[Request For Comment] 0x Constitution

[ericwong]

Abstract

This post presents an initial draft of the 0x Constitution for the community to provide feedback and clarifying questions on. We propose to ratify a 0x Constitution through a Snapshot vote for the community to ratify this document with any necessary edits after 2 weeks of open discussion (February 15th).

Context

See the context provided in the forum post - 0x Protocol - The Unbundling.

The purpose of formalizing a 0x Constitution is two-fold:

1. clearly define the mission, vision, and core values of 0x Protocol in writing so as to serve as a persistent guide for the continued development of the protocol
2. provide guiding principles for how stakeholders of the 0x ecosystem should govern the 0x protocol and its treasury

Call to action: Please provide any feedback and clarifying questions about the constitution as a comment in this forum thread.

We plan to initiate a Snapshot vote for the community to ratify this document in two weeks (Friday, February 17th).

[Draft] 0x Constitution

Preamble

0x Protocol is is a system of smart contracts purpose built to enable the ubiquitous exchange. 0x Protocol Governance has complete control over the development of the 0x Protocol, the stewardship of the 0x Community-Owned Treasury, and the evolution of 0x Protocol Governance itself in accordance with the principles and values set out by this constitution.

Mission

Build a tokenized world where all value can flow freely.

We believe public blockchains have potential to act as a potent equalizing force for the world. As more assets are tokenized and moved onto blockchain rails, public blockchains have a greater chance of democratizing access to financial services in the same way that the internet has democratized access to information.

Vision

We envision a world in which all forms of value are tokenized on public blockchains. This includes fiat currencies, stocks, bonds, commodities, debt instruments, real estate, video game items, digital collectibles, software licenses, reputation, and much more. Combined with a set of open financial primitives, we can build a global financial system that is more efficient, transparent, and equitable than any system that has existed in the past. This new infrastructure will be permissionless to use and run on open source code, stripping away layers of middlemen and providing individuals with greater financial sovereignty.

Core Values

Secure

Strong security measures are table stakes to being the most trusted open standard for the exchange of value. The protocol and its governance should always prioritize the safety of user funds above all else.

Transparent, Fair, and Autonomous

As a fundamental building block for exchange functionality, 0x Protocol is designed to be reliable, unstoppable, and invulnerable to censorship or government intermediation. The system of open source smart contracts that settle trades will always be publicly accessible to verify and permissionless to integrate with.

Create Enduring Value

Smart contract platforms and the ecosystem built on top of them are constantly evolving so upgrades to 0x Protocol are unavoidable. However, to be a dependable core piece of infrastructure, 0x Protocol must be focused on changes that create enduring value for the ecosystem and the world.

User Owned

0x Protocol is decentrally governed by an ever-growing and changing set of stakeholders that make up the broader 0x ecosystem — teams building on top of the protocol, teams creating new markets, teams creating new forms of value, ZRX holders, the underlying blockchains that 0x is deployed on, and others to come. These stakeholders create value for and get value from the network and are thus entrusted with guiding the future of the protocol for the long-term benefit of the whole ecosystem. That long-term decision making is coordinated through 0x Protocol Governance.

Governance

0x Protocol Governance refers to a broad set of actions undertaken collectively by the decentralized community to coordinate on collective actions to take. Activities that could be considered governance activities include but are not limited to, creating proposals, participating in general discussion, and voting on proposals.

The following articles are a set of principles that guide what governance actions the DAO should take.

I. 0x Protocol shall remain a credibly neutral and non-extractive system to settle the global exchange of value

0x Protocol shall always remain a credibly neutral and open source public good that supports the exchange of any form of value anywhere in the world. 0x Protocol Governance will not enact any changes that reduce the accessibility of the system of smart contracts to make up 0x Protocol or add excessive costs hindering its adoption and usage.

II. 0x Community-Owned Treasury shall be used to serve the guiding mission of 0x Protocol: Build a tokenized world where all value can flow freely.

