DAO (OS)

This page sets out the broad structure and programs (the Operating System) of the POKT DAO. This page is updated regularly to reflect important operational improvements of an evolving DAO OS.

Role of the POKT DAO

The roles and powers of the POKT DAO and its voters, and of the Pocket Network Foundation (PNF) are set out in our constitution and articles of association.

In simple terms, the role of the POKT DAO is to be a place for all stakeholders in the ecosystem to coordinate on important questions and decisions and to uphold and propagate the POKT DNA.

Strategy of the POKT DAO

The strategy of the POKT DAO is defined by PNF periodically (each Era) and the mandate is supported through the activation of the funding mechanisms required to deliver on it.

The current strategy of the POKT DAO is defined in the PNF Strategy thesis.

Ambitions of the POKT DAO

The POKT DAO currently has 5 major Ambitions (sometimes referred to as Big Hairy Audacious Goals) that orient the way we prioritise funding and attention. These ambitions are defined here:

• Pocket’s V1 is the most successful new protocol launch ever

• Pocket has $1B of annual protocol revenue

• Pocket has the most trusted infrastructure brand in crypto

• Pocket has the healthiest culture and governance of any DAO

• Pocket has the institutional financial rails of a blue-chip token

These ambitions all align towards our North Star, which is Protocol Revenue.

Operations of the POKT DAO

The Era

To DAO aligns behind these ambitions through a mechanism called an Era. The Era is a milestone-based objective which creates a shared and definable objective for the Era. The objective of the current Era is the launch of the protocol's Shannon Upgrade.

The Era aligns focus and funding mechanisms and aims to remove the proxy strategy debates that many DAOs fall into by conflating resource allocation decisions with strategy. We seek to avoid the known DAO problems that we've identified.

Quarter Cycles

Because we operate under a milestone-based Era for revisiting strategy, we use quarterly Cycles as an opportunity for introspection and retrospective discussion that allows learning and iteration. To be clear, cycles remove the cyclical funding questions of individual projects which are generally disruptive to a primary focus on execution.

Funding and Budgeting

The Era Budget is activated at the beginning of the Era and describes the primary budgets within the DAO. it has two main components: the Era Budget and the Era Allocation.

Our Era reports are published quarterly in the Forum. The most recent report can be found here: Q4 2023 Era Cycle Report - Cycle 3.

Era Budget

The Era budget defines a set of Keystone Projects which PNF executes in tandem with community contributors and other teams. This budget is fixed and allows the DAO to keep the foundation accountable regarding budgets set in advance for completing work.

Era Allocation

The Era Allocation defines the rules through which community contributions can access funds without direct request (proposals) to the DAO. It is variable and allows the funding for community contributions and grants to scale up or down based on the block rewards of the DAO. It also provides a defined set of community funds that are available each cycle, creating predictability for budgets but also contributors. It is reset each cycle.

Accessing Funds

Funds are accessed by contributors through the contribution programs of the DAO.

Proposals

Proposals are an important part of DAO operations but are generally reserved for important questions not already covered by the DAO's strategy, or for resource allocation and funding decisions that are not specifically aligned with the DAO's stated Ambitions.

Proposals are split into three categories:

PEPs (Pocket Ecosystem Proposals)

There are five types of PEP, the most common being "contract," which involves funding for future work. The other types are "reimbursement" (payment for previous work); "transfer" (transfer of funds between DAO-owned accounts); "swaps" (trading the DAO’s POKT tokens for another token, including token swaps with other DAOs); and "program" (an allocation of funds that defines its own rules for distribution). Each PEP is given a unique number as a suffix (such as PEP-13).

PIPs (Pocket Improvement Proposals)

These upgrade any facet of Pocket Network, including protocol and governance updates. Each PIP is given a unique number as a suffix (such as PIP-11).

PUPs (Parameter Update Proposal)

These change the value of a given protocol parameter, either on-chain or in various tools or platforms. Each PUP is given a unique number as a suffix (such as PUP-11).

For information on how to prepare a proposal, we've prepared a guide.

Permissions

The DAO should operate optimistically and with only very lite permissions for supporting pursuit of our stated ambitions. In this way we reduce barriers to entry, bring our focus to evidence over confidence, and promote the creativity and innovation of our community.

Permissions ensure that people who are already contributing or have demonstrated reputation in the community do not face new hurdles to participation.

For new contributors, the alignment we require most is with our Pocket DNA and understanding our DAO OS and contribution mechanisms. To learn more please refer to the docs with links under the "Community" heading in the menu to the left or visit the channels under "Governance" on Pocket Network's Discord server.

Payments

The DAO continues to evolve and update its payment operations and aims to do so as transparently as possible. Here are the main details about payments that you should know:

Schedule: Recurring Payments from the DAO are made monthly on the first day of governance transactions each month (generally the first Tuesday of each month).

For recurring payments from the Era funding mechanisms, the aim is to make payments within 7 days, whereas recurring contributors to the Era Allocation receive payment via Hedgey Finance.

Calculation: Payments are generally made based on the trailing 30-day average POKT price, where pricing has been stated in USD.

Method: DAO transactions are made direct to the relevant POKT wallet. Era payments are made from the relevant multisig either to an Eth wallet or streamed via Hedgey Finance.

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This is an evolving and possibly incomplete record of the DAO's OS. Faster learning beats better planning, so please let us know of any gaps or challenges related to any of the above 🫂