Gearbox Protocol was launched by the DAO. Since day 0, there has been no one person or group or entity controlling the protocol. GEAR governance has been maintaining it since December 2021, and has grown since then. For now, it has been a combination of snapshot voting and guards [tech and fin multisigs] which were fully enacted by GEAR token holders. You can read about the governance framework in more detail in the general protocol docs. In 2023/2024, governance can become onchain as to remove any human factors.

From February 2023, governance has become even more asynchronous and transparent. Truly no one group deciding on parameters. Parallel non-controlled processes make up together DAO activities. Anyone can see what is going on, where funding is going, and what happens. That was done thanks to the suggested OBRA framework which further decentralized the DAO.

While you can find all the details in the forum topic GIP-43, and you actually should - below are the key points which will help you make sense of the DAO Initiatives & Cycles page later.

[GIP-43] OBRA DAO Governance Framework. Cycle 1: Feb-April

The arrows as you see are applicable to Cycle #1 in Feb 2023. It can and will likely change as time goes by.

As you can see, the DAO doesn’t concern itself with day-to-day control. It only votes for the big picture, and then anyone can come in and propose their initiatives to get funding. No working groups, central entities, nor oversight. Just reporting as per the 3-month cycle.

Initiative Cycle Lifecycle

1. Closer to the beginning of the new cycle, everyone can post different initiatives and ask for funding. That prompts governance discussions on budgets and priorities.
2. With that in mind, according to different strategies (as discussed and voted on by the DAO), initiatives are then voted on and the budgets requested are given to them for the next 3 months. They don’t have to report intra-cycle, they just do what they must.
3. Closer so the end of each cycle, they report back. As a way to show what they have done, and also as a way to ask for new funding if they require such.

Those reports are carried out in DAO Initiatives & Cycles. Head there!

<aside> 💡 As for the information about signers, protocol parameters, and quorums - all that almost static information has always been available in the general docs. Head there:

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Governance Model