The 0x Community-Owned Treasury is to be used to ensure 0x Protocol’s ability to operate in perpetuity. The treasury may be used to fund public goods within the broader blockchain ecosystem that aligns with 0x Protocol’s mission.

0x Protocol Governance shall not allocate funds to proposals that do not acknowledge and commit to aligning with the Mission, Vision, and Core Values outlined in this constitution.

III. 0x Protocol Governance shall embrace the necessity for change to ensure 0x Protocol’s relevance given the ever changing context that it serves within.

The social and technological layers that 0x Protocol is built to serve will change. As such, 0x Protocol Governance shall embrace experimentation in both the protocol and governance mechanisms.

IV. Amendment Ratification Process

Any changes can be made to this constitution under the following process:

1. A formal proposal is published with a mandatory two week “request for comment” phase.
2. A temperature check is held to indicate the end of the “request for comment” phase. This vote has a 5 day voting period, quorum of 0.1% of total supply, and simple majority.
3. A formal vote is held to incorporate the proposed changes. This vote has a 7 day voting period, quorum of 1% of total supply, and two-thirds majority.

[0xSHA]

Thank you @ericwong for the initiative and well written proposal.

I’ve read this several times and I do find it pretty much aligned with my vision/experience of using 0x protocol. Though I’d like to ask for clarification or submit for the discussion the following points:

1. The mission statement “Build a tokenized world where all value can flow freely”, I find it very product driven which imo is out of the scope of an infrastructure such us the 0x protocol. To my mind there is no doubt the protocol needs to play a role towards that goal, but it can only be an enabler for other products/apps that will rely/use it for achieving that goal. To my mind this mission statement more fits with entities building on top of the protocol such us 0xLabs and others

2. In the vision it is mentioned that “…This new infrastructure will be free to use …”, though I agree with the intent here, I think using the word free imposes something on the protocol incentive system that has been long unclear and debated to its fullest. Besides the fact that interacting with the blockchain is never free (because of gas) and thus using the protocol cannot be free in absolute terms. This also raises the question of how will the protocol development and maintenance be incentivised/payed for, in the shot term the community can rely on the treasury as we’ve been doing it for the last years, but the question still remains on how to make the process sustainable for the (long term) future. For this reason I think we should avoid using that wording in the constitution and maybe replace it with necessity to keep the protocol “permission less and open for use”

[ericwong]

copying over comments shared by @Patrick in Discord for record keeping

As a fundamental building block for exchange functionality, 0x Protocol is designed to be reliable, unstoppable, and invulnerable to censorship or government intermediation

• to which extent? aren’t there right now blocks on geo regions for API access due to government oversights?

0x Governance will not enact any changes that reduce the accessibility of the system of smart contracts to make up 0x Protocol or add excessive costs hindering its adoption and usage.

• Is it important to outline what can be considered as excessive costs to incorporate guard rails where suggestions can be measured against to more appropriately determine that the suggesting is considered as excessive? Kinda like developing a Howey test but for the application of defining a suggestion as excessive?

The treasury may be used to fund public goods within the broader blockchain ecosystem as 0x Governance sees fit.

• Could someone provide an example of a public good that could be funded?

The 0x Community-Owned Treasury is to be used primarily to ensure the long-term viability of 0x Protocol which includes funding for its continued development, teams that build solutions on it…

• Is this completely funding teams or just supporting them and is this for teams applying for project grants or teams spotted with potential by the community and are there bench marks that teams need to meet in order to be eligible other then aligning with core values, mission, and vision?

0x Governance shall leverage the treasury to ensure that additional products and programs that support the development, accessibility, and sustainability of these smart contracts

• Can we brainstorm what potentially products and programs would be leveraged to support the sustainability? Should we list out some no brainers that can be projected to have to exist as leveraged products and programs to support sustainability? Does this consist of employing professionals with certain skill sets to provide certain counsel and financial services and possible long term clerical services on behalf of the contracts and their sustainment?

