Governance metrics

To provide a benchmark we obtained relevant data by querying the public GraphQL API of snapshot, the most popular tool to facilitate signature-based voting. We stored the query results in a relational database and used serval SQL queries to assess the data. In total, we analysed the data of 5000 spaces on snapshot, including 35k proposals and 518k votes.

Number of proposals

A DAO without any governance actions is just a passive vehicle. Innovative organisations let their token holders participate and in healthy organisations, they do speak their minds. Thus, a high number of proposals is indicating functioning governance, albeit with the caveat that the proposals originate from multiple actors and are of high quality.

Our analysis of snapshot data indicates that the average number of proposals by space is just nine, while the median number of proposals for all listed spaces is a mere two.

Proposal threshold

The bar to issue a proposal is different, while some DAOs set it at a minimum of one token, others have much higher requirements that de facto exclude anyone else than original team members or large investors.

Our analysis of snapshot data reveals that about 50% of all DAOs use ERC-20 tokens as a membership criterion, while 13% check for ownership of NFTs (12% use ERC-721 while 1% use ERC-1155).

Proposal acceptance

While a high percentage of accepted proposals looks good on first glance, it could hide other issues, such as who decided the outcome.