Arbitrum Foundation Revamps Governance with New Improvement Proposals

Background of Governance Challenges

The Arbitrum Foundation recently found itself in hot water after its initial governance proposal, labeled AIP-1, didn’t exactly win the hearts of the community. In fact, the backlash was strong enough to send the foundation into damage control mode faster than a swiping left on a bad Tinder date. The resistance to AIP-1 stemmed from tokenholders’ concerns over the proposal’s scope and the audacious idea of granting the foundation approximately $1 billion worth of ARB tokens!

The New AIPs: A Response to Community Concerns

On April 5, in a bid to redeem itself, the Arbitrum Foundation unveiled a set of new propositions—AIP-1.1 and AIP-1.2. AIP-1.1 addresses the nitty-gritty of smart contract lockup schedules, budget allocations, and the all-important need for transparency. Meanwhile, AIP-1.2 seeks to make governance more inclusive by lowering the proposal threshold from 5 million to 1 million ARB tokens. And you thought your voting rights at the local council meeting were small!

Community Engagement: Feedback is a Two-Way Street

The foundation is keen on showing that it has heard the people (and not just the loudest few). Following the disapproval of AIP-1, it announced its commitment to incorporate community feedback into the new proposals. This kind of open dialogue is what we like to see! The AIPs are posted in the Arbitrum community forum and are open for feedback for a minimum of 72 hours—sort of like commenting on a friend’s new haircut before the awkward second date.

Transparency: A New Era for Arbitrum?

In its efforts to win back trust, the Arbitrum Foundation released a transparency report detailing what went down (or should we say, what didn’t go down) during the turmoil. They assured the community that no control would be taken over the remaining 700 million tokens until a mutually acceptable budget and smart contract lockup schedule have been green-lit by the DAO. Nobody wants a repeat of that mess!

The Market Reaction: Token Price Woes

Following all the drama, it comes as no surprise that ARB’s price has taken a 4% tumble, landing at around $1.22. This drop follows a massive 86% decline since its peak of over $8.50 just a few weeks ago—talk about a rollercoaster ride! It appears that the ARB market is as bored with governance drama as we are, but with the two new AIPs, things may just turn around.