0x Protocol’s long-term viability

• Lot’s of talk about the outflow of funds from the treasury but not much guidance for receiving funding (under what stipulations) and how governance may potentially govern the inflow of organic value capture

This constitution itself shall also embrace change and can be updated in a similar manner to that of proposals for 0x Community-Owned Treasury, 0x Protocol, and 0x Governance.

• Shouldn’t the constitution have it’s own detailed ratification clause on enacting the process of altering the constitution, altering the constitution and finalizing it?

[ericwong]

hey @0xSHA thanks for the additional discussion points!

1. That’s an interesting point you bring up to distinguish 0x Protocol as an infrastructure and as such serves as an enabler for others to achieve that goal versus being product driven itself. Because this constitution is aimed to be a guide not just 0x Protocol the technology but also broader ecosystem formed on top of it, I think this call to action as an overarching mission statement can still be appropriate.

If this constitution was just for 0x Protocol, I’d agree that a more passive mission probably makes more sense and replacing “Build” with “Enable” could achieve that distinction while keeping the spirit of the mission the same!

2. Agree that the word “free” here could be restricting and now that I’m re-reading Article I (0x Goverancne will not … add excessive costs hindering its adoption and usage), there is a slight inconsistency. I would be in favor of switching your suggested language of “This new infrastructure will be permissionless for use and run on open source code…”

[ericwong]

thank you for sharing these thoughts and questions @Patrick - I’ll share my two cents here

To which extent? Aren’t there right now blocks on geo regions for API access due to government overisghts?

• The invulnerability to censorship or government intermediation is specifically a goal for 0x Protocol, not 0x API. 0x Protocol as a smart contract on Ethereum should be able to maintain stronger decentralization and thus resistance whereas an instance of 0x API must be hosted by some central party that does not share the same properties. While its true that there can be blocks on geo regions for API access, the goal is for that to not be possible on the protocol level.

Lot’s of talk about the outflow of funds from the treasury but not much guidance for receiving funding (under what stipulations) and how governance may potentially govern the inflow of organic value capture

• Related to @0xSHA’s point about the protocol’s incentive system being one that has been long unclear and debated to its fullest, economic sustainability is a very worthwhile area to explore and I’d love for us as a community to explore this further. I will double down on Article I’s specific call out for 0x Protocol to be non-extractive – finding a model that satisfies both sustainability and non-extractiveness is the difficult but necessary goal in my opinion.

Shouldn’t the constitution have its own detailed ratification clause on enacting the process of altering the constitution, altering the constitution and finalizing it?

• We can follow ENS’s lead here with their ratification clause: “Amendments to
  this constitution by majority vote: Any change may be made to this constitution only by two-thirds majority and at least 1% of all tokens participating.”

For the following discussion points, they seem to surface a need for commentary on the Articles. On a broader stylistic question, do we want to formally include the commentary as part of the Constitution similar to how ENS’s Constitution has examples under its Articles?

Is it important to outline what can be considered as excessive costs to incorporate guard rails where suggestions can be measured against to more appropriately determine that the suggesting is considered as excessive? Kinda like developing a Howey test but for the application of defining a suggestion as excessive?

• One way that we can think about what is not excessive is by first determining what is the base necessity for the protocol to continue to operate and then using that as the benchmark. The most clear base necessity in my view are the costs for maintaining high security guarantees which could take the form of a bug bounty program, audits, a group dedicated to security, etc.

Could someone provide an example of a public good that could be funded?

• An example of a public good within the broader blockchain space that I’d support using treasury funds for because I think there is synergy with 0x Protocol’s mission is research on account abstraction since it could improve aspects like security and user experience to the exchange of value.

Is this completely funding teams or just supporting them and is this for teams applying for project grants or teams spotted with potential by the community and are there bench marks that teams need to meet in order to be eligible other then aligning with core values, mission, and vision?

• I think there can be various initiatives spun out from the treasury that could support multiple of these options you’ve laid out – a proactive grants committee like 0xEVE that was run by @nikita that supported teams they identified had potential and applied inbound. I would advocate for benchmark/milestone based grant disbursement in any scenario in addition to aligning with core values, mission, and vision.

