Optimistic Approval

Lean governance processes that are held in check by bestowing protocol users with veto rights

Optimistic Approval is a new governance primitive that allows governance changes to be conditional on a timelock and veto process. It is a very flexible mechanism that can be used both to streamline governance processes and to better align incentives among protocol participants, not just in Gyroscope but also in DeFi governance more broadly. Read our research piece introducing Optimistic Approval here.

Optimistic Approval can help to align incentives among different types of parties: one who possesses governance powers (governors), and another (guardians) who has the power to optionally veto during a timelock period. Ordinarily, guardians do not need to be involved in day-to-day governance, but the veto gives them the ability to block malicious proposals that would deviate from the vision of the protocol. The Optimistic Approval framework generalizes who has governing powers and who has veto rights during a time delay.