Type Layer-0 relay chain / sov…ce mechanism Polkadot OpenGov —– fully on-chain conviction-vot…learn/learn-polkadot-opengov/)

What Polkadot governs Polkad…ion, bond parachain slots, and— – most relevant here— – to govern the protocol itself.…polkadot.subscan.io/block/1) —– block 1 is timestamped 26 May…t token-DAOs on this directory— – which run off-chain token-wei…hen execute through a multisig— – Polkadot's governance is entir…in-governance) in production.

Origins and tracks Every priv…ad decision could do: - Root —– the most powerful origin (run…posits. - Whitelisted Caller —– a fast path for changes that …erendum. - Treasury spenders —– a graduated ladder from the S…ong, high-bar decision window.

Conviction voting and the refe…oth thresholds relax over time— – an uncontroversial proposal ca…another on technical upgrades.

The on-chain Treasury Polkado…t the end of each spend period— – a deliberate pressure to deplo…erendum for every disbursement— – an on-chain answer to the wor…king-groups) funding problem.

The Technical Fellowship Open…It cannot enact anything alone— – a whitelisted proposal still f…ut token holders still decide.

How Caper approaches this Con…n voting solves a real problem— – letting committed holders outweigh mercenary ones— – by asking voters to opt in to … move together by construction— – you weigh more because you alr…ectory (/wiki/daos/networks) .

What Polkadot governs Polkad… as an execution intermediary. Holders read, discuss and vote on referenda through third-party front ends: SubSquare today, and from 2020 until its closure in 2026, Polkassembly (/wiki/dao-governance/tooling/voting/polkassembly) . That makes it one of the pure…in-governance) in production.

What Polkadot governs Polkad…n May 2020 (https://polkadot.network/blog/polkadot-launch/) subscan.io/block/1) — block 1 is timestamped 26 May 2020, 15:36:18 UTC, read from rpc.polkadot.io, and DOT was redenominated 1…in-governance) in production.

From Governance V1 to OpenGov …renda. In June 2023 (https://web.archive.org/web/20231226181342/https://polkadot.network/blog/gov2-pol…on-of-decentralised-governance/) , Polkadot enacted OpenGov (formerly “Gov2” (https://web.archive.org/web/20231226181342/https://polkadot.network/blog/gov2-pol…on-of-decentralised-governance/) ), which abolished the Counc…er compete for the same queue.

How Caper approaches this Con…ly × circulating supply), and at settlementwhen the tally is taken after voting closes, the holdings term is clamped …n you voted and what you hold wthen the tally runs(a clamp anyone can re-apply downward until the result settles), so selling out of a position…ectory (/wiki/daos/networks) .

How Caper approaches this Con…: in the contract it is (your vote tokencaper-token holdings × your votes) / (vote supply × tokens in circulation), and a timelock blocks last-minucirculating supply), and at settlement the holdings term is clamped to the smaller of what you held when you voted and what you hold when the tally runs, so selling out of a position after vote-bombing before a tallying shrinks the vote it bought. Influence and exposure move …rk DAOs Arbitrum (/wiki/daos/organizations/networks/arbitrum-dao) and t…timism Collective (/wiki/daos/organizations/networks/optimism-collective) …etworks directory (/wiki/daos/organizations/networks) .

What Polkadot governs Polkad…n May 2020 (https://polkadot.comnetwork/blog/polkadot-launch/) , and …in-governance) in production.

From Governance V1 to OpenGov … June 2023 (https://polkadot.com/newsroom/press-releases/polkadot-hands-decision-making-powers-to-its-community-with-opengov-launch/network/blog/gov2-polkadots-next-generation-of-decentralised-governance) , Polkadot enacted OpenGov (…er compete for the same queue.

Type Layer-0 relay chain / sovereign-network DAO Governance token DOT (voting, staking, bonding) Governance mechanism Polkadot OpenGov — fully on-chain conviction-voted referenda across 15 origin tracks Founder / steward Gavin Wood; Web3 Foundation & Parity Technologies Relay chain launch May 2020 (DOT redenominated 100× Aug 2020) OpenGov live June 2023 (replaced the Council-based Governance V1) Treasury On-chain, funded by fees + inflation + slashes; spends by referendum Website polkadot.com (https://polkadot.com) · OpenGov docs (https://wiki.polkadot.com/learn/learn-polkadot-opengov/)

What Polkadot governs Polkadot (https://polkadot.com) is a layer-0 network: a central relay chain that provides shared security and interoperability to the parachains connected to it. Its native token, DOT, is used to stake for validation, bond parachain slots, and—most relevant here—to govern the protocol itself. The relay chain went live in May 2020 (https://polkadot.com/blog/polkadot-launch/) , and DOT was redenominated 100× (https://support.polkadot.network/support/solutions/articles/65000168057-how-was-the-dot-redenomination-implemented-) in August 2020. Unlike most token-DAOs on this directory—which run off-chain token-weighted votes (/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/voting/token-weighted-voting) on Snapshot and then execute through a multisig—Polkadot's governance is entirely on-chain. An approved referendum executes its own privileged call directly against the runtime, with no council or foundation as an execution intermediary. That makes it one of the purest large-scale examples of on-chain governance (/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/fundamentals/on-chain-vs-off-chain-governance) in production.

