Polygon Bolsters Validator Governance With Snapshot Voting

Polygon Labs

March 17, 2022

Polygon brings transparency to its Validator ecosystem decision-making by introducing a new Snapshot voting tool.

Snapshot is an off-chain signaling mechanism already in use among many Web3 applications, initially designed to combat high gas fees when conducting Ethereum governance.

Current Process

For the PoS chain, informal governance of protocol parameters currently takes place in the Validator ecosystem. For instance, a proposal such as this results in a vote from Validators in a dedicated Discord channel. Polygon core team members and Validators then coordinate to implement outcomes of the vote.

The need for informal coordination among Validators is important to the smooth functioning of the network. While formalized governance mechanisms able to address all parameters of the network are being built, we see the need for consensus-gathering in areas that haven’t yet been defined, like offboarding offline Validators.

Validator Snapshot

For the purpose of transparency and to create a lasting source of truth for informal governance decisions, we have developed a unique Snapshot voting design where Validators will be able to vote with their Owner addresses on a 1 address = 1 vote basis. This corresponds to how off-chain consensus is reached within the Validator community right now.

As a Validator, using Snapshot is as simple as going to our Snapshot space, clicking on a proposal from the list (or creating one), selecting an option and casting a vote by signing a message from your Owner address wallet.

Next Steps

In addition to providing transparency and offering the best tooling within our Validator ecosystem, Polygon also aims to improve direct engagement of our other governance communities. That’s why we plan to open the Snapshot signaling process to the public soon, so that every community member is able to gauge Validator consensus on particular issues. The Polygon Improvement Proposal (PIP) framework will also undergo a significant overhaul to enable a transparent and consistent governance signaling process.

Read more about the State of Governance at Polygon

Get started by accessing the Polygon Validators Snapshot. Join the governance conversation on our forum and tune in to our blog for the latest on Polygon. Let’s make decentralized Web a reality!