Notes on Zcon0 Keynote Panel: Cryptocurrency Governance

I've tidied up the notes that I scribbled down while watching the great Zcon0 keynote panel, and I think they're worth a share.

For me personally, Vitalik stole the stage, but the other panelists Zooko, Jameson Lopp and Jill Carlson, not to mention Peter Van Valkenburgh (the moderator) all shared some great thoughts.

You can check out the talk [here].

And here are my notes:

• Decision (Change) Function Theory of governance - top down, bureaucratic, corporate (it's better if there is a precise process that as much as is possible is a function that has to have some outcome).
• Coordination view of governance - for any potential set of arbitrary choices 'a' and 'b' (e.g. protocol changes) depending on what 'a' or 'b' might be 'a' may be "better" than 'b' or 'b' may be "better" than 'a', but the group will be better off if they all choose either 'a' or 'b' instead of being split between both and/or not doing anything.
• Many equilibria within the 'coordination games' that get played benefit from coordination (e.g. see 'a' vs 'b' protocol change above).
• Within coordination games you get these equilibria where if there are an arbitrary set of norms and expectations - that can be precise or imprecise - for how people arrive at decisions (e.g. tend towards picking 'a' or 'b' protocol change) it makes sense for any one person to follow, or a sort of pressure to conform is in play, which in turn leads to those norms becoming stickier over time.
• The real subject of blockchain governance ends up being what all those 'coordination flags' end up being "stuck" over time.
• There is strong demand for governance rules that can avoid the need for large bureaucracies. 
• Within coordination games, you have many individuals making individual decisions, but because of the underlying architecture/design of what we're making decisions about, there's a strong incentive to align around a common decision.
• We need to design protocols in a way to prevent opportunities for super-linear resource allocation (e.g. someone with 2x more of money/token they are able to return 2.1x return).