Introduction
ORDAO is a decentralized governance protocol that combines sophisticated smart contracts with an innovative consent-based voting system to enable truly democratic community coordination. Built around the Optimistic Respect-based Executive Contract (OREC), this elegant system transforms how communities make and execute decisions onchain while enabling true decentralization with active participation.
ORDAO provides comprehensive EVM infrastructure that enables communities to play the Respect Game and democratically execute onchain actions with Respect Tokens. At its core, ORDAO addresses a fundamental challenge in decentralized governance: enabling efficient decision-making without sacrificing democratic principles or falling prey to voter apathy. Through an optimistic mechanism that requires minimal participation for routine operations while ensuring robust protection against contentious actions, ORDAO creates digital infrastructure for scalable community governance.
This article outlines the functionalities, deployment details, and potential impact of ORDAO on decentralized governance, offering valuable insights and resources for those interested in this groundbreaking software. Join us as we delve into the transformative possibilities that ORDAO presents for fostering community engagement and governance with the Respect Game, Respect Tokens, and Fractal Democracy. Explore the video playlist and resources below to learn more!
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The Power of Optimistic Consent
- Key Benefits & Use Cases
- Technical Architecture and Implementation
- Example Implementation: Optimism Fractal
- Developer Resources
- ORDAO Office Hours
- Code Repositories
- Web Applications
- Smart Contracts
- Get Involved
- Videos about ORDAO
- OF 28: Optimism Fractal Software
- Related Posts
The Power of Optimistic Consent
Drawing inspiration from sociocratic principles, ORDAO revolutionizes traditional voting systems by shifting from consensus-based to consent-based decision making. Rather than requiring high participation thresholds that often lead to governance paralysis, ORDAO enables rapid execution of non-controversial decisions while maintaining strong safeguards through:
- Low initial quorum requirements that enable active community members to initiate actions
- A time-delayed execution period where any significant opposition can easily block contentious proposals
- Deep integration with the Respect tokens to ensure voting power stems from demonstrated contribution rather than capital
- Sophisticated smart contracts that automate execution while maintaining decentralization
ORDAO provides a practical implementation of fractal democracy, a revolutionary governance system that empowers communities at all scales. It draws inspiration from sociocracy while leveraging blockchain technology to create verifiable, automated onchain execution. By integrating deeply with the Respect Game's peer evaluation system, ORDAO ensures that voting power stems from demonstrated contribution rather than capital accumulation.
This alignment of incentives helps create governance systems that remain democratic even as communities scale - combining the best of agile decision-making with democratic safeguards.
Key Benefits & Use Cases
ORDAO provides numerous advantages for communities seeking to implement decentralized governance:
Efficient Operations: By requiring minimal participation for routine decisions while maintaining safeguards against controversial actions, ORDAO enables communities to operate efficiently without sacrificing security.
Flexible Implementation: Communities can customize parameters like voting periods, quorum requirements, and execution delays to match their specific needs while maintaining the core benefits of optimistic consent.
True Decentralization: The system distributes power based on earned reputation through the Respect Game, creating genuine democratic participation rather than plutocratic control.
Automated Execution: Smart contracts automatically execute approved decisions, removing the need for trusted intermediaries while maintaining decentralized control.
Common use cases include:
- Playing Respect Games
- Cross-platform integrations
- Distribution of rewards and reputation tokens
- Protocol parameter adjustments
- Community role assignments
- Treasury management and resource allocation
Technical Architecture and Implementation
At the heart of ORDAO lies the Optimistic Respect-based Executive Contract (OREC), an innovative smart contract system that enables decentralized execution of community decisions.
OREC empowers communities to easily execute any kind of onchain action with a high degree of decentralization and customizability, while uniquely overcoming traditional problems in governance like voter apathy and rational ignorance. The system is designed with modularity in mind, allowing communities to customize key parameters like voting periods, quorum requirements, and execution delays.
ORDAO allows for proposing and voting on various types of transactions, including Respect distribution, custom calls, and more. This flexibility enables adaptation to different community needs while maintaining the core benefits of optimistic consent-based governance. The system implements sophisticated security measures including spam prevention through limits on concurrent live proposals, clear execution windows to prevent timing attacks, and robust validation of proposal metadata.
ORDAO features an ORConsole app which provides access to all features of the OREC contract through a browser console interface (and comprehensive documentation about ORDAO’s functionalities). Watch the ORDAO Office Hours videos below to see ORConsole in action. In ORDAO, Respect tokens (or other kinds of reputation tokens) are distributed as soulbound ERC-1155 tokens, enabling commemorative artwork and robust composability with many other EVM smart contracts or apps.
Integration with the Fractalgram web application provides an intuitive interface for participation in community governance. The application handles automated submission of breakout room results from the Respect Game, streamlining the reputation-building process that underlies ORDAO's governance mechanism. More advanced governance features are planned to be added to Fractalgram in the future, enabling community members to easily create proposals participate in voting, monitor execution status, and use other powerful features available in ORConsole.
For detailed information about the design and technical specifications of OREC —the core component of ORDAO—visit the Github Page, read this article, and watch the videos below.
Example Implementation: Optimism Fractal
The Optimism Fractal Council approved a proposal to adopt ORDAO smart contracts in November 2024. This transferred ownership of the Optimism Fractal community account to the 65 active community members who participated in the first four seasons of Optimism Fractal, empowering the community with decentralized control over any kind of onchain actions.
