Optimist Expectations
Optimists (all delegates, Citizens, and grant recipients) are expected to abide by the below expectations.
If a delegate does not abide by these expectations, their delegators should consider re-delegating to a delegate who does abide by them. You can see how to delegate, and redelegate, your tokens here 14 .
Ultimately, enforcement of Citizen expectations will occur in the Citizenship Criteria. In the meantime, Citizen expectations will be socially enforced and incorporated into incentive and voting design. As these mechanisms are developed over time, the Foundation may still play a temporary role in enforcement mechanisms (such as badge removal). The ability of the Foundation to implement any enforcement actions will be specified at the start of each round, and linked under the Self-Dealing section below, given the unique considerations of distinct round designs.
These expectations will not cover all possible scenarios and edge cases. We ask that Optimists please act in accordance with the spirit of these Expectations and refrain from exploiting loopholes that may exist.
While you may alert delegators to violation of these expectations, anyone using Optimism community spaces is subject to the Rules of Engagement 6 .
Values Alignment
All Optimists should uphold the Collective Values
No Self-Dealing
Optimists must avoid conflicts of interest where possible and mitigate their impact when not possible. We recommend over-communicating and disclosing potential conflicts of interest even when they do not warrant abstaining from a vote.
Any actual or reasonably anticipated conflicts of interest must be disclosed in writing and prominently displayed ahead of any voting (i.e. when submitting delegate commitments, when approving proposal drafts, when running for an elected position, when making public recommendations, when voting in Rounds etc.).
Optimists are prohibited from approving and voting on their own proposals.
Delegates may not vote solely for their own candidacy in an election. In the case of approval/ranked choice elections, delegates may vote for themselves, so long as they also cast votes for the remaining elected positions
Example: I can vote for my own candidacy on the Growth Experiments committee, so long as I also cast 4 additional votes (a total of 5 votes, as there are 5 open positions on the sub-committee.)
Badgeholders must not vote for organizations where they expect any portion of funds to flow to them or any projects from which they derive income.
Inclusivity
Debate and disagreement can be healthy and assist in the growth of the Collective. However, Optimists should be respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences and show empathy towards community members.
Optimist communications relating to their role in the Collective should be transparent and public. Communication in public is favored over DMs/private communication, whenever possible.
Extreme Civility
Optimists should not make personal attacks on the opinions or merits of proposal authors or any other party engaging in governance activity. Optimists should not make unsubstantiated claims to advocate for or against any proposal or proposal author. Optimists may make inquiries to proposal authors to validate or collect information. We encourage the use of designated channels and spaces for feedback, minimizing social media or public spaces to host conversations that can damage the goodwill of the Collective. Reporting grant misusage is permitted and the process to do so is defined here (details coming soon!)
Optimists should provide constructive feedback supported by high quality and well researched arguments.
Good Faith and Best Interest
Optimists should operate in a way and vote in accordance with what they believe is in the best interests of the Optimism Collective.
Due Care and Attention
Optimists should maintain a working knowledge of developments at Optimism and in the wider cryptocurrency space.
Optimists should make a professional review, minimizing bias, of each proposal prior to voting. Delegates that are unable to review proposals should abstain from voting.
Optimists are encouraged to maximize their voting participation rate, to the best of their ability.
Optimists are encouraged to shape the development of Optimism’s governance structure by providing constructive feedback during Reflection Periods.
Attribution
Maker’s Recognized Delegate Code of Conduct 5
Friends with Benefits’ Code of Conduct 4
Python’s Discord Code of Conduct 1
Gitcoin’s Code of Conduct
Radicle’s Code of Conduct 1
