Let's Talk Governance: Meet the Committee & Q&A
Concordium’s latest X Space, “Let’s Talk Governance: Meet the Committee & Q&A,” brought together Governance Committee members Christopher Portmann, Michael Jackson, and Borja Burguillos for an open discussion on how governance shapes Concordium’s future.
In a candid, community-driven conversation, the speakers unpacked what the Governance Committee does, how it interacts with the Executive Management Group and Foundation Board, and how community members can take part in decision-making. From the evolution of protocol updates to the upcoming 2025 elections, the dialogue highlighted Concordium’s commitment to transparency, decentralization, and active participation.
1. Introduction & Session Setup
1 Introduction Session Setup
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- Christopher Portmann opens the X Space on governance.
- First governance-focused session since the June elections.
- Purpose: explain how Concordium governance works and invite community participation.
- Introduces participants.
- Borja Burguillos joins as one of two newly elected GC members.
- Notes Michael Jackson will join shortly.
- Sets tone for an open, informative discussion about the GC’s structure, goals, and community role.
2. Borja’s Introduction & Perspective
2 Borjas Introduction Perspective
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- Founder of Valora Studio and 5tars (Web3 fantasy sports).
- Also building AEDX stablecoin project.
- 10+ years in consulting and corporate strategy.
- Brings both builder and financial perspectives.
- Sees his role as representing users and builders.
- Aims to align governance with real builder needs.
- Christopher notes GC diversity and Borja’s fresh perspective since June.
3. Michael Jackson Joins & Introduces Himself
3 Michael Jackson Joins Introduces Himself
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- Long-time Concordium contributor, involved since the project’s early concept in 2019.
- Serves as a semi-independent GC member — not employed by or elected through Concordium.
- Brings extensive tech and Web3 experience, with 270+ investments across 40+ blockchains.
- Offers an external industry perspective to guide sound, balanced decisions.
- Sees his role as supporting better governance outcomes through insight from other ecosystems.
4. Defining the Role & Purpose of the Governance Committee
4 Defining the Role Purpose of the Governance Committee
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- Serves as a forum for community input to Concordium’s engineers and management.
- Focuses on technical and protocol-level matters, not commercial or marketing decisions.
- Ensures the protocol functions as intended and remains decentralized.
- Supports a strong validator community and proper parameter setting.
- Acts as a bridge between stakeholders and developers to maintain network integrity.
5. Borja on Why Governance Matters
5 Borja on Why Governance Matters
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- Governance keeps Concordium accountable and transparent.
- Essential for builders to trust the base layer they build on.
- Governance ensures Concordium grows without losing mission or values.
- Transforms the chain from a tech platform to a trust ecosystem.
- Addresses key areas: economics, upgrades, and compliance.
- Serves as the mechanism guiding Concordium’s long-term direction.
6. Concordium’s Governance Structure Explained
6 Concordiums Governance Structure Explained
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- Four key bodies shape Concordium’s direction:
- EMG – Executive team led by Bo, defines and executes commercial strategy.
- Foundation Board – Oversees EMG and approves major decisions.
- Governance Committee (GC) – Adds independent oversight and technical input.
- Token holders – Represent decentralized participation and voting power.
- Governance remains experimental, balancing influence between EMG, GC, and community.
- Protocol updates illustrate this balance:
- P8: GC influenced validator suspension rules—significant impact.
- P9: Focused on stablecoins, driven mainly by commercial strategy.
- P10: Upcoming; GC will review and provide input soon.
- Goal: refine clear boundaries between operational, strategic, and community-driven decisions.
7. Daily Work & Influence of the Governance Committee
7 Daily Work Influence of the Governance Committee
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- GC does not handle daily operations; it oversees higher-level protocol matters.
- Focuses on network stability and validator security rather than business activities.
- Represents token holders’ interests and maintains decentralization.
- Example: during Protocol 8, GC acted quickly when validator issues affected performance.
- Reviews and provides input for each protocol update.
- Distinguishes between technical decisions (GC input) and commercial ones (EMG domain).
- Ensures the protocol remains robust and economically secure.
8. Recent Focus Areas & Community Engagement
8 Recent Focus Areas Community Engagement
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- GC discussions span economic parameters and Protocol 9 (PLTs).
- Focus on improving community proposals and voting impact.
- Aim to build clearer feedback channels between GC and community.
- Borja stresses: governance is only strong if community input truly matters.
- Christopher notes: election system works well, but engagement in decisions must deepen.
- Michael reinforces importance of active participation and voting.
- Next elections scheduled for June, expanding community-elected seats from six to nine.
9. Elections & Evolving Committee Composition
9 Elections Evolving Committee Composition
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- New members bring fresh energy and diverse expertise.
- GC now includes people with validator, tokenomics, and investor experience.
- Important that GC stays independent from daily management to ensure objectivity.
- Broader skill mix improves decision quality and protocol insight.
- External experience prevents insular thinking within Concordium.
- By next year, GC will add three more elected members, further broadening input.
10. Reflections on Internal Dynamics & Collaboration
10 Reflections on Internal Dynamics Collaboration
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- Borja: GC experience has exceeded expectations.
- Praises its openness and professional diversity (legal, compliance, technical, financial, community).
- Notes debates are challenging but productive.
