Governance Taxonomy

Definitions of the different taxonomic classifications for governance in Messari Intel.

Status

To track proposals, every proposal in Messari Governor has an attached status to it. Below are the definitions of each status:

StatusDefinition
Preliminary DiscussionThe proposal is currently being discussed by the community but has not been submitted for a vote.
Upcoming VoteThe proposal has been submitted by a vote (off-chain or on-chain) that has not started yet.
Active VoteThe proposal is currently being voted on (off-chain or on-chain).
SucceededThe proposal has succeeded. For some proposals, this will be the terminal state, as they don't require any form of execution. For others, the proposal will then be queued for execution.
QueuedThe proposal has been queued for execution and will be executed on-chain.
FailedThe proposal has failed. This can happen if the quorum hasn't been reached or if the choice for the proposal to succeed hasn't gathered enough votes.
CanceledThe proposal has been canceled. This can happen at all stages of the proposal life-cycle.
ExecutedThe proposal has been executed on-chain.

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Some proposals also may be in the Pending Analysis state. This happens when a proposal has been voted on Snapshot and the snapshot vote is now closed. This requires human intervention to know if the proposal has succeeded or failed, if there will be another vote, an on-chain execution, or not.

Categories and Subcategories

Each proposal in Governor has one assigned category and sub-category. After selecting a category, the connected sub-categories will only be available.

Category NameAvailable SubcategoriesExamples
FundingEquity Funding, Debt Funding, Public Token Sale, Private Token SaleProject closes equity funding round, Project closes debt funding round, Project sells token to public/ICO/IDO, Project sells token not available to public
GovernanceGovernance Update, Other Network ChangeProject governance process is changed, DAO/voting council election/elected, Polkadot parachain auctions
IntegrationScaling Solution Integration, Cross-Chain Bridge Integration, Oracle IntegrationA project integrates a scaling solution, a bridge, or an oracle
Parameter ChangeFee Parameter Change, Collateral Parameter ChangeFee parameter is changed on application, Collateral parameters are changed
ReleaseCore Client Release, SDK Release, On-Chain Upgrade, Contract Deployment, On-Chain Upgrade, Other Network ChangeApplication releases upgraded contracts, Governance Vote to enable chain upgrade, Vulnerability is patched in Core client
SecurityReport, Fork, Mining and validation, Treasury Funded Expense, Bug Bounty ProgramA security audit of a protocol has been published, A protocol is forked to patch a vulnerability, Bounty Bounty Program is launched
Team and OperationsTreasury Funded Expense, Project Team, Grant Program, Report, New Brand or Rebrand, Call or Meeting, Other Project ChangeProjects spend treasury funds, team funding
Token SupplyAirdrop, Treasury Funded Expense, Liquidity Mining Program, Treasury Funded Expense, Mining and Validation, Grant Program, Supply Unlock, Supply LockA portion of the token supply has been allocated for a grant program, A portion of the protocol's native token supply is locked and no longer freely transferable, Tokens vest/tokens are unlocked
Token TypeNew Supported Asset, New Collateral Asset, New Token, Airdrop, Token Swap, Other Token ChangeThe application adds new asset support, Lending app adds new collateral asset, Project launches new native token

Importance

To identify the most important proposals, each proposal has an attached 'importance level' to it.

The importance level is set based on the impact a certain proposal may have on the protocol, or the token holders of the native asset of the protocol. The available importance levels are listed below:

ImportanceDefinition
LowIncludes proposals where no action is needed, no strong impact on stakeholders or the DAO itself, or the day-to-day DAO operations recurring proposals. Some examples are team payroll changes and small parameter updates
MediumIncludes proposals that engage substantial spending from a DAO, significant parameter changes, or uncommon decisions that are voted on but don't deeply impact the DAO or stakeholders. Some examples are DAO budget approval, small changes in tokenomics, or the governance process or structure
HighIncludes proposals that engage significant spending from a DAO, major changes in the DAO structure or smart contracts, or exceptional proposals stakeholders should be aware of. Some examples are tokenomics revamp, on-chain upgrades, and important DAO expenses
Very HighThis is rarely used but should be used when an issue directly impacts stakeholders or the DAO, particularly if it is a time-sensitive proposal. Some examples are hack-related proposals and DAO mergers

Sentiment Levels

Sentiment gauges interest in the proposal during the preliminary discussion phase.

The sentiment level is based on the number of answers, the community members that participate in a given discussion, and their explicit support of the proposal.

Listed below are the available 'Sentiment Levels':

  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive