Introducing a Community-Driven Governance Platform for Harmony

[mzfshark]

Hello Harmony community!

We’re excited to share https://governance.country, an open governance platform built 100% by the Harmony community, for the community. This initiative was born from collaboration, decentralization, and the shared vision of empowering builders, DAOs, and contributors across the Harmony ecosystem.

The platform was shaped with the active participation of validators and notable community members, who contributed valuable insights, strategic guidance, and hands-on support during both the design and development phases. Their input has been essential in defining the governance flows, DAO structures, and long-term strategy.

What is Governance.Country?
A decentralized governance hub where anyone can:

• Create and manage DAOs

• Propose, discuss, and vote on initiatives

• Build transparent, token-based governance processes

• Enable community-driven execution aligned with Harmony values

Transparency & Security

• All smart contracts are fully verified

• Governance logic is on-chain and auditable

• Built with a strong focus on decentralization and community control

Development Status
The platform is currently in the final development phase (dev → prod). While polishing and final integrations are still underway, the core governance infrastructure is already functional and open for community feedback and participation.

This is not a foundation-led or corporate initiative — it is a grassroots effort, driven by builders, validators, and contributors who believe in Harmony’s decentralized future.

We invite everyone to explore the platform, participate in discussions, create DAOs, and help shape the next phase of governance on Harmony.

Let’s build governance together — transparently, collaboratively, and decentralized.

[buttheadus]

Great work Harmonauts,

We both deserve & need a voting apparatus on HarmonyONE. ASAP

A few questions:

What is the annual cost for this platform. Are you requesting donations? IF yes, who are you asking to fund this? Where should funds be sent to upon approval.

Thanks in advance,

-Tenacious_DeFi

[mzfshark]

Transparency of Costs — Governance on Harmony

Last updated: January 23, 2026
Public document for community presentation
Stack: Aragon OSX fork

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Executive Summary

Performance Cost (Recommended)

Category	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost
Compute Engine	$280	$3.360
Cloud Memorystore (Redis)	$35	$420
Cloud Pub/Sub (Message Queue)	$25	$300
Cloud Storage & Backup	$15	$180
Cloud DNS	$1	$12
Cloud Load Balancer	$18	$216
Cloud Monitoring & Logs	$20	$240
Sentry (Optional)	$29	$348
TOTAL PERFORMANCE (with Sentry)	$423/mo	$5.076/yr
TOTAL (without Sentry)	$394/mo	$4.728/yr

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Minimum Viable Cost (Startup)

Category	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost
Compute Engine (2vCPU, 12GB RAM, 50GB SSD)	$110	$1.320
Cloud Memorystore (768MB)	$12	$144
Cloud Pub/Sub (Basic)	$5	$60
Cloud Storage	$5	$60
Cloud DNS	$1	$12
Cloud Load Balancer	$0	$0
Cloud Monitoring (Free)	$0	$0
Sentry (Optional)	$29	$348
TOTAL MINIMUM (with Sentry)	$162/mo	$1.944/yr
TOTAL (without Sentry)	$133/mo	$1.596/yr

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Detailed Comparison

Component	Minimum	Performance	Difference
Scalability	Medium (1.000 req/min)	High (5.000+ req/min)	5x
API Latency	100-300ms	50-100ms	2-3x better
Uptime SLA	95%	99.9%	Enterprise-grade
Concurrent Users	~500	~1.000	2x capacity
vCPU / RAM	2vCPU / 12GB	4vCPU / 16GB	Balanced vs Optimized
Storage	50GB SSD	100GB SSD	2x more space
Backup	Manual	Automatic 24h	Full redundancy
Monitoring	Basic	Enterprise	Advanced alerts

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MINIMUM COST (Startup/MVP)

Compute Engine — $110/mo

Configuration:
  Machine: n2-standard-2 (2 vCPU, 12GB RAM)
  Region: us-central1 (Iowa)
  Storage: 50GB SSD
  OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
  Services: Node.js (API) + MongoDB (local) + Redis (local)
  Commitment: Pay-as-you-go
  Estimated: $110/mo

Capacity:

• ~1.000 requests/min at peak (up from 500)
• Single Node.js + Express server with multiple workers
• MongoDB running on same VM (sufficient for <50K DAOs)
• 2-3 worker processes
• Suitable for small to medium deployments

Advantages over previous minimum:

• More RAM → better MongoDB performance
• Better CPU allocation → handles concurrent requests better
• Larger storage → more data before needing cleanup
• Production-ready baseline

Limitations:

• No auto-scaling
• No load balancer
• No geographic redundancy
• Manual SSH deployments