- Christopher: GC cycles show energy surges after elections.
- New members bring fresh ideas and momentum.
- Activity typically peaks post-election and slows before the next cycle.
- Highlights the value of renewal, keeping governance lively and adaptive.
11. Examples of Key Governance Decisions
11 Examples of Key Governance Decisions
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- Transaction fee reform cited as a major GC achievement.
- Identified that DeFi gas costs were too high and uncompetitive.
- GC recalculated fees, cutting costs from ≈1 cent to 0.001 cent.
- EDITOR THAT WAS IN FACT A REDUCTION TO 0.01 CENT
- Led to millions of transactions, stress-testing the network.
- Adjustment proved Concordium’s scalability and responsiveness.
- Fees were later normalized once new energy and pricing mechanisms took effect.
- Demonstrates GC’s ability to act quickly and effectively when protocol efficiency is at stake.
12. The 2025 Context – P9, Validators & Decentralization
12 The 2025 Context P9 Validators Decentralization
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- 2025 defined by Protocol 9 (P9) and the launch of Protocol Level Tokens (PLTs).
- Seen as pivotal in realigning Concordium’s roadmap with the PayFi strategy.
- GC discussions centered on validator staking rules and strengthening decentralization.
- Decisions undergo thorough debate, review, and community input.
- Borja stresses: nothing happens behind closed doors—transparency remains key.
13. How Governance Proposals Take Shape
13 How Governance Proposals Take Shape
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- Ideas start within the GC, presented for initial debate.
- If relevant, proposals are shared with the community for feedback.
- Process emphasizes iteration, review, and compliance checks.
- Goal: a structured, bottom-up approach, not top-down decision-making.
- Community input valued for both member and GC-initiated ideas.
- All proposals must align with Concordium’s long-term vision and priorities.
14. Validator & Delegator Survey Example
14 Validator Delegator Survey Example
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- GC discussed validator vs. delegator motivation as part of tokenomics review.
- Neils suggested gathering direct community feedback.
- Result: a survey launched on Telegram and Discord.
- Aim: understand what drives users to validate or delegate.
- Feedback now being processed and analyzed to guide future decisions.
15. How Community Members Can Reach the GC
15 How Community Members Can Reach the GC
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- GC members are active in Telegram and Discord channels.
- Community ideas shared publicly gain visibility and open discussion.
- Members are also directly reachable for private input.
- Michael welcomes suggestions on parameters, rewards, or decentralization.
- Valuable ideas are brought into monthly GC meetings for discussion.
- Christopher runs meetings and ensures formal review of community proposals.
- GC remains closely attuned to forum activity and external project insights.
16. Looking Ahead – Governance Priorities
16 Looking Ahead Governance Priorities
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- Michael: Governance must evolve as Concordium grows.
- Success depends on a broad, engaged stakeholder base — validators, users, and transactors.
- Focus has been on stability, functionality, and resolving unforeseen issues.
- Borja: Two main priorities ahead.
- Decentralization: expand validators and strengthen community ownership.
- Engagement: create structured channels beyond Discord and Telegram for user input.
- Goal: make governance transparent, participatory, and ecosystem-driven.
17. Community Q&A Segment
17 Community QA Segment 1
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- Validator growth:
- Borja: aims for organic expansion toward 1,000+ validators.
- Key question: whether to incentivize growth now or let it evolve naturally.
- Decentralization remains a top GC priority.
- Governance responsibilities visual:
- Christopher supports idea of a clarity chart showing when to approach GC vs. Concordium team.
- Will be included in upcoming governance articles.
- PLTs and technical agility:
- GC focuses on long-term oversight, not fast operational responses.
- EMG handles urgent or commercial issues.
- Metrics and monitoring:
- No single GC-wide metric; members track their own indicators.
- Christopher monitors validators, commissions (~10.1%), and pool saturation.
- Borja tracks transactions, ecosystem growth, and adoption metrics.
- Meeting frequency:
- Formal meetings held monthly, with additional ad-hoc sessions when needed.
- Regular exchanges via email and internal channels ensure agility.
- CCD price question:
- Michael: GC has no influence over token price.
- Network value depends on activity and PayFi adoption (PLTs and stablecoin use cases).
- Alignment with EMG and vision:
- Christopher: Vision set by the Foundation and EMG, GC doesn’t alter it.
- GC focuses on oversight and decentralization, complementing Concordium’s commercial priorities.
- Example: while EMG focuses on “five things at 100%,” GC watches over the remaining 95%—ensuring balance across the ecosystem.
- Community contact:
- GC reachable via Telegram, X, and community channels.
- Encourages public dialogue over private messages for transparency.
- Borja: plans for structured feedback systems and more community spaces.
- Medium-term roadmap:
- Strengthen community involvement and parameter transparency.
- Support validator-delegator balance and sustainable decentralization.
18. Closing Remarks
18 Closing Remarks
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- Borja: thanks participants and notes it was his first X Space.
- Expresses confidence in Concordium’s unique potential and innovation.
- Calls on the community to stay active, promote, and collaborate.
- Emphasizes shared mission to build a strong PayFi ecosystem.
- Christopher: closes the session, thanking listeners on behalf of all speakers.
- Announces future governance spaces with other GC members.