C3
Ecosystem governance
Governance frameworks, roles, fees, revocation and slashing, and the economics of an ecosystem.
In the tracks: Solutions Consultant, Ecosystem Operator, Legal and Compliance.
This module is an outline: the objectives, sections and assessment are agreed; the material is being written by the Showcase and Certification Working Group.
Outline. The material of this module is being written by the Showcase and Certification Working Group. The objectives, outline and assessment below are the agreed scope for program version 2026.1.
4 class hours. Assessed by: exam and case.
Learning objectives
After this module you can:
- Explain what an ecosystem governance framework must contain and how its digest on the registry binds participants.
- Design the roles and onboarding modes of an ecosystem from its policy goals.
- Set fees along a participant tree and predict who pays whom.
- Explain revocation, ending an accreditation, and slashing, and when a governance framework uses each.
- Estimate the running economics of an ecosystem: fees in, deposits, operating costs.
Prerequisites
C1, C2.
Outline
1. Governance frameworks
What an EGF is for; the mandatory sections (purpose, eligibility, onboarding evidence, fees, revocation, slashing, disputes, versions); the digest on chain; the ECS ecosystem's framework as an example; the Verana Certification Ecosystem's policy as a worked case.
2. Roles and modes as policy
Translating a policy goal (who may issue, who may verify, whether holders are tracked) into onboarding modes, grantors and validity periods; when grantors are worth it.
3. Fees along the tree
Validation, issuance and verification fees; discounts; pricing assets; the trust deposit share on every fee; preview of beneficiaries on the indexer.
4. Revocation and slashing
Ending versus revoking an accreditation; revoking credentials versus revoking issuers; ecosystem slashing of a participant's deposit; network governance slashing; evidence and process.
5. Economics of an ecosystem
Costs (operations, onboarding, support), revenue (fees), deposits as locked capital; sizing fees; the public-good case for zero-fee schemas.
Assessment
Knowledge exam (sixty minutes, seventy percent) and a case: given a two-page description of a sector, write the roles, modes, fees and slashing rules of its ecosystem and justify them.
Reading list
VPR specification v4: Ecosystems; Credential schemas and participants; Trust deposits; Business models. docs.verana.io: Understand, Ecosystems. The Ecosystem governance framework template of the Verana Council.