welcome back to the Tally newsletter, your weekly source for DAO governance insights. i'm coolhorsegirl and i’m so happy to be here. 🟣
governance tokens are designed to democratize decision-making, but their potential is unrealized when a large portion of holders are disengaged. that’s why we advocate for incorporating delegation into the token claim flow, not merely for convenience but as a strategic move to ensure DAO functionality from the onset.
proposals this week from Arbitrum, Gitcoin, Hop, and Uniswap. have you thought about incentive packages for Uniswap deployment? well, you might now. let’s get into it 👇
🤿 deep dive
the importance of active participation in governance cannot be overstated. at Tally, we see a lot of governance launches firsthand so we’ve gotten a good idea of what works and what doesn’t in token-based governance systems. and we’ve come to this conclusion: when delegation is not part of the initial token claim process, the likelihood of subsequent delegation diminishes significantly.
delegation is a cornerstone of decentralized governance, facilitated by the infrastructure we've built with Governor. once you claim a token, you must delegate it to participate in voting (this is not automatic). you can delegate your tokens to either yourself or to someone else who will vote on their behalf (“a delegate”). this process is straightforward, requiring just a single transaction, but it adds an additional step that many will never do if it’s not very convenient.
so let’s talk about the value of delegation during token claim. Blur DAO did not offer delegation UI during airdrop and the lasting effects highlights the tangible impact on governance participation. Blur DAO has only 70 active voters out of 49,610 token holders. these figures underscore a troubling trend: a significant portion of tokens remain inactive, sitting idly in wallets, hindering robust governance participation, and in Blur’s case, hindering DAO activity at all, since quorum to pass proposals is higher than the amount of voters.
not including delegation in claim flow is not just a missed opportunity for individual token holders to influence the direction of a DAO; it's a systemic issue that can lead to centralized pockets of power and reduced community engagement. by integrating delegation into the claim process, we can lower barriers to participation, making it as seamless as possible for token holders to contribute to the governance of the platforms they are invested in.
⌛️ onchain proposals
💙 Arbitrum
AIP: ArbOS 20 “Atlas” - Arbitrum Support for Dencun + Batch Poster Improvements
summary: this proposes a number of improvements to Arbitrum chains, including the capability to leverage EIP-4844 to post batches of L2 transactions as Blobs on L1 Ethereum at a cheaper price. lots to cover—you’ve got to read the proposal.
voting ends: march 1st
🦄 Uniswap
Uniswap Revitalization and Growth Proposal
summary: ~4.3m to actively support and incentivize new deployments of Uniswap v3, like on Monad, Linea, Scroll, Polygon zkEVM, Bera, Taiko, and complete with incentive packages.
voting ends: february 24th
🟢 Gitcoin
Citizen Grants Program - Citizens Innovate Initial Funding
Summary: 450k GTC to fund the Citizens Innovate multisig of the Citizens Grants Program. this will be spent on ideas from community members on actionable steps towards Gitcoin’s essential intents.
Voting ends: february 22nd
🐇 Hop
[HIP-39] Community Multisig Refill (5)
summary: USDC and HOP to refill the multisig that distributes payments for the Hop DAO to delegates, multisig signers, bonders, and AMM reward contracts. this vote happens every other month.
voting ends: february 22nd
💫 DAO talk
🤭 meme of the week
we’ll see you next week at ETHDenver! if you’d like to schedule some time to meet up, get in touch in twitter DMs or stop by our booth at the main conference from wednesday-saturday. otherwise, we’ll see you at the Tally happy hour on the 28th!
~ coolhorsegirl 🐴
p.s.- boba addiction in full force. this is peach kiwi tea with aloe and bubbles.