AllianceBlock’s DAO uses a combination of free, off-chain voting for the community and a multi-sig wallet controlled by a “DAO Committee” to circumvent the very high gas fees associated with full on-chain governance to enact those off-chain decisions on the Ethereum blockchain. This allows everyone who holds NXRA to participate in the DAO without paying fees whenever they want to vote or open a proposal.
Using a multi-sig wallet controlled by a committee of trusted persons guarantees the security of the DAO, along with guaranteeing that passed proposals result in an on-chain action.
The DAO is a complex system created from several layers of entities and platforms, each of which is listed and described below:
Commonwealth is an all-in-one governance platform that acts as a communication hub for the DAO.
AllianceBlock’s DAO uses Commonwealth to facilitate discussions regarding the project's future for token holders. Commonwealth is where in-depth discussions are had, sentiment is gauged, and momentum is built for the best community-generated ideas.
Snapshot is an off-chain voting platform that provides a free way for token holders to vote on proposals. By storing both the proposals and the votes on IPFS as cryptographically signed messages, Snapshot allows for secure and easily contested results.
AllianceBlock’s DAO uses Snapshot to host the proposals and votes generated by the community.
Whenever a proposal is opened at Commonwealth, it is also created automatically on AllianceBlock’s Snapshot space. This allows the DAO to record and store proposals, votes, and results in a secure and decentralized manner - with the results displayed on the Commonwealth platform.
The DAO Committee is a group of seven trusted individuals selected by the AllianceBlock Foundation (and in a later stage by NXRA holders) to hold keys in a multi-sig wallet. This multi-sig is responsible for enacting any passed votes with a binding action, like funding a Grant or implementing a Governance proposal.
The DAO operates on the following Discord server:
The AllianceBlock Foundation will gradually transition into a decentralized governance model over the course of 2023 - 2024/2025. This ensures continued operational excellence and sustainability while the baton is passed on to the community. This progressive decentralization will happen in 5 phases, as described below:
In the first phase, the community is onboarded onto the new governance platforms, including Discord, Commonwealth, and Snapshot. The community can request grants and vote on grant proposals as well as posting pre-proposal polls and draft proposals on Commonwealth. AllianceBlock core team members can post governance proposals and polls on Commonwealth and Snapshot, and the community can participate in discussions and votes and have its voice heard via discussions on Commonwealth and voting on Snapshot.