On-chain Blockchain Governance via Smart Contract Encoding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current governance policies for blockchains are static and not enforceable by members other than an administrator, lacking modifiability and security, as they are managed off-chain.
Innovation Solution
Implementing on-chain governance by encoding governance policies within data blocks on the blockchain, allowing dynamic modification and adaptation based on member requests, with changes tracked and verified through signature policies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If governance policies are managed off-chain, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability and enforceability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent separates governance policy management into two distinct layers: off-chain policy creation and modification (maintaining ease of operation), and on-chain policy enforcement and verification (ensuring reliability). This segmentation allows each layer to optimize for its specific function without compromise.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces smart contracts as intermediaries that bridge off-chain governance decisions and on-chain enforcement. These smart contracts automatically execute governance policies on the blockchain, ensuring that off-chain policy changes are reliably translated into enforceable on-chain rules without requiring direct human intervention for each enforcement action.
2Device complexity
If governance policies are static and off-chain, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic governance policies by storing policy parameters on the blockchain that can be modified through formal amendment processes. The system transitions from static off-chain policies to dynamic on-chain policies that can adapt to changing requirements while maintaining structured modification procedures through smart contract enforcement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a nested structure where formal governance policies are embedded within smart contracts, which themselves are nested within the blockchain protocol. This nested architecture allows complex, modifiable policies to be contained within standardized smart contract templates, maintaining manageability while enabling adaptability.
3Ease of operation
If governance rules are agreed off-chain, then ease of operation is improved, but security deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a verified copy of off-chain governance agreements by encoding them into smart contracts on the blockchain. The smart contract serves as a cryptographic copy of the informal agreement, ensuring that the terms agreed upon off-chain are accurately represented and enforceably executed on-chain without altering the ease of initial agreement formation.
Data Source
AI summary
An example operation may include one or more of receiving a request for blockchain information from a user device, acquiring blockchain data from a plurality of blockchains which are actively operating and available for joining, determining an amount of trust for each blockchain among the plurality of blockchains based on acquired blockchain data of the respective blockchain, and outputting a list identifying the plurality of blockchains where each blockchain on the list comprises a trust indicator indicating a determined amount of trust for the respective blockchain.