Overview

Polymesh uses an industry–led governance model to prevent hard forks and guide the evolution of the chain. An on-chain governance model featuring a council of key stakeholders can easily resolve any issues.

Polymesh addresses the challenges that general-purpose blockchains face with governance by building it into the core of the blockchain. This comes to life in two important ways: the approach to upgrades and on-chain governance.

Stakeholders

POLYX token holders

Any POLYX token holder with an on-chain identity has the right to submit a PIP or vote on PIPs submitted by others.

Submitting a PIP involves submitting detailed information regarding the desired change and bonding POLYX to the PIP. After a cooling-off period, a poll of support begins, with other community members bonding POLYX tokens either for or against the PIP’s passing.

Governing Council

The Polymesh Governing Council is the primary decision-making body and is responsible for finding consensus and charting a path forward for the ecosystem’s development.
In addition to reviewing PIPs submitted from POLYX token holders for implementation, the Governing Council can fast-track proposals to deal with emergency fixes and deploy new features during Testnet.

Polymesh Improvement Proposals (PIPs)

Polymesh Improvement Proposals (PIPs) are proposals made by members of the Polymesh community to improve the platform. These proposals can range from small technical changes to major upgrades and improvements. PIPs are evaluated by the Council and the Technical Committee, who determine whether they should be implemented.

PIPs represent any change to the network and can be created by dedicated committees and any POLYX token holder.

PIPs also permit certain on-chain identities to have special privileged roles. This includes adding and removing permissioned operators and CDD service providers.

Some common examples include:

network upgrades
treasury disbursements
tokenomics parameter changes
adding new permissioned operators
adding new permissioned CDD service providers

Polymesh Governance in Polkassembly

Polkassembly is a powerful platform that allows users to participate in the governance of the Polymesh ecosystem. It is available for Polymesh Mainnet and Testnet as well.

Polkassembly allows Polymesh users to:

Review and contribute to PIPs
Signal on PIPs
Propose PIPs (coming soon)
Track and contribute to events and community posts
Stay up to date with the latest news on Polymesh

By following these steps, you can become an active participant and help shape the future of Polymesh.

Log in to Polkassembly

First, you'll need to create an account to log in to Polkassembly.

Click on the "Login" button on the top right corner of the page:
You can log in to Polkassembly with your username and password, or with your Polymesh wallet:
If you log in with your Polymesh wallet, you will be prompted to authorize your wallet by the Polkassembly web app.
Once you're logged in, you can explore the platform and view the latest proposals, community posts, and council elections. You can also view your voting history.

Create a new post in Polkassembly

Polkassembly also allows you to participate in discussions and engage with the Polymesh community. You can also create your own topics and start a discussion with other users.

Follow the steps below in order to create a post in Polkassembly:

Go to the Discussions page then

- Click on "Add New Post"
- Add a title and a description for your post
- To create a poll, enable "Add poll to discussion"
- Select a topic for your post

2. Once all data are filled, click on "Create post"

How to propose a PIP in Polkassembly

This feature is coming soon!

How to signal on a PIP in Polkassembly

To participate in governance, you will need to signal on proposals. Make sure to read the proposal carefully and consider its potential impact on the Polymesh ecosystem before providing your signal.

Follow the steps below in order to vote on a PIP in Polkassembly:

Open the Community PIPS page in Polkassembly. You will see a list of the proposed PIPs by the community.
Select the one you are about to signal on, then click on "Cast vote" at the right side of the page:
A popup window will appear. Enter a deposit amount for your PIP. This is the amount you are willing to lock in for this proposal. The minimum deposit for a PIP is 2000 POLYX on Polymesh Mainnet. The amount of POLYX you deposit must be available in your balance.
Select the account you would like to vote with
Click on "Aye" for yes or "Nay" for no

How to propose a PIP with the Polymesh app

For best practices for creating a PIP on Polymesh, please read this blog post.

1. Go to the Polymesh app then fill in the details below:

- Select the account you want to sign the transaction.
- extrinsic: Select "pips" then "propose(proposal, deposit, url, description)".
- proposal: Select "system" then "remark(remark)".
- remark: Enter a remark for your PIP. This can be a title for your PIP.
- deposit: Enter a deposit for your PIP. This is the amount you are willing to lock in for this proposal. The minimum deposit for a PIP is 2000 POLYX on Polymesh Mainnet. The amount of POLYX you deposit must be available on your balance.
- URL (optional): This is a link to a website for proposal discussion. Click on the "include option" toggle to enable this field, then enter a URL for your PIP.
- description (optional): This is the description of the PIP. Click on the "include option" toggle to enable this field, then enter the description for your PIP.

2. Once all data are filled, click on "Submit Transaction" at the right corner of the page:

3. A popup window will appear, click on "Sign and Submit" and then sign the transaction with your wallet.

4. A successful transaction is reflected with a green checkmark at the top right of the page:

How to vote on a PIP with the Polymesh app

Go to the Polymesh app then enter the details below:
- Select the account you want to sign the transaction
- extrinsic: Select "pips" then "vote(id, ayeOrNay, deposit)"
- id: Enter the ID of the PIP - it can be found at the Polymesh Block Explorer
- ayeOrNay: aye= yes, nay = no. Select the appropriate.
- deposit: Enter a deposit for your vote. This is the amount you are willing to lock for this vote. The minimum deposit for a PIP is 2000 POLYX on Polymesh Mainnet. The amount of POLYX you deposit must be available on your balance.
Once all data are filled, click on "Submit Transaction" at the right corner of the page:
Another popup window will appear, click on "Sign and Submit" and then sign the transaction with your wallet:
A successful transaction is reflected with a green checkmark at the top right of the page:

Common errors and solutions

NoSuchProposal: The PIP ID hasn't been found. Ensure that you have the correct PIP ID from from the Polymesh Block Explorer.

IncorrectProposalState: You are about to vote on a PIP which might have been closed. Ensure that you have the correct PIP ID from the Polymesh Block Explorer.

InsufficientDeposit: The amount of the deposit isn't correct. Ensure that the amount of POLYX you deposit is available on your balance. The minimum deposit for a PIP is 2000 POLYX on Polymesh Mainnet.