SIP-71: Modernizing Sperax DAO Governance for DeFi and AI Competitiveness

Author: Sperax Team

Category: Operational Governance

Created: September 8, 2025

Label: Governance Framework Reform

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Summary

In DeFi, speed is survival. Sperax's earlier reliance on a complete DAO process meant that routine decisions could take weeks, leaving competitors free to grow liquidity, secure partnerships, and deploy fixes in real-time. This slowed execution at the moments when agility mattered most.

Industry Contrast

Protocols like Compound, Aave, and Uniswap delegate routine operations to internal teams or committees, reserving DAO votes for significant strategic changes. This balance preserves decentralization while enabling rapid execution.

Lesson Learned

Sperax should adopt the same model to remain competitive. DAO governance remains for system-wide upgrades and treasury direction, but routine operations are now executed directly by the team, removing the bottleneck and restoring speed without compromising decentralization.

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Problem: Current Governance is Hindering Growth

The Reality of DeFi Competition

In decentralized finance, speed is a matter of survival. Every day is an opportunity lost. Sperax’s reliance on its previous DAO process has meant routine operational decisions can take weeks to resolve. Meanwhile, competitors move with urgency, growing liquidity across venues, closing partnerships, deploying fixes, and seizing market opportunities. The DAO structure became a limiting factor, slowing execution at precisely the moments when responsiveness was most crucial.

Current Structure Failures

Our existing governance model requires DAO votes for nearly every operational decision, creating:

Operational Paralysis:

• Liquidity growth opportunities missed due to lengthy voting cycles
• Partnership agreements expire during prolonged discussions
• Marketing campaigns launch late, missing market momentum

Competitive Disadvantage:

• Leading DeFi protocols (Compound, Aave, Uniswap) make routine operational decisions internally
• Market share erosion to more agile competitors

Community Fatigue:

• Declining voter participation due to decision overload
• Important strategic votes receive less attention amid routine proposals

The data is clear: Our current approach is not working. Despite strong technology, Sperax has struggled to achieve the growth trajectory of peer protocols with more efficient governance.

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Solution: Operational Autonomy with Democratic Oversight

Grant the Sperax team discretionary authority to utilize the protocol assets and functionalities for operational activities that support protocol growth, while maintaining DAO control over significant strategic direction/decisions, tokenomics changes, and crucial protocol upgrades.

This mirrors successful governance models used by leading DeFi protocols, which reserve community votes for truly impactful decisions rather than operational routine.

Framework Boundaries

No DAO Vote Required

• Market Operations: Exchange listings, market making, liquidity provisioning (capped within approved budgets to be defined in subsequent SIP)
• Business Development: Partnerships, marketing campaigns, conference participation
• Protocol Operations: Routine upgrades, bug fixes, feature additions, 3rd-party integrations, security audits
• Administration: Team scaling [capped within approved budgets to be defined in subsequent SIP], operational expenses, and regulatory compliance

DAO Vote Still Required

• Strategic Changes: Major protocol pivots, governance modifications, new protocol launches
• Token Operations: New minting, SPA tokenomic changes, USDs mechanism modifications
• Major Financial Decisions: Large expenditures beyond established thresholds

Voting Requirements Unchanged: 200M veSPA quorum with >51% approval

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Trust Through Transparency

Regular Community Check-ins

Mandatory reporting at 6 and 12 months, including:

• Asset utilization and allocation breakdown (against pre-approved budget categories)
• Partnership updates and development progress
• Performance metrics benchmarked against budgeted spend and strategic targets

Community Engagement

• Active Telegram/Discord/Forum participation with regular updates
• Feedback integration showing how community input influences decisions

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Accountability & Failsafes

Multi-Tiered Emergency Controls

• 100M veSPA (≥50% quorum, minimum 3 voters): 7-day pause of specific operations
• 250M veSPA (≥50% quorum, minimum 4 voters): Comprehensive operational review

Emergency powers require multiple independent participants to prevent unilateral action. Emergency controls cannot be invoked consecutively without DAO oversight.

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Expected Outcomes

Immediate Benefits

• Increased liquidity and partnership execution
• Responsive bug fixes and security improvements
• Market-timed campaigns and competitive positioning

Long-term Growth

• Expanded cross-chain presence and strategic partnerships
• Enhanced protocol features and user experience
• Sustainable growth trajectory matching DeFi benchmarks
• Community confidence through consistent delivery

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Success Metrics

• Operational: Increased liquidity depth, higher quality partnerships, improved development speed (benchmarked against baseline metrics established in subsequent SIP)
• Financial: Competitive TVL growth, efficient treasury utilization, improved protocol economics (compared to baselines and industry benchmarks)
• Community: High transparency satisfaction, maintained strategic vote participation, minimal emergency usage (measured through periodic reporting and community check-ins)

Baseline metrics (TVL, partnerships, treasury efficiency, community satisfaction surveys) will be recorded in subsequent SIPs for comparison.

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Conclusion

The DeFi landscape has undergone significant evolution since our initial governance structure was established. What worked in 2021-2022 is now a competitive liability in 2025.

Leading protocols have recognized that operational efficiency and strategic democracy can coexist. This isn't about reducing community power - it's about focusing community power where it matters most while enabling the operational excellence required for protocol success.

The path forward is clear: Evolve our governance for competitive success, or continue falling behind while competitors capture opportunities we're too slow to pursue.

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Technical Specification:

None

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Voting

For: Adopt the new governance framework where the team manages routine operations within budgets and the DAO oversees major decisions.

Against: Do not adopt the new governance framework and retain the current model requiring DAO votes for most operations.