GRFC: Lower the off-chain Snapshot proposal quorum to 250,000 vesting GRO

Decentralisation
1

Author(s)/acknowledgements

Jaypow, Raambo

Related discussions

Summary

This proposal suggests lowering the off-chain Snapshot voting quorum from 350,000 vesting GRO (~1% of current GRO supply to vesting 250,000 GRO (~0.65% of current GRO supply), to allow proposals to pass more easily and avoid governance paralysis. The lowered quorum can be changed again via a governance proposal in the future (ideally once Gro DAO governance becomes more decentralised and robust).

Voting Options

This proposal only relates to the off-chain governance process, specifically proposal quorum thresholds on Gro DAO’s Snapshot page. Recommended voting options are below:

  • FOR - Lower the Snapshot quorum to 250,000 vesting GRO
  • AGAINST - Do not lower the Snapshot quorum
  • ABSTAIN

Rationale

  • Reaching the recently-increased off-chain voting quorum on Snapshot (350,000 vesting GRO, ~1% of current GRO supply has presented a challenge.
    • Prior to vote 26, the quorum on Snapshot had been set at 50,000 GRO. This increase was based on the current GRO supply (locked and liquid) and extensive research into off-chain voting in other DAOs.
    • Eventually, it was determined that an average range of 1-10% of current gov token supply for off-chain quorum thresholds is a best practice in other DAOs, each of which has its own unique governance systems.
    • However, as demonstrated in vote 31, reaching this higher threshold has not always been successful. Based on the participation in vote 31 and past Gro DAO Snapshot proposals, a lower off-chain quorum may be necessary for the time being.
  • This proposal will lower the off-chain Snapshot quorum in an attempt to help proposals to pass more easily, with less dependence on large vesting GRO holders to participate. It will allow the Gro DAO to operate more quickly and efficiently as it continues its transition towards more decentralisation.

Implementation

  • If a change is approved, this will be lowered on Snapshot by one of the Admin or Author members of the Gro DAO Snapshot. It can be completed immediately.
  • This off-chain quorum lowering is indefinite and can be adjusted back up anytime if the DAO votes to do so.

Benefits (Pros)

  • Quicker governance
  • Amplifies the influence of DAO contributors on governance

Downsides (Cons)

  • Risk of governance attacks is greater with a lower quorum. However, off-chain votes are technically non-binding so the risk is lower than in on-chain voting.

Submission date and next steps

  • Date of submission: 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z
  • Move proposal to Snapshot if RFC feedback is implemented and there is sufficient support: 2023-08-07T00:00:00Z (at the earliest)

Signalling Vote

  1. Please indicate below whether you are FOR, AGAINST; or have no opinion (ABSTAIN); on this proposal.
  • FOR: Lower the Snapshot quorum to 250,000 vesting GRO
  • AGAINST: Do not lower the Snapshot quorum
  • ABSTAIN
0 voters
3 Likes
2

Thanks for sharing this! Agree that this is important in order for Gro DAO to progress efficiently in this current period.

Something to add to the rationale is that: on top of the quorum increasing from 50k to 350k in Vote 26, now only vesting GRO can be used towards votes, which subsequently has reduced the pool of GRO that can currently be used towards voting (i.e. there are many vesting positions that have become fully vested, as well as liquid GRO that has not been put into vesting at all - which would both need to be (re)vested to be used for voting).

2 Likes
3

I certainly agree with your proposal! I think current quorum is too high for our community and a lot of people don’t want to stake their tokens only for voting (cos APR so small now)
250k is right number, my idea for quorum was in diapason from 200k to 250k too.
Thanks, Jaypow and Raambo for this proposal, good job!

1 Like
4

thanks for the reply. Did you have a preference between 200k and 250k, and if so, why?

5

I think lowering quorum is a good idea, most proposal since the first Groda product passed with a little over 200k GRO (vested, unvested and in vesting). 350k GRO in vesting was sort of large for a start since the whole governance revamp (meta governance proposal change) :+1: I agree to lowering quorum

1 Like