RTNC Governance Charter v1.0

Framework for human coordination around RTNC documentation, development, and transparency.

1. Purpose

This Governance Charter defines how people coordinate around the RTNC protocol. It covers documentation, development processes, and transparency tools. It does not control token supply, emission, mining, or price.

2. Scope

Governance applies to:

  • Whitepapers, technical specs, and public documentation.
  • Maintenance of reference client software.
  • Transparency tools such as explorers and metrics dashboards.
  • RTNC Foundation operations, planning, and reporting.

Governance does not apply to:

  • Token supply or emission.
  • Mining difficulty or rewards.
  • Redistribution of tokens.
  • Market behavior or price.

3. Principles

3.1 Transparency

All governance discussions, proposals, and decisions must be publicly accessible and archived. Private or hidden governance is not allowed.

3.2 Neutrality

Governance is not allowed to favor specific market participants, promote price targets, or design investment products. It exists to document, not to financialize.

3.3 Open Participation

Any individual may propose changes to documentation, raise issues, or contribute to discussions. There is no token-based membership or paywalled access.

3.4 Non-Authority

Governance has no power over the chain’s core rules. The protocol runs on code and consensus, not human decrees.

4. Governance Bodies

4.1 Contributors

Contributors are people who write code, documentation, tooling, or research for RTNC. Being a contributor carries no special legal or financial status.

4.2 Community Participants

Community participants are people who read, review, and comment on governance topics. They help ensure the system stays honest and understandable.

4.3 RTNC Foundation

The RTNC Foundation is a non-profit entity that coordinates administrative tasks. It can fund work, host infrastructure, and support audits. It cannot alter protocol rules or manage user funds.

5. Proposal Process

The lifecycle of a governance proposal is:

  1. Draft: An individual writes a proposal using a standard template.
  2. Public Discussion: The proposal is made available for community feedback.
  3. Revision: The author updates the text based on constructive feedback.
  4. Compliance Review: The RTNC Foundation checks for legal and scope alignment.
  5. Publication: The final document is published and archived.

This process is advisory. Developers and operators adopt changes voluntarily based on merit, not because of enforced votes.

6. Decision-Making

RTNC governance uses rough consensus, not token-weighted voting. A decision is considered accepted if:

  • There is broad support among active contributors.
  • No major, well-argued objections remain unresolved.
  • The change is technically sound and clearly documented.

Owning RTNC tokens does not grant additional voting power or formal authority in governance.

7. Transparency Requirements

Every governance-related document, meeting note, and decision summary should be:

  • Publicly accessible.
  • Timestamped.
  • Attributable to authors or signers.
  • Stored in an archived location (e.g., Git repository, website).

8. Conflicts of Interest

Individuals involved in governance are expected to disclose significant conflicts of interest (for example, being employed by a company that might benefit from a decision). In cases where conflicts exist, those individuals should recuse themselves from specific decisions.

9. Amendments to the Charter

This Charter may be updated through the same proposal process described above. However, amendments may not:

  • Grant governance control over tokenomics or mining.
  • Create token-based voting or investor rights.
  • Introduce custodial control over user funds.

10. Limitations

Governance is explicitly prohibited from:

  • Changing token supply or emission.
  • Redistributing user funds or balances.
  • Guaranteeing financial outcomes or yields.
  • Directly manipulating exchange markets or price.

11. Definitions

Protocol: The set of consensus rules implemented in node software.
Governance: Human processes for documentation, coordination, and transparency.
Foundation: A non-profit supporting RTNC infrastructure and research.
Contributor: Any person who provides code, documentation, or tools to the project.