Polkadot OpenGov Origins

Learn more about Polkadot OpenGov

For background information about Polkadot OpenGov, please refer to this dedicated Wiki document.

Polkadot OpenGov Terminology and Parameters

The important parameters to be aware of when voting using the Referenda module are as follows:

Origin - Each origin has a fixed set of privileges. When making a proposal, it is important to choose the origin that has the privilege to execute the referenda.

Track - Each track has its own dispatch origin and a preset configuration that governs the voting process and parameters.

Submission Deposit - The minimum amount to be used as a (refundable) deposit to submit a public referendum proposal.

Prepare Period - The minimum time the referendum needs to wait before it can progress to the next phase after submission. Voting is enabled, but the votes do not count toward the outcome of the referendum yet.

Decision Deposit - This deposit is required for a referendum to progress to the decision phase after the end of prepare period.

Decision Period - Amount of time a decision may take to be approved to move to the confirming period. If the proposal is not approved by the end of the decision period, it gets rejected.

Max Deciding - The maximum number of referenda that can be in the decision period of a track all at once.

Conviction: A multiplier to increase voting power.

Approval: the share of the approval vote-weight after adjustments for conviction against the total number of vote-weight for both approval and rejection

Support: The total number of votes in approval (ignoring adjustments for conviction) compared to the total possible amount of votes that could be made in the system. Support also takes into account abstained votes.

Min Approval - The threshold of approval (along with the min support) needed for a proposal to meet the requirements of the confirm period.

Min Support - The threshold of support (along with the min approval) needed for a proposal to meet the requirements of the confirm period.

Confirmation Period - The total time the referenda must meet both the min approval and support criteria during the decision period in order to pass and enter the enactment period.

Min Enactment Period - Minimum time that an approved proposal must be in the dispatch queue after approval. The proposer has the option to set the enactment period to be of any value greater than the min enactment period.

Origins and Tracks Info

Polkadot has 18 tracks and Kusama has 16. Both run on their Asset Hub. The values below were read from the chains' referenda.tracks constant (Polkadot Asset Hub runtime 2,005,001 and Kusama Asset Hub runtime 2,003,002, checked 26 October 2026). Durations assume 6-second blocks, because governance on Asset Hub is timed in relay chain blocks. For live values, see the track pages on Subsquare or query referenda.tracks in the Polkadot Developer Interface.

Polkadot: what changed since the earlier version of this table

Wish For Change 1701 ("OpenGov Adjustments - 2025") led to a runtime change (polkadot-fellows/runtimes#873) that:

• raised the submission deposit and shortened the undeciding timeout on all Polkadot tracks;
• Treasurer: max deciding 10 → 2, decision deposit 1,000 → 25,000 DOT, minimum support 0% → 1%;
• Small Spender: max deciding 50 → 5, decision deposit 100 → 500 DOT, minimum support 0% → 0.5%;
• Medium Spender: max deciding 50 → 5, decision deposit 200 → 1,000 DOT, minimum support 0% → 0.5%;
• Big Spender: max deciding 50 → 3, decision deposit 400 → 5,000 DOT, minimum support 0% → 0.75%;
• Referendum Canceller: max deciding 1,000 → 500, decision deposit 10,000 → 5,000 DOT.

The Technical Maintenance and Prosperity Emergency tracks were added in September 2026 (polkadot-fellows/runtimes#1236).

Polkadot

ID	Origin	Max Deciding	Decision Deposit	Prepare Period	Decision Period	Confirm Period	Min Enactment Period	Min Approval	Min Support
0	Root	1	100,000 DOT	2 Hours	28 Days	1 Day	1 Day	Reciprocal	Linear Decreasing
1	Whitelisted Caller	100	10,000 DOT	30 Minutes	28 Days	10 Minutes	10 Minutes	Reciprocal	Reciprocal
2	Wish For Change	10	20,000 DOT	2 Hours	28 Days	1 Day	10 Minutes	Reciprocal	Linear Decreasing
10	Staking Admin	10	5,000 DOT	2 Hours	28 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
11	Treasurer	2	25,000 DOT	2 Hours	28 Days	7 Days	1 Day	Reciprocal	Linear Decreasing
12	Lease Admin	10	5,000 DOT	2 Hours	28 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
13	Fellowship Admin	10	5,000 DOT	2 Hours	28 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
14	General Admin	10	5,000 DOT	2 Hours	28 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Reciprocal	Reciprocal
15	Auction Admin	10	5,000 DOT	2 Hours	28 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Reciprocal	Reciprocal
16	Technical Maintenance	100	10,000 DOT	30 Minutes	28 Days	10 Minutes	10 Minutes	Reciprocal	Reciprocal
17	Prosperity Emergency	10	50,000 DOT	2 Hours	28 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Reciprocal	Reciprocal
20	Referendum Canceller	500	5,000 DOT	2 Hours	7 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
21	Referendum Killer	1,000	50,000 DOT	2 Hours	28 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
30	Small Tipper	200	1 DOT	1 Minute	7 Days	10 Minutes	1 Minute	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
31	Big Tipper	100	10 DOT	10 Minutes	7 Days	1 Hour	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
32	Small Spender	5	500 DOT	4 Hours	28 Days	2 Days	1 Day	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
33	Medium Spender	5	1,000 DOT	4 Hours	28 Days	4 Days	1 Day	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
34	Big Spender	3	5,000 DOT	4 Hours	28 Days	7 Days	1 Day	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal

