General Governance

Learn about Sei’s governance system and how to participate in the decision-making process

Sei uses an on-chain governance system that lets SEI holders participate in decisions about the network. The system is built on the Cosmos SDK governance module, with several enhancements specific to Sei’s architecture.

How governance works

1. Proposal submission: Anyone can submit a governance proposal with an initial deposit.
2. Deposit period: Community members can contribute to the proposal deposit.
3. Voting period: When the proposal reaches the minimum deposit, voting begins.
4. Execution: Approved proposals are executed automatically.

Governance logic

• Quorum requirement: For a proposal to be valid, a minimum percentage of bonded tokens must participate in the vote.
• Approval threshold: To pass, a proposal must receive more than 50% approval (excluding abstain votes), or 66.7% for expedited proposals.
• Veto protection: If more than 33.4% of votes are “NoWithVeto”, the proposal is vetoed, regardless of other vote counts.

Network parameters

Sei Mainnet

These are the live network parameters for Sei Mainnet.

Parameter	Value	Description
Minimum deposit	3500 SEI	Required to enter the voting period
Expedited minimum deposit	7000 SEI	Required to enter the expedited voting period
Deposit period	2 days	Time to collect the minimum deposit
Voting period	3 days	Duration for voting
Expedited voting period	24 hours	Duration for expedited voting
Quorum	33.4%	Minimum participation required
Expedited quorum	66.7%	Fast-track proposals
Approval threshold	50%	Standard proposals
Expedited threshold	66.7%	Fast-track proposals
Veto threshold	33.4%	Maximum veto votes allowed

Sei Testnet

Sei Testnet uses these changed parameters for testing.

Parameter	Value	Description
Minimum deposit	10 SEI	Reduced for testing
Expedited minimum deposit	20 SEI	Reduced for testing
Voting period	12 hours	Fast testing cycles
Expedited voting period	6 hours	Fast testing cycles

Vote types

Voting options

1. Yes: Support the proposal as written. This vote counts toward the approval threshold.
2. No: Oppose the proposal. This vote counts against the approval threshold.
3. Abstain: Take a neutral position. This vote counts toward quorum, but not toward the approval threshold.
4. NoWithVeto: Strongly oppose the proposal. If these votes exceed the veto threshold, they can veto the proposal.

Weighted voting

With weighted voting, validators and delegators can split their voting power across multiple options.

• You can distribute voting power across different options based on the strength of your preference.
• You can use percentage allocations to express a nuanced position on a complex proposal.

Proposal outcomes

Outcome	Conditions
Passed	Quorum met (≥33.4% participation) · Approval threshold met (≥50% or ≥66.7% for expedited) · Veto threshold not exceeded (less than 33.4% NoWithVeto)
Rejected	Quorum met but approval threshold not met · Majority voted “No”
Failed (no quorum)	Less than 33.4% of bonded tokens participated · Proposal automatically fails
Vetoed	More than 33.4% of votes were “NoWithVeto” · Indicates strong community opposition

Best practices

Community engagement

• Read each proposal and understand its implications before you vote.
• Participate in community forums and discussions to better understand different perspectives.
• Consider the long-term implications of each proposal for the network and ecosystem.
• Follow governance updates, and participate actively in the democratic process.