[6.25] [Social] Replace the Working Groups with the ENS Admin Panel

Summary

This proposal calls for winding down the Meta-Governance, Ecosystem, and Public Goods Working Groups at the end of Term 6 (Dec 31, 2025) and the creation of the ENS Admin Panel on Jan 1, 2026.

Motivation

The purpose of Working Groups at their creation was to "promote stability and encourage long-term thinking and planning."

A casual observation of working groups would suggest we are missing the mark and actually detracting from the north star goal of being a universal naming standard, often bringing attention to internal politics rather than external objectives.

Working Groups are subject to two main problems:

1. No incentive for hard truths

When future funding depends on relationships, your incentives are to not hurt feelings. "I'll support your proposal if you support mine" becomes the norm. This prioritizes psychological safety over truth seeking, and without truth seeking, you get stuck with bad results.

2. Inability to fire contributors

Working Groups can't curate who participates. Traditional organizations select their team and fire when needed while WGs are open by default, accumulating contributors based on availability rather than ability. The reality is bad contributors make good contributors leave.

An Admin Panel is needed to eliminate the subjective decision-making that Working Groups currently hold and shift DAO operations to a lean, administrative model that removes the perverse incentives outlined above.

Details

Winding Down DAO Operations

If the social proposal passes, all Working Groups must return remaining funds to the DAO and transfer ownership of multisigs to the elected Admin Panel by December 31, 2025.

Admin Panel

The Admin Panel will consist of 1 Administrator and 4 Signers.

The Administrator will:

1. Execute transactions when necessary on stream.mg.wg.ens.eth
2. Pay KPK’s performance fees using investment yield.
3. Ensure all service providers and ENS Labs adhere to objective reporting requirements and provide a consolidated report.
4. Can provide space for a quarterly town hall where Service Providers and Labs can present.
5. Perform reasonable admin roles when necessary.

The Administrator will not:

• Have a grants program
• Have weekly calls
• Do anything beyond the 5 points above

Having one designated Administrator creates clear accountability and a direct point of responsibility. For security, this Administrator will be supported by 4 elected multisig Signers whose sole duty is to review and approve transactions within a reasonable time frame. If this proposal passes, the DAO would hold two separate social votes: one to elect the Administrator and one to elect the four Signers.

Compensation (To be distributed via stream of USDC from DAO):

• Administrator (1 spot): 120k USDC per year
• Signer (4 spots): 12k USDC per year per signer