Security Council

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Roles and Responsibilities

The Security Council plays a critical role in safeguarding the Connext protocol, its DAO members, and the wider community. Its responsibilities include:

• Conducting critical maintenance, including software updates and configurations

• Taking emergency actions in potentially time-sensitive situations

The Security Council operates under the purview of the Connext DAO, which is responsible for holding membership elections.

Election Process

Elections for the Security Council are held annually, excluding an initial 6-month bootstrapping phase, during which the Connext Foundation will appoint the initial council.

Before each election cycle, the Connext DAO will open a call for candidates, after which all eligible candidates will participate in the elections. In the proposal from September 2024, changes to the election and structure of the Security Council were outlined such that:

• New council is comprised of 8 regular members and a Lead, translating into a 7/9 multisig.

• The term of each cohort is 12 months

• All the Council members (9 out of 9) have a technical background that allows them to read code and detect possible vulnerabilities.

• Monthly compensation is included for each Council member, which remunerates them for their work and the risk of taking on the responsibility that comes with being part of the Council.

• Maximum members of the same organization were reduced from 3 to 2

Criteria for Membership

To be considered for a position on the council, candidates must meet the following criteria:

• Garner support from at least 0.4% of the voting supply prior to the election.

• Maintain membership in the Connext DAO for at least 3 months prior to the election.

• Have no more than 2 representatives from the same organization on the Council at a given time.

• Publicly disclose any potential conflicts of interest prior to campaigning for membership.

Emergency Removals

In the case of repeated non-compliance of the expected duties, any Security Council may be revoked at any time outside of standard elections if a mayority of the existing council members agree on the removal. The Connext DAO can also remove council members through a two-thirds majority vote with a minimum participation of 6% of the token supply.

Why have a Council?

While Connext aims to move towards ungovernance in the future, the Connext protocol is not currently ready to operate without a degree of administrative oversight in emergency and non-emergency situations. Electing a council allows the DAO to ensure they have representation at this level while allowing council members to gain experience operating the protocol.