This implementation demonstrates how ORDAO enables efficient operation with democratic principles, with other implementations at Eden Fractal and ZAO Fractal coming soon. Optimism Fractal’s ORDAO implementation serves as the executive branch in an innovative tripartite governance system, where the Optimism Fractal Council serves as a legislator and the Respect Game players serve as judiciaries. The ORDAO implementation includes sophisticated safeguards against common attack vectors, including spam prevention through limits on concurrent live proposals and clear customizable execution windows to facilitate onchain community consensus. You’re welcome to try ORDAO software in action at Optimism Fractal biweekly events
ORDAO is integrated with the Fractalgram web application, providing an intuitive interface for participation in community governance. This combination of sophisticated smart contracts with user-friendly interfaces makes decentralized governance accessible to broader communities.
Developer Resources
ORDAO provides comprehensive educational resources for developers interested in learning about and contributing to the project. The open-source codebase welcomes community contributions. Learn more about development details below.
ORDAO Office Hours
Register for ORDAO office hours sessions hosted by the creator of ORDAO, Tadas, to learn implementation details. These are scheduled on an ad hoc basis, so you can register for email reminders to be notified when they’re announced. Watch videos of past ORDAO Office Hours and more educational video content in the ORDAO Video Playlist.
Code Repositories
All ORDAO code is open-source with a GPL-3.0 License and available for review and contribution:
- ORDAO Repository - Core smart contracts and implementation
- Original frapps Repository - Historical development archive
- FRAPPS Repository - Curated collection of fractal application software
Web Applications
ORDAO Console
- Management Interface: orclient-docs.frapps.xyz
- Purpose: Advanced governance operations and system monitoring
Submission Interface
- Primary Application: of.frapps.xyz
- Purpose: Basic interface for consensus submission and onchain submission
Fractalgram app
- Fractalgram Frontend: github.com/optimystics/fractalgram-web
- Live Application: respect-game.vercel.app
- Article with details: Optimystics.io/fractalgram
- Purpose: Intuitive app for consensus formation and onchain submission
Smart Contracts
The system is currently deployed on the OP mainnet on the Optimism Fractal community account and ORDAO Office Hours account with testing environments available on multiple EVM-compatible networks. Regular updates and improvements continue to be deployed based on community feedback and testing results.
See ORDAO Deployment Information below for details and account addresses:
ORDAO Deployment InformationGet Involved
We welcome participation from developers, community leaders, and anyone interested in implementing better coordination systems:
- Watch comprehensive implementation videos in the ORDAO video playlist
- Connect and learn about Tadas, the lead developer and architect of ORDAO
- Register for ORDAO office hours sessions to learn implementation details
- Join Optimism Fractal biweekly events to experience ORDAO in action
- Participate in Eden Fractal biweekly events to help shape development
- Subscribe to the Optimystics Events Calendar to meet ORDAO developers and users
- Connect through the Eden Fractal Telegram or Optimism Fractal Discord to ask questions
- Contribute to development in the Github repositories linked above
- Explore our other tools for democratic coordination in the Optimystics Toolkit
Videos about ORDAO
OTH 15: Intro to ORDAO Software
OF 40: Optimism Fractal ORDAO App
How are Respect Game apps transforming Optimism Fractal? Enjoy a collaborative builder-empowering Respect Game, then explore an introduction to ORDAO - a new app proposed as the next generation of Optimism Fractal software 📱🍎🌱
You can watch Dan giving a brief overview about ORDAO here and see Tadas’ presentation, followed by a thoughtful community discussion.
EF 108: Optimistic Respect-based Executive Contract
What is the future of onchain governance? Explore OREC, the new Optimistic Respect-based Executive Contract that simplifies decision-making with unprecedented coordination and decentralization 🏛️📜
OTH 27: Optimism Fractal ORDAO Software Implementation
How is ORDAO advancing onchain democratic governance? Discover a revolutionary protocol for consent-based community coordination powered by reputation. Learn how this groundbreaking software is transforming governance for Optimism Fractal and the Superchain 🏛️🌻
OF 28: Optimism Fractal Software
What software will empower millions of communities on the Superchain? Watch builders share impressive presentations in the Respect Game, then choose discussion topics at Optimism Town Hall and preview a next generation Optimism Fractal app 🌻📲
NovaCrypto Interview about ORDAO and OREC
ORDAO Office Hours 1
The first ORDAO Office Hours, featuring an introductory overview of ORDAO, OREC, and ORConsole. Recorded on September 16, 2024.
Note: Due to a technical issue, Dan's audio was not recorded. We're sharing the raw footage of the recording now as an educational resource and plan to produce versions with higher production quality in the future.
ORDAO Office Hours 2
The second ORDAO Office Hours featuring a deep dive into OREC, the Optimistic Respect-based Executive Contract. Recorded on September 17, 2024.
ORDAO Office Hours 3
The third ORDAO Office Hours meeting, featuring an overview of ORConsole. Recorded on September 18, 2024.
ORDAO Office Hours 4
The fourth ORDAO Office Hours meeting, featuring discussions about integrating ORDAO with Optimism Fractal and the next Office Hours. Recorded on September 19, 2024.
ORDAO Office Hours 5
Discussing ORDAO v1.1, testing new Privy functionalities, and exploring integrations with Fractalgram. Recorded on December 18th 2024.
ORDAO Office Hours 6: Introducing ORDAO Fractal
In this Office Hours session, Tadas introduces ORDAO Fractal as we explore its exciting details and related topics. Recorded on February 5th, 2025. Learn more at Optimystics.io/ordao
Related Posts
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A collaborative space and educational resource for developers who are interested in building with Optimism Fractal. It includes projects, tasks, and info related to Optimism Fractal development.