what is on chain governance 
on chain governance is a system for managing and implementing changes to cryptocurrency blockchains in this type of governance voting systems for instituting changes are programmed into the blockchain developers propose changes and each stakeholder votes on whether to accept or reject the proposed change blockchain stakeholders might be developers validators token holders or anyone else the blockchain is designed to include understanding on chain governanceon chain governance systems are programmed to allow certain participants to vote on changes these changes are usually submitted via whatever method the project uses it might be github discord slack or an online forum the blockchain network usually sends out voting requests through user wallets or other interfaces participants cast their votes and the system records and tallies the results each blockchain is different in its voting process the design can dictate factors like how many votes are needed for the proposal to pass which of the voters get to vote the weight each vote receives and even if voters receive a reward for voting the project then moves forward in the direction the voters decide on if the change is voted for it is included in the blockchain which then forks when the developers implement it if the proposal fails the blockchain continues operating as it was while anyone can propose changes for a community governed and open source blockchain it s usually a core group of developers proposing changes because they are the ones who understand how the program is written and what needs to be done voting usually involves stakeholders who meet the blockchain s voting criteria generally these stakeholders own tokens that grant them voting rights blockchains are not yet at a stage where forks are automatic after voters accept a proposal people still need to program bug test and release the new code network participants must also load the new version onto their machines the only thing that is automated currently by blockchains is the voting process types of on chain governanceimplementation of on chain governance differs between various blockchains for example tezos uses what it calls a self amending ledger community approved changes are implemented to a test net version of the coin s blockchain as soon as a version is ready if the planned changes are successful they are finalized into a production version of the blockchain published on its main net if not the test net blockchain is rolled back with no changes to the main blockchain 1future of on chain governanceon chain governance emerged as an inclusive approach to blockchain technology in which all participants can share the benefits as the blockchain community and their networks look to improve scalability speed and uses these systems are likely to continue gaining popularity on chain governance will likely center around enhancing transparency and trust in blockchains decentralized autonomous organizations daos use this type of blockchain governance it can be incorporated into enterprise decision making and legislative voting processes the primary challenge faced by on chain governance developers participants or any other interested party is its eventual centralization wherever and whenever possible certain types of people or entities always find a way to exploit systems created for fairness and equality for their own benefit on chain governed blockchains are likely to be no different in this regard advantages of on chain governancesome of the advantages of on chain governance are as follows changes to a blockchain are not routed through a core development community which evaluates its merits and demerits instead each voter has a say in proposed changes and can read about or discuss its benefits and drawbacks it is decentralized because it relies on the community for collective decision making informal governance systems require time and effort between stakeholders to reach an agreement on a project s direction on chain governance records and tallies votes on proposed changes in much less time once voting is concluded developers are obligated to follow the results programming begins or stops changes are tested if needed and all node operators must follow the decision if they want to remain part of the updated or unchanged network operators participants and developers who choose not to follow the vote s results end up using a version not supported by the community and their version of the blockchain and network becomes a fork disadvantages of on chain governancewhile there are many reasons to like on chain governance systems there are just as many to dislike here are a few similar to real world elections low voter turnout is a problem for on chain governed blockchains low voter turnout creates other issues usually it is a core group of people voting which results in a centralized group that decides the future of the blockchain thus the effort to decentralize decision making is wasted voters with more tokens sometimes have more votes this means that users with more stakes can take control of the voting process and steer development in their desired direction more importantly it skews the dynamic away from developers network participants and the community towards investors who are likely to hold more tokens their interests usually focus on maximizing future profits instead of innovating for the blockchain s future 