So, you’re on board with GoodDollar, the people-powered, social-impact economy?

I am! I’ve signed up through the app and I’m following GoodDollar on social media!

And you’re claiming your G$ every day?

Without fail! I want to help the GoodDollar mission succeed so digital UBI can do real good in the world.

And you’re ready to play your part in the GoodDAO, the DAO that makes decisions about GoodDollar’s future?

Wait – a DAO? What’s that?

DAO stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization.

That’s not much help.

LOL! You’re right!

It will probably be clearer if we break it down word by word.

Decentralized – Governed by its members rather than by a central owner, a hierarchy of executives or a government body.

Autonomous – Able to set its own rules – or governance procedures. These can be proposed, updated and adopted by its members as necessary, without reference to anyone outside.

Organization – A collective of people who share the same goals and are willing to work together to achieve them

Because DAOs are still very new and haven’t yet learned how to operate in a fully decentralized or autonomous way, not many fit this description. You can think of them instead simply as entities that allow their communities to work together by using blockchain technology, and the incentives it enables, to fulfill a common purpose.

Okay, so that’s a DAO. What about the GoodDAO? What does it do, exactly?

A lot, actually.

The GoodDAO owns the GoodDollar protocol and controls the smart contracts that control the minting and distribution of G$. The GoodDAO also makes decisions on governance procedures and rewards for community members who contribute to the long-term strength and success of the protocol.

The GoodDAO also governs certain parameters of the protocol, including the inflation rate and the reserve ratio. All these parameters are based on computer code that is open-source and visible, so it can’t be secretly changed.

The GoodDAO will soon have its own budget, which will enable GOOD token holders to propose steps that will have an even more meaningful impact on GoodDollar’s future.

What do you mean by governance exactly?

The word governance does sound a bit intimidating. In many languages it’s very similar to “government”, which is not helpful because the ethos behind the DAO structure is the very opposite to that of centralized ruling bodies.

In fact, the GoodDAO is managed collectively by a community of people who are actively involved in the GoodDollar project: by claiming, holding, spending, buying or selling G$, or by staking assets to help fuel the minting process. As a reward for their involvement, these community members receive GOOD, a non-transferrable token that allows them to take part in the decision-making process.

All GoodDAO decisions are meant to serve a single purpose: to maintain a protocol capable of generating, financing, sustaining and distributing a digital basic income in the form of the G$ token to claimers all over the world.

And we could also add its three main operational goals:

• To serve GoodDollar’s philosophy and purpose
• To secure the GoodDollar reserve and grow the protocol.
• To enable GoodDollar to be run by the community for the community.

So everyone has a say?

If  they wish to, yes!

As we mentioned above, we use a governance token called GOOD to make sure those most engaged in the community have the most say in what happens. GOOD cannot be bought or sold or transferred, so it always remains within control of the original holder. They can delegate their voting power to another member, but they always retain ownership.

Any GoodDollar community member who controls more than 0.25% GOOD, either directly or because another member has delegated their voting power to them, can propose a change to the project.

There is no minimum amount needed to vote. Holders of any amount of GOOD can vote on proposals made by others.

There are two types of voting: on-chain and off-chain. In the case of on-chain voting, if the holders of at least 3% of all the GOOD tokens in circulation vote for a proposal, and less than 3% vote against, the proposal will go ahead.

Some GoodDAO members can also propose changes to the protocol’s governance procedures. But these must be agreed by a majority decision, either as a result of an online “snapshot” vote, or a more formal voting process.

Here’s a simple way to visualize the process:

The step-by-step voting process. GoodDAO governance in action!

🔥 A Challenge 👉 📝 A Proposal 👉 🗳 A Vote 👉 🛠️Action

You can find out more and learn how to get involved by reading the GIP-0 (GoodDollar Improvement Proposal) on governance.

I’m getting the idea. Can we debate each proposal before a vote?

You bet. One of GoodDollar’s fundamental principles is that all activity is transparent and public. Discussions, decisions and voting take place in full view of the community, not behind closed doors.

The #governance Discord channel is where casual discussions take place. More formal debate on proposals happens in the GoodDollar Discourse forum.  

We also hold regular online Community Calls, where members can discuss issues and agree on next steps. We advertise the dates of these in advance. If you can’t be there live, we post a recording afterwards on the GoodDollar YouTube channel so you can watch whenever suits you best. And we publish a blog following each meeting, summarizing discussions and their outcomes.

I’m excited! Where can I find out more?

• Go to the GoodDollar website and its FAQs section.
• Follow us on social media:
• Twitter @gooddollarorg
• Facebook @gooddollar.org
• Linked In GoodDollar.org
• Telegram GoodDollarX

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