Orbs, a decentralized Layer-3 infrastructure project focused on advanced on-chain trading and DeFi capabilities, has opened its first formal community governance proposal, known as OIP-9. The proposal seeks community approval to formally create the Orbs DAO and define its starting governance structure, marking a key step in shifting meaningful protocol decision-making toward token holders.
The initiative builds on years of development. The Orbs protocol launched more than seven years ago, with formal on-chain governance processes operating for nearly four years.
During that period the network has evolved into a live Layer-3 system that enhances Layer-1 and Layer-2 ecosystems by supporting more sophisticated smart-contract logic and trading functions.
Products powered by the infrastructure include tools for limit orders, time-weighted average price execution, optimized liquidity access, and decentralized derivatives.
Under the proposed framework, voting rights would initially belong to holders of tokens staked in the Orbs Proof-of-Stake contract.
Decisions would follow the existing Orbs Improvement Proposal process and Snapshot voting, with approved actions carried out through dedicated multisig wallets controlled by the DAO.
At launch the DAO would receive authority in four defined areas: selected network parameters governing the Proof-of-Stake system (including reward rates and related settings), certification and revocation of Guardians, approval of major protocol upgrades, and approval of new network-level protocol deployments and product modules.
The design deliberately adopts a progressive model rather than transferring every responsibility at once.
Treasury management, protocol revenue allocation, broader tokenomics, liquidity strategies, grants, and burn mechanisms remain outside the initial scope and could be addressed in later proposals once the community gains operational experience.
An emergency provision would allow the core team to act quickly when immediate intervention is required and a full community vote is impractical; any such action would later need formal ratification by the DAO to maintain transparency and oversight.
If OIP-9 is approved, the team would establish two multisig wallets—one for parameters and one for certifications—initially managed by team members but restricted to executing only those actions that have already received Snapshot approval.
Over time, further on-chain controls could be transferred as the governance process matures.
Success of this foundational vote would also create the structural basis for a subsequent Season 1 tokenomics proposal, in which the community would determine how protocol revenue and related economic parameters are handled under a flexible, seasonal model.
Project representatives have emphasized that effective decentralization requires responsibility to expand in step with the community’s demonstrated capacity to govern.
By beginning with clearly bounded, high-impact functions tied to the existing staking and Guardian ecosystem, the proposal aims to deliver real authority from the outset while protecting network stability.
Guardians, delegators, and staked token holders are encouraged to review the full proposal and participate in the vote, which was conducted via Snapshot over a multi-day window.
This step represents a transition from earlier governance participation toward formal DAO authority. Once the initial layer is in place, future votes can progressively enlarge the community’s role across the protocol’s economic and operational dimensions, aligning decision-making more closely with those who secure and use the network.