Governance

Kaia Governance: Evolving Toward Community-Driven Decentralization

The Kaia Governance Council (GC) is responsible for major governance decisions. In the platform’s early development and stabilization stage, membership focused on trusted institutions to ensure reliability and operational efficiency. Kaia’s current position reflects collaboration among institutional GC members and the stable operation of the Kaia Mainnet.

Kaia’s governance is evolving in step with utility-driven adoption across LINE and Kakao’s distribution, the rise of on-chain payments and stablecoins, and the growing role of builders and DAOs delivering real products (Mini Dapps, DeFi, NFT marketplaces). With EVM compatibility, PBFT-based security, and deep integration with LINE’s Mini Dapp ecosystem, governance prioritizes user protection, scalability, sustainable token economics, and real-world utility—including newly enabled native USDT use—while amplifying the voices of active ecosystem teams and communities.

To broaden participation, Kaia is opening GC membership pathways to non‑traditional entities such as DAOs, protocol teams, and ecosystem builders that drive usage, liquidity, and developer growth. Governance will remain stake‑based with safeguards to protect minority opinions, and will expand participation through delegation.

Public Delegation will allow any token holder to delegate voting power to representatives who can vote on their behalf, with the flexibility to delegate or revoke at any time. This approach strengthens representation while keeping decision making accountable and on-chain.

As on-chain activity, payments, and real‑world asset integrations expand, Kaia aims to progressively decentralize participation across diverse entities—DAOs, protocol teams, and community delegates—so that the voices of Kaia Communities are reflected through transparent, enforceable on-chain mechanisms.

Governance Framework

Kaia Governance is built on three core components that work together to ensure effective decision-making and execution. The Kaia Community encompasses all KAIA holders who can express their opinions on mainnet operations through governance forums and social channels. The Kaia Council represents the community and directly participates in governance decisions based on their holdings and voting rights delegated from the community. The Kaia Foundation provides technical expertise in blockchain and Web3 technology, offering evidence-based analysis to assist the Council in making informed decisions and implementing approved proposals.

The governance system embraces diversity by incorporating multiple governance models that coexist, cooperate, and compete within the ecosystem. This comprehensive approach draws from various real-world governance forms including representative democracy, decentralized autonomous organization structures, and stakeholder-based decision making. Organizations operating under different governance systems participate in the decision-making process, with successful systems naturally attracting more holders and assets, thereby gaining greater decision-making authority over time.

As the Kaia ecosystem continues to evolve, the governance framework adapts its pace and processes to match market conditions and development stages. Currently, the system prioritizes growth-oriented governance that enables rapid discussion and decision-making to respond effectively to changing market environments and accelerate ecosystem development. This approach ensures that Kaia can maintain its competitive edge while building a sustainable and inclusive governance structure for the future.

Governance Agendas

The main agendas that can be decided through the governance system include the following three areas, and proposals that require additional decision making may be introduced in a regular meeting or temporary meeting for review. The Kaia Governance Council must make decisions that are best for the growth of Kaia.

• Technology
  • Matters related to the technical update of the platform. Here the issues on the blockchain's basic structure (e.g., account models), new features (e.g., permissionless validators or MEV mitigation), or software update schedule are included.
• Economy
  • Issues relating to additional issuance of KAIA and its distribution structure, changes in transaction fees, and Kaia Ecosystem Fund spending approval etc. are included in this category.
• Governing Rule
  • The governance subjects and processes, as well as the rules for the responsibilities and rights of governing bodies, are included in this category.

Governance Process

Kaia Governance operates through a systematic three-stage process designed to ensure transparency and community participation. The process begins with open discussion where all participants can freely discuss and refine agenda items through off-chain forums and social channels. Following this discussion phase, formal on-chain agenda voting takes place where registered proposals are voted upon by eligible participants. Finally, when agenda items receive approval, the results are implemented through an activation phase that can include automatic execution of attached transactions for certain types of proposals.

On-chain agendas progress through clearly defined states from initial registration to final execution. Proposals begin in a pending status after registration while the voter list is determined, then move to active status during the voting period when voting power becomes fixed. Depending on the outcome, agendas either pass with sufficient approval or fail without reaching the required quorum. Approved agendas enter a queued waiting period before moving to the executed state where changes are fully implemented.

The governance system ensures enforceability through smart contracts, particularly the GovParam system contract that manages network parameters. When governance proposals include parameter changes, the approved modifications are automatically applied at specified activation blocks, ensuring decentralized and transparent implementation of community decisions.