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Cloud Memorystore (Redis) — $12/mo

Configuration:
  Plan: Basic (768MB)
  Region: us-central1
  Redis Version: 7.2
  Replication: None
  Persistence: Disabled
  Estimated: $12/mo

Use Cases:

• API response caching (5min TTL)
• Simple rate limiting
• ~5K simultaneous keys

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Cloud Pub/Sub — $5/mo

Configuration:
  Topics: 3 (events, jobs, notifications)
  Subscriptions: 5
  Throughput: 10K msgs/day
  Retention: 7 days
  Estimated: $5/mo

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Cloud Storage — $5/mo

Configuration:
  Storage: ~2GB data
  Transfer: 5GB/mo outbound
  Class: Standard
  Auto-backup: None
  Estimated: $5/mo

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Cloud DNS — $1/mo

DNS:
  Public Zone: governance.one
  Records: A, MX, NS, CNAME (~10)
  Query Volume: 100K/mo
  Estimated: $1/mo

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Cloud Monitoring (Free)

Monitoring:
  Custom Metrics: ~50
  Logs: Up to 50GB/mo
  Dashboards: 10+ custom
  Estimated: $0/mo

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Sentry (Optional) — $29/mo

Configuration:
  Plan: Pro ($29/mo)
  Events/mo: 500K
  Retention: 90 days
  Alerting: Yes
  Estimated: $29/mo (OPTIONAL)

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TOTAL MINIMUM: $133-162/mo (~$1.596-1.944/yr)

Best for: MVP, testnet, production-grade startup, 500-5K users
Ready for: Early adopters, beta testing, initial DAO deployments

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PERFORMANCE COST (Production)

Compute Engine — $280/mo

Configuration:
  Machine Type: n2-standard-4 (4 vCPU, 16GB RAM) × 2
  Regions: us-central1 (primary) + europe-west1 (backup)
  Storage: 100GB SSD each
  Managed Instance Group: Auto-scaling (2-5 instances)
  Load Balancer: Global
  Services: Node.js (API) + MongoDB (local) + Redis (local)
  OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with PM2
  Estimated: $140/mo (us) + $140/mo (eu) = $280/mo

Capacity:

• ~5.000 requests/min at peak
• 2 workers per machine (4 total)
• Auto-scaling 2-5 instances on demand
• MongoDB replicated across instances
• <100ms latency in 99% of cases

Features:

• Cloud CDN integrated
• Automatic health checks
• Multi-region support

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Cloud Memorystore (Redis) — $35/mo

Configuration:
  Plan: Standard (5GB)
  Regions: us-central1 + read-only replica (eu)
  Redis Version: 7.2
  Replication: YES (HA)
  Persistence: RDB 1h + AOF
  Auto-failover: Yes
  Estimated: $35/mo

Use Cases:

• API response caching (30min TTL)
• Distributed rate limiting
• Session management
• ~50K simultaneous keys

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Cloud Pub/Sub — $25/mo

Configuration:
  Topics: 10 (segmented by type)
  Subscriptions: 20+ (with dead-letter queues)
  Throughput: 500K msgs/day
  Retention: 24 hours
  Dead Letter Queue: Yes
  Estimated: $25/mo

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Cloud Storage (Backup & Logs) — $15/mo

Configuration:
  Storage: ~10GB data + backups
  Transfer: 100GB/mo outbound
  Class: Standard (hot data)
  Replication: Multi-region
  Versioning: Enabled
  Estimated: $15/mo

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Cloud DNS — $1/mo

DNS:
  Public Zones: 3 (governance.one, .country, .xyz)
  Records: ~30 (A, MX, NS, CAA, TXT)
  DNSSEC: Enabled
  Query Volume: 10M/mo
  Estimated: $1/mo

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Cloud Load Balancer — $18/mo

Configuration:
  Type: Global HTTP(S) Load Balancer
  Forwarding Rules: 1
  Backend Services: 3 (API, WebSocket, Admin)
  Health Checks: Continuous
  CDN: Cloud CDN integrated
  DDoS Protection: Basic
  Estimated: $18/mo

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Cloud Monitoring & Logging — $20/mo

Configuration:
  Uptime Checks: 5 endpoints
  Custom Metrics: 100+
  Log Retention: 30 days
  Alerting Policies: 20+
  Dashboards: 5+ custom
  Error Budgets: Enabled
  Estimated: $20/mo

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Sentry (Optional) — $29/mo

Configuration:
  Plan: Pro ($29/mo)
  Events/mo: 500K
  Retention: 90 days
  Team Members: Unlimited
  Alerting: Webhooks, Slack, Email
  Estimated: $29/mo (OPTIONAL)