Can we brainstorm what potentially products and programs would be leveraged to support the sustainability? Should we list out some no brainers that can be projected to have to exist as leveraged products and programs to support sustainability? Does this consist of employing professionals with certain skill sets to provide certain counsel and financial services and possible long term clerical services on behalf of the contracts and their sustainment?

• Some no brainers (not exhaustive list) would include an updated 0x Protocol Website (bounty for which is already posted!), continuation of the grants program (and the team needed to run it), 0x Explorer (it’s predecessor was a community funded project!), bug bounty program.

[nikita]

Alternate draft for consideration:

I Preamble

The 0x Protocol is modern software that is purpose-built to enable the ubiquitous exchange of value. ZRX tokenholders are the explicit owners of the protocol, holding the right and responsibility to govern the protocol’s software technology; act as stewards of the protocol’s treasury funds; and abide by the governing constitution, which sets out the protocol’s principles and values.

II Guiding Principles

Mission
To unfetter the flow of value.

Vision
Enable an ownership economy that manifests, amplifies, and protects individual sovereignty and collective agency.

III Core Values

Security
The protocol prioritizes the safety of user funds above all else.

Fairness
The protocol functions as a credibly neutral public good benefiting all who use it.

Accessibility
The protocol’s technology is open source, permissionless, and censorship-resistant.

IV Operating Principles

Feasibility
The protocol aims to create enduring value via the novel application of blockchain technology.

Viability
The protocol aims to evolve an economic model that captures value in proportion to its ability to create it.

Sustainability
The protocol aims to responsibly allocate treasury funds in a manner that ensures its ability to operate in perpetuity.

[mintcloud]

Based on my experience signing ENS, Optimism and PoolTogether’s constitutions, I think this proposal fits well what I personally had in mind for 0x. I find it balances well soft and non-prescritive guardrails like the ones ‘excessive costs’, while making it clear that adoption and accessibility need to come first, in accordance to the mission.
I particularly appreciate Article III which celebrates experimentation while keeping our efforts true to the project’s values. I could personally feel first-hand the need for such an attitude in this ever evolving environment. Our thesis is clear, the path is to be discovered.

Thanks @ericwong !

[gabririgo]

I find the document generalized and simple enough. I do believe this constitution should not go too much into detail as it’s aimed at being a general-purpose guidance document, which can be completed by other documents further discussing technical aspects.
I find it in line with my understanding of 0x and my values. I agree that the required conditions for upgrading the constitution be set in this document, as it could be the same requirement for upgrading the governance. I agree it should be a qualified majority (> 2/3 of voting power). I would require a higher quorum, i.e. 4% of ZRX total supply, as an upgrade of the constitution (and potentially the governance) should be accepted by a broad spectrum of ZRX stakeholders.
The condition, however, would make upgrades a little hard technically, as approx- 4% of ZRX is currently staked, therefore a higher amount of staked ZRX would be necessary. It seems a little odd that just 1% of the voting power might upgrade a constitution (aka governance). Hopefully with the token holders becoming the technical owners of the protocol, more holders will have an incentive to stake and participate in the governance.

[Patrick]

The additions to this draft have been made with community discussion input. Thank you to those that took the time to provide your feedback and ideas.

Context

The purpose of formalizing a 0x Constitution is two-fold:

Clearly define the mission, vision, and core values of the 0x Protocol in writing so as to serve as a persistent guide for the continued development of the protocol and to

provide guiding principles for how stakeholders of the 0x ecosystem should govern the 0x protocol and its treasury.

Call to action: Please provide any feedback and clarifying questions about the constitution as a comment in this forum thread.

[Draft] 0x Constitution

Mission

Build a tokenized world where all value can flow freely.

We believe public blockchains have the potential to act as a potent equalizing force for the world. As more assets are tokenized and moved onto blockchain rails, public blockchains have a greater chance of democratizing access to financial services in the same way that the internet has democratized access to information, goods, and services.

