Optimism new proposal weakens council power over standalone chains
The proposed policy would let qualifying transfers proceed without another governance vote, changing who users rely on for upgrades. Read the full story on CryptoSlateUnderstand the crypto stories that matter and what to watch next. Get The Catalyst in your inbox
An Optimism governance proposal published Nov. 5 would require at least 30 days' public notice before a chain transfers upgrade control from the shared Security Council, giving users time to assess changes to the network's security model.
The proposed Standard Rollup Charter amendment concerns chains whose upgrade authority rests with the Council under the Charter. It would let a Chain Governor request that control move to an address of its choosing, so it could manage upgrades itself or through a third party.
A completed transfer would mean relying on the security model of the new upgrade key holder. Optimism Governance and the Security Council would no longer retain the same practical ability to enforce the Charter's policies on that chain through upgrade authority.
The policy's accompanying GitHub amendment PR 74 was still open on Nov. 5 and says it will merge only if governance accepts the proposal.
Related ReadingA governor would first submit a request to the Optimism Foundation, which would confirm that it is valid and complies with the governor's commitments. The Foundation would then publish notice on the Governance Forum.
That notice should identify the chain, its Chain ID, and material layer-1 contract addresses. It should also warn that the chain would cease to be a Standard Rollup if the transfer goes ahead.
The Security Council would have to wait at least 30 days from publication before executing the transaction. The proposed policy says the Council should check that the Foundation published the notice, that the minimum period has elapsed, and that the recipient address matches the one the Foundation supplied on the governor's behalf.
A transfer meeting the approved policy's conditions would need no additional Optimism Governance approval. That would remove the need to seek a separate vote for each handover.