Governance Overview

The governance system enforces development processes cryptographically across Bitcoin Commons repositories. See Governance Model for details.

Bitcoin Commons Governance System

Central source of truth for governance rules across all Bitcoin Commons repositories (managed by BTCDecoded organization).

⚠️ ACTIVATION STATUS

For verified system status: See SYSTEM_STATUS.md in the BTCDecoded organization repository.

Current Status: Phase 1 (Infrastructure Building)

✅ Infrastructure Complete: All core components implemented
⚠️ Not Yet Activated: Governance rules are not enforced
🔧 Test Keys Only: No real cryptographic enforcement
📋 Development Phase: System is in rapid AI-assisted development

Timeline: Phase 2 Activation: Governance enforcement begins | Phase 3 Full Operation: Mature, stable system

Overview

This repository defines:

Repository Governance (Binding): Who can merge what, and when
Protocol Governance (Advisory): User signaling for consensus changes
Emergency Response: Three-tiered system for critical issues
Maintainer Lifecycle: Selection, removal, and rotation processes

Key Distinction: We govern repository access (binding) and provide guidance for protocol changes (advisory). Users remain sovereign over Bitcoin's consensus rules.

Constitutional Governance Model

Bitcoin Commons implements a 5-tier constitutional governance system with complete transparency through cryptographic audit trails and user-protective mechanisms. That system operates under the Bitcoin Commons Compact.

Action Tiers

Tier 1: Routine Maintenance (3-of-5, 7 days) - Bug fixes, documentation, performance
Tier 2: Feature Changes (4-of-5, 30 days) - New RPC methods, P2P changes, wallet features
Tier 3: Consensus-Adjacent (5-of-5, 90 days) - Changes affecting consensus validation
Tier 4: Emergency Actions (4-of-5, 0 days review period) - Critical security patches, network threats
Tier 5: Governance Changes (Special process, 180 days) - Changes to governance rules themselves

Layer Hierarchy

Layer	Repository	Signatures	Review Period
1	blvm-spec	6-of-7	180 days (365 for consensus)
2	blvm-consensus	6-of-7	180 days (365 for consensus)
3	blvm-protocol	4-of-5	90 days
4	blvm-node / blvm	3-of-5	60 days
5	blvm-sdk	2-of-3	14 days

Documentation

Quick Reference

GETTING_STARTED.md - Quick orientation
QUICK_REFERENCE.md - Lookup tables and commands
HOW_TO.md - Task instructions
DECISION_TREES.md - Decision flows

Core Documentation

docs/ACTION_TIERS.md - PR action tiers (action-tiers.yml) vs emergency tiers
COMPACT.md - Bitcoin Commons Compact
GOVERNANCE.md - Main governance process
LAYER_TIER_MODEL.md - How layers and tiers combine
SCOPE.md - Repository vs protocol governance

Guides

guides/MAINTAINER_GUIDE.md — Maintainer guide
guides/ONBOARDING.md — New maintainer onboarding
REVIEW_EXPECTATIONS.md — Human reviewer expectations (guidelines for maintainers)
guides/REVIEW_INTELLIGENCE.md — AI-assisted code review intelligence (operating document; Compact, Orange Paper, differential testing)
blvm-commons - Governance enforcement application
blvm-docs - Unified mdBook site: docs.thebitcoincommons.org
Audit materials — see security and disclosure policy in this repo (SECURITY.md, guides/) and organization-wide SECURITY.md where applicable

BLVM Documentation