Vision

We envision a world in which all forms of value are tokenized on public blockchains. This includes fiat currencies, stocks, bonds, commodities, debt instruments, real estate, video game items, digital collectibles, software licenses, reputation, and much more. Combined with a set of open financial primitives, we can build a global financial system that is more efficient, transparent, and equitable than any system that has ever existed before. This new infrastructure will be permissionless to use and run on open source code, stripping away layers of middlemen and providing individuals with an ownership economy that manifests, amplifies, and protects individual sovereignty and collective agency.

Core Values

Secure

Strong security guarantees are table stakes for maintaining the most trusted open standard for the exchange of value. The protocol and its governance will always prioritize the safety of user funds above everything else.

Transparent, Fair, and Autonomous

As a fundamental building block for exchange functionality, 0x Protocol is designed to be reliable, unstoppable, and invulnerable to censorship or government intermediation. The system of open source smart contracts that settles trades will always be permissionless, censorship resistant, and publicly accessible to verify and integrate with or without permission from any central party. 0x Protocol aims to be a credibly neutral public good benefiting all who use it.

Create Enduring Value

Smart contract platforms and the ecosystems that are built on top of them are within their infancy stages and are constantly evolving. Upgrades to the 0x Protocol are unavoidable. However, to be a dependable core piece of infrastructure, 0x Protocol must be focused on changes that create enduring value for the ecosystem and the world while setting out to evolve an economic model that captures value in proportion to its ability to create it.

User Owned

0x Protocol is decentrally governed by an ever-growing and changing set of stakeholders that make up the broader 0x ecosystem — teams building on top of the protocol, teams creating new markets, teams creating new forms of value, ZRX holders, the underlying blockchains that 0x is deployed on, and others to come. These stakeholders create value for and get value from the network and are thus entrusted with guiding the future of the protocol for the long-term benefit of the whole ecosystem. That long-term decision making is coordinated through 0x Governance.

Governance

The following articles are a set of principles that determine what governance actions are legitimate for the DAO to take.

I. 0x Protocol shall remain a credibly neutral and non-extractive system to settle the global exchange of value

0x Protocol shall always remain an open source project that supports the exchange of any form of value anywhere in the world. 0x Governance will not enact any changes that reduce the accessibility of the system of smart contracts to make up the 0x Protocol or the implementation of excessive costs which hinder its adoption and usage.

For a function cost to be defined as not to be excessive, the function cost needs to prove true for the following four constants:

1. Needs to provide a functional enhancement/benefit to the users protocol network user experience.
2. The enhancement/benefit’s convenience edge has to outweigh the execution cost of the enhancement function.
3. The enhancement/benefit cannot adversely affect the price competitiveness of the overall network.
4. The function is implementable on the protocol contract level and or within a community approved / community operated satellite technological module that is purpose built to interact with and enhance the functions of the 0x Protocol.

Community Operated Satellite Modules:

A satellite module is a complementary technological module that works hand in hand with the 0x Protocol and its native smart contracts to enhance/benefit user network experience while ensuring that the satellite modules function does not adversely affect the 0x Protocol performance, protocol security, user security, and the price competitiveness of the overall 0x Protocol network.

II. 0x Community-Owned Treasury shall be used to serve the guiding mission of 0x Protocol: Build a tokenized world where all value can flow freely.

The 0x Community-Owned Treasury is to be used primarily to ensure the long-term viability of 0x Protocol which includes funding for its continued development, teams that build solutions on it, and other initiatives that help to increase the awareness, adoption, and governance of the 0x Protocol. The treasury may be used to fund public goods within the broader blockchain ecosystem as 0x Governance sees fit.

Funding of Teams and Team Based Initiatives

The Funding of teams and team based initiatives by the 0x Community-Owned Treasury shall only be implemented when all three essential constants prove true.

Constant A: The team’s historical body of work is in line with the mission, vision, and core values expressed within this constitution and objectively works towards value flowing freely.

