Flare: who orders transactions?

Who controls it

Transaction ordering

Permissionless Snowman++ proof-of-stake validators select blocks through stake-weighted proposing; a validator self-bonds 1 million FLR.

Escape hatch

n/a: L1

Upgrade authority

Token-holder governance votes on FIPs, but only the Flare Foundation can initiate proposals, there is no quorum, and some approved changes require Foundation execution.

Halts and outages

Snowman++ provides rapid single-slot probabilistic finality through a public validator set. Validators also take part in Flare’s data protocols, which widens their role and links validator concentration to data-provider concentration.

Ketju assessment

Ketju approves Flare with limits: any validator that meets the published self-bond can join consensus, but the Foundation alone decides which governance proposals reach a vote. Flare has no conventional administrator key over user balances, which supports a crypto-backed grade over an issuer-controlled one. Governance is far more centralized than consensus. No quorum protects a decision taken with low participation, and some results depend on the Foundation executing them by hand. Advisors should size positions with that concentration in mind and follow it.

Review triggers

• The Foundation obtains a unilateral balance, freeze, or consensus-upgrade power
• Fewer than 40 independent validators remain active
• One identifiable organization controls one-third of active stake
• Finality is unavailable for more than 1 hour

Each trigger names a fact anyone can observe. If one occurs, Ketju will review the assessment again. None is a forecast.

Questions before use

1. Does the client’s thesis require censorship resistance, or primarily low-cost settlement?
2. Can the client withdraw without help from the party that normally orders transactions?
3. Who can upgrade bridges or contracts, and what delay applies?
4. Does the asset introduce an issuer weaker than the chain grade?
5. What evidence will show a halt, censorship event, or governance change?