Swiss cryptocurrency services provider Bitcoin Suisse is enabling token holders within the Polkadot ecosystem to participate in governance voting when their digital assets are securely stored within its Bitcoin Suisse Vault service.
Polkadot, its canary network Kusama, and all of its parachains rely on on-chain governance, ensuring that the community of token holders gets a say in the future development and direction of the network. It’s a democratic consensus-based governance model that any token holder can participate in. Through it, anyone can use their tokens to vote on technical proposals and other initiatives that affect the project.
The only problem with this model is that, until now, those who relied on the security offered by a custodial service such as Bitcoin Suisse Vault have been unable to participate. To vote on governance issues, users are required to hold their tokens in a recognized wallet that supports DOT, KSM or CFG tokens. That’s no longer the case, as Bitcoin Suisse Vault has become the first institutional-grade custody service to support participation in governance within the Polkadot ecosystem.
To take part in voting, users can quickly and effortlessly create a proxy account on any device via the Bitcoin Suisse Vault. They can then vote or suggest proposals of their own, without needing to withdraw their tokens from the vault first. What this means is that they can participate in governance while ensuring their tokens remain locked in secure cold storage.
It’s a move that could have a very big impact, as Polkadot’s’ DOT is understood to be one of the most widely held crypto tokens among institutional investors. The issue for this audience is that it must ensure its digital assets are as secure as possible at all times. As such, many institutional holders of DOT have been forced to forsake participation in governance due to security concerns.
Bitcoin Suisse Head of Custody Markus Perdrizat said on-chain governance is key to the advance of the Web3 ecosystem that Polkadot is building. As such, Bitcoin Suisse determined that it was essential to enable its customers to access this governance through the Vault platform.
“The Bitcoin Suisse Vault was already the first solution to offer DOT custody and staking services in June 2020, so this new feature is a clear continuation of our tradition of staying at the forefront of technical innovation,” Perdrizat said.
“We’re pleased Bitcoin Suisse clients are now easily able to participate in the Polkadot governance process through the Bitcoin Suisse Vault,” added Web3 Foundation CEO Kasper Jorgensen.
“Enabling easy access to participate in on-chain governance while keeping tokens in an institutional grade custody service is a big step forward for adoption and participation on Polkadot.”
