Governance: The Path to Decentralization
The decentralized nature of blockchain has led to a multitude of governance options that exist on the market today. Having a governance system may seem counterintuitive for currencies that are supposed to be open for change by all users, but can having a governance entity help stop malicious behavior, and optimize currencies? And if so, what is the best kind of system? Four panelists who have experience with different types of governance models joined David Wachsman, CEO of Wachsman, to discuss what he calls the biggest problem we have today in blockchain. PBWS welcomed on stage: Arthur Breitman, Co-Founder of Tezos Jenna Zenk, Co-founder & CTO of Avantgarde Finance Emin G端n Sirer, Founder and CEO of Ava Labs Primavera de Filippi, Researcher at Berkman Klein Center, Harvard University
Governance: The Path to Decentralization
- 1. www.pbwsummit.com Featuring: Arthur Breitman, Tezos Jenna Zenk, Avantgarde Finance Emin G端n Sirer, Ava Labs Primavera de Filippi, Harvard University Moderated by David Wachsman, Wachsman Insights from the PBWS 2019 Panel Discussion Governance: The Path to Decentralization
- 2. www.pbwsummit.com Summary Whatexactly is governance? Should end users be part of the governance discussion? Should blockchains have core development teams? How can forks be governed? Should everything be changeable? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
- 3. WHATEXACTLY IS GOVERNANCE? Arthur Breitman defines governance as a process that companies use to make decisions about the use of a shared resource. These decisions are about security, innovation, and other technical aspects of the blockchain. Typically, the creator of the currency defines a set of rules, and the only way to change them is by forking, or creating a new version of the currency (as was the case for Bitcoin). www.pbwsummit.com
- 4. SHOULD END USERS BE PART OF THE GOVERNANCE DISCUSSION? Miners are essentially the only people who can actually change a block, therefore the preferences of end users are usually unheard except for on forums. This has created a schism between Bitcoin users and miners. Emin G端n Sirer says he has never seen a community so hateful towards some of the core people who do the most important work. Arthur Breitman argues that who should make governance decisions is not a should question. He says that the reason for governance is to make good decisions and to have a system thats technically good. www.pbwsummit.com
- 5. SHOULD BLOCKCHAINS HAVE CORE DEVELOPMENT TEAMS? Core development teams may be necessary just for efficiencys sake, because experts are easy to identify. However, core development is a centralized term and governance mechanisms can be decentralized, without a gatekeeper. www.pbwsummit.com
- 6. HOW CAN FORKS BE GOVERNED? Forking has its benefits, because users can choose which protocol they prefer and the amount of popularity each version gets is therefore based on popular opinion. However, the option to fork can potentially lead to a total lack of structure if there are too many forks. While forking is good because it allows for experimentation, it is also an exit strategy. www.pbwsummit.com
- 7. SHOULD EVERYTHING BE CHANGEABLE? Creators of currencies can decide how much can or cannot be changed from the beginning, and also implement new rules after the currencies have been tested out over time. Because the currencies are new, there is a lot of room for experimentation at different levels of governance. At Tezos, for example, they try to make what can be changed as narrow as possible, in order to maximize the type of things you dont have to make decisions about. That way, people can decide to fork, or use coins in different ways, and only very important structural concerns should be agreed upon by everyone. www.pbwsummit.com
- 8. This is just a preview, want more? Come to PBWSummit in Paris on December 9-10 2020 to meet our outstanding speaker lineup. www.pbwsummit.com