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Getting Started with Volta

Volta is a multi-signature governance contract for Stellar/Soroban that enables M-of-N voting for secure, decentralized decision-making.

Prerequisites

  • Stellar CLI installed
  • A funded Stellar account (testnet for development)
  • Basic familiarity with Stellar/Soroban concepts

Key Concepts

Multi-Signature Governance

Volta implements M-of-N governance where: - N = total number of owners - M = threshold (minimum votes required to approve)

For example, a 2-of-3 configuration means 3 owners control the contract, and any 2 must agree to execute an action.

Proposals

All actions in Volta go through the proposal system:

Type Purpose
Config Change owners or voting threshold
Invoke Call another contract on behalf of Volta
Upgrade Upgrade the Volta contract code

Proposal Lifecycle

Created → Pending → Approved → Executed
                 ↘ Rejected
                 ↘ Revoked (by creator)
                 ↘ Expired (~1 week TTL)

Step 1: Deploy the Contract

The current WASM hash is: ce84b965f3fdbf4ff9ea4c28813a7a30d6dd65c69d0d1bc19834d907a5e0d27b

# Upload the WASM (if not already uploaded)
stellar contract upload \
  --wasm volta.optimized.wasm \
  --source <YOUR_SOURCE_ACCOUNT> \
  --network testnet

# Deploy the contract
stellar contract deploy \
  --wasm-hash ce84b965f3fdbf4ff9ea4c28813a7a30d6dd65c69d0d1bc19834d907a5e0d27b \
  --source <YOUR_SOURCE_ACCOUNT> \
  --network testnet

Save the returned contract ID for the next steps.

Step 2: Initialize with Owners

Initialize the contract with your owner addresses and threshold:

stellar contract invoke \
  --id <CONTRACT_ID> \
  --source <YOUR_SOURCE_ACCOUNT> \
  --network testnet \
  -- \
  __constructor \
  --config '{"owners": ["GOWNER1...", "GOWNER2...", "GOWNER3..."], "threshold": 2}'

Requirements: - Minimum 2 owners - Threshold must be between 2 and owner count - No duplicate owner addresses

Step 3: Verify Configuration

Check that the contract is configured correctly:

stellar contract invoke \
  --id <CONTRACT_ID> \
  --network testnet \
  -- \
  get_config

Expected output: 

{
  "owners": ["GOWNER1...", "GOWNER2...", "GOWNER3..."],
  "threshold": 2
}

Step 4: Create Your First Proposal

See the Creating Your First Proposal tutorial for detailed instructions on creating and voting on proposals.

Contract Functions Reference

Function Description Who Can Call
get_config View current owners and threshold Anyone
get_proposal View proposal details by ID Anyone
propose Create a Config or Upgrade proposal Owners only
invoke Create an Invoke proposal (auto-votes Yes) Owners only
vote Vote Yes/No/Abstain on a proposal Owners only
revoke_proposal Cancel a pending proposal Original proposer only
version Get contract version Anyone

Security Considerations

  1. Protect owner keys: Each owner key can vote on any proposal. Secure them appropriately.

  2. Coordinate votes: Proposals expire after ~1 week. Ensure owners are available to vote.

  3. Review proposals carefully: Once approved, Config and Upgrade proposals execute immediately and invalidate all pending proposals.

  4. Test on testnet first: Always test contract interactions on testnet before mainnet.

Next Steps