ZkSync Co-Creator Proposes a Novel Hierarchical Onchain Court System

• Alex Glochowski proposes a novel governance system that confronts the risks in the blockchain industry.
• The zkSync co-creator introduces a hierarchical on-chain court system that could outdo the real-world courts.
• In his tweet, Alex mentions that the key function of the system is to protect protocols against political inference.

Alex Glochowski, the co-creator of the Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution zkSync, recently proposed a novel governance solution L1 Fork as the Court of Final Appeal, to confront the risks concerning the implementation of smart contracts. He also provided insights into the creation of a “hierarchical system of on-chain courts” akin to the real-world judiciary.

On September 2, Alex G took to Twitter to invite his followers’ attention to the newly proposed governance system in the blockchain industry that overpowers the existing system. He put forward a series of challenges and limitations that the current system faces, including the inability to handle emergency situations in upgrades.

ZkSync creator highlighted the restrictions of the fork choice resolution adding that the assets bridged over from Ethereum cannot be forked. Referring to his own tweet, Alex G tweeted, “A bridge always negates any benefits of the forkability, making it strictly worse than a rollup”.

Eliminating the possibility of any such inconveniences, Alex G narrated the necessity of a new hierarchical on-chain court system that allows every protocol to have “its own governance with normal and emergency upgrade mechanisms defined”. An appeal period would be mandated, during which the court could be challenged and after which the court could respond.

Alex G also pictured his proposal as a “completely decentralized” system, in which different courts would hold different members, prices, and reputations, everything which finally gets connected to the Ethereum Supreme Court. He wrote;

“Each court will also have to specify the a higher court where any decision can be appealed – until at some point we reach the Ethereum Supreme Court. The decision of this smart contract can only be determined by a (technically soft) fork of the L1.”

Finally, the man behind the idea elucidated that the new system intends to construct a “social consensus” and replace the “canonical” traditional court, which is expensive and inconvenient at times. He mentioned that the key function of the system is to protect protocols against political inference, adding, “It will serve as a great deterrence mechanism, and will elevate the role of Ethereum as a powerful network state”.