Notes on Governance Minimization
The most widely used protocols will trend towards governance minimization.
- Coz that allows stakeholders (ie programmers...) to depend on a protocol.
- That creates a virtuous cycle of adoption allowing otherwise unachievable scale.
- Allows to set standards everyone depends on, leads to a synergy greater than the sum of its parts.
Yet Governance is important
Governance minimization means reducing the power and reliance on governance wherever possible.
Minimization is important coz it supports the primary value proposition of protocols: credible neutrality.
Credible neutrality is dependability: builders can use or build on protocol with confidence that it won't change against their interests.
Protocols remain credibly neutral by avoiding "capture" by any particular group.
Credible neutrality is the primary value proposition of crypto today. (Anyone can openly create and access new applications, and get better protection from getting the rug pull from under you.)
History is filled where an individual or sets of them dictate and siphon off most of the value.
Yet you can't rid of governance entirely.
At a minimum, governance always exists through the ability to coordinate socially and hard fork.