B6. Governance
What Governance Means
Governance empowers EDM holders to shape how the Trade rail operates day-to-day. Through voting, you can influence how milestones function, how evidence is checked, the timing of fund releases after proof, and how the non-burned portion of protocol fees is distributed. However, the foundational rules that ensure system safety and integrity remain out of scope for governance.
What EDM Holders Can Change
Governance allows EDM holders to tune operational parameters and templates, all within clearly defined boundaries. Changes are transparent, visible on the Explorer, and time-delayed for security.
Milestones & Timing:
Default milestone sets per trade lane (e.g., adding/removing Customs, splitting Arrival into Receipt/QA)
Buyer review window length (0–4 hours) and top-up deadlines before On-Board, all within safe limits
Payout schedules (e.g., 20/60/20 vs 20/10/70), always totaling 100% and within published bands
Evidence & Quality:
Plain-language evidence checklists for each gate
Tolerance bands and variance formulas for shipment, damage, shelf-life, and cold chain (platform applies the math approved by governance)
Funded-on-Proof Scope: Define which whitelisted partner types (carrier, SGS/Intertek/BV, warehouse, OEM) can receive funded-on-proof EDSD, by lane.
Attestors & Disputes: Adjust SLA thresholds, reward weights, rotation cadence, penalties, dispute SLA clocks, and name the neutral dispute resolver for each route.
Treasury & Transparency: Set the split of the non-burn half of protocol fees across attestors, network ops, builders, and ecosystem (within defined bands). Adjust treasury handling parameters for Locked EDSD (e.g., T-bill allocation), reporting cadence, and proof-of-reserves detail.
Fee Policy Note: The protocol fee for trade remains fixed at 0.5% per paid stage with strict per-tranche caps (≤ $1M → $5k; $1–5M → $25k; > $5M → $50k). Governance can adjust payout schedules, not the protocol fee rate.
What EDM Holders Cannot Change
Certain rules are immutable to protect safety, trust, and economic integrity:
No EMT, no funds – payment only occurs when a gate passes.
One-Claim – the same evidence cannot be reused on EDMA.
Must-fund before shipping – after Pre-Ship EMT, buyer must fund remaining milestones before any shipping action.
Locked EDSD only unlocks on proof – off-platform cash-out only after schedule completion.
50% of each stage’s protocol fee is always burned at release, posted with a hash.
Legal, AML/KYC, sanctions, and jurisdictional restrictions.
Who Gets a Voice
Only EDM holders have voting power. You may vote directly or delegate your voting power to a representative (such as a builder, attestor, or logistics lead) without transferring your tokens. Voting power can be increased by staking or locking EDM, with optional time-weighting for long-term alignment. Proposals are made through short, public EDIP-B drafts that clearly state what changes, why, and how core rules remain intact.
How a Vote Works
Draft → Temp check → On-chain vote → 72h timelock → Execute
All changes are rate-limited and bounded, with min/max steps per vote
The Explorer transparently shows the proposal text, quorum/yes rates, parameter changes, and the block of effect
Safeguards ensure that if a passed change violates a bound or law, it does not execute, and the Explorer explains why. In rare cases, a narrowly scoped pause (≤72h) can be applied to a specific module, followed by a public post-mortem and return to governance for unpausing.
Why This Model Works
You shape the aspects you interact with daily—milestone templates, evidence checklists, operational clocks, and how the non-burn half of protocol fees supports those who maintain the rail. The core foundation, however, remains untouchable. This balance ensures users have a real voice, EDSD remains secure until proof, burns stay tied to actual work, and the marketplace remains fair, predictable, and efficient.
Governance = your EDM, your vote, your rail.
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