SIP-137: Synchronized Epoch

Simple Summary

Synthetix has been progressively decentralizing governance for the last few years from a Foundation model to a protocol controlled by multiple decentralized governance modules. These include the Spartan council and several DAOs. This transition has happened in waves, resulting in governance epochs being desynchronized. This SIP proposes to align all governance epochs to reduce the overhead for token holders.

Overview

This SIP proposes to establish the synchronization of the following 3 Synthetix Entities:

1. Spartan Council

2. Grants DAO

3. Synthetix Ambassadors

The current epochs for these three entities are as follows:

gDAO - current epoch-end ‘overdue’, expired end April 2021

Council - current epoch-end, 8th-15th June 2021

Ambassadors - current epoch-end, end May 2021

Rationale

There is currently no one responsible to plan, coordinate, set up and execute regular voting and epoch management of the three Synthetix Entities. With this SIP we can set a synchronized recurring event that can be easier remembered and planned for.

*As an example; the gDAO was voted in at the end of Jan 2020, with a start date of 1 February 2020. The next vote should have happened at the end of April 2020. We asked about it, but most people just did not know about the timelines and were too busy with their own responsibilities.*

We all know that voter fatigue is a real thing and will just get worse as time goes on. Having one single 'vote window' per epoch for all three entities will reduce the number of voting times required by 75%.

This will also allow for better marketing and coordination for candidates and the community to participate.

Specification

Actions required.

1. Synchronization: synchronization of these three epochs.

2. Continuity: Allow the current serving members of the three Entities to remain in their current roles until the next vote is actioned.

3. Restart: The next step is to coordinate the synchronized restart of the three epochs.

   A vote should take place 1 week before the end of June 2021. This will allow the newly voted members to start the newly synchronized Epoc on 1 July 2021.

4. Holidays: Consideration has to be given to major holiday periods, especially around December. If the new synchronized epoch ends in December, then the vote (for the Jan - Mar Epoch) should be allowed to occur 2-3 weeks before end of Dec to ensure that most of the community are available to participate in the vote.

5. Exceptions: Exceptional circumstances may occur due to unforeseen circumstances that could impact the vote for a specific Epoch. In a case like this the Council could vote to extend a specific Epoch, in order for the issue to pass or for it to be addressed.

NOTE: During an exception event the sCouncil can vote, with same N/2 + 1 - if N is even or to Ceiling(N/2) - if N is odd) margin as non-meta governance votes, to extend the current Epoch for up to but not exceeding 1 Epoch period. This emergency extension can only occur once; after the end of the extension, a new election must take place.

UI Changes: Requesting that the new Synchronized Epoch period be displayed on the https://staking.synthetix.io/

1. Landing Page {Start Month - End Month}

2. Governance Page - with more detail

Changes: Once this SIP is approved and executed on, adjustments to the synchronized Epoch can be done via SCCP.

Rationale

This is a meta-governance SIP and therefore requires unanimous voting from the council in order to pass, the rationale for aligning the three epochs using meta-governance and extending the current composition of each governing body is to avoid more voting overhead for stakers.

Technical Specification

To be coordinated with the CC’s:

1. UI indicators for Epoch

2. Backend tracing of the newly synchronized Epoch

3. “Reactivation” (setup) for voting at the end of each synchronized Epoch

Test Cases

TBC

Configurable Values (Via SCCP)

Epoch duration {Currently 3 months}

Copyright

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.