What is the Storex Governance Council?
The Storex Governance Council is the decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) by which the Storex ecosystem is directed both politically and economically. Decisions taken by the council will affect the direction of the Storex project via democratic vote, thus filtering out potential bias from centralised sources.
The Governance Council is made up of 50 members (45 elected members & 5 permanent members), each putting forward 500,000 STRX tokens for their seat. Besides critical decisions relating to the confluence of the project, the council will have jurisdiction over the following matters:
- Exclusion of bad-acting arbitrators
- Resolving voting gridlocks
- Adjusting interest rates
- Adjusting platform fees
- Consulting the Storex team regarding progression and development
- Adjusting the entry fee for councillors and arbitrators
- Staking pool longevity
- Removing listings from the blockchain
- Changing supported payment methods
- Amending STRX tokenomics
Further duties of members will be illustrated at its establishment, as well as the methods of convening of the council for statements and debate.
Why will Storex have a Governance Council?
The team decided at the founding of the project that a centralised e-commerce model will not be an effective or competitive business framework, given the likeness of existing projects in the fiat ecosystem. With conflicting information from multiple sources, it can become daunting to place a ‘line of best fit’ to satiate every community desire, especially given the inefficiency of a massive amount of information flowing to one centralised entity. In addition, with a small team, it is unfeasible to coordinate with a large pool of interested members. What is needed is a community-elected panel to represent the needs and wants of the public in a concise and documented format, which could remain unbiased and untainted from preferential treatment. This panel will deliberate with the team to work symbiotically on the project.
The Storex Governance Council differs from others whereby election of council members is neither dictated nor controlled by the Storex team. The community elects for their own representation and, by extension, votes for their preferences. While Storex team members also hold seats on the council, unitary voting is intentionally far outweighed by elective seats to clear any doubt or accusation.
The Governance Council acts as the community voice as development and growth continues, as well as handling community matters that either cannot be handled by the arbitration pool, or matters which require a more representative democracy than the team can project. In addition to governance, having a decentralised decision-making entity grants a genuine response to claims made on the marketplace. Should the arbitrage pool come into disrepute over a decision, a review may take place by the Storex Governance Council to settle the matter with finality.
Why is there an entry fee?
The Governance Council should comprise of active members of the community who show a degree of seriousness in their role. By introducing a fairly substantial entry fee, potential bad-actors are discouraged from participating in governance due to the financial requirement. Admittance to the Governance Council does not guarantee permanence: faithless participation may lead to a vote of removal by the other Governance Council members. With a semi-plutocratic approach, accountability is maintained via fee forfeiture, with deducted fees being distributed to the community rather than being held in governance reserves, in order to mitigate abuse of power.
How do I join the Governance Council?
Entry to the Governance Council is attained by public election. Members who fulfil the entry criteria below are entered into a candidacy pool, from which 45 members are to be elected, alongside the 5 permanent members. The criteria for entry to the candidacy pool are as follows:
- Locking 500,000 STRX
- Verified account via Proton KYC
- Account age is at least 6 months old
- Not blacklisted from Governance Council
- Not cooled down from rejoining Governance Council
If all prerequisites are met, you may submit your candidacy via the portal on the Storex website. On accumulating enough votes, you may succeed and acquire a seat on the Governance Council providing there is a vacancy. As previously mentioned, Governance members are the political protectorates of the Storex ecosystem, and are expected to act for its preservation and wellbeing.
Once a candidate receives enough votes for a position on the Governance Council, the elected Council member may hold the seat for: 180 days, until their resignation, or until their removal by supermajority vote. The holder is not bound to this fixed term, and may resign and withdraw their locked tokens at no cost. At the end of their tenure, the council member can choose to candidate for another seat on the Governance Council.
What is a Permanent Member?
Select founding Storex team members will have a permanent seat on the Governance Council. These seats will not become vacant after 180 days, and will continue to be held by the team member until their resignation or removal. The founders hold the project’s success in high regard and represent a core driving force of this success. As such, these members hold a permanent role on the council. On resignation or removal, the permanence of the seat is dissolved, allowing an elected member to ascend. This process is irreversible, and permanent seats cannot be reinstated or created. Should the permanent member wish to rejoin, they must do so under the terms of an elected seat.
The entry fee applies to both elected and permanent members, and is subject to forfeiture in the event of removal from the council for misconduct.
How will the Governance Council be introduced into the ecosystem?
Establishing an empty council with no experience is a rather quick way to capitulate any attempt at order and longevity. Instead, the Governance Council will be soft-launched, with the Storex team slowly handing control over to the Governance Council in stages. This staggered approach softens the slope of the learning curve required, as well as allowing time for members to navigate the duties of the Governance Council and for a pool of learned members to gradually grow. Too little and the Governance Council may become inactive after a short period; too much will bring disarray and chaos from an inexperienced panel.
The Storex team aims to hand over majority control of matters to the Governance Council over a six-month period. The particulars of these rollout stages will be published closer to release following a successful beta in the coming months.
What can I do before the marketplace is launched?
For now, elections for the council are not live. Regular community members may get involved in governance discussions using the dedicated Storex Governance channel, administered by the Storex team, the link to which may be found below. This channel can be used to communicate to the Governance Council directly, as well as discuss proposals and actions with other members. This channel will be active before and after the launch of the marketplace to allow a common space to share ideas and concerns.
Before the launch of the Governance Council, perhaps take a moment to note what features, components and pathways you wish to see implemented by the Storex project, as well as the ideal candidate to represent your interests. After all, you have the power to shape and change our future.
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For updates, you can follow our linked social media, and join our Telegram channel to speak directly to the team, and share and discuss with the community your ideas and opinions on the Arbitration Panel.
Website: https://storex.io
Main Telegram: https://t.me/storexio
Governance Telegram: https://t.me/storexgovernance
Twitter: https://twitter.com/storex_
