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TREASURY.md
Document Type: Treasury Management & Transparency Framework Project: CeloHT Status: Active / Evolving Last Updated: August 2026 Authors: Johnny Dubic & CeloHT Community
The CeloHT Treasury framework defines principles for receiving, holding, managing, allocating, reporting, and safeguarding project resources.
The treasury exists to support CeloHT's mission and approved activities. It is not intended to function as a personal account or as an unrestricted source of funds for individual contributors.
Treasury management should prioritize:
- Security
- Accountability
- Transparency
- Sustainability
- Appropriate authorization
- Community benefit
Treasury resources may support:
- Technology development
- Education programs
- Community activities
- Agent-network operations
- Reforestation initiatives
- Research
- Security
- Infrastructure
- Communications
- Approved operational expenses
Treasury spending should be connected to legitimate CeloHT objectives.
CeloHT treasury management follows these principles:
- Mission alignment
- Least privilege
- Separation of duties
- Transparent accounting
- Documented approvals
- Risk management
- Responsible custody
- Regular review
CeloHT does not require or depend on a proprietary CeloHT token.
Treasury assets should therefore not be represented as shares, securities, ownership units, or investment contracts unless a qualified legal structure explicitly establishes such rights.
See:
NO_TOKEN_POLICY.md
Depending on the project's operational needs, treasury resources may include:
- Fiat currency
- CELO
- cUSD
- Other permitted digital assets
- Grants
- Donations
- Sponsorship funds
- Revenue
- In-kind resources
Each asset should be accounted for according to its actual nature.
Blockchain-based treasury assets should be stored in appropriately secured wallets.
For material holdings, CeloHT should consider:
- Multisignature custody
- Hardware-wallet security
- Multiple authorized signers
- Transaction limits
- Recovery procedures
A multisignature wallet may be used for significant treasury assets.
A multisig structure can reduce the risk that one compromised key can independently move treasury funds.
Example:
Signer A ──┐
Signer B ──┼──> Multisig Treasury
Signer C ──┤
Signer D ──┘
The exact threshold should be determined according to the amount, risk, and operational requirements.
Where practical, treasury responsibilities should be separated.
For example:
Proposal
↓
Review
↓
Approval
↓
Execution
↓
Reconciliation
↓
Reporting
No single person should unnecessarily control the entire process.
Treasury authority should derive from the applicable CeloHT governance and authorization framework.
See:
GOVERNANCE.mdAUTHORIZATION_MODEL.mdVOTING_SYSTEM.md
Treasury expenses may be categorized as:
Software, infrastructure, development, hosting, security, and technical services.
Training, educational materials, workshops, and program resources.
Events, outreach, communications, and community activities.
Trees, planting materials, maintenance, monitoring, and environmental programs.
Necessary administrative and operational expenses.
Research activities, analysis, publications, and external expertise.
Material programs should have an estimated budget where practical.
Budgets should identify:
- Purpose
- Expected cost
- Funding source
- Responsible party
- Time period
- Approval requirements
A material treasury request should provide sufficient information for review.
A proposal may include:
Request
Purpose
Amount
Currency / Asset
Beneficiary
Timeline
Expected Outcome
Risk
Supporting Evidence
Approval Required
Approval requirements should depend on:
- Amount
- Risk
- Asset type
- Recipient
- Program
- Urgency
Higher-risk transactions should require stronger controls.
Emergency spending may be necessary to protect:
- User funds
- Infrastructure
- Security
- Critical operations
Emergency procedures should be documented and reported afterward when appropriate.
Treasury security should include:
- Strong key management
- Hardware wallets where appropriate
- Multisignature controls
- Restricted access
- Backup procedures
- Recovery planning
- Transaction verification
Private keys are highly sensitive.
CeloHT should never publish:
- Private keys
- Seed phrases
- Recovery phrases
- Wallet passwords
No legitimate CeloHT process should ask a user or contributor to publicly disclose these credentials.
Hardware wallets should be considered for material treasury holdings.
Devices should be:
- Properly initialized
- Secured physically
- Protected by appropriate recovery procedures
- Accessible only to authorized custodians
Treasury signers should be documented internally or publicly where appropriate.
Signer changes should follow an established authorization process.
When a signer leaves a role, access should be removed promptly.
Before executing a treasury transaction, authorized participants should verify:
- Recipient address
- Amount
- Network
- Asset
- Purpose
- Approval status
Blockchain transactions can be irreversible.
Treasury recipients should be verified carefully.
For important transactions, address verification should use an independent confirmation channel rather than relying solely on a copied message.
Controls should reduce risks such as:
- Fake invoices
- Impersonation
- Address substitution
- Unauthorized approvals
- Social engineering
- Compromised accounts
High-value transfers should receive additional review.
Treasury activity should be recorded accurately.
Records may include:
- Date
- Transaction ID
- Asset
- Amount
- Fiat-equivalent value where relevant
- Purpose
- Recipient
- Approval reference
For on-chain transactions, transaction hashes can provide independently verifiable evidence.
Where appropriate, public reports should reference blockchain records.
For fiat transactions, records should distinguish:
- Amount
- Currency
- Date
- Source
- Destination
- Purpose
Exchange rates should be documented when converting digital assets into reporting currency.
CeloHT may receive revenue from legitimate activities.