Constant B: The team’s project initiative is in line with the mission, vision, and core value expressed within this constitution and objectively works towards value flowing freely.

Constant C: Insert Community-Owened Treasury Balance to income ratio threshold formula / financial guidance metrics.

Funding of Public Goods

The Funding of public goods by the 0x Community-Owned Treasury shall only be implemented when both essential constants prove true and the public good falls into one of seven areas of interest.

Constant A: The public good needs to align with the mission, vision, and the core values expressed within this constitution and objectively works towards value flowing freely.

Constant B: Insert Community-Owened Treasury Balance to income ratio threshold formula / financial guidance metrics.

1. The public good works to enhance blockchain network user experience.
2. The public good works to enhance blockchain network user security.
3. The public good works to preserve and enhance blockchain network security.
4. The public good works to support blockchain network research and development tooling.
5. The public good works to preserve and strengthen blockchain network governance security and Sybil resistance.
6. The public good aids in the growth towards greater blockchain network information transparency through the improvement of data analysis, maintenance, reporting, and graphical representation of statistical data.
7. The public good works to establish blockchain network ecosystem reference and educational training literature, documentation and the establishment of the tooling technologies required to database, index, reference, and access established reference literature and documentation. 0x Governance shall not allocate funds to proposals that do not acknowledge and commit to aligning with the Mission, Vision, and Core Values outlined in this constitution.

*0x Governance shall not allocate funds to proposals that do not acknowledge and commit to aligning with the Mission, Vision, and Core Values outlined in this constitution.

III. 0x Governance shall embrace the necessity for change to ensure 0x Protocol’s relevance given the ever changing context that it serves within.

What it takes and how to lead the effort to build a tokenized world where all forms of value flow freely will change as the social and technological layers that the 0x Protocol is built to serve changes. In that view, 0x Governance shall embrace experimentation with both the governance mechanisms and the protocol.

This constitution itself shall also embrace change and can be updated and altered by the community by enacting the ratification clause.

0x Constitution Ratification Clause:

1. A formal proposal illustrating the amended language is published with a mandatory minimum of a two week review “request for comment” phase is initiated when changes can be proposed and incorporated.

2. A Snapshot vote is held to graduate the amendment proposal to a formal vote by requiring a simple majority outcome in favor of the amendment proposal with a quorum of 1M ZRX to indicate the end of the discussion phase. The voting duration for a constitution ratification snapshot vote is 5 days.

3. A formal vote that requires a two-thirds majority in favor of the amendment with a quorum of 1% of the total supply (10M) is required to accept the proposal and ratify the constitution. The voting duration for a constitution ratification formal vote is 7 days.

IV. 0x Governance has full domain over the Community-Owned Treasury, Protocol, and Governance.

0x Governance has complete control over the system of smart contracts that define the 0x Community-Owned Treasury, the 0x Protocol, and 0x Governance.

0x Governance shall leverage the treasury to ensure that additional products and programs that support the development, accessibility, and sustainability of these smart contracts — including, but not limited to the institutional website, documentation, administrative professionals and those that perform and render services for the protocols interests, and governance portal — are created and maintained in alignment with 0x Protocol’s long-term security and viability.

[mortis]

excellent!
thanks for your efforts

[brentoshiro]

I’m submitting this draft incorporating the various versions shared + feedback here and from Discord. My goal with this version is to strike a balance between being too prescriptive and too loose while ensuring that the constitution is easily understandable for anyone. Looking forward to hearing everyone’s feedback!

Note: I intentionally omitted the specifics for voting periods and token supply percentages required for amendments to direct feedback on the rest of the content.

---

This constitution serves as a guide for the governance of the 0x Protocol and the broader ecosystem built upon it. It is a living document expected to evolve over time and should be reviewed and updated as deemed necessary by 0x Governance.

