[RFC] Governance Process Upgrade: Establishing a Statute of Limitations for Temperature Checks

Author: @Eren_Targ5 (Daoplomats)

Summary

This proposal seeks to establish a formal "Statute of Limitations" for Uniswap Governance proposals. Specifically, it mandates that any proposal which passes a "Temperature Check" (Snapshot vote) must proceed to an on-chain vote within 90 days.

If a proposal fails to move to an on-chain vote within this 90-day window, the Temperature Check is declared "Expired" (or "Dead"). To proceed, the proposer must restart the governance process with a new Temperature Check to ensure community sentiment remains current.

2. Motivation

Currently, Uniswap Governance operates on a continuous cycle. Unlike Optimism or Arbitrum, which utilize specific "Governance Seasons" or "Cycles" that naturally flush out stale proposals at the end of a period, Uniswap proposals can technically remain "pending" indefinitely after passing a Snapshot vote.

This creates critical risks and inefficiencies:

• Market Conditions Change: A proposal approved by the community 6 months ago may be financially dangerous or irrelevant today due to changes in market volatility, token prices, or protocol upgrades (e.g., v3 to v4).
• "Zombie" Proposal Risk: There is currently no rule preventing a delegate from taking a Snapshot vote from 2022 and putting it on-chain today, bypassing current community sentiment.
• Governance Clutter: It is difficult for delegates to track which initiatives are active versus abandoned.

By implementing a 90-day expiration, we align Uniswap with industry best practices (e.g., Sky) and ensure that every on-chain vote reflects the current will of the DAO.

3. Specification

We propose adding the following clause to the official Uniswap Community Governance Process:

"Validity of Temperature Checks: A successful Temperature Check (Snapshot vote) is valid for a period of 90 days from the date the vote closes. If an on-chain governance proposal is not submitted within this 90-day window, the Temperature Check is considered Expired. The proposer must post a new Temperature Check and receive fresh community approval before proceeding to an on-chain vote."

Definition of Proposal States

Status	Definition	Action Required
Live / Active	A proposal that has passed Snapshot within the last 90 days.	Can proceed to On-chain Vote immediately.
Dead / Expired	A proposal that passed Snapshot >90 days ago but has not yet been submitted on-chain.	Must re-run the Temperature Check phase to verify current sentiment.

Handling Long-Term Initiatives

We recognize that major protocol upgrades or large-scale initiatives often require development timelines longer than 90 days. However, governance mandates should not be indefinite.

If a proposal has passed a Temperature Check but the technical implementation takes longer than 90 days, the proposer must follow the "Re-affirmation Process":

• The "Refresh" Vote: The proposer does not need to start from zero with a new RFC. They simply post a "Re-affirmation Snapshot" (Temperature Check) with the final code/parameters.
• Why this is necessary: In DeFi, 6 months is a long time. A mandate given in January might be dangerous to execute in July if market conditions have shifted (e.g., bridge hacks, new regulation).
• Result: This ensures that when the final "Publish" button is pressed for the on-chain vote, the community's consent is fresh and current.

4. Rationale & Precedent

This change brings Uniswap into alignment with the hygiene standards of other mature DeFi protocols.

• MakerDAO (Sky): Enforces a strict 30-day expiration on Executive Proposals.
• Optimism: Utilizes "Governance Seasons." Proposals must be submitted and voted on within a specific seasonal window.
• Uniswap (Current): Lacks both seasons and expiry rules, leaving the DAO exposed to "Zombie Proposals" indefinitely.

5. Comparison: Old vs. New Structure

Feature	Current Uniswap Governance	Proposed New Structure
Snapshot Validity	Indefinite (Technically valid forever)	90 Days (Statute of Limitations)
Stale Proposal Risk	High. A proposal from 1 year ago could theoretically be executed today despite market changes.	Low. Proposals must have a fresh community signal (within 3 months) to execute.
Governance Cycle	Continuous / Unbounded	Continuous, but with a rolling expiration window to ensure freshness.
Re-submission	Not defined / Confusing	Clear Process: If >90 days, you must re-post Snapshot.

6. Precedent of Risk

We have already seen 'Zombie Proposals' confuse the governance process.

• The Gnosis Deployment (2022-2023): A deployment passed a vote but sat pending for 11 months. During that time, the bridge provider (Nomad) was hacked.
• The Fee Switch (2024-2025): The fee switch mandate sat dormant for over 12 months, requiring a community member to manually post a 'Re-Temperature Check' to verify if the will of the DAO had changed.

This proposal removes this ambiguity. Instead of relying on the goodwill of authors to 're-check' sentiment, we enforce a hard 90-day expiry to ensure every on-chain execution represents the current will of the DAO.

7. Success Metrics

• Zero "Zombie" Executions: No proposals older than 90 days are executed on-chain without a fresh check.
• Delegate Clarity: Delegates can easily view the "active" pipeline without filtering through years of stale posts.
• Safety: Reduced risk of executing outdated parameters (e.g., fee switches or grant distributions based on old token prices).