From Governance V1 to OpenGov Polkadot's original model (“Gov1”) split power between a token-elected Council, a Technical Committee, and public referenda. In June 2023 (https://polkadot.com/newsroom/press-releases/polkadot-hands-decision-making-powers-to-its-community-with-opengov-launch/) , Polkadot enacted OpenGov (formerly “Gov2” (https://polkadot.network/blog/gov2-polkadots-next-generation-of-decentralised-governance) ), which abolished the Council entirely and handed every decision to direct, token-holder referenda. The key unlock is parallelism: Gov1 could decide roughly one referendum at a time, whereas OpenGov lets many referenda run simultaneously across different classes of decision, each with a risk-calibrated set of rules. A tweak to a treasury tip and a change to the Root runtime no longer compete for the same queue.

Origins and tracks Every privileged action in OpenGov is dispatched from an Origin, and each origin is bound to a track with its own capacity, deposit, and timing rules. There are 15 origins (https://wiki.polkadot.com/learn/learn-polkadot-opengov-origins/) , ordered roughly by how much damage a bad decision could do: - Root — the most powerful origin (runtime upgrades, setting the code itself). It accepts only one proposal at a time and carries the longest lead-in and highest deposits. - Whitelisted Caller — a fast path for changes that the Technical Fellowship (https://wiki.polkadot.com/learn/learn-polkadot-technical-fellowship/) has vetted and whitelisted, with shorter timing than Root while still requiring a token-holder referendum. - Treasury spenders — a graduated ladder from the Small Tipper (up to 250 DOT) through Big Tipper, Small/Medium/Big Spender, up to the Treasurer (up to 10,000,000 DOT). Bigger asks route to higher-scrutiny tracks. Riskier tracks demand higher turnout and slower timelines; a cheap tip can clear quickly, while a Root change must survive a long, high-bar decision window.

Conviction voting and the referendum lifecycle OpenGov weighs votes by conviction (/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/voting/conviction-voting) : a voter multiplies their voting power by voluntarily locking DOT for longer after the vote resolves. The multiplier runs from 0.1× (no lock) up to 6×, where the 6× level locks tokens for 32 lock periods (roughly 224 days). Voting power is tokens × conviction, so someone who is willing to be locked in behind a decision counts for more than a whale who wants their DOT back immediately. A referendum passes only if two curves are both satisfied through a confirmation period: Approval (the conviction-weighted share of aye votes) and Support (turnout, measured against total possible votes). Both thresholds relax over time—an uncontroversial proposal can meet a high early bar, while a contested one has to wait for the curves to loosen. The lifecycle is: Lead-in → Decision → Confirmation → Enactment, per the OpenGov reference (https://wiki.polkadot.com/learn/learn-polkadot-opengov/) . DOT holders who don't want to vote on everything can use multirole delegation (/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/voting/voting-and-delegation) : delegate voting power to a different trusted account per origin, so you might follow one expert on treasury spends and another on technical upgrades.

The on-chain Treasury Polkadot runs a large, protocol-owned treasury (/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/treasury/dao-treasury-management) that spends only by referendum. Per the treasury docs (https://wiki.polkadot.com/learn/learn-polkadot-opengov-treasury/) , it is funded by 80% of transaction fees (the other 20% goes to block producers), 15% of annual DOT inflation, and slashed validator/nominator stake. Crucially, unspent funds are partially burned at the end of each spend period—a deliberate pressure to deploy capital rather than hoard it, a problem many idle DAO treasuries never solve. Spending flows through the Tipper and Spender tracks above. For recurring, curated work, the treasury also funds bounties: a parent bounty reserves DOT under a curator (usually a multisig), and child bounties pay out from it without a fresh referendum for every disbursement—an on-chain answer to the working-group (/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/membership/subdaos-and-working-groups) funding problem.

The Technical Fellowship OpenGov removed the appointed Technical Committee and replaced it with the on-chain Polkadot Technical Fellowship (https://wiki.polkadot.com/learn/learn-polkadot-technical-fellowship/) : a permissionless, rank-based collective of the protocol's technical experts. Ranks run from 0 (Member) to 9 (Grand Master), votes inside the Fellowship are weighted by rank, and members are promoted through the Fellowship's own referenda (see the live fellowship dashboard (https://polkadot-fellows.github.io/dashboard/) ). The Fellowship's main governance power is whitelisting: it can flag a proposal as technically sound, routing it to the faster Whitelisted Caller origin. It cannot enact anything alone—a whitelisted proposal still faces a full token-holder referendum. This is a clean separation of expertise from authority: technical review speeds a decision up, but token holders still decide.

How Caper approaches this Conviction voting solves a real problem—letting committed holders outweigh mercenary ones—by asking voters to opt in to a lock. Caper (/wiki/foundations/what-is-a-caper) reaches the same goal without a separate locking step. A member's weight on a proposal is computed directly from the stake they already hold in that specific caper: in the contract it is (your vote tokens × your votes) / (vote supply × tokens in circulation), and a timelock blocks last-minute vote-bombing before a tally. Influence and exposure move together by construction—you weigh more because you already have more capital at risk in the outcome, not because you signed up for a longer lock. See also sibling network DAOs Arbitrum (/wiki/daos/organizations/networks/arbitrum-dao) and the Optimism Collective (/wiki/daos/organizations/networks/optimism-collective) , and the networks directory (/wiki/daos/organizations/networks) .