@inproceedings{fbee6aa853ef4ac4860091bb3c6fdb5d,
title = "The On-Chain and Off-Chain Mechanisms of DAO-to-DAO Voting",
abstract = "Voting is the primary mechanism through which DAOs, or Decentralised Autonomous Organisations, reach decisions. Although transparent, the voting process can be complex: it can involve many interacting smart contracts. The nexus of the decision-making process can be relocated and the true voter demographic obfuscated. Furthermore, DAOs can govern other DAOs - metagovernance. We present a method for identifying DAO-to-DAO metagovernance on the Ethereum blockchain. We focus on the links between DAOs and token contracts. We employ a signature-matching algorithm to flexibly handle a variety of DAO frameworks and voting schemes. Once we establish token-to-DAO relationships, we gather and process voting data to produce a list of metagovernance relationships. We apply this algorithm to an initial set of sixteen DAOs and we extend the dataset as more DAOs are identified. We produce a metagovernance network with 61 DAOs and 72 metagovernance relationships. We examine three case studies that show metagovernance of various forms: strategic, decisive, and centralised where a DAO becomes a nexus for metagovernance. We demonstrate that metagovernance obscures voting context and introduces entities driven by self-interest that can significantly influence governance. We highlight instances of metagovernance between DAOs operating on the Ethereum blockchain where current governance tools inadequately reveal such dynamics. To preserve the transparency-centric ethos of DAOs and mitigate risks associated with metagovernance, there is a pressing need for enhanced tools to address such issues.",
keywords = "blockchain, DAO, delegation, metagovernance, smart contracts, voting",
author = "Thomas Lloyd and Daire O'Broin and Martin Harrigan",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 IEEE.; 7th IEEE International Conference on Blockchain, Blockchain 2024 ; Conference date: 19-08-2024 Through 22-08-2024",
year = "2024",
month = aug,
day = "19",
doi = "10.1109/blockchain62396.2024.00095",
language = "English",
series = "2024 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain (Blockchain)",
publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.",
pages = "649--655",
booktitle = "Proceedings - 2024 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain, Blockchain 2024",
address = "United States",
}