The Second Ever Arbitrum DAO Security Council Election™
the Tally newsletter, issue number 136
✧ programming note ✧
this week we say goodbye to coolhorsegirl ☹ and welcome the Tally newsletter’s new management: ellie & tommy ☻
without further adieu: welcome back to the Tally newsletter, your weekly source for DAO governance insights in the Tally ecosystem
this week we are diving into the The Second Ever Arbitrum DAO Security Council Election™: an innovation in onchain governance.
✦ DEEP DIVE
in a perfect world DAOs govern protocols with fully transparent methods (forum post —> onchain vote —> timelock —> onchain execution) but that can take weeks and sometimes protocol upgrade proposals need to be fast tracked if there is an imminent security risk.
here it is directly from the Arbitrum DAO:
Like all software, DAO-governed Arbitrum chains sometimes need to be upgraded. These upgrades are typically suggested through transparent DAO proposals, which can take weeks to finalize. However, some upgrades need to happen quickly, especially ones that fix a critical bug discovered in the system. Such upgrades can be carried out by the Security Council. So far no emergency upgrades have been necessary, but given the known-unknown risk of undiscovered bugs, having an emergency upgrade contingency plan is crucial. Thus, it is important for the DAO to elect reputable and trustworthy individuals and/or entities to the Security Council.
The security council consists of 12 members independently selected through an onchain election process held twice per year (6 members chosen per election). Council members typically have many, if not all, of the following attributes:
Good operation security
Aligned with the constitution of the Arbitrum DAO
Proactively engaged with the DAO
Responsible, technically competent, & expert communicators
High onchain reputation
Council Members responsibilities fall into two categories:
Emergency Actions
Security emergencies which compromise the integrity, confidentiality, and/or availability of Arbitum DAO governed chains
Requires 9/12 approval, post-action transparency report
Actions take onchain effect immediately
Non-Emergency Actions
Routine updates
7/12 approval, collaboration with Arbitrum foundation to communicate with ecosystem the justification for non-emergency updates
Actions take onchain effect on a ~2 week delay
Learn more about the roles & responsibilities of Council members here
TL;DR: Arbitrum DAO elects trusted council to protect chain in case of emergency
So why are we talking about this now?
The Nominee selection process for The Second Ever Arbitrum Security Council Election™ concluded on March 29th; 22 nominees reached the threshold to move onto the election phase which will begin on Friday April 12th following a compliance check.
Tally is happy to provide the onchain interface for all election phases and makes it extremely simple for Arbitrum DAO members to make an informed decision with robust nominee profiles & search features. Visit the Home of Arbitrum DAO governance on Tally to easily stay up to date with the election process.
We’re excited to support innovations in the onchain governance ecosystem & can’t wait to see more DAOs adopt the security council election process in the future.
Thinking about launching an election? Read about it in the Tally Docs & get in touch!
❉ ONCHAIN PROPOSALS
Arbitrum Stable Treasury Endowment Program
support the budding RWA ecosystem on Arbitrum by diversifying 35.3m ARB from our treasury into stable RWAs. this is the treasury working group’s first proposal to the DAO. additionally, it establishes a qualified committee that evaluates applicants and prepares an Assessment Report on each.
voting ends: april 6th
Proposal to Decrease Oracle Keeper Rewards from 1 to .25 HAI
This proposal seeks to decrease the Oracle Job's keeper reward from 1 to .25 HAI
With the recent Dencun upgrade and introduction of blobs, L2 fees have gotten considerably lower. I am proposing to lower the HAI reward paid for incentivized calls to update oracles to reflect the cheaper cost to make them now.
voting ends: april 4th
☻ Ecosystem Update
Check out the first Tally Ecosystem Update, a weekly recap of the Tally ecosystem in bite size video form on twitter every friday!
❀ MEME OF THE WEEK
s/o drew
see you in the next one
-ellie & tommy