Revenue should be distinguished from:
- Donations
- Grants
- Sponsorships
- Investment capital
Grant funding should be tracked separately when grants impose specific conditions.
CeloHT should follow applicable grant requirements.
Donations should be recorded according to applicable accounting and legal requirements.
Donations should not automatically confer governance rights.
Sponsorship funds should be used according to applicable agreements.
Sponsors should not receive unapproved control over treasury decisions merely because they provide funding.
Some resources may be restricted to specific purposes.
Restricted funds should not be silently redirected to unrelated activities.
Treasury composition should consider operational needs and risk.
Holding unnecessary amounts of volatile assets may expose the project to avoidable financial risk.
Stable-value assets may reduce certain forms of volatility, but they are not risk-free.
CeloHT should evaluate:
- Issuer risk
- Liquidity
- Smart-contract risk
- Regulatory risk
- Depeg risk
- Counterparty risk
CELO is a volatile digital asset.
Treasury reporting should not assume that its market value remains constant.
Where financial reports use fiat-equivalent values, the valuation date and methodology should be stated.
Where resources permit, CeloHT may maintain reserves for:
- Security incidents
- Infrastructure failures
- Operational continuity
- Emergency expenses
Reserve targets should be reviewed periodically.
Appropriate spending limits should be established based on risk.
Example structure:
Low Value
↓
Standard Approval
Medium Value
↓
Multiple Approvals
High Value
↓
Enhanced Review
Actual thresholds should be established through the applicable governance process.
Material purchases should be evaluated for:
- Price
- Quality
- Reliability
- Conflicts of interest
- Vendor reputation
- Contract terms
Vendor payments should have appropriate evidence.
Examples:
- Invoice
- Agreement
- Purchase record
- Delivery confirmation
- Approved proposal
Individuals involved in treasury decisions should disclose material conflicts of interest.
A conflicted participant may need to abstain from a decision.
CeloHT should publish treasury reports at an appropriate frequency.
Reports may include:
- Beginning balance
- Income
- Expenses
- Ending balance
- Major transactions
- Program allocations
- Significant changes
Where appropriate, CeloHT may publish official treasury wallet addresses.
Before disclosure, the project should evaluate:
- Security
- Privacy
- Operational risk
- Potential exposure
As the infrastructure matures, CeloHT may provide a public treasury dashboard.
Potential information:
Treasury Balance
Asset Distribution
Incoming Funds
Outgoing Funds
Program Allocation
Transaction History
Treasury transparency should not expose unnecessary personal information.
For example, a public report may disclose:
Program expense: 500 cUSD
without publishing unnecessary private information about an individual recipient.
Treasury records should periodically be reconciled against:
- Blockchain balances
- Bank balances
- Accounting records
- Approved budgets
Discrepancies should be investigated.
Material treasury decisions should have a traceable record.
An audit trail may connect:
Proposal
↓
Approval
↓
Transaction
↓
Receipt
↓
Accounting Record
↓
Public Report
CeloHT may conduct internal or independent treasury reviews.
Reviews may examine:
- Authorization
- Transactions
- Balances
- Documentation
- Controls
- Reconciliation
If treasury assets may have been compromised:
- Stop unnecessary transactions.
- Assess the incident.
- Secure unaffected assets.
- Rotate or revoke compromised credentials.
- Notify appropriate responsible parties.
- Document the incident.
- Communicate material information appropriately.
CeloHT should maintain recovery procedures for critical treasury wallets.
A recovery plan should account for:
- Lost signer
- Lost device
- Compromised signer
- Unavailable signer
- Disaster recovery
Treasury operations should not depend entirely on one individual.
Critical knowledge and procedures should be documented and appropriately distributed.
Treasury resources must not knowingly be used for:
- Personal unauthorized expenses
- Fraud
- Theft
- Bribery
- Illegal activities
- Unauthorized political contributions
- Unapproved speculative activity
Treasury management is subordinate to applicable governance rules.
Treasury participants should not bypass governance controls by invoking urgency without legitimate justification.
The treasury ultimately exists to support CeloHT's mission and approved community objectives.
Community participation should be encouraged through appropriate governance mechanisms.
Potential treasury metrics include:
- Total assets
- Liquid assets
- Restricted funds
- Monthly inflows
- Monthly outflows
- Program spending
- Operating expenses
- Reserve levels
Metrics should include a measurement date.
Key risks include:
- Market volatility
- Smart-contract vulnerabilities
- Key compromise
- Fraud
- Counterparty failure
- Operational mistakes
- Regulatory changes
- Liquidity constraints
See:
RISK_MANAGEMENT.md
Treasury documentation should be sufficiently detailed to allow appropriate review.
Important records should not depend solely on private chats.
This document should be updated when material treasury processes change.
Changes should be documented through the project's normal documentation and governance procedures.
CeloHT treats treasury resources as a responsibility rather than an entitlement.
The objective is to protect resources, allocate them responsibly, document their use, and ensure that financial decisions remain aligned with the project's mission.
The guiding principle is:
Protect the treasury, document every material decision, separate authority where possible, and make responsible use of community resources.
Document Status: Active / Evolving Maintained By: CeloHT Community Founder: Johnny Dubic Treasury Principle: Security, accountability, responsible allocation, and transparency
© 2026 CeloHT - Open Source. Global Impact. Licensed under Apache.