[DRC] Reduce Voting Period dYdX

Proposals
1

Simple Summary

This proposal seeks to reduce the voting durations for governance proposals on the dYdX Chain:

- Regular Proposals: from 4 days → 3 days

- Expedited Proposals: from 24 hours → 18 hours

The goal is to allow faster decision-making while preserving validator participation and governance security.

Abstract

Most governance proposals on dYdX Chain consistently reach quorum within 2 days of the voting period starting. Expedited proposals, which are usually for urgent changes (e.g., parameter updates, emergency fixes), also reliably hit quorum within a few hours, thanks to prompt notifications from the dYdX Foundation and validator responsiveness.

Shortening voting periods will improve governance agility, particularly for time-sensitive proposals, without meaningfully impacting participation rates or decentralization.

Motivation & Rationale

- Historical data shows that quorum is typically reached less two days for regular proposals (average for the past 10 proposals: ~30 hours) and within 6 hours for expedited proposals. The final 48-60 hours of the voting windows are often underutilized.

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- Reducing the voting window shortens the time it takes for proposals to be executed, which is especially valuable when responding to urgent issues or market conditions.

- The dYdX validator set is highly engaged, with consistent participation rates across proposals. For expedited votes, the Foundation team actively notifies validators, further ensuring timely participation.

- Faster governance turnaround helps maintain trust in dYdX as a responsive and secure platform, despite being fully decentralized.

Specification

This proposal seeks to reduce the voting period as follows:

  1. for regular proposals: reduce from 4 days to 3 day
  2. for expedited proposals: reduce from 24 hours to 18 hours

No other governance parameters or quorum thresholds are changed.

Next Steps

We invite the dYdX community to provide feedback on this proposal. If there is no significant objection, we will submit the on-chain proposal on Monday, September 22, 2025.

5 Likes
2

As governance matures, fine-tuning will boost velocity and make sense.
It will enable faster decision-making while preserving validator participation and governance security.
Thanks @florentgatin for bringing this to the community’s attention.

2 Likes
5

Thanks for the thorough analysis and proposal.

  • We support reducing the voting period for regular proposals from 4 days to 3 days—72 hours provides sufficient time for review and coordination.

  • For expedited proposals, we believe 18 hours is too short. A 24-hour minimum better accommodates global time zones, off-hours, and internal review without materially slowing urgent decisions.

We welcome further community feedback on this point and, overall, support the communities decision with the suggested adjustment.

Best regards,
CryptoCrew Validators

2 Likes
6

We suggest reducing the standard voting period to 48 hours.

Most proposals on dYdX consistently reach quorum within the first 24–30 hours, and validators usually review and discuss them on the forum before they go on-chain. A shorter voting window would make it easier to implement many protocol changes without needing expedited proposals, helping governance move faster without compromising participation or deliberation.

This proposal will be going on-chain shortly, and we encourage everyone to share their feedback and participate once it’s live.

2 Likes