Token House and Citizens’ House in the Optimism Collective

Ruslanachudo
2 min readMay 19, 2023

The Optimism Collective is an open-source project that aims to enable more scalable and decentralized blockchain applications. To achieve this goal, the project is governed by two houses: the Token House and the Citizens’ House. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what each of these houses does and how they work together to promote good governance in the Optimism community.

The Token House

The Token House is made up of OP holders who are responsible for submitting, deliberating, and voting on various types of Optimism Collective governance proposals. OP holders can vote on proposals either directly or by delegating their voting power to a third party. These third parties are known as “delegates,” and they can represent multiple OP holders in the voting process.

The Token House is an important part of the Optimism governance system because it ensures that all OP holders have a say in the direction of the project. By allowing OP holders to delegate their voting power to trusted third parties, the Token House also promotes decentralization and helps to prevent any one entity from gaining too much control.

The Citizens’ House

The Citizens’ House is made up of Optimism citizens who are responsible for allocating rewards to providers of public goods through a process called “retroactive public goods funding” (RetroPGF). Citizens are chosen via entries in the AttestationStation smart contract, and their role is to ensure that public goods providers are rewarded fairly for their contributions.

RetroPGF is an innovative way of funding public goods that have already been provided. Instead of relying on upfront grants or donations, RetroPGF allows citizens to allocate rewards based on the actual value that public goods providers have delivered to the community. This encourages providers to continue creating value, knowing that they will be rewarded for their efforts.

Working Together

The Token House and Citizens’ House work together to promote good governance in the Optimism community. The Token House ensures that all OP holders have a say in the direction of the project, while the Citizens’ House ensures that public goods providers are fairly rewarded for their contributions. Together, these two houses promote decentralization, transparency, and accountability within the Optimism ecosystem.

Conclusion

The Token House and Citizens’ House are essential components of the Optimism governance system. They ensure that all community members have a say in the direction of the project and that public goods providers are fairly rewarded for their contributions. As the Optimism ecosystem continues to grow and evolve, these houses will play an increasingly important role in promoting good governance and ensuring the long-term success of the project.

https://www.optimism.io/

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