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TOTAL PERFORMANCE: $394-423/mo (~$4.728-5.076/yr)

Best for: Production-grade, 5K-100K users, 99.9% SLA
Features: Auto-scaling, redundancy, 24/7 backups, advanced alerts

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Scaling Roadmap

Months 1-3 (MVP):
├─ Setup: Minimum Cost ($133/mo)
├─ Users: <500
├─ MongoDB: Local on VM (12GB RAM sufficient)
└─ Focus: Product validation

Months 4-6 (Growth):
├─ Upgrade: ~$200-250/mo (add second instance + HA)
├─ Users: 500-5K
├─ MongoDB: Replication across 2 VMs
└─ Focus: Stability

Months 7+ (Scale):
├─ Full Performance: $394/mo
├─ Users: 5K-100K
├─ MongoDB: 3+ replicas distributed
└─ Focus: Global redundancy

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Optimization Strategies (Implemented)

MongoDB local: Eliminates Cloud SQL cost (~$150/mo saved)
Native Harmony RPC: Zero RPC provider cost (Alchemy/QuickNode eliminated)
Aggressive caching: 30min TTL saves ~40% database queries
Pub/Sub for async: Reduces main API load
Cloud Storage for backups: Automatic and cheap (<$15/mo)
Managed DNS: Simple and economical ($1/mo)
Right-sized minimum VM: 12GB RAM → better MongoDB performance out of the box

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Proposed Stack (Google Cloud)

Infrastructure:
  ├─ Compute Engine (Node.js + MongoDB): $110-280/mo
  ├─ Cloud Memorystore (Redis): $12-35/mo
  ├─ Cloud Pub/Sub (Message queue): $5-25/mo
  ├─ Cloud Storage (Backups): $5-15/mo
  ├─ Cloud DNS: $1/mo
  ├─ Cloud Load Balancer: $0-18/mo
  └─ Cloud Monitoring: $0-20/mo

Observability (Optional):
  └─ Sentry: $29/mo

Harmony One:
  ├─ RPC: Public API (http://api.harmony.one)
  ├─ Indexing: Self-hosted
  └─ Cost: $0

Total:
  ├─ MINIMUM: $133/mo (without Sentry)
  ├─ MINIMUM with Sentry: $162/mo
  ├─ PERFORMANCE: $394/mo (without Sentry)
  ├─ PERFORMANCE with Sentry: $423/mo
  └─ ANNUALLY: $1.596 - $5.076

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Performance Metrics by Tier

Metric	Minimum	Performance
Requests/min (peak)	1.000	5.000+
Latency p95	100-300ms	50-100ms
Uptime SLA	95%	99.9%
Concurrent Users	~500	~1.000
DAO Support	~50K	100K+
Indexing Lag	30-60s	5-10s
Backup Frequency	Manual	Automatic 1h
Geo-redundancy	None	Yes (2+ regions)
Auto-scaling	None	Yes (2-5 nodes)
MongoDB Replication	None	Yes (3+ replicas)

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Hidden Costs to Avoid

❌ Data Transfer between regions: $0.12/GB (use same region)
❌ Disk snapshots: $0.05/GB/mo (clean up old snapshots)
❌ Static IP addresses: $3.50/mo each (use ephemeral)
❌ Cloud KMS encryption: $6/mo per key (use free tier)
❌ Custom machine types: 30% more expensive (use predefined)
❌ Egress to internet: $0.12/GB (minimize transfer)

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Recommended Optimizations

Implement from day one:

1. GCP Committed Use Discounts: Save 25% on Compute (1-year contract)
2. Cloud Storage class downgrade: 30 days → Archive (90% savings after 30d)
3. MongoDB index optimization: Reduce query time 50-80%
4. Query result caching: 5-30min TTL (saves 80% database load)
5. Log aggregation: Eliminate redundant logs (save $5-10/mo)
6. Unused resource alerts: Auto-disable unused resources
7. Instance schedules: Shutdown during off-hours (save 20% on dev)

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12-Month Projection

Scenario 1: MVP (Minimum Cost - without Sentry)
├─ Months 1-3: $133 × 3 = $399
├─ Months 4-6: $200 × 3 = $600 (upgrade)
├─ Months 7-12: $350 × 6 = $2.100 (transition)
└─ TOTAL: ~$3.099 (Year 1)

Scenario 2: Production from day one (Performance - without Sentry)
├─ Months 1-12: $394 × 12
└─ TOTAL: ~$4.728 (Year 1)

