> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.visionmakers.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.visionmakers.io/whitepaper/governance.md).

# 11 · Governance

DAO scope, voting weight and the proposal lifecycle

Governance operates as a DAO. Holders of the platform's governance asset vote on platform
upgrades, treasury deployment, partnerships and ecosystem development.

## Scope

| Decision | Governed |
| --- | --- |
| Platform upgrades and new modules | Yes |
| Treasury deployment | Yes |
| Fee rates, staking yields, tier thresholds | Yes |
| Airdrop eligibility parameters | Yes |
| Partnerships and integrations | Yes |
| Published economic commitments | **No**: contractual |
| Legal and regulatory obligations | **No** |
| Custody model | **No**: non-custodial by design |

The second group is deliberately outside governance. A commitment a vote could revoke is not a
commitment, and the credibility of the first group depends on the second being immovable.

## Voting weight

Weight derives from **holdings and staking duration**, not balance alone.

Weighting purely by balance makes governance rentable: borrow tokens, vote, return them. Blending
in duration raises the cost of a transient position and aligns voting power with exposure to the
outcome.

## Proposal lifecycle

1. **Temperature check**: raised for discussion with no formal threshold, to establish whether support exists before effort is spent.
2. **Formal proposal**: a holder meeting the threshold submits a specified change, naming the exact parameter or contract affected.
3. **Deliberation**: a fixed review window during which the proposal cannot be amended, so voters decide on a stable object.
4. **Vote**: token-weighted with quorum.
5. **Timelock**: a passed proposal waits a defined period before execution, giving dissenters time to exit.
6. **Execution**: applied on-chain and recorded.

Where a decision is delegated to a working group, both the delegation and its scope are
recorded.

## Progressive decentralisation

Scope widens as the system matures. Operational decisions requiring rapid response, incident
handling, security patching, remain with the core team; economic parameters and treasury
allocation are governed from the outset.

The intended end state is one in which economics, roadmap priority and treasury are determined
entirely by holders. The schedule for that transfer is itself a governance matter, which is the
only honest way to set it: a timetable the team could unilaterally extend would not be a
commitment.