Blockchain Governance: An Empirical Analysis of User Engagement on DAOs

TL;DR

This paper empirically analyzes user engagement in blockchain DAOs by examining voting patterns, voter activity, and the influence of different voter categories using blockchain and ENS data.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed empirical analysis of voter behavior and influence in major blockchain DAOs using blockchain and ENS data.

Findings

Minimal quorum in votes is often very small.

Voter activity varies significantly across DAOs.

Different voter categories have distinct influence levels.

Abstract

In this note, we examine voting on four major blockchain DAOs: Aave, Compound, Lido and Uniswap. Using data directly collected from the Ethereum blockchain, we examine voter activity. We find that in most votes, the "minimal quorum," i.e., the smallest number of active voters who could swing the vote is quite small. To understand who is actually driving these DAOs, we use data from the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), Sybil.org, and Compound, to divide voters into different categories.