sustaining ecosystem

Conflict Resolution​

Process​

  1. Direct Communication: Parties attempt resolution
  2. Mediation: Community moderator involvement
  3. Escalation: Core team arbitration
  4. Final Decision: Published with rationale

Principles​

  • Assume good faith
  • Focus on project goals
  • Respect all viewpoints
  • Document decisions

Transparency Commitments​

What We Share​

  • All technical decisions and rationale
  • Security incident post-mortems
  • Financial reports (when applicable)
  • Roadmap updates

What Remains Private​

  • Security vulnerabilities until patched
  • Personal information
  • Legal matters
  • Strategic partnerships until announced

Communication Channels​

Official Channels​

  • GitHub: Code, issues, discussions
  • Discord: Real-time community chat
  • Blog: Major announcements
  • Twitter/X: Updates and news

Decision Announcements​

  • GitHub Discussions for technical decisions
  • Discord #announcements for community updates
  • Blog posts for major changes
  • Email list for security notices

Governance Meetings​

Core Team Meetings​

  • Weekly technical sync
  • Monthly strategic planning
  • Quarterly roadmap review

Community Meetings​

  • Bi-weekly community calls (recorded)
  • Monthly contributor sync
  • Quarterly town halls

Amendments to Governance​

This governance model can be updated through:

  1. Proposal via GitHub Discussion
  2. 30-day comment period
  3. Core team review and revision
  4. Community notification
  5. 7-day grace period before activation

Contact​

Commitment to Decentralization​

We believe in progressive decentralization as the path to a truly community-owned blockchain. Each phase brings us closer to full community governance while maintaining security and stability.

"In decentralization we trust, but verify through governance." - SELF Chain Community