Moats Governance

Moats Governance is an on chain governance layer built on top of the Moats Protocol. Rather than using token balances to determine voting power, governance is based on Moat Points, a reputation metric earned through meaningful participation within a project's ecosystem.

This approach rewards contribution over capital accumulation and helps prevent governance capture by large token holders.

On chain governance powered by Moat Points. Built for protocols that want decentralized, community led decision making.

Key Features

• Create and manage governance proposals

• Community driven protocol decisions

• Voting power based on Moat Points

• Multiple voting methods

• Multi project governance deployments

• Gasless voting through wallet signatures

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Core Concepts

Projects

A Project represents a verified protocol or organization within the Moats ecosystem.

Each Project contains:

• Name and description

• Contract address

• Governance proposals

• Moat Points leaderboard

Projects are automatically synchronized once verified within the Moats Protocol.

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Moat Points

Moat Points are non transferable reputation scores earned through participation in a project's ecosystem.

Moat Points:

• Cannot be bought

• Cannot be sold

• Cannot be transferred

• Are calculated from on chain activity

• Are unique to each project

Voting power is equal to a wallet's Moat Points balance at the time of voting.

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Proposals

A Proposal is a formal governance request submitted for community voting.

Each proposal includes:

• Title

• Description

• Voting method

• Quorum settings

• Voting window

• Custom options

• Status

Proposal statuses progress through:

Pending → Active → Passed / Failed

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Votes

Votes are signed wallet messages that express a preference on a proposal.

All votes are:

• Off chain

• Gasless

• Signature verified

• Weighted by Moat Points

• Final once submitted

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Admins

Admins are wallets authorized to manage governance for a specific project.

Admins can:

• Create proposals

• Edit proposals

• Cancel proposals

Admin permissions are isolated to individual projects.

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Governance Flow

Protocol Becomes Verified
          ↓
Project Created
          ↓
Proposal Created
          ↓
Community Votes
          ↓
Quorum Evaluated
          ↓
Passed or Failed
          ↓
Community Executes Outcome

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Proposals

Creating a Proposal

Project admins can create proposals by:

1. Selecting a project

2. Writing a title and description

3. Choosing a voting method

4. Configuring quorum requirements

5. Defining proposal options

6. Setting start and end dates

Best Practices

• Minimum voting window: 72 hours

• Recommended voting window for major decisions: 7 days

• Announce proposals before voting begins

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Editing Proposals

Proposals can only be edited while in a pending state.

Once voting has started and votes exist, proposals should not be modified.

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Cancelling Proposals

Admins may cancel proposals at any time.

Cancelled proposals remain visible for transparency but can no longer accept votes.

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Voting

Moats Governance supports multiple voting systems.

Basic Voting

Simple three option voting.

FOR      Support the proposal
AGAINST  Oppose the proposal
ABSTAIN  No position

Ideal for:

• Protocol upgrades

• Funding approvals

• Policy changes

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Single Choice Voting

Participants select one option from a custom list.

Common use cases:

• Elections

• Partner selection

• Roadmap choices

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Weighted Voting

Participants distribute 100% of their voting power across multiple options.

Example:

Infrastructure  50%
Grants          30%
Marketing       20%

Each allocation is weighted by the voter's Moat Points balance.

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Approval Voting

Voters may select multiple acceptable options.

Each selected option receives the voter's full voting weight.

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Ranked Choice Voting

Participants rank options in order of preference.

The lowest ranked option is eliminated each round until a majority winner emerges.

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Quadratic Voting

Quadratic voting reduces the influence of the largest point holders while amplifying smaller community participants.

Designed to improve fairness and signal quality.

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Wallet Signatures

Every vote requires a wallet signature.

Benefits:

• No gas fees

• No blockchain transaction required

• Verifiable ownership

• Replay protection

• Proposal specific validation

Example Signature

Moats Governance

Confirm vote "FOR" on proposal #42

Wallet: 0x...
Timestamp: 2025-06-22T14:30:00Z

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Voting Rules

Rule	Description
One Vote Per Wallet	Each wallet may vote once
Final Votes	Votes cannot be changed
Voting Window	Votes accepted only during active periods
Signature Required	All votes require wallet verification
Weighted Allocations	Must total exactly 100%

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Quorum

Quorum is the minimum participation threshold required for a proposal to be considered valid.

If quorum is not reached, the proposal automatically fails regardless of vote distribution.

Supported Quorum Types

Type	Description
Participation	All votes count
Approval	Only FOR votes count
FOR + ABSTAIN	FOR and ABSTAIN count
Percentage	Percentage of total voting power
Fixed Token	Fixed Moat Point requirement
Dual	Participation and approval thresholds
Veto	Passes unless opposition threshold is reached
Dynamic	Adjusts based on historical participation
Time Weighted	Requirement decreases over time
Tiered	Thresholds vary by proposal type
Security	Highest threshold for critical actions

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Moat Points & Voting Power

How Voting Power Works

When a vote is cast, the system checks the wallet's Moat Points balance and uses it as voting weight.

Example

Wallet A = 5,000 Voting Power
Wallet B =   800 Voting Power
Wallet C =    50 Voting Power

Common Inputs

Moat Points may consider:

• Transaction activity

• Transaction volume

• Liquidity provision

• Smart contract interactions

• Duration of participation

• Protocol specific contribution metrics

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Roles & Permissions

Role	Permissions
Community Member	View proposals and vote
Admin	Create, edit, and cancel project proposals
Owner	Manage admins across all projects

Permission Isolation

Admins only control the projects they are assigned to.

An admin of one project has no elevated permissions within another project.

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Proposal Lifecycle

Create
  ↓
Pending
  ↓
Start Date
  ↓
Active
  ↓
End Date
  ↓
Quorum Check
  ↓
Passed / Failed

Or

Cancelled

Proposal States

State	Voting	Editable
Pending	Closed	Yes
Active	Open	No
Passed	Closed	No
Failed	Closed	No
Cancelled	Closed	No

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SDK Integration

Fetch Active Proposals

const proposals = await sdk.proposals.list({
  status: "active",
  projectId: 1
});

Check Voting Power

const power = await sdk.votes.votingPower(
  proposalId,
  userWallet
);

Cast a Vote

await sdk.votes.castBasicVote(
  proposalId,
  "for",
  userWallet,
  signer
);

Cast a Weighted Vote

await sdk.votes.castWeightedVote(
  proposalId,
  {
    Infrastructure: 50,
    Grants: 30,
    Marketing: 20
  },
  userWallet,
  signer
);

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Glossary

Term	Definition
Moat	Verified protocol or organization
Moat Points	Non transferable reputation score
Proposal	Governance decision submitted for voting
Quorum	Minimum participation threshold
Basic Vote	FOR, AGAINST, ABSTAIN voting
Weighted Vote	Percentage based allocation voting
Voting Power	Wallet's Moat Points balance
Signature	Wallet proof used to verify votes
Admin	Proposal manager
Owner	Governance deployment administrator
Pending	Proposal not yet active
Active	Voting window open
Passed	Successful proposal
Failed	Unsuccessful proposal
Cancelled	Proposal removed from voting
Off Chain	No blockchain transaction required

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Moats Governance enables decentralized decision making through earned influence, not purchased influence.