[Glossary] Governance & Community Tokens Terms
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Below is a concise glossary of key terms you’ll encounter in Governance & Community Tokens discussions. Definitions are clear and practical—ideal for anyone participating in token-led decision making and community incentives.
Core Token Concepts
- Governance Token: Grants holders the right to vote on protocol changes, treasury spends, or ecosystem parameters.
- Community Token: Used to reward participation, engagement or contributions—may carry governance rights or simply access perks.
- Emission Schedule: Timeline dictating how and when governance/community tokens are minted or released.
- Vesting Schedule: Lock-up period for team/advisor or early contributor tokens to prevent immediate sell-offs.
- Circulating Supply: Tokens available to the public; excludes locked, vested, or treasury reserves.
️ Voting & Decision-Making
- On-Chain Governance: Proposals submitted, voted on, and executed directly via smart contracts—immutable and transparent.
- Off-Chain Governance: Discussion and voting happen on external platforms (e.g., Snapshot), with results later enacted on-chain.
- Proposal: A formal suggestion (e.g., parameter tweak, new feature) that token holders vote to approve or reject.
- Quorum: Minimum number or percentage of votes required for a proposal to be valid and binding.
- Voting Power: The weight of your vote, typically proportional to the tokens you hold or lock.
Delegation & Participation
- Delegation: Assigning your voting rights to another address or representative (delegate) to vote on your behalf.
- Snapshot: A block-height “snapshot” of token balances used to calculate voting power in off-chain votes.
- Vote Lockup: Locking tokens for a defined period in exchange for additional voting weight or bribes.
- Bribe / Incentive: Off-chain rewards offered to token holders for voting a certain way (e.g., via “vote-escrow” farms).
Utility & Integration
- Staking: Locking tokens to secure a network or protocol, often earning additional governance tokens as reward.
- Access Rights: Using tokens to unlock premium features—governance forums, private channels, airdrop eligibility.
- Token-Curated Registry (TCR): A community-maintained list (e.g., of projects) where token holders vote to include or exclude entries.
- Treasury Share: Portion of protocol revenue or yields allocated to token holders via periodic distributions.
Risks & Best Practices
- Governance Attack: Accumulating enough tokens to push malicious or self-serving proposals.
- Vote Buying: Offering paid incentives for token holders to vote a particular way—can centralize power.
- Low Participation: When few holders vote, small groups can pass proposals despite representing a minority.
- Token Concentration: High share of tokens held by a few addresses, reducing decentralization of decision-making.
- Transparency: Always document proposal rationale, funding requests, and on-chain execution plans.
Pin this thread as your go-to reference for governance and community token mechanics. Spot a missing term or want real-world examples? Drop a comment below!
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