Powers to Nouns: Organisational Specification
Organisational Structure & Context
Vision & Mission
Powers to Daos is a sovereign, on-chain organisation established as a meta-governance experiment. It leverages the generative identity of the Nouns protocol as a novel primitive for decentralized governance and capital allocation. The organisation operates with complete autonomy over its own treasury, functioning as a distinct entity.
The core vision is to pioneer "Trait-Based Sovereignty," where governance rights are emergent, on-chain properties of digital identity.2 By translating the visual and programmatic traits of Nouns Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) into discrete roles and powers, the organisation seeks to create a pluralistic and resilient governance framework.
The mission is to build a self-sustaining treasury to fund high-impact projects that advance the digital commons, innovating in governance and proliferating the Nouns meme.3
Treasury Management
The DAO will utilize a single, primary Treasury.sol smart contract to hold and manage all of its assets. This centralized treasury model enhances security by consolidating funds into a single, heavily audited contract.
The Treasury.sol contract is owned and controlled exclusively by the main Powers.sol governance contract, meaning no funds can be moved without a successful on-chain governance vote.
Funding Policy
The funding policy is designed to ensure thorough vetting and accountability through a multi-stage grant lifecycle. This process incorporates the checks and balances established in the governance architecture.
- Submission (Public): Any individual can submit a grant proposal, which must include a project description, requested funding, and a schedule of milestones.
- Sponsorship (Classes): A submitted proposal must be "sponsored" by a relevant Class (e.g., a tech proposal by the Artisan Class). This requires a formal on-chain vote within that Class, acting as a domain-expert filter.
- Ratification (Factions): A sponsored proposal moves to a ratification vote before all Factions. This creates a check-and-balance, ensuring broad consensus from different perspectives before funding.
- Milestone Payouts: Upon approval, the treasury releases the first milestone payment. Subsequent payments are not automatic and require a new vote by the original sponsoring Class to confirm the milestone was met.
Roles
| Role Id | Role name | Selection criteria. |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Admin | Admin role assigned at deployment. Manages protocol adoption and whitelisting. |
| 1 | Artisan Class | An account that holds a Noun NFT with a Head trait mapped to the "Technology & Infrastructure" category (e.g., Computer, Factory, Drill).5 |
| 2 | Growth Class | An account that holds a Noun NFT with a Head trait mapped to the "Nature & Community" category (e.g., Flower, Bee, Flamingo).5 |
| 3 | Scholar Class | An account that holds a Noun NFT with a Head trait mapped to the "Abstract & Strategy" category (e.g., Brain, Chart, Dictionary).5 |
| 4 | Pragmatist Faction | An account that holds a Noun NFT with a Glasses trait mapped to the "Monochromatic & Simple" category (e.g., Square-black, Square-grey-light).6 |
| 5 | Visionary Faction | An account that holds a Noun NFT with a Glasses trait mapped to the "Multi-color & Complex" category (e.g., Square-rgb, Square-pink-purple-multi).6 |
| 6 | Aesthetic Faction | An account that holds a Noun NFT with a Glasses trait mapped to the "Stylized & Thematic" category (e.g., Hip-rose, Square-guava).6 |
| 7 | The Nouncil | An account that holds a Noun NFT with a token ID that is a multiple of 10 (e.g., #0, #10, #20). Based on the Nounder rewards schedule.3 |
| 8 | Accessory Holder | An account that holds any Noun NFT with an Accessory trait.[6, 9] This role grants a minor (e.g., +5%) voting weight bonus. |
| ... | Public | Everyone. |
On-chain Mandates
Executive Mandates (executing actions)
Budget Management
| Role | Name & Description | Base contract | User Input | Executable Output | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any Class | Propose Strategic Budget | StatementOfIntent.sol | "string uri", "uint256 pcts" | none | 66% success, 50% quorum vote within the specific Class. |
| All Factions | Ratify Strategic Budget | StatementOfIntent.sol | (from proposal) | Treasury.setBudgetAllocation() | 66% success, 50% quorum across all Factions, AND 51% success within at least 2 of 3 Factions. |
| Admin | Whitelist Treasury Token | BespokeActionSimple.sol | "address Token" | Treasury.whitelistToken() | Admin only. |
Grant Management
| Role | Name & Description | Base contract | User Input | Executable Output | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public | Submit Grant Proposal | BespokeActionSimple.sol | "string uri", "uint256 milestoneAmounts", "address token" | GrantManager.submitProposal() | Public access. |
