June 12, 2025

Attendees:

Name

Attendance

Role

Yes

WG Lead/Secretary

Phil Lewis

Yes

ISC Member

Thiago Nunes

Yes

Interim ISC Member

Pedro Lucas

No

OSC Chair, Representing two Enterprise Members

Nicholas Cerny

Yes

Civics Committee Chair

Vaibhav S

Yes

GMC Member

Naushad Fouze

Yes

Product Committee

Jose Iadicicco

Yes

Community Member

Maureen Wepngong

Yes

DRep

Terence McCutcheon

Yes

Intersect

Tevo Saks

No

Community Member

Lorenzo Bruno

Tes

Recording: Intersect Governance WG Weekly - 2025/06/12 15:59 CEST - Recording

Transcript: Intersect Governance WG Weekly - 2025/06/12 15:59 CEST - Transcript

Agenda 12.06.2025

  • Update from last week

  • Recommendations Discussion

Decisions/Actions

Discussion Point

Notes

Actions: Responsible / Note

Vulnerability in Board Elections (Vote Buying/Multiple Memberships)

This issue presents a significant risk, particularly given the upcoming board election introducing four new community seats. The low cost of entry (approximately $4k per seat) could enable malicious actors to gain substantial influence. It was acknowledged during discussions that improving the election process promptly is essential to mitigate this risk ahead of the October election.

The working group will finalize the proposed recommendations to address this vulnerability.

Problem Statement Definition

Initial problem statements were deemed insufficiently clear. Emphasis was placed on articulating the core risk concisely. The agreed core risk is: "A majority of the board could be held by nefarious actors, rendering Intersect unworkable or allowing them to act against the organization's interests."

The presentation slides will be updated to clearly articulate the revised problem statement and highlight the severe/possible risk assessment.

Proposed Solutions & Risk Mitigation

Various solutions were discussed, including: * Avoiding the risk: Reducing the number of community seats elected in October from four to two, maintaining the founding members' majority for now. This would be a temporary measure to buy time for more robust solutions. * Reducing the likelihood: Implementing KYC/web3 identity verification to prevent multiple memberships. Tracking member participation for eligibility (e.g., membership duration, activity levels). Requiring an extra action (e.g., rationale) to vote in board elections. Changing bylaws to restrict individual multiple memberships. * Accepting the risk: Relying solely on the existing audit process as a contingency, with the understanding that the current audit cannot fully detect or prevent vote buying due to lack of identity verification and bylaws. This approach was largely dismissed as insufficient.

A poll will be conducted on the Discord channel for the motion to elect only two new community seats in October, delaying the other two until April. If the motion passes, this will be presented as the primary recommendation to the ISC. The working group will continue to develop other risk mitigation strategies (KYC/web3 identity, participation tracking, bylaws changes) as secondary recommendations, presenting them as "things we're working on" to the ISC.

Simo will create the Discord poll for the primary motion, tagging eligible voting members. The group will reconvene next week to discuss additional recommendations if the primary motion passes or not.

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