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Authored by Josh O'Sullivan via CoinTelegraph.com,

Galaxy Digital has released a report showing that Ethereum’s decentralized governance is steered by off-chain voting rather than on-chain Ether (ETH) holder voting.

Christine Kim, vice president of Galaxy Digital’s research team, released the report on June 3. It reveals multiple stakeholders who hold the keys to Ethereum’s governance.

Speaking with Cointelegraph on the risks of not having direct on-chain voting by ETH holders, Kim said:

According to the report, the groups collaborating on the off-chain processes include client teams, validator node operators, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) and decentralized application (DApp) developers."

Client teams and validator node operators

According to the report, client teams are central to decision-making, proposals, discussion and implementation of changes through Ethereum Improvement Proposals.

Validator node operators were also highlighted by the report as they have “the agency to implement or reject code changes” made to the Ethereum network — essentially voting by choosing which software version to run.

Although the EF’s direct influence has waned over time, it still supports the development efforts on Ethereum as its “earliest and most prominent […] nonprofit organization.”

DApp devs, forums and communities

Kim’s report also revealed that DApp developers influence certain features and upgrades based on user needs.

According to the report, off-chain governance discussions are also carried out across forums, facilitating stakeholder consensus-building.

On the topic of whether Kim believes Ethereum’s off-chain governance model remains transparent and inclusive for all community members, she told Cointelegraph:

Off-chain or on-chain?

Discussing which is the less evil of the two, off-chain or on-chain, Kim told Cointelegraph: 

The report also emphasizes the reasoning behind Ethereum’s preference for off-chain governance over on-chain voting due to the risk of large Ether holders exerting heavier influence.

The off-chain approach prevents centralization and maintains nuanced decision-making despite being “difficult to audit and objectively evaluate."