Multisig Configuration

Bitcoin Commons uses multisig thresholds for governance decisions, with different thresholds based on the layer and tier of the change. See Layer-Tier Model for details.

Policy numbers below are expanded from governance YAML at book build time. Action tiers (PR classification 1–5) are documented separately in governance docs/ACTION_TIERS.md and config/action-tiers.yml.

Layer-Based Thresholds

Constitutional Layers (Layer 1-2)

  • Orange Paper (Layer 1): 6-of-7 maintainers, 180 days (365 days for consensus changes)
  • blvm-consensus (Layer 2): 6-of-7 maintainers, 180 days (365 days for consensus changes)

Implementation Layer (Layer 3)

  • blvm-protocol: 4-of-5 maintainers, 90 days

Application Layer (Layer 4)

  • blvm-node: 3-of-5 maintainers, 60 days

Extension Layer (Layer 5)

  • blvm-sdk: 2-of-3 maintainers, 14 days
  • governance: 2-of-3 maintainers, 14 days
  • blvm-commons: 2-of-3 maintainers, 14 days

Tier-Based Thresholds

Tier 1: Routine Maintenance

  • Signatures: 3-of-5 maintainers
  • Review Period: 7 days
  • Scope: Bug fixes, documentation, performance optimizations

Tier 2: Feature Changes

  • Signatures: 4-of-5 maintainers
  • Review Period: 30 days
  • Scope: New RPC methods, P2P changes, wallet features

Tier 3: Consensus-Adjacent

  • Signatures: 5-of-5 maintainers
  • Review Period: 90 days
  • Scope: Changes affecting consensus validation code

Tier 4: Emergency Actions

  • Signatures: 4-of-5 maintainers
  • Review Period: 0 days (immediate)
  • Scope: Critical security patches, network-threatening bugs

Tier 5: Governance Changes

  • Signatures: Special process — see governance GOVERNANCE.md (not the tier_5_governance row in action-tiers.yml alone)
  • Review Period: 180 days
  • Scope: Changes to governance rules themselves

Combined Model

When both layer and tier apply, the system uses "most restrictive wins" rule. See Layer-Tier Model for the decision matrix.

Multisig Threshold Sensitivity

Multisig Threshold Sensitivity Figure: Multisig threshold sensitivity analysis showing how different threshold configurations affect security and decision-making speed.

Governance Signature Thresholds

Governance Signature Thresholds Figure: Signature thresholds by layer showing the graduated security model.

For configuration details, see the governance config/ directory in the governance repository.

Nested multisig (SDK)

Flat N-of-M thresholds above describe maintainer rules per layer. The SDK overview also documents nested multisig for team-based and hierarchical governance setups using blvm-sdk primitives—see that chapter for APIs beyond a single flat quorum.

See Also