The Solana Foundation has officially rolled out Solana Governance Proposals (SGP), a move that marks a significant step in how the network handles decision-making.
SGP vs. SIMD: The “Why” vs. The “How”
To understand SGP, you first have to understand what it isn’t. Many people will naturally compare it to the existing Solana Improvement Document (SIMD) process, but they serve two distinct purposes:
SIMDs are engineering blueprints: They answer “how” a technical change should be implemented. These are vetted by core developers to ensure protocol integrity.
SGPs are directional mandates: They answer “should we do this?” These are about community will and high-level strategy. Think of it this way: SGP is the political will, while SIMD is the engineering execution.
A perfect example of this is the “Alpenglow” proposal. In the past, the community attempted to move this through the SIMD process before the technical details were fully ready. It created friction because
