- ERC-20 token: An ERC20 token is a blockchain-based asset with similar functionality to bitcoin, ether, and bitcoin cash: it can hold value and be sent and received. The major difference between ERC20 tokens and other cryptocurrencies is that ERC20 tokens are created and hosted on the Ethereum blockchain, whereas bitcoin and bitcoin cash are the native currencies of their respective blockchains. ERC20 tokens are stored and sent using ethereum addresses and transactions, and use gas to cover transaction fees.
- BTRST: An ERC-20 token that designates the weight of a user’s voting rights. The more BTRST tokens a user has in their wallet, the more weight their delegation or vote on a proposal holds.
- On-chain: A transaction that occurs fully on the blockchain, i.e. on-the-chain as its name indicates. It is considered valid when the blockchain is modified to reflect the transaction on the public ledger. It involves the transaction being validated and authenticated by a suitable number of participants, recording of the details of the transaction on the suitable block, and broadcasting of the necessary information to the whole blockchain network, which makes it irreversible.
- Off-chain: An action or transaction that occurs outside of the blockchain, i.e. off-the-chain as its name indicates.
- Proposal: In the off-chain world (which is the initial phases of the beta testing program), a proposal is an idea to improve Braintrust that someone proposes and asks the community to vote on to express their opinion. This can be around product/feature ideas. In the on-chain world (which is in later phases of the beta testing program), a proposal is executable code that modifies the governance contract and how it works. In order to create a proposal on-chain, a user must have at least 500 BTRST tokens. Proposals are stored in the ”proposals” mapping of the Governor smart contract. All proposals are subject to a 14-day voting period during which members from the community are able to vote on whether they are with or against the proposal. If the majority of votes are with a proposal, then it passes and gets executed. Otherwise, it does not get executed and the status quo remains.
- Quorum: In order for a vote to pass, it must achieve a quorum of 100,000 BTRST voting in the affirmative. The purpose of the quorum is to ensure that the only measures that pass have adequate voter participation.
- Voting: Users can vote for or against proposals once they have voting rights delegated to their address. Votes can be cast while a proposal is in the ”Active” state. If the majority of votes (and a 10% quorum of BTRST) vote for a proposal, the proposal may be queued in the Timelock.
- Proposer: The person who proposes an idea in Career Help, and after gathering feedback from the community and realizing there is some consensus around the idea, he/she would write it in a “proposal” on Snapshot (and later on-chain) asking the community to vote for it.
- Voter: The person who votes on proposal ideas that proposers post on Snapshot to express their opinion on it.
- Delegation: You can delegate or give your BTRST tokens to another wallet address (one at a time) including your own wallet address (if you have several addresses with BTRST tokens). Delegation does not lock tokens; it simply adds votes to the chosen delegation address to add more weight in votes.
- Voting Period: Once a proposal has been put forward, Braintrust community members will have a 14-day period (the Voting Period) to cast their votes after which the proposal will close.
- Timelock: All governance and other administrative actions are required to sit in the Timelock for a minimum of 14 days, after which they can be implemented. This is enough time for the proposal to be executed in code.
- Smart Contract: A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement being directly written into lines of code. The code and the agreements contained therein exist across a distributed, decentralized blockchain network. The code controls the execution, and transactions are trackable and irreversible. Smart contracts permit trusted transactions and agreements to be carried out among disparate, anonymous parties without the need for a central authority, legal system, or external enforcement mechanism. Braintrust’s governance process proposes changing the terms of the smart contracts that govern Braintrust. If the proposals gain majority votes to change the status quo, the smart contracts will be executed and changed to the proposed state.