Stacks: A Deeper Understanding

Stacks has a lot of moving parts, and for the longest time I wasn't familiar with them. I am used to buying a coin, joining some project Discords/Telegrams, staring at charts, and degening to my heart's content. If words such as SIP and CAB don't currently hold any meaning for you, that's ok we are going to remedy that in this piece.

The bulk of this content is sourced from here, sip-000.

SIPS and Why They Matter

Stacks is a decentralized blockchain, there is no CEO of Stacks. Everyone involved from developer to community member has the right to be heard when it comes to the ongoing operation of Stacks. In order to facilitate this form of decentralized governance, a process is required. The foundation of this process is known as a SIP.

SIP is an acronym for Stacks Improvement Proposal. Specifically a SIP is a formal document that is utilized to propose a change to the Stacks blockchain. Any user can submit a SIP, and every SIP will be subject to the same criteria laid out in sip-000. Whether I submit a sip or Satoshi Nakamoto submits one, we all follow the same process.

There are 5 different types of SIPs:

• Consensus

• Standard

• Operation

• Meta

• Informational

  For official definitions of each sip, please refer to sip-000

Each type of SIP would then have one or more considerations to help determine the steps required in order to ratify and incorporate the changes proposed within the sip. These considerations are as follows:

• Technical

• Economic

• Governance

• Ethics

• Diversity

  For a full description of the above listed considerations refer to sip-000

Even if this process is novel to you, as it was to me, other decentralized blockchains have similar mechanisms for the same reason. The most famous one, of course, is Bitcoin. This process is one that necessitates the formation of various roles to make this form of governance possible. Once a sip is proposed the document is then handled by 3 committees:

• The Steering Committee

• The Consideration Advisory Board

• The Sip Editors

The Steering Committee

The Steering Committee acts as a steward of the Stacks blockchain. It is primarily concerned with overseeing the Stacks blockchain evolving design, operation, and governance according to the rules found in sip-000. The Steering Committee is comprised of 3 members who have demonstrated expertise in blockchain development. Two members are selected from the Stacks Open Internet Foundation, and one member from the larger Stacks community.

Seeing as though the Steering Committee is composed of experts in blockchain technology it is essential that they are able to consult with other experts in regards matters that lie outside of their expertise. So sip-000 provides for the creation of something known as the Consideration Advisory Board.

The Consideration Advisory Board (CAB for short)

For every SIP consideration (governance for instance) there exist a Consideration Advisory Board. The duty of the CAB is to utilize their expertise to judge the merit of a SIP, as well as provide their expertise to the Steering Committee related to approved SIPs. The CAB also provides this feedback to the greater Stacks community at large. The CAB process is public, and its decisions documented and preserved.

In essence, once the CAB receives a SIP they review it and if it seems like a good idea they send it to the Steering Committee. From there the Steering Committee can determine which, if any, of the other CABs to consult before making a decision on the matter.

SIP Editors

The duty of the SIP Editors is to initially review the inbound SIPs from the Stacks community. This is the first stop in the process. They ensure that a proposed SIP is relevant, correctly formatted, and not a copy of a previously submitted SIP. They also act as mentors within the Stacks ecosystem for users who want to get involved with the SIP process.

In Practice

Thanks for sticking with me, I know this is a lot, but it is important information for you to have.

So let's say I have an idea for the Stacks blockchain. I would submit a draft to a SIP editor who would either accept it or send it back to me for revision. Upon meeting the criteria that the SIP editor has to check for, the draft would then be sent to the Consideration Advisory Board. The CAB then reviews the draft per its established process. From there the draft will either be deemed recommended or rejected. If recommended the SIP then proceeds to the Steering Committee who determines if all of the activation criteria are met. When this happens the SIP is ratified. If a SIP makes significant changes to the Stacks Blockchain, such as at the consensus level, then an ecosystem wide vote shall be conducted prior to ratification.

Keep in mind that this is just the 30,000 foot view of the SIP process. An introduction to Stacks: Civics class edition, if you will. The entire process is completely laid out, and very well written in sip-000 .

The purpose of writing this piece is to bring this process to the forefront of the community. Not everyone is going to get involved to the extent that they want to submit a SIP, but it is important that as many people as possible know about this process. This is a complex ecosystem, and there are many other facets of it to explore.

With that in mind you can expect upcoming content focused on the Stacks Foundation, Hiro, Trust Machines, Stacks Ventures, Web3 Startup Lab ,and more.

Thanks for reading as always, I hope you enjoyed it. A like, follow, and retweet goes far. On your way out follow me on Sigle. I don't have anything else to say for now. Until next time, Jack.

*The easiest way to DCA your Stacks here