New Ethereum Blockchain Consortium Could Run on Experimental Tech

Could the enterprise blockchain consortium use its own experimental technology to break away from the traditional top-down governance model?

AccessTimeIconFeb 21, 2017 at 3:30 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 11, 2021 at 1:06 p.m. UTC
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An enterprise consortium is exploring the possibility of using blockchain-based governance technology to help its members vote on various measures.

According to sources, the newly formed Enterprise Ethereum group is considering a more distributed approach to self-management, rather than the more traditional leadership structure adopted by competing blockchain consortia like R3CEV and Hyperledger.

by CoinDesk last month, Enterprise Ethereum is a consortium-style group of companies looking to build private implementations of ethereum with an eye to also help improve the public version of the technology.

CoinDesk has been told that the founding members of that group – rumored to include JP Morgan, Santander and BNY Mellon – are currently considering using smart contracts to effectively build its decision-making process into the ethereum blockchain.

Called the 'EntEth Technical Governance Mechanism', the distributed board membership and voting platform would be supported by tech provided by BoardRoom, a decentralized governance platform, if approved by the nascent organization.

First publicly revealed in 2015 at the ethereum developers' conference DevCon, BoardRoom is a part of the group of companies, or 'spokes', built around the ConsenSys ethereum startup.

At its core, BoardRoom is a smart contract on the ethereum network designed to let individuals, companies and other groups manage other contracts on both the public and private instances of ethereum.

BoardRoom voting demo
BoardRoom voting demo

The company, founded by developer Nick Dodson and advised by ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, offers its users the ability to collaboratively manage jointly owned digital assets and conduct proxy voting on board proposals.

Boardroom advisor Joe Lubin and founder of ethereum startup ConsenSys confirmed to CoinDesk that the consortium is currently exploring a number of possible governance structures "at different levels of the organization".

He added:

"No final decisions have been made."

Science and testing image via Shutterstock

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