Share this article

VeChain is launching a decentralized voting platform, providing additional governance perks to VET holders.

The VeChain Foundation, a non-profit organization that oversees the development of VeChain, announced the launch of a decentralized voting platform for VET token holders. VeChain’s Steering Committee will put the platform to the test on Dec. 6 when they can approve or reject several amendments to the VeChain Governance Model.

Harnessing Decentralized Governance

Managing a decentralized community of entrepreneurs, developers, founders, and token holders has been one of the most difficult tasks for the crypto community. But, according to VeChain, this is more of a social problem rather than a technical one.

The ability to quickly adapt is critical for the success of any startup. Traditionally, this has been relatively easy. A CEO and a small number of employees can quickly arrive at a consensus for defining progress. In the world of crypto — where transparency, decentralization, and the absence of hierarchies are emphasized — reaching an agreement is much more difficult.

In a response to this new dynamic, various projects have adopted voting procedures. Decred is a well-known example of this adoption. Its combined proof-of-work and proof-of-stake model offers the computing security of PoW, but still gives members of the community a say as to how the protocol is operating via the staking of DCR tokens.

In a similar move, VeChain looks to integrate a voting platform called VeVote through which its community can view incoming changes to the VeChain ecosystem. The VeChain Foundation writes:

“The VeVote platform provides an immutable, transparent and decentralized platform for stakeholders to cast their votes on important decisions based on their voting authority. The voting is done via VeVote smart contracts and the result will be recorded on the VeChainThor blockchain.”

The VeChainThor blockchain is a blockchain-as-a-service solution focused primarily on improving supply chains and the Internet of Things (IoT). DNV GL partnered with VeChain in July 2019 with the intent of leveraging the technology to improve VeChain’s quality assurance services.

The four points pending a vote on Dec. 6 make up proposed revisions to the original VeChain Foundation Governance Charter.

The first round of votes planned for storage on the VeChainThor blockchain include redefining the categories that enjoy voting authority, determining which subjects demand an all stakeholders’ vote, adjusting the voting authority model based on amended categories, and simplifying the voting procedure overall.

The current categories of stakeholders with voting authority are Authority Masternodes, Economic X Nodes, and Economic Nodes . Each category corresponds to the number of held VET tokens. Authority Masternodes, for instance, must hold at least 25 million VET tokens for consideration.

More detailed information into the voting mechanism can be found in VeChain Foundation’s Governance Charter.

Only members of the Steering Committee, akin to board members of a traditional company elected by VET holders, are able to vote on the above changes. Each member will have until Dec. 13 to cast their votes. More importantly, this will be the inaugural vote cast on the VeVote platform. If approved, the adjustments will be included in the VeChain whitepaper 2.0.

Although tomorrow’s vote is only open to members of the Steering Committee, other stakeholders will be able to participate in all votes in the future. Regardless of a voter’s status, they will be able to follow and review all voting activity through VeVote.

To do so, token holders need only download Sync, the official desktop wallet for VeChain.

Examining the launch of VeVote is indicative of a fundamental shift between how Web 3 startups operate. It recognizes that token holders, like shareholders of the businesses, are critical to the health of a decentralized network.

It still appears, however, that few blockchain companies have perfected this new, decentralized arrangement. Keeping a close eye on the VeChain community in the coming days will certainly offer more insight.