Codifying Recommended $ENS Governance Distribution to Stewards
Background
The Metagovernance Working Group is tasked with distributing ENS DAO governance through the $ENS token. Traditionally, these distributions to ecosystem partners, developers, DAO contributors, and elected stewards have been executed in a sporadic and inconsistent manner, lacking thorough documentation.
This term’s Metagovernance stewards are committed to reviewing and formalizing this process. While much of this work will continue into the next term, establishing and communicating the distribution process for elected stewards is imperative before the upcoming election cycle.
Historically, elected stewards have received $ENS tokens at the end of their term as acknowledgment of their contributions to the DAO and the significant decision-making responsibility delegated to them through the election process. However, the distribution amounts have varied from term to term and steward to steward, with no standarization.
Suggested Approach
The current Metagovernance Working Group is not equipped to evaluate and quantify each individual steward’s contributions retroactively. We also suggest that future groups avoid individual evaluations unless a formal evaluation matrix is established and communicated at the start of their term. Thus, we propose a uniform distribution amount for each elected steward to be disbursed after every 6-months of service.
To determine the appropriate token amount, we referenced the existing requirements for initiating a social vote on Snapshot. We concluded that an elected steward should acquire sufficient governance power to launch a social vote on Snapshot after a year of service. This leads to our recommended metric of 10,000 $ENS per year, awarded in six-month increments.
Suggested Governance Distribution for Elected Stewards
| Quantity | $ENS per 6 Months per Steward | |
|---|---|---|
| Elected Steward | 9 | 5,000 |
The Current Term
Ideally, to avoid ethical conflicts, all Metagovernance Working Groups should set steward compensation and governance distributions for upcoming terms and not their own. However, this term is an exception as the processes have not been previously codified. Like the standardized Steward compensation suggested last month, these new governance distribution guidelines will replace the previous process for this term.