The biggest news from CDC 35: v4, aka the 🪷 Lotus upgrade, hits Mainnet Beta ~7/29 (height 6,680,339)! v4 brings: 1. Native TIA interop with Hyperlane for rollups & chains like Ethereum, Solana 2. 33% inflation cut (5% yr 1.5) 3. Locked staking rewards 4. No auto-claims

Go bigger with @uttam_singhk and @braveryandglory 🦣

I'm so happy my friends landing into good teams. Good people win, always.

Jito’s BAM makes Solana blockspace modular in a bunch of interesting ways and could really reduce the difference between monolithic and modular blockspace

i love how @jessepollak was pitching the new @baseapp , his energy made the audience (even afar like me) excited about the new milestones

this hit hard when sacha told me this irl

berry excited for @boundless_xyz mainnet 🍓 congrats queens @reka_eth @marvelgirl_eth 😍

Throw back to 8 years ago. Dinner was always delivered to the office. The Binance team worked day and night. This was how the world's largest crypto exchange was made. 😂

Understanding Proof of Governance (PoG): Recently, discussions around Proof of Governance (PoG) have been popping up frequently, especially on forums like Celestia's. Curious about what PoG actually is, I came across an insightful presentation by Jon Charbonneau from the July 2023 Modular Summit. It explains PoG and its necessity in a relatively simple and clear way, so I wanted to share its core insights with all of you. (You can find the video link in the comments!) 1. Why Do We Need PoG? A Fundamental Question for the PoS Era In his presentation, Jon Charbonneau makes a fascinating argument. He suggests that while Proof of Stake (PoS) seemingly relies on 'slashing' for security, its true role isn't quite that. According to him, the primary function of PoS is a 'cost-based participation barrier' to prevent Sybil attacks. In short, it sets up an economic barrier. You need to lock up capital to participate, which helps keep Sybil attacks at bay. However, a key issue arises in the practical operation of PoS systems. There's a natural 'separation of capital and labor' between the stakers (those holding the capital) and the actual operators (those running the validators). Stakers often prefer to delegate their stake to others, leading to the rise of convenient services like Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs). But this delegation structure presents a problem: it becomes difficult to hold operators truly accountable for misbehavior. Since most of the stake is delegated to third parties, slashing isn't a truly effective deterrent. Jon argues that this isn’t just an economic game anymore, it’s a reputation game. Ultimately, the crucial question becomes "Who will operate the network?" which naturally leads to the 'election of representatives.' Therefore, Jon concludes that it makes more sense to design this representative election process clearly and transparently through governance from the start. That’s why he believes PoG isn’t just helpful, it’s necessary. 2. What Exactly is PoG? How Does it Differ from PoS and PoA? Jon Charbonneau keeps his explanation of PoG straightforward. He states that PoG is a structure where blockchain operators (like roll-up sequencers or mainnet validators) are selected not based on capital holdings, but through governance. In simple terms, it shifts the operator selection method from 2-1. Clear Differences from PoS and PoA - Difference from PoS: While PoS increases the probability of becoming an operator based on capital, PoG selects trusted representatives based on rules and processes agreed upon by the entire community. This enhances the trustworthiness and diversity of operators. - Difference from PoA: PoA involves a small, pre-determined group of trusted operators managing the network. While efficient, it carries a significant risk of centralization. PoG, however, designs this operator group to be directly elected and replaceable by the community. So, while 'trust' is still present, its origin is the 'community's consensus,' not 'pre-defined authority.' 2-2. Key Advantages of PoG - A New Standard for Decentralization: PoG redefines decentralization. It's not just about "how many people can participate (if they have money)," but about "how diverse, trustworthy, and aligned with community values the selected representatives are." This enables a governance-based operating model that maximizes alignment with community values. - Enhanced Accountability and Security: PoG strengthens operator accountability beyond just slashing, by leveraging social and institutional governance mechanisms. Malicious operators can be effectively removed through governance decisions, leading to increased practical security. - Optimal Capital Efficiency: While DPoS and LSTs can create capital efficiency issues or introduce additional financial derivative risks, PoG ensures that all capital remains as native assets and rewards are paid through explicit consensus. This makes PoG 'absolutely optimal' in terms of capital efficiency. For protocols, it reduces unnecessary capital lock-up, and for users, it allows participation without complex financial risks. 3. Is Applying PoG to a Project Difficult? If So, Why? Jon Charbonneau believes PoG is possible, but he strongly emphasizes that it's "very difficult." Designing and operating robust governance involves complexities far beyond simply adding a voting feature. 3-1. Challenges in PoG Implementation - Complexity of Governance Structure Design You need to meticulously design numerous factors from scratch: who can vote, what weighting their votes carry, how disputes are resolved, and so on. A poorly designed structure could inadvertently lead to centralization or inefficiencies. - Difficulty in Sustaining Participation It's incredibly challenging to incentivize users to consistently participate in governance. If most users are indifferent, power can easily concentrate in the hands of a few stakeholders. - Inherent Political Risks Governance inevitably involves political elements. Managing various risks like collusion among specific groups, self-serving interests, and legitimacy disputes is crucial. 3-2. Nevertheless, PoG is Achievable! Despite these challenges, Charbonneau explains that PoG can certainly be realized under certain conditions: - Projects with Active Governance Projects like Optimism and Arbitrum, which already operate active and structured governance processes, can leverage these existing frameworks to select their sequencers or operators. This utilizes their established decision-making capabilities. - Ensuring Liveness and Censorship Resistance Even if a project primarily uses a centralized sequencer, designating multiple 'Hot Backups' through governance and clearly defining automatic transition conditions can ensure continuous network operation (liveness) and resistance to censorship. This demonstrates that PoG, despite being a 'permissioned' approach, doesn't inherently compromise security. - Balanced Decision-Making Structure It's crucial to prevent governance power from solely concentrating with token holders. For example, implementing a dual structure where, in addition to token voting, an identity-based governance body like a 'Citizens' House' has veto rights can lead to much more balanced decision-making, preventing undue concentration of power. 4. Conclusion: PoG is Not an Ideal, But a Natural Evolution of PoS Jon Charbonneau asserts that PoS, through the separation of capital and operation, ultimately converges into a structure similar to PoG. Therefore, he concludes that designing a system from the outset with explicit and transparent governance for operator selection is more efficient and desirable than enduring the complexities of PoS and the risks of unnecessary financial derivatives. PoG is a highly practical option, especially for roll-ups that leverage L1 security and aim for user-centric optimization. Unlike L1s, which pursue 'trust-minimization' and 'neutrality,' L2s can be designed to maximize efficiency and user experience. PoG is not just an abstract philosophy. It's a structural outcome that current PoS systems naturally evolve towards, representing its optimized implementation. Thus, Jon Charbonneau believes that now is the time to seriously discuss PoG. This PoG presentation was given in July 2023, making it roughly two years old. In my next post, I'll delve into how the discussions around PoG have evolved since then. @celestia

I’ll be participating in camp mamo, will you?