Kusama

ID	Origin	Max Deciding	Decision Deposit	Prepare Period	Decision Period	Confirm Period	Min Enactment Period	Min Approval	Min Support
0	Root	1	3,333.333333 KSM	2 Hours	14 Days	1 Day	1 Day	Reciprocal	Linear Decreasing
1	Whitelisted Caller	100	333.333333 KSM	30 Minutes	14 Days	10 Minutes	10 Minutes	Reciprocal	Reciprocal
2	Wish For Change	10	666.666667 KSM	2 Hours	14 Days	1 Day	10 Minutes	Reciprocal	Linear Decreasing
10	Staking Admin	10	166.666667 KSM	2 Hours	14 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
11	Treasurer	10	33.333333 KSM	2 Hours	14 Days	2 Days	1 Day	Reciprocal	Linear Decreasing
12	Lease Admin	10	166.666667 KSM	2 Hours	14 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
13	Fellowship Admin	10	166.666667 KSM	2 Hours	14 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
14	General Admin	10	166.666667 KSM	2 Hours	14 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Reciprocal	Reciprocal
15	Auction Admin	10	166.666667 KSM	2 Hours	14 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Reciprocal	Reciprocal
20	Referendum Canceller	1,000	333.333333 KSM	2 Hours	7 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
21	Referendum Killer	1,000	1,666.666667 KSM	2 Hours	14 Days	3 Hours	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
30	Small Tipper	200	0.033333 KSM	1 Minute	7 Days	10 Minutes	1 Minute	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
31	Big Tipper	100	0.333333 KSM	10 Minutes	7 Days	1 Hour	10 Minutes	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
32	Small Spender	50	3.333333 KSM	4 Hours	14 Days	12 Hours	1 Day	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
33	Medium Spender	50	6.666667 KSM	4 Hours	14 Days	1 Day	1 Day	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal
34	Big Spender	50	13.333333 KSM	4 Hours	14 Days	2 Days	1 Day	Linear Decreasing	Reciprocal

Info

For every referendum in each of these tracks, the Polkadot Developer Interface displays interactive graphs of the support and approval.

Extrinsics and Tracks

Note

You must submit the extrinsics in the table below using either the Root or a compatible OpenGov origin.

Pallet	Extrinsic Function	Required OpenGov Origin
Scheduler	schedule_named	AuctionAdmin, Treasurer
	schedule	AuctionAdmin, Treasurer
Treasury	reject_proposal	Treasurer
	approve_proposal	Treasurer
Election Provider Multi-Phase	submit_unsigned	StakingAdmin
Nomination Pools	set_metadata	StakingAdmin
	update_roles	StakingAdmin
Asset Rate	create	Treasurer
	remove	Treasurer
	update	Treasurer
Auctions	new_auction	AuctionAdmin
Slots	force_lease	LeaseAdmin
HRMP	open_channel	GeneralAdmin
Dynamic Parameters	set	DynamicParameterOrigin (uses specific roles internally, e.g., Treasurer)
Staking	force_new_era	StakingAdmin
	set_validator_count	StakingAdmin

Root

Polkadot

The origin with the highest level of privileges. This track requires extremely high levels of approval and support for early passing. The prepare and enactment periods are also large. For instance, a referendum proposed in this track needs to amass 48.2% support (share of active issuance) by the end of the first day with over 93.5% approval to be considered to be part of the confirm period. The support curve drops linearly to 25% by the end of day 14 and almost to 0% by the end of day 28. This ensures that the token holders receive ample time to vote on the proposal during the decision period.

Kusama

The origin with the highest level of privileges. This track requires extremely high levels of approval and support for early passing. The prepare and enactment periods are also large. For instance, a referendum proposed in this track needs to amass 46.4% support (share of active issuance) by the end of the first day with over 88.2% approval to be considered to be part of the confirm period. The support curve drops linearly to 25% by the end of day 7 and almost to 0% by the end of day 14. This ensures that the token holders receive ample time to vote on the proposal during the decision period.

