The three key characteristics of cryptocurrencies are that they are trustless, immutable, and decentralized.

DAOs that have a token that represents their community and their community economy at the very least, make strides toward adopting these values. 

Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case, as sometimes DAO governance moves slowly - even with the hopes of decentralization, sunshine, and rainbows. 

Last week, I wrote a forum post that outlined how BanklessDAO’s governance was editable, had been edited, and the permissions across all platforms had been centralized into the hands of a few. You can see that here. 

This was not well received- mainly by the ones who hold the administrative control of the DAO in their hands. I couldn’t help but wonder why. Moreover why it seemed as though it was not a big deal that Documents that make up the DAOs Governance had been edited. And could be edited (not even just by the authors, but by others) to me this is the epitome of mutability. 

I wrote another forum post, requesting feedback on possible ways to actually decentralize permissions and thoughts on how to implement solutions that would help ensure our governance was not mutable. 

Spoiler: the best feedback I got was this is not the way. 

What would any self-respecting, tenacious woman do when words don’t work? We show them. 

Because actions speak louder than words. 

So I proved a vulnerability in our Governance. 

We use this forum to vote on proposals for governance or that require funding from the treasury. No proof of identity is required to vote on any proposal. Anyone can make one (or many) accounts (it isn’t against the terms of service, I checked) 

So I made 20-something accounts and voted on a few proposals with them. 

Important to keep in mind, that I only voted on proposals that didn’t actually change our governance. Ones that were just there to gather sentiment that actually wouldn’t be used or matter at all. 

But the bottom line is, if I (with good intentions) could do this, what could someone with malicious intentions do? What could someone who wanted to sway an actual vote do? 

Will they listen now or see this giant vulnerability that allows for our Governance to be mutable and also does not provide any defense against sybil attacks? Hopefully. 

Note: I was honest when asked if I did it, as this was solely a demonstration to show change is needed. 

I also did delete the additional accounts that I created for this demonstration.