Governance
THORChain's minimal governance system and parameter management through Mimir
THORChain aims to have as little governance baked into the system as possible. This prevents nodes from coordinating or learning who one another are, which improves security by making collusion difficult.
THORChain governance decides:
which assets are listed or delisted
which chains are listed or delisted
when the protocol is upgraded
Asset Listing
Users signal which assets they want on the network by staking into a new pool. THORChain will recognise it as a new asset and create a pool in bootstrap mode (swapping disabled). Every few days the network checks all bootstrap pools and lists the one with the most value.
Asset Delisting
Assets are delisted automatically when their liquidity falls too low:
New bootstrap pools are compared to the smallest active pools.
If a bootstrap pool is deeper, the smallest active pool is returned to bootstrap mode and replaced.
Assets can later be re-listed if liquidity returns.
Chain Listing and Delisting
To add a new chain:
Community developers write a new Bifröst module and propose it via a THORChain Improvement Proposal (TIP).
The developer community reviews and decides whether to accept it.
If accepted, code is tested and added to THORNode.
Nodes upgrade as they churn in and out.
When 67% of nodes run the new software, the chain connects.
To delist a chain, nodes stop watching it. Once 67% of nodes are no longer watching, the chain is removed and assets are returned to users.
Mimir
THORChain operates with a set of constants that define fees, limits and security thresholds. These values can be overridden through Mimir.
Live values:
See Constants and Mimir within the developer documentation for a description of each one.
Change Management
Protocol-level changes use Architecture Decision Records (ADRs). An ADR should describe:
context and goals
the proposed change
pros and cons
references
changelog
Process and status can be found here:
Emergency Changes
Nodes cannot directly coordinate, which makes emergency changes difficult. In critical cases the Ragnarök protocol is used:
Nodes begin to leave the system.
When fewer than 4 nodes remain, Ragnarök triggers.
All funds are automatically returned to users.
The network shuts down safely and can be restarted later.
Governance Philosophy
THORChain’s governance is minimal by design:
avoids coordination between nodes
reduces attack and capture risk
lets market forces drive asset and chain selection
reduces human overhead and governance fatigue
keeps the system self-regulating and secure
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