Establishment of the Auxiliary Proposer Mechanisms Committee

Description

This proposal aims to establish the Auxiliary Proposer Mechanisms (APM) Committee, which will be responsible for reviewing, approving, and maintaining the list of APMs that Lido Node Operators are allowed to use. The committee ensures that only secure, value-aligned proposer-layer mechanisms (such as preconfirmations) are permitted, as well as establishing the conditions of fair use. If approved, the Committee will be formally established and start operating immediately (see: Operating Model).

Purpose

The APM Committee is proposed to guide and oversee the evaluation, adoption, and ongoing governance of Auxiliary Proposer Mechanisms (APMs) within the Lido protocol. APMs include innovations such as preconfirmations, proposer commitments, and other mechanisms that enhance block proposal behavior. The committee will ensure these mechanisms align with Ethereum’s roadmap, and Lido’s values of protocol neutrality, validator accountability, and long-term sustainability.

Context & Motivation

Recent developments in proposer-layer innovation have opened up new ways for validators to engage in value capture and contribute to network efficiency. As the Lido protocol supports a broad and decentralized validator set, there is a growing need for a structured approach to:

• Evaluating new APMs for security, fairness, and protocol alignment
• Defining implementation and usage guidelines for Node Operators
• Ensuring transparency and accountability in how external rewards from APMs are handled
• Maintaining DAO visibility and control over mechanisms that touch delegated capital

Committee Responsibilities

The APM Committee will:

1. Maintain and publish the APM List, a registry of APMs approved for use by Lido Node Operators
2. Review proposals for new APMs seeking inclusion, alongside any supplementary evaluations made by Lido contributors, with clear evaluation criteria and timeline published upfront
3. Define and update the configuration guidelines associated with APM usage
4. Coordinate with NOM (Node Operator Mechanisms) to monitor APM compliance and raise flags or propose DAO actions when needed
5. Track and report measurable outcomes (such as added value from approved APMs)

Operating Model

The APM Committee will be composed of a balanced mix of Lido contributors (from technical workstreams and NOM), technical reviewers, risk experts, and APM community contributors who can contribute the necessary expertise to the decision-making process.

The committee will convene ad hoc, operate with publicly accessible documentation and processes, and escalate decisions of strategic or financial impact to the DAO.

The APM List will be maintained as a living document within a designated public repository, alongside the Block Proposer Reward Policy. The final source shall be a Github markdown document; committee members will have the appropriate access to update this document as needed.

For each decision, once a supermajority consensus between the committee members (5/6) is reached, it must be publicly disclosed via a post on the Lido Research Forum, including rationale. Following publication, a mandatory 7-day (calendar) review period will begin. If no objections are raised within this window, the decision will be considered ratified.

If an objection is raised during the review period, the decision is paused and the parties are expected to engage in good-faith efforts to resolve the disagreement. If the objection remains unresolved after an additional 7 calendar days, the proposal defaults to “rejected”.

Committee Participants

Initially, the committee will consist of six voting members; including Lido contributors, technical reviewers, risk experts, and APM community contributors:

• Gabriella Sofia - Lido NOM contributor
• Ivan Metrikin - Lido Tech contributor
• Drew Van der Werff - Commit-Boost and Fabric steward
• Fredrik Svantes - security expert
• Vishal Modali - representing Chorus One, Lido Node Operator
• Sébastien Rannou - representing Kiln, Lido Node Operator

Additionally, the committee also includes consulting participants, which abstain from voting:

• Justin Traglia - Ethereum Foundation