Scenario 3: Production with Sentry from day one
├─ Months 1-12: $423 × 12
└─ TOTAL: ~$5.076 (Year 1)

Cost savings vs. Ethereum mainnet deployment:
├─ RPC costs eliminated: $30-50/mo (no paid RPC needed)
├─ Gas costs eliminated: ~$200-500/mo (Harmony gas is free)
└─ TOTAL ANNUAL SAVINGS: ~$2.760-6.600/yr

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Comparison with Alternatives

Solution	Monthly Cost	Scalability	Decentralization
Aragon OSx on Harmony (Current)	$394-423	Excellent	Medium
Ethereum L1	$900+/mo	Limited	Medium
Fully Decentralized (The Graph)	$2.000+	Medium	Excellent
Polygon/zkSync	$500-800/mo	Great	Medium
Centralized Cloud (AWS)	$600+/mo	Excellent	Low

Conclusion: Harmony offers the best cost-benefit for decentralized DAO governance infrastructure.

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Funding Model

Who Covers the Costs?

This infrastructure is maintained by the Harmony ecosystem, option available:

• RMC Board (Recovery DAO): Primary funding source for operational costs
• Harmony Core: Can support critical infrastructure components
• Community contribution: Voluntary donations/sponsorships welcome but not required

Cost Breakdown by Stakeholder

Monthly Operating Budget: $394/mo (Performance tier)

├─ Infrastructure (primary requirement):
│  ├─ Compute + Storage: $311/mo (79%)
│  └─ Monitoring + Backup: $83/mo (21%)
│
└─ Observability (optional enhancement):
   └─ Sentry error tracking: $29/mo

Free services available to all DAOs:

• DAO creation and management on Aragon OSx
• Governance proposals and voting
• Plugins (default) ecosystem access
• Community support and documentation

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Scaling Indicators

Upgrade to Performance when:
├─ API latency consistently > 300ms
├─ Error rate > 1% during peak hours
├─ Concurrent connections > 1.000
├─ Database queries > 100/second
├─ Disk usage > 70% of capacity
└─ More than 5K unique users/mo

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Locally Installable Components

These components run inside the VM with no additional costs:

On Compute Engine:
├─ MongoDB 7.0 (replica set for HA)
├─ Redis 7.2 (in-memory, disk-backed)
├─ Node.js 20 LTS (API + workers)
├─ PM2 (process manager)
├─ Nginx (reverse proxy)
├─ Prometheus (local metrics)
├─ Docker (builder env)
└─ ELK Stack (logs - optional, local)

Benefit: Full control, no vendor lock-in, maximum performance.

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Support Infrastructure

This infrastructure enables Aragon OSx governance on Harmony at minimal cost globally. It’s maintained transparently for the entire Harmony ecosystem.

Questions? Open an issue or reach out on telegram.

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Transparent costs = Sustainable community infrastructure.

[mzfshark]

Kudos for UtilityDAO

I wanted to bring here a sincere and heartfelt message of gratitude to UtilityDAO, which is sponsoring the development costs of our governance platform on Governance .country.

Why does this matter?
You know that moment when you see someone do something without expecting anything in return, just because they believe in the cause? That’s exactly this.

While many Web3 projects are waiting for venture capital or big market players, UtilityDAO simply decided: “Let’s do our part. Let’s fund this.”

What are they making possible?
With this contribution, we’re managing to maintain:

Infrastructure running 24/7 — servers in two regions of the world
Automatic data backup — no losing governance due to failures
Fast and reliable API — no freezing during important votes
Real-time monitoring — we know when something is wrong before you do
Scalability — the more DAOs, the more we grow, no problem

All of this costs money. And UtilityDAO stepped up to fund it.

Why this represents the spirit of Harmony
Blockchain isn’t about banks, exchanges, or centralized corporations. It’s about communities helping each other.

UtilityDAO looked at Governance build initiative, saw that it was important for Harmony, and thought: “If it’s not us who sustain this, who will be?”

This is real decentralized governance. This is community making it happen.

A domino effect
Here’s something important to note: when one DAO invests in public infrastructure, the entire network benefits. It’s not just UtilityDAO that wins. It’s all the DAOs that will be born here. It’s the entire community.

It’s like building a road — whoever builds it isn’t the only one who uses it.

You’re showing that decentralization isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a responsibility we take on together.

And for you, community?
If you believe in this too, share this post. Give support to the team. Or if you’re in a DAO that can contribute, there’s always room for more people helping us grow together.

We’re stronger when costs are shared. We’re more resilient when no one depends on just one person or one fund.

This is the Harmony I want to see grow.

Thank you, UtilityDAO. You’re amazing!