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The percentages and metrics are pulled from the Superchain Health Dashboard and are calculated from its change over a 7-day time frame, unless noted otherwise.
Highlighting some of the biggest updates on Optimism’s Superchain this week.
🔴What’s happening: Governance onchain and in the real world are often seen as a bureaucratic and inefficient processes. Many believe these entities have minimal impacts on the ecosystem or those participating.
In an effort to change this, Optimism has set forth a goal of creating an efficient algorithm-based governance model to encourage a more decentralized voting mechanism, Optimism Foundation’s Head of Governance Lavande said in a webinar with Token Relations.
🔴Why it matters: When it comes to building strong governance models, there needs to be decision making structures that can benefit whole ecosystems. In Optimism’s case, one that pertains to all Superchain chains and the collective.
Inside Optimism, the governance structure is based on two parties: a token-weighted voting system called the Token House and a one member, one vote system, called the Citizen’s House. This creates a system of “checks and balances” over power dynamics; instead of a solely token-based system, that might lead to “power being unevenly distributed” or individuals “gaming” the system, Lavande stated.
The Optimism Collective’s governance focuses on protocol upgrades for the OP stack and providing resource allocations through the treasury and Retro Funding. It distributes capital after measurable impact is achieved by a team, Lavande said. “[It’s] easier to understand what has been useful than guess what will be useful.”
It is building a system for the Superchain that incentivizes collaboration across decisions. The role of Optimism and the Superchain’s can be thought of like the US government with Optimism as the “federal” entity and Superchain chains as the “state” entities, Lavande said. The goal is to “have as much continuity at the federal level and give the chains as much autonomy at the chain level,” she added.
Currently, 20 chains are involved in OP governance and have the option to assign a delegate to participate on behalf of its ecosystem, Lavande said. The Superchain chains could also use their own token to have token holders elect a representative.
Incentivizing the chains is one of the collective bigger goals, Lavande said. The hope is there is a “shift overtime to chains being a bigger constituency in governance.”
Eventually, the ecosystem hopes to create an algorithm-based governance model that will rely on humans to input their values and any complaints with the decisions made.
🔴What it means for the broader ecosystem: The governance model across crypto has evolved throughout the years. But the Optimism Collective is on a path toward more progressive decentralization with a goal of shifting governance power into the builders’ hands.
In general, a portion of the revenue from chains within the Superchain goes back into the treasury. So this looks to provide growth incentives across the ecosystem through initiatives like Retro Funding.
Superchain chains can feel compelled to participate in governance processes relating to grants and Retro Funding as they have already committed a portion of revenue to the treasury, which disburses them.
All in, the goal is to create a system for decentralized decision making and to maximize efficiency. This can be done through algorithmic systems, bringing the ecosystem closer to better resource allocations and decision making.
Ink released a wrapped version Bitcoin, kBTC, that is backed 1:1 and held by Kraken
Read about how Razer ID, verified by World ID, can help bring proof of human verification to gaming
Soneium announced the launch of ACS Season 4 for incentives for builders Astar Network
Learn about building scalable apps on the Superchain from OP Labs Product Managers Pierce Harger and Zain Bacchus in this video
Highlighting the companies, communities and citizens bound to the Optimism Collective.
Optimism Grants Cycle 34 concluded – see results here to learn more about the projects
Optimism and OP Labs introduced an audit contest to help the Superchain secure interoperability with Cantina Labs
Check out the DeFi apps that can be voted on to receive a grant for Futarchy
Want to dive into the ecosystem full-time? Find the latest job postings here or get involved at an event below.
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This information is for entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research.