Blockchain technology is continuously advancing, and with it comes the need to simplify cross-chain governance. Unlock DAO, the organization behind the membership protocol Unlock, aims to do just that. They’ve recently announced plans to launch a cross-chain governance solution on ETH Goerli and Polygon Mumbai testnets, intending to streamline decision-making across numerous networks.
As blockchain protocols continue to grow and support more chains, implementing governance decisions becomes increasingly complex. Unlock has already been deployed on nine different networks, including Optimism, Arbitrum, and Polygon. However, up until now, governance decisions were made solely on the Ethereum mainnet, which led to a lack of formal governance across side chains.
By introducing their new governance solution, Unlock aims to automate decision-making by the DAO. Instead of relying on a trustee to implement decisions made on the mainnet for each side chain, the process will now be completely automated. Once the DAO makes a decision on the Ethereum mainnet, a set of instructions will be sent to other chains via the Connext Bridge. The ‘UnlockOwner’ contract will then act as a relayer, replacing the trustee’s role.
This solution comes with potential risks. To mitigate these, every decision by the DAO crossing the bridge will be deployed two days later, allowing enough time to stop any malicious calls. In addition, the Unlock team will continue to monitor actions through the UnlockOwner contract with a multisig, as a necessary safety solution at this stage.
The proposed cross-chain governance solution will be entirely open-source. Although there are still several audits and tests to be performed, it’s expected to be deployed on the mainnet by the end of June.
Unlock’s initiative to streamline cross-chain governance is a reflection of the evolving blockchain landscape. As protocols continue to mature and support an increasing number of blockchains, effective methods of managing decisions across networks will become increasingly critical.
The adoption of this new governance solution could propel Unlock and similar projects forward, fostering a sense of unity and collaboration between individual blockchains. With blockchain technology and its applications expanding at a rapid pace, the need for streamlined and efficient governance is more important than ever.
Source: Blockworks