| Any Class | Sponsor Grant Proposal | StatementOfIntent.sol | "uint256 proposalId" | GrantManager.sponsorProposal() | 51% success, 25% quorum vote within the specific Class. |
| All Factions | Ratify Grant Proposal | StatementOfIntent.sol | "uint256 proposalId" | GrantManager.approveProposal() | 51% success, 33% quorum vote across all Factions. Proposal must be 'Sponsored'. |
| All Factions | Reject Grant Proposal | StatementOfIntent.sol | "uint256 proposalId" | GrantManager.rejectProposal() | 51% success, 33% quorum vote across all Factions. Proposal must be 'Sponsored'. |
| Sponsoring Class | Release Grant Milestone | BespokeActionSimple.sol | "uint256 proposalId", "uint256 milestoneIndex" | Treasury.releaseMilestone() | Grant must be 'Approved'. 51% success, 25% quorum vote within the original sponsoring Class. |
Electoral Mandates (assigning roles)
| Role | Name & Description | Base contract | User Input | Executable Output | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public | Register Noun Holder | BespokeActionSimple.sol | "uint256 nounIds" | RoleManager.registerHolder() | msg.sender must be the owner of the Noun IDs. |
| System | Assign Roles | RoleByExternalCall.sol | "address user" | RoleManager.assignRolesForAddress() | Triggered by registerHolder(). Reads traits from NounsToken.sol 10 and assigns roles based on the constitutional mapping. |
Constitutional Mandates (adopting and revoking mandates)
| Role | Name & Description | Base contract | User Input | Executable Output | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any Class | Propose Constitutional Amendment | StatementOfIntent.sol | "address mandates", "bytes mandateInitDatas" | none | 66% success, 50% quorum vote within the specific Class. |
| All Factions | Ratify Constitutional Amendment | StatementOfIntent.sol | (from proposal) | none | 66% success, 50% quorum across all Factions, AND 51% success within all 3 Factions. |
| The Nouncil | Veto Constitutional Amendment | StatementOfIntent.sol | (from proposal) | none | 33% success vote within The Nouncil is sufficient to veto. 72-hour veto period after ratification. |
| Admin | Adopt Constitutional Amendment | AdoptMandates.sol | (from proposal) | Adopts new mandates | Proposal ratified, veto period passed without a successful veto. |
Off-chain Operations
Dispute Resolution
Disputes regarding ambiguous mandate conditions or trait mappings will be addressed through community discussion on the official forum. If consensus is not reached, a non-binding, on-chain signal vote can be initiated. The final arbiter is the on-chain constitutional amendment process.
Code of Conduct / Ethics
All participants are expected to act in good faith to further the mission of Powers to Daos. This includes respectful communication, constructive feedback, and responsible use of powers.12 Grant proposals should clearly articulate their value and disclose any conflicts of interest.
Communication Channels
Official proposals, discussions, and announcements take place on the Powers to Daos Discourse forum. A proposal must be discussed on the forum for at least five days before being submitted on-chain for sponsorship.
Budget Proposal Coordination
While a strategic budget is set via a single on-chain proposal, the community is expected to coordinate off-chain via the forum to debate and model the allocation percentages before the proposal is submitted. This ensures the on-chain vote is a confirmation of a well-vetted community strategy.
Description of Governance
Powers to Daos is a decentralized organisation that uses Nouns NFT traits to create a novel meta-governance system for funding public goods.
- Remit: The primary function is to manage and distribute funds from its own sovereign treasury. It reads on-chain data from the Nouns protocol 10 to establish its governance structure but has no control over Nouns DAO itself.
- Roles: Roles are assigned based on Noun traits. Classes (derived from Head traits 5) have the power to propose. Factions (derived from Glasses traits 6) have the power to ratify. The Nouncil (derived from Noun ID 3) has veto power over constitutional changes. An Admin role manages core functions.
- Executive Paths: Key processes are governed by on-chain mandates creating checks and balances:
- Grant Lifecycle: Public submits -> A Class sponsors -> All Factions ratify -> The sponsoring Class releases milestones.
- Strategic Budgeting: A Class proposes -> All Factions ratify with a supermajority.
- Summary: The governance structure translates on-chain identity (Nouns traits) into a separation of powers (Classes vs. Factions). This bicameral system, protected by a council (The Nouncil), ensures that all uses of the DAO's treasury are robustly vetted by diverse, on-chain stakeholder groups.
Risk Assessment
Risks
Risk descriptions here.