Whitelisted Caller

Polkadot

Origin commanded by the Fellowship: the Fellowship whitelists the hash of a call, and the call can then be dispatched with the Root origin after the referendum passes. This track allows for a shorter voting turnaround, safe in the knowledge through an open and transparent process for time-critical proposals. For instance, a referendum proposed in this track needs to amass 20% support (much less than Root) by the end of the first day with over 94.2% approval to be considered to be part of the confirm period. Note how no referendum on the Whitelisted track can ever pass with less than 5% support.

Kusama

Origin commanded by the Fellowship: the Fellowship whitelists the hash of a call, and the call can then be dispatched with the Root origin after the referendum passes. This track allows for a shorter voting turnaround, safe in the knowledge through an open and transparent process for time-critical proposals. For instance, a referendum proposed in this track needs to amass 13.7% support (much less than Root) by the end of the first day with over 89.2% approval to be considered to be part of the confirm period. Note how no referendum on the Whitelisted track can ever pass with less than 5% support.

Wish For Change

The Wish For Change track serves as a medium for gathering consensus through OpenGov on a proposed change to the network through an on-chain remark. This track was added to ensure the Root track, which is typically utilized for handling one referendum at a time due to the sensitive nature of Root calls, is not employed to convey network desires to various bodies within the network. These remark statements could be voted on simultaneously because they lack stateful logic impacting the network. They should not delay voting on proposals requiring Root or be obligated to its queue. The approval/support criteria resemble Root, and passing items on this track serves as a signal for a change without conferring privileges.

Polkadot

Kusama

Staking Admin

The origin for canceling slashes. This origin has the privilege to execute calls from the staking pallet and the Election Provider Multiphase Pallet.

Polkadot

Kusama

Treasurer

Polkadot

The origin for spending funds from the treasury (up to 10M DOT). This origin has the privilege to execute calls from the Treasury pallet, and it is also the origin that sets and updates asset conversion rates in the Asset Rate pallet. Only two Treasurer referenda can be in their decision period at the same time.

Kusama

The origin for spending funds from the treasury (up to 333333.33 KSM). This origin has the privilege to execute calls from the Treasury pallet.

Lease Admin

Origin can force slot leases. This origin has the privilege to execute calls from the Slots pallet.

Polkadot

Kusama

Fellowship Admin

The origin for managing the composition of the fellowship.

Polkadot

Kusama

General Admin

The origin managing the registrar and permissioned HRMP channel operations.

Polkadot

Kusama

Technical Maintenance

Polkadot only. The origin for technical maintenance of operational values across system pallets: quotas, allowances, limits, durations, anti-spam fees and similar settings. According to the runtime, changes on this track move no funds, set no monetary or market policy and do not change who controls what. It uses the same approval curve as Whitelisted Caller. Support starts at 50%, falls to 6% by the end of day 3 and never goes below 5%. The track was added in September 2026 (polkadot-fellows/runtimes#1236).

Prosperity Emergency

Polkadot only. The origin intended to guard the monetary mechanisms around Prosperity (such as the PSM and related financial parameters) once they are wired to it, for example to operate circuit breakers like pausing the minting of a stable asset while keeping redemptions open. Wider administrative powers stay on stricter tracks until governance deliberately moves them here. It uses the same approval and support curves as Whitelisted Caller, with a 50,000 DOT decision deposit and a 3-hour confirm period. The track was added in September 2026 (polkadot-fellows/runtimes#1236).

Referendum Canceller

The origin can cancel referenda. This track has a low lead time and approval/support curves with slightly sharper reductions in their thresholds for passing.

Polkadot

Kusama

Referendum Killer

The origin can cancel an ongoing referendum and slash the deposits. This track also has a low lead-time and approval/support curves with slightly sharper reductions in their thresholds for passing.

Polkadot

Kusama

Small Tipper

Polkadot

Origin able to spend up to 250 DOT from the treasury at once.

Kusama

Origin able to spend up to 8.33 KSM from the treasury at once.

Big Tipper

Polkadot

Origin able to spend up to 1000 DOT from the treasury at once.

Kusama

Origin able to spend up to 33.33 KSM from the treasury at once.

Small Spender

Polkadot

Origin able to spend up to 10000 DOT from the treasury at once.

Kusama

Origin able to spend up to 333.33 KSM from the treasury at once.

Medium Spender

Polkadot

Origin able to spend up to 100000 DOT from the treasury at once.

Kusama

Origin able to spend up to 3333.33 KSM from the treasury at once.

Big Spender

Polkadot

Origin able to spend up to 1000000 DOT from the treasury at once.

Kusama

Origin able to spend up to 33333.33 KSM from the treasury at once.

Spending assets other than DOT or KSM

The spend limits above are set in DOT (or KSM). When a referendum spends another asset, such as USDT or USDC, the amount is converted to DOT (or KSM) with the rate stored in the Asset Rate pallet, and the converted amount must fit the track's limit. The stored rate is set by governance and is not a market price, so the dollar value a track can spend depends on that rate. You can check the current rate under assetRate.conversionRateToNative on Asset Hub.