Preamble

The 0x Protocol is a decentralized exchange protocol built on blockchain technology. The 0x Governance Constitution sets out the protocol’s principles and values, and establishes ZRX tokenholders as the explicit owners of the protocol. Tokenholders hold the right and responsibility to govern the protocol’s software technology, act as stewards of the protocol’s treasury funds, and abide by this governing constitution.

Guiding Principles

Mission

To enable the ubiquitous exchange of value and build a tokenized world where all value can flow freely.

Vision

We believe in a world where all forms of value are represented as digital assets on public blockchains. From fiat currencies to digital collectibles and beyond, our mission is to unlock the full potential of decentralized technology and build a truly open, transparent, and equitable global financial system. By creating a set of open financial primitives and leveraging blockchain’s unique properties, we can strip away layers of intermediaries, eliminate barriers to entry, and empower individuals with greater financial sovereignty. This vision is not just about technology, but also about creating a more accessible and inclusive economy for all.

Core Values

• Security: The protocol prioritizes the safety of user funds above all else.
• Fairness: The protocol functions as a credibly neutral public good benefiting all who use it.
• Accessibility: The protocol’s technology is open source, permissionless, and censorship-resistant.

Operating Principles

• Feasibility: The protocol aims to create enduring value via the novel application of blockchain technology.
• Viability: The protocol aims to evolve an economic model that captures value in proportion to its ability to create it.
• Sustainability: The protocol aims to responsibly allocate its treasury funds in a manner that ensures its ability to operate in perpetuity. The 0x Governance Treasury may be used to fund public goods within the broader blockchain ecosystem as deemed fit by 0x Governance.

Governance Principles

Amendment and Ratification: This constitution is a living document, subject to change as the 0x Protocol and its ecosystem evolve. The constitution may be amended only by a X majority and at least X% of all tokens participating.

Proposed changes to the constitution must follow the formal proposal process, which includes:

• A mandatory two-week “request for comment” phase
• A temperature check vote with a X-day voting period and quorum of X% of total supply
• A formal vote with a X-day voting period and quorum of X% of total supply, requiring a X majority to incorporate the proposed changes.

The process is designed to ensure that all stakeholders have an opportunity to provide feedback on proposed changes and that changes are only incorporated into the constitution if there is broad support from the community.

Commitment to Accessibility: 0x Protocol Governance will not enact any changes that reduce the accessibility of the system of smart contracts that make up 0x Protocol or add excessive costs hindering its adoption and usage.

Permissionless Use: The protocol’s incentive system must be non-extractive, and its governance must enable participation by all who hold the token. 0x Governance shall ensure that the protocol is reliable, unstoppable, and invulnerable to censorship or government intermediation. In addition, 0x Protocol Governance is committed to decentralization and immutability of the protocol, ensuring that the protocol remains independent of centralized control and that transactions on the protocol are irreversible.

Funding Principles

The 0x Governance Treasury is to be used primarily to ensure the long-term viability of the 0x Protocol. This includes funding for its continued development, teams that build solutions on it, and additional products and programs that support the development, accessibility, and sustainability of its smart contracts.

Benchmarks and milestones must be met for teams to be eligible for funding, in addition to aligning with core values, mission, and vision.

Funding Examples

The following examples are provided for guidance only and are not an exhaustive list of potential funding opportunities:

• Technical security and sybil resistance research
• DAO tooling
• Scalability solutions
• Blockchain education programs and initiatives
• Cross-chain solutions
• Privacy solutions

[nikita]

Software code is free speech, and is protected by law. Business activity is not free speech, and is subject to law. 0x Protocol is software code, not a business activity.

Wrapping code in the business language of the proposed constitution (the functional equivalent of a charter and bylaws) invites governmental encroachment and potentially creates personal liability for anyone who votes to adopt it (and potentially for all tokenholders). It creates evidence of an unincorporated association, i.e., a voluntary group of persons [1] formed by mutual consent and [2] for the purpose of promoting a common objective; along with evidence of managerial efforts and administration.

