The Oxcart Method is a governance upgrade for DAOs and decentralized systems. Built by mel.eth, it replaces static voting with a dynamic model of cascading vote capital and mathematically measurable legitimacy. Every agent delegates 100% of their voting power—re-callable at any time—creating a living map of trust and authority.
Designed for those building or funding adaptive governance, Oxcart enables:
- 📊 Cascading vote capital flows that reflect real-time trust networks
- 🔁 Recursive delegation chains with dynamic re-assignment
- 📉 Legitimacy scoring based on agent alignment, decay, and performance
- 🔓 Constraint-optional systems with time locks, delegation caps, and decay models
Backed by a mathematical model—Lj(t) = Lj(0) + ∑L′j(t)—Oxcart tracks authority like a ledger. It's already live-tested in the Arbitrum ecosystem, with use cases in meta-governance, voter fatigue reduction, and trust loop detection. For DAOs scaling responsibility or investors funding infrastructure, Oxcart offers signal over noise—and legitimacy you can measure.
Oxcart Timeline & Resources
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March 2023
The Oxcart Method (mel.eth) — Foundational writeup on legitimacy, delegation, and cascading vote capital. -
April 2023
Democratic Theory Explainer Video — 10-min intro to Oxcart's theory and application. [slides] -
May 2023
Cascading Vote Capital Math Specification (BlockScience) — Formal description of vote-capital mechanics and edge cases. -
June – August 2024
Oxcart Delegation Engine on Arbitrum — Live deployment enabling backup delegates and trust recalibration. [forum] [API docs] [contract code] [analytics code] [mbLDA Appendix B] -
November 2024
The Oxcart Method: A Mathematical Basis for Legitimizing Delegated Authority — Full model and theoretical framework (mbLDA format). -
December 2024
Oxcart Legitimacy Analyzer (GPT Tool) — Educational GPT for exploring legitimacy dynamics and vote-path scenarios. -
Ongoing
Oxcart GitHub Repository — Full code, docs, math specs, and updates. [connect w/ mel.eth]