Relayers and fee payers
Quorum separates the account that pays Solana fees from the member identity that authorizes a governance action.
Why the separation exists
Not every member identity can pay Solana fees. Falcon and Winternitz are member authority schemes, not native Solana fee-payer accounts. A separate Ed25519 account, external wallet, or relayer can submit the transaction that carries a valid member signature.
Common patterns
- A member's own Solana wallet pays fees.
- A team operations wallet pays fees.
- A backend relayer sponsors proposal and vote submissions.
- An embedded wallet uses an Ed25519 identity for fee payment and Falcon or Winternitz for approval.
Security boundary
The fee payer can submit data. It cannot create member authority unless the instruction includes a valid member signature and the program verifies it.
The transaction signer may be visible in Solana transaction metadata, but Quorum approval comes from the member identity verified by the program.
App implications
If an action says there is no available fee payer, connect or create a Solana-capable identity. If an action says there is no eligible signer, connect the member identity that can authorize the proposal.