In a time of increasingly aggressive regulatory and enforcement actions, ratification of the proposed constitution could create irreparable risks and harm for ZRX tokenholders without a clear benefit for doing so.

These risks could be mitigated by re-writing the document in the voice of the protocol’s technology, rather than the voice of humans directing human behavior. In other words, describe only the protocol’s core design principles and inherent technological properties and remove business language describing human beliefs, mission, and vision; ancillary activity associated with managerial efforts and administration; stipulations on how the treasury is to be used; and attempts to mandate what choices sovereign individuals can and cannot make via governance.

0x Labs, as the proposer, should clearly state the benefits and risks associated with ratification and should also obtain and share a legal review of the proposed language, prior to submitting the document for an on-chain vote.

[Patrick]

@nikita

Software code is free speech, and is protected by law. Business activity is not free speech, and is subject to law. 0x Protocol is software code, not a business activity.

I am not so sure if the logic works out this way. Software is not free speech just as an authors novel isn’t free speech but a work product protected under copyright domain. Software intellectual property, also known as software IP, is the code and or program that is protected by law against copy, theft, and use cases not permitted by the owner. Software code and or a program is a work product and an extension of the business and the business entities business activity. Open source rights allow for outside entities to use the code/program under the guidance of the author but the author is still responsible for the ultimate use case of the software and or program and it’s potential negative and or positive exploits.

Just as a malicious virus is written with code, the author is responsible for the actions/damage of the malicious virus.

“Categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment (and therefore may be restricted) include obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that incites imminent lawless action, speech that violates intellectual property law, true threats, and commercial speech such as advertising.”

“ Another class of permissible restrictions on speech is based on intellectual property rights. Both copyrights and trade secrets fall under this exception. The Supreme Court first upheld this in Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises (1985), where copyright law was defended against a First Amendment free speech challenge.”

United States free speech exceptions

[Patrick]

@nikita

Wrapping code in the business language of the proposed constitution (the functional equivalent of a charter and bylaws) invites governmental encroachment and potentially creates personal liability for anyone who votes to adopt it (and potentially for all tokenholders). It creates evidence of an unincorporated association, i.e., a voluntary group of persons [1] formed by mutual consent and [2] for the purpose of promoting a common objective; along with evidence of managerial efforts and administration.

A constitution is a composition of order. It is an order of observations creating a body of principles or established precedents according to which a state/organization/framework is acknowledging to be governed. Governing is protecting against future unwarranted behavior that proves toxic towards the state/organization/framework and its potential longevity.

The formation of the constitution begins with identifying the toxic behaviors that would prove toxic towards the framework and its longevity potential.

If this is not a focus to undertake at this time then it may be helpful to pause and see how first oversight bodies stabilize with direction from the current unknowns within the turbulent regulatory environment.

Perhaps it is interesting to think about the protocol obtaining a non for profit status under a public domain holding which would be setup as a public good (public charity).

“ Nonprofits refer to organizations like public charities, foundations, churches, fraternal groups, and chambers of commerce, which are built to address a social purpose. They encompass a broad range of structures such as non-governmental organizations also called NGOs.”

[nikita]

A summary of how code was established as free speech protected by the First Amendment: EFF at 25: Remembering the Case that Established Code as Speech | Electronic Frontier Foundation

[Patrick]

Software code is speech and protected under the observance of the first amendment which means that a sovereign individual has the right to write code and have it recognized under the classification of speech. Once the code is written and formulated into a working product, the code is judged along the same guardrails that speech is judged against. Which circles back to the list of regulations that govern speech and differentiate the types of formats that are not acceptable and deserve no protection under the first amendment. Which points out the prominent objective of a constitution. To safeguard against unwanted toxic behaviors that prove detrimental towards the framework and its longevity sustainment. Working products that are created through the exercising of the first amendment are still working products that are affiliated to the body of origin and therefor which gains the working product the ability to be protected under intellectual property rights. For the IP rights classification to exist, a body of origin need be defined, and the originating source is the one that defines the right by which the working product is utilized.