11. Governance

11.1 Governance Philosophy

ISONET governance is built to ensure decentralization, transparency, and long‑term sustainability. It follows the principle of progressive decentralization, gradually shifting decision-making power from the core team to the community as the ecosystem matures.

The governance system ensures:

  • No central point of failure

  • Transparent fund usage

  • Community‑driven innovation

  • Systemic checks on malicious proposals

11.2 Governance Participants

🔹 Token Holders

All $ISONET holders may vote on protocol upgrades, fee adjustments, and treasury decisions. Voting weight is based on:

  • Tokens staked

  • Duration of staking

  • Node tier (additional multipliers)

🔹 Node Operators

Node operators receive enhanced governance privileges because they secure the network. High-tier operators receive up to 2.5x voting multiplier.

🔹 Delegates

Token holders may delegate voting rights to specialized community members who actively review proposals and participate in discussions.

🔹 Protocol Council (Temporary)

A small multisig council oversees early-stage safety and emergency-response functions. This council dissolves by 2027.

11.3 Proposal Lifecycle

1

Proposal Drafting

Any staker with ≥100,000 $ISONET may create a draft proposal.

This includes:

  • Protocol parameter changes

  • Treasury allocations

  • Network upgrades

  • New node tier definitions

  • Burn proposals

2

Pre‑Screening

Before entering governance, proposals must pass:

  • Automatic safety scanner

  • Gas-impact review

  • Treasury impact analysis

  • Compliance with governance rules

Unsafe proposals are rejected automatically.

3

Public Discussion

Drafts enter a 3–7 day discussion period:

  • Forums

  • Discord governance channel

  • GitHub RFCs

Edits may be made before final submission.

4

Voting Phase

A 7‑day on‑chain voting window opens.

Requirements:

  • 10% quorum

  • >50% simple majority

5

Timelock

If a proposal passes:

  • A 48‑hour timelock activates

  • Community can verify the final execution bytecode

  • Emergency veto (only for critical exploits) may occur

6

Execution

Upgrades are executed by automated contracts.

11.4 Voting Mechanics

Voting Weight Formula

Voting power = Staked tokens × Duration multiplier × Node multiplier

Duration Multipliers

  • 0–6 months → 1.0×

  • 6–12 months → 1.5×

  • 12+ months → 2.0×

Node Multipliers

  • Sentinel → 1.0×

  • Guardian → 1.5×

  • Architect → 2.5×

11.5 Treasury Governance

Treasury Allocation Rules

Funds in the treasury can be used for:

  • Grants

  • Developer funding

  • Partnerships

  • Bounties

  • Node insurance subsidies

  • Marketing

Guardrails

  • No withdrawal >5% per proposal

  • No multi-proposal stacking

  • Requires multisig execution

  • All spending visible on-chain

11.6 Emergency Governance

Activated only if:

  • A critical exploit is discovered

  • A major governance takeover attempt occurs

  • Treasury security is compromised

Emergency powers:

  • Temporary pause of routing rewards

  • Temporary proposal submission freeze

  • Unlocking disaster recovery funds

Emergency authority expires after 7 days.

11.7 Governance Transparency

Transparency is ensured through:

  • On-chain audit logs

  • Automatic result publication

  • Open-source proposal code

  • Quarterly governance reports

11.8 Governance Roadmap

2025 (Current)

  • Governance v1 live

  • Basic proposal + voting

  • Treasury multisig

  • Forum discussion system

2026

  • Delegate system

  • Weighted reputation model

  • Governance analytics dashboard

2027

  • Full Governance v2

  • AI-assisted proposal scanning

  • MPC-secured treasury

  • Protocol Council dissolution

2028+

  • Autonomous governance

  • Fully decentralized policy engine

The governance system ensures ISONET evolves in a fully decentralized, secure, and transparent way. Token holders, node operators, and delegates collectively shape the entire future of the protocol.

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