Unusual pending/executed proposal ratio
A real-time signals factor in the v1.7.0 rubric. Measured per protocol on a rt cadence.
Methodology how we score#
What this measures
This real-time signal fires when the ratio of pending governance proposals to executed proposals deviates significantly from the protocol's trailing 30-day baseline — specifically when an unusual number of proposals are queued for execution in a short window, or when proposals are moving from Queued to Executed at an abnormal pace. The signal is generated by monitoring governance contract state transitions and comparing the pending/executed ratio against the established baseline. Category 6 context: unusual proposal velocity is a governance-attack precursor signal, as flash-loan governance exploits require rapid proposal creation and execution within a single transaction or block.
Why it matters
Beanstalk ($181M, 2022) is the clearest example: multiple malicious proposals were submitted and executed within a single emergency governance session enabled by flash-loaned voting weight — the proposal-execution velocity was far outside any historical baseline for the protocol. Compound Finance ($147M) shows a different variant: governance activity around Proposal 62 and 64 represented an unusual cluster of high-impact proposals in a short window. Monitoring the pending-to-executed ratio provides an early-warning signal for governance manipulation, particularly when combined with flash-loan signals and unusually large voting positions appearing within a proposal window.
Green / Yellow / Red
Green is the baseline when proposal creation and execution rates are within the expected range of the trailing 30-day governance activity pattern. Yellow fires when an above-average number of proposals enter the queue within a 24-hour window — potentially legitimate governance activity. Red fires when the pending-to-executed ratio shows an anomalous spike — particularly when multiple proposals move to Executed within a single block or governance session — or when a proposal with an unusually large impact payload (contract upgrade, collateral change) executes faster than the declared timelock minimum.
Common gray cases
Gray applies when the protocol uses off-chain governance (Snapshot) where the on-chain execution step provides insufficient context to assess the full proposal pipeline, or when the protocol has very low historical governance activity making baseline-setting unreliable.
Notable historical examples
No cross-hacked incidents currently linked in database for this factor.
Measurement what to look for#
Detect an unusual ratio of pending-to-executed governance proposals versus the trailing-30-day baseline.