👨‍🔬 Governance Lab #101

Lab Report #101 - Arbitrum's OpCo Foundation Capability Updates, Safe's Transaction Service Decentralization Proposal, Compound's Voting Service Provider RFP, and more

Jun 05, 2025

gm frens 👋

welcome back to the Governance Lab, your weekly source for all things StableLab, DeFi, and DAO Governance.

At a Glance 👀
🔵 Arbitrum OpCo proposes significant operational capability updates
✅ Compound DAO launches formal RFP process for Voting Service Provider
🔒 SafeDAO discusses decentralizing transaction service infrastructure

Let’s dive in 🏊

Arbitrum Governance

Arbitrum OpCo proposes operational capability updates

Arbitrum's OpCo has proposed significant operational updates to address six critical restrictions that may hinder effectiveness, seeking expanded authority for service provider contracts, discretionary treasury spending, and flexible compensation structures.
The OpCo, which received 30M ARB allocation with Patrick McCorry, A.J. Warner, and Frisson as council members, argues current limitations prevent proactive initiative development and talent attraction. Key changes include granting contract authority for any mandate-related matters, allowing excess capital for discretionary use with OAT oversight, and converting the 4M ARB bonus pool into flexible compensation supporting token vesting.
Community response has been polarized, with critics viewing the changes as mission creep beyond the original ministerial role, while supporters emphasize operational flexibility needs. A Snapshot vote is scheduled for June 12th, 2025.

Safe Governance

SafeDAO discusses decentralized transaction service proposal to create sustainable SAFE token revenue model

Dennison Bertram, CEO of Tally, has proposed creating a decentralized transaction relay system to tackle two key problems: the SAFE token's limited value beyond governance and the centralization risks in Safe's current transaction setup.
The proposal would charge small transaction fees to reward SAFE token holders while removing single points of failure. Currently, Safe's centralized service holds pending transactions during multisig collection, which creates opportunities for MEV exploitation.
Building this system would require developing a decentralized relayer network with fee routing contracts that distribute staking rewards to SAFE holders. However, critics are questioning whether the added complexity justifies the potential benefits.

Compound Governance

Compound DAO launches RFP process for Voting Service Provider selection

The Compound Governance Working Group has launched a formal RFP process to select a Voting Service Provider through Q2 2026, addressing the need to formalize relationships with governance interface providers like Tally while giving delegates platform optionality based on features and costs.
The June 4-11 RFP requires vendors to detail platform functionality, security assessments, and commercial terms, with selection occurring through Snapshot vote followed by on-chain budget approval. The chosen VSP must maintain 99.9% uptime with quarterly KPI reporting and clear offboarding procedures to ensure DAO data portability and governance continuity.

Proposal Tracker™️

💬 DISCUSSION | Morpho DAO - Katana Coincentives

Summary: This proposal creates a partnership between Morpho DAO and Katana Network (an Ethereum L2) to boost growth through shared incentives. Katana will automatically deposit bridged assets (USDC, USDT, wBTC, WETH) into Morpho's lending protocol to earn yield, with users able to opt out. Katana commits 22% of generated yield plus 2.2% of its token supply over two years to incentivize users. In return, Morpho will allocate 5M MORPHO tokens for Katana users, providing roughly 0.25% APR on bridged deposits. Half goes to Katana users, half supports ecosystem growth like DEX liquidity. Both protocols benefit from increased deposits and cross-chain expansion.

💬 DISCUSSION | Rari DAO - Fund Phase 1 of RARI Staking Rewards (25,000 RARI)

Summary: This proposal requests treasury approval to fund Phase 1 of Rari Chain's governance staking program, seeking authorization for the staking rewards distributor contract to spend up to 25,000 RARI tokens via ERC-20 approve() function. Building on the foundation established by previously approved RRC-34 and RRC-43, this four-month Phase 1 targets an attractive 25% annualized APR based on conservative projections of 300,000 RARI migration and delegation to Rari Chain.

From the Lab

Podcast - Spark: Building the Onchain Capital Allocation Engine

On the latest StablePod episode, we're joined by Lucas Manuel, Head of Smart Contracts at Phoenix Labs, builders of Spark. We dive into how Spark is evolving into a capital allocation engine for DeFi, the role of Sky Stars in shaping governance and mitigating risk, and why adversarial design is key to resilient protocol architecture. Lucas also shares insights on smart contract design patterns, risk management frameworks, and the future of programmable finance.

▶︎ 📺 Watch on YouTube
▶︎ 🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple

Blog - An Onchain Roles Exploration with Nick Naraghi

We're continuing our Interview Series—a collection of sessions with industry leaders sharing one big idea with our team. For Session 004, we explore onchain roles and governance structures with Nick Naraghi, Cofounder of Hats Protocol. He shares insights on how DAOs are professionalizing their operations through specialized roles, the importance of clear accountability frameworks, and how onchain governance can balance decentralization with effective execution.

▶︎ READ the blog post