Orbs has introduced OIP-9, its first formal community governance vote aimed at creating the Orbs DAO and setting out how that body would govern parts of the protocol. The proposal comes after more than four years of on-chain governance and over seven years of protocol development, which Orbs described as the basis for a new stage in its governance model.

If approved, OIP-9 would create an initial layer of DAO governance rather than transferring all authority at once. The proposal outlines a gradual approach that seeks to extend community oversight while keeping operational security and day-to-day manageability in place.

How the proposed DAO would work

Under OIP-9, tokens staked in the Orbs Proof-of-Stake contract would determine eligibility to take part in governance. Community decisions would be made through proposals and Snapshot voting, while DAO-controlled multisig wallets would carry out the choices authorized by those votes.

The structure is designed to formalize the community’s role in monitoring the protocol. In Orbs’ framing, the DAO would become the mechanism through which qualified participants can directly influence selected areas of network governance.

Initial powers defined in the proposal

The proposal gives the planned DAO a limited but meaningful starting scope. At first, it would oversee network parameters tied to the Proof-of-Stake architecture, as well as Guardian certification and revocation.

OIP-9 also assigns the DAO authority to approve significant protocol changes and to approve new protocol deployments and network-level product modules. Orbs said this narrower starting scope is intended to keep governance practical while still handing the community substantial control over important network functions.

A phased path to broader decentralization

Rather than decentralizing every function immediately, OIP-9 adopts a progressive governance model in which community responsibility expands over time. The proposal says additional areas could be brought under DAO control in later votes as the organization gains experience operating within its initial mandate.

The areas mentioned for possible future proposals include protocol income, treasury management, liquidity methods, grants, burn mechanisms, and wider tokenomics. That sequencing would make the current vote a foundation for broader governance changes rather than a complete end state.

Emergency powers and the next confirmed milestone

The proposal also includes a limited emergency mechanism. In cases where voting is impractical and rapid action is required, the core team would be able to intervene, but any such move would still require DAO approval afterward, according to the proposal’s framework for oversight and transparency.

If OIP-9 passes, Orbs said the DAO structure would help support the next phase of its roadmap, including the proposed Season 1 tokenomics. The immediate confirmed step is the community vote itself, which will determine whether the DAO is formally created and whether this first governance framework takes effect.

Source: TheNewsCrypto