DAO Governance Dilemma and Breakthroughs: From Token Voting to Communication Layer Development

SignatureVerifier · 2026-01-19T07:32:13+00:00

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik believes that the development of DAOs has deviated from their original purpose, and that the "token voting" mechanism is inefficient and easily manipulated. He emphasizes that DAOs still have value, especially in areas such as oracles and dispute arbitration, and proposes protecting privacy through ZK technology and introducing AI to alleviate governance fatigue. Vitalik believes that future DAOs should focus on communication layers and consensus tools, rather than just voting mechanisms, to achieve true decentralized governance.

SignatureVerifier

2026-01-19 07:32:13

Abstract generation in progress

【Chain Wen】Ethereum co-founder Vitalik recently shared several insights, suggesting that the development of DAOs seems to be going off track. The most commonly used method nowadays—“token voting to manage the treasury”—is essentially inefficient, easily manipulated, and cannot solve the old human flaws.

However, he believes that the DAO mechanism itself is still necessary, especially in areas like oracle design, on-chain dispute resolution, new project incubation, and long-term operations. DAOs can play a significant role in these segments. The key is how to optimize them.

Vitalik proposed several focus points: first, using ZK technology to protect privacy; second, introducing AI to alleviate governance fatigue. But more importantly, he views communication platforms as a critical component within the DAO stack. He calls for future DAO governance to prioritize the development of the “communication layer” and “consensus tools,” rather than solely focusing on the voting mechanism itself. This approach is quite interesting—by improving communication, perhaps DAOs can truly become a form of decentralized governance.

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NFTArchaeologist

· 9h ago

Token voting system is really disappointing; how come so many projects are still throwing money into it?

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rug_connoisseur

· 9h ago

The token voting system is really a huge joke, only knowing how to be bloodwashed by whales. Vitalik is right, we need to improve the communication layer first.

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DAOTruant

· 9h ago

Token voting has long been a failure, just a game of whales cutting each other’s leeks... Vitalik is right, the communication layer is the key. Without information symmetry, how can there be consensus? Only if this truly materializes can DAOs thrive.

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consensus_whisperer

· 9h ago

The token voting system should have been changed long ago, and you're right. The real bottleneck now is the communication cost, even though everyone is still competing over the voting mechanism.

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