Miner Governance

Ergo's decentralized governance model empowers miners to guide network evolution through transparent voting mechanisms. This ensures long-term economic stability, adaptability, and community-driven decision making without compromising network security.

Governance Philosophy

Ergo implements a robust governance framework designed to prevent disruptive hard forks while enabling continuous network evolution. By pushing complexity to the application layer and prioritizing soft-fork compatibility, Ergo maintains stability while fostering innovation.

Core Principles:

  • Stability First: Minimize disruptive changes to maintain network integrity
  • Miner-Driven: Empower miners as key stakeholders in network decisions
  • Backward Compatibility: Prioritize soft-forks over hard-forks
  • High Consensus: Require supermajority for significant changes

Miner Voting

Miners vote on protocol parameters and network upgrades through an on-chain mechanism. Proposals require sustained consensus across multiple epochs to ensure stability.

  • 90% consensus requirement for major changes
  • 32-epoch evaluation period for stability
  • Parameter-specific voting mechanisms
Status:✓ Active

Fork Management

Ergo prioritizes soft and velvet forks for backward-compatible upgrades, avoiding disruptive hard forks wherever possible to maintain network continuity.

  • Soft-fork preference for compatibility
  • Application-layer complexity management
  • Velvet fork innovations support
Approach:Non-Disruptive

Adjustable Parameters

Miners can vote to modify specific protocol parameters while maintaining network integrity. These adjustments allow Ergo to adapt to changing conditions without fundamental protocol changes.

Economic Parameters

  • • Storage rent rates
  • • Transaction fees
  • • Mining rewards

Technical Parameters

  • • Block size limits
  • • Difficulty adjustments
  • • Script complexity

Protected Elements

  • • Maximum supply (fixed)
  • • Core consensus rules
  • • Basic cryptography

Voting Requirements

Soft-Fork Changes: Require 90% miner support sustained over 32 epochs

Parameter Updates: Lower thresholds for non-critical adjustments

Evaluation Period: Extended observation to ensure network stability

Rollback Capability: Mechanisms to reverse problematic changes

Governance Process

The governance process follows a structured approach to ensure thorough evaluation and broad consensus before implementing changes.

1

Proposal Submission

Community or development team submits detailed proposals with technical specifications and impact analysis

2

Community Discussion

Extended discussion period for feedback, technical review, and consensus building within the community

3

Miner Voting

On-chain voting by miners with specific consensus thresholds and evaluation periods

4

Implementation

Gradual rollout with monitoring and potential rollback mechanisms for network safety

Consensus Requirements

High-Impact Changes

Required Consensus90%
Evaluation Period32 Epochs
ExamplesProtocol upgrades

Parameter Adjustments

Required ConsensusVariable
Evaluation PeriodFlexible
ExamplesFee adjustments

Timeline Considerations

The extended evaluation periods ensure that proposed changes maintain network stability and provide sufficient time for the community to assess potential impacts. This deliberate approach prevents hasty decisions that could compromise network security.

Participate in Governance

As a miner, your vote shapes Ergo's future. Stay informed about proposals, participate in community discussions, and help guide the network's evolution through democratic consensus.