# 7. Governance Model Hippo Protocol is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization, in which HP coin holders participate in key decision-making processes. This decentralized governance structure enables HP coin holders, validators, and other ecosystem participants to actively shape the protocol. The governance framework is designed to ensure network security, decentralization, and community-driven decision-making. Governance is executed through: ### 7.1 Governance Participation & Voting Rights * HP Coin Holders: Participate in on-chain governance, voting on protocol upgrades, reward allocations, ecosystem grants, and policy decisions. * Validators: Secure the network and approve major governance proposals, including changes to consensus mechanisms and validator selection processes. * Node Operators: Healthcare institutions, service providers, and financial institutions operating Hippo Data Nodes contribute to governance. ### 7.2 On-Chain Voting Mechanisms * Proposal Submission: Any HP coin holder can submit a governance proposal. * Validator Council Approval: Proposals that affect core protocol functions must receive approval through validator voting. * Community Voting: Coin holders vote proportionally based on staked HP coins. ### 7.3 Decision-Making & Treasury Management * Ecosystem Grants: 5% of coin inflation is allocated to ecosystem grants, which fund development teams and technical contributions. These grants are proposed and voted on by the community. * Airdrop & Community Expansion: 5% of inflation is reserved for marketing and community growth incentives, with airdrop distributions subject to governance approval. * Liquidity & Network Growth: 10% of coin inflation is directed toward liquidity providers and ecosystem expansion efforts. ### 7.4 Long-Term Decentralization Plan * Early Foundation-Led Governance: During the initial phase, governance will be led by the Hippo Protocol Foundation and its early backers. * Community-Led DAO Evolution: Over time, governance authority will fully transition to the Hippo Protocol DAO, enabling the community to make all protocol decisions. This governance model ensures security, transparency, and sustainability, while enabling healthcare institutions, AI researchers, and Web3 participants to collaborate within a trustless and decentralized healthcare data ecosystem. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://whitepaper.hippoprotocol.ai/7.-governance-model.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.