Chain Fusion Governance Module (CGM) for DAOs on Q

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Project highlights

DAOs on Q can now use Chain Fusion to operate across chains, starting with the management of cross-chain treasuries. CGM augmented treasuries can live on ICP or on any EVM chain like Ethereum or L2’s like Arbitrum, Polygon, Base and Optimism. Furthermore, the CGM can be modified to govern any other smart contract or canister. An expansion to non-EVM chains, including Bitcoin is possible. More information can be found in the docs
(docs.q-dao.tools/category/chain-fusion-governance-modules-cgm).

You can see a Demo of the CGM here:
(youtube.com/watch?v=JnAb-dNXh4Q&t=1s):

Web3 advantages

The core advantages of using Web3 for governance have been discussed at length and mainly lie in the transparency and immutability of decisions and the possibility to clearly define permissions. Without Chain Fusion and the CGM, DAOs that want to be active on multiple networks have to deploy isolated elements of their structure and coordinate through ‘traditional’ Web2 channels when making decisions. This makes them vulnerable to social attacks and corruption. The clear advantage of using a Web3 solution like Chain Fusion is the continuation of Web3 native organizations across technical borders and thereby the protection of core values like transparency and immutability.

How is it built

  • The canisters were built using the Rust programming language
    • The ethers-core and ic-web3 crates were used for interacting with EVM chains, along with the icrc-ledger-types crate for ICP
    • The following crates were used in general for building the canisters: candid, ic-cdk, ic-stable-memory, and ic-stable-structures
    • To reduce code duplication and support development, the following utility crates were also used: hex, sha2, crc32fast, and to calculate the account identifier in ICP: serde, and num-traits
  • The architecture of the canisters was inspired by bridging logic, where ICP canisters with the required redundancy can “listen” (to be more accurate: pull the message) on the home chain (in our case Q) and then perform actions based on the messages received
    • The idea is straightforward: the system reads the message, marks it as executed, and then executes it on the target chain
    • The main complexity lies in properly integrating the canister with the ICP and EVM chains
  • Rust Rover was used as an IDE to support the development process

For a detailed write-down of the project architecture and a description of canister functions, please refer to the documentation: (docs.q-dao.tools/advanced-features/cgm-documentation/cgm-architecture).

Internet Computer superpowers

Chain Fusion is an efficient, simple, yet customizable method to communicate across chains by using ICP. Compared to other cross-chain messaging solutions, Chain Fusion does not require any infrastructure to be deployed. Instead it utilizes RPC Endpoints and the existing Validator Network on each involved chain. In addition, no complex bridging logic needs to be implemented for relaying transactions. DAO users and developers benefit from this when setting up DAO modules for cross-chain governance.

Go-To-Market strategy

While anyone can already use the CGM today, the proactive roll out and communication will be connected to Q’s DAO onboarding processes. Multiple initiatives shall work in harmony:

  • Dedicated communication of the CGM on Q’s channels like X/Twitter and through press releases.
  • Raising awareness for the CGM in the onboarding process with individual DAOs in Q’s network
  • Continuously expanding the documenting of the CGM and references in communication for self discovery

Monetization

The CGM is free to use and does not require any payment or subscription. It is, however, complementary to added Governance Services on Q which allow DAOs to implement external impartial oversight on treasury proposals and enforce their DAO Constitution. These Governance services are optional and allow enforcing intent by going beyond the restrictions of pure code, into the realm of contractual agreements. Like ICP is supports decentralization by bringing Web2 capabilities into Web3, Q brings the flexibility of legal contracts to smart contracts.

Status of the project

The core DAO modules of the CGM, consisting of canisters and smart contracts, have been finalized and are ready to use. The CGM has not yet been added as a standard option in the DAO creation process and currently requires either manual support or good technical understanding to set up.
For an improved user experience, the execution of CGM proposals on the ICP canister has been included into the DAO Dashboard at hq.q-da.tools.

Resources

  • Q DAO Factory (for DAO creation): (factory.q-dao.tools/)
  • CGM Documentation: (docs.q-dao.tools/category/chain-fusion-governance-modules-cgm)
  • CGM GitLab Repository: (gitlab.com/q-dev/q-gdk/icp-receiver-core)

Q Socials

  • X/Twitter: @qblockchain (x.com/QBlockchain)
  • Discord (discord.com/invite/YTgkvJvZGD)

Future Plans

The application of a CGM treasury management is only the beginning! Beyond the rollout of the CGM to DAOs, multiple initiatives are planned to improve governance in Web3 through Chain Fusion. The points below are a first start. We are happy for ideas and suggestions:

  • Improve accessibility for deploying a CGM to a DAO:
    • Provide and document a Command Line Interface (CLI) tool for deployment.
    • Add the CGM as a default option in the DAO Factory.
    • Provide a helper UI for adding a CGM to an existing DAO.
  • Increase the scope of CGM capabilities:
    • Expand from treasuries to other canisters, allowing any function calls and parameter management to be governed cross-chain.
    • Expand to other networks via Chain Fusion (bitcoin and web2).
  • Provide blueprints and modules for the utilization of Q Governance Services to DAOs and Projects native on ICP.
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