How to interpret DAO project data? Is governance active? Look at the number of proposals, voting counts, execution rates, and whether there is "true autonomy." Is power concentrated? Check the distribution of voting rights, the proportion of large holders, and participation rates to prevent "oligarchic governance." How is the treasury being used? Examine asset distribution, usage direction, and governance records to assess "economic vitality." Is there co-construction? Look at whether developers, proposers, and content creators come from the community rather than the operations team. DAOs are the closest form of "social experiments" in Web3; to understand them, one must focus on governance data, financial flows, and community activity. This is the on-chain portrait of a DAO, not just "having tokens makes it a DAO."
A DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) is not just a community with slogans but a form of organization where community members make decisions together, govern collectively, and share benefits. Therefore, when evaluating a DAO project, one should not only look at whether tokens are issued or how active the forum is, but rather whether its "governance data" is healthy. Next, let's take a look at how to interpret the core data of a DAO.
1. Is the "governance activity" of the DAO high?#
A DAO that does not govern is no better than a Discord group. Active proposals and ongoing voting are what prove that this DAO is "truly operational."
What to look for?
Number and frequency of proposals: How many new proposals are there weekly/monthly? Are they community-driven or initiated by the core team?
Voting counts and frequency: How many proposals have been voted on? How often does voting occur?
Number of active proposers: Are there multiple proposers, or is it always controlled by a few familiar faces?
Execution rate (Proposal Execution Rate): How many approved proposals have actually been executed on-chain?
How to interpret?
Find its governance platform (Snapshot, Tally, Agora, Charmverse, etc.)
Check the number of proposals, voting data, and execution records from the past 30-90 days.
Determine if it is "high frequency but ineffective," or "low frequency but precise."
Recommended tools:
Tally.xyz (suitable for Ethereum governance DAOs)
Snapshot.org (the most used platform for DAOs, can view voting records)
DeepDAO.io (comprehensive DAO data analysis platform)
Tip: Active governance does not equal noise; proposals need to be actionable to be meaningful. Don't be fooled by "lots of discussion but little execution."
2. Who is voting? Is governance power controlled by a few?#
The ideal of a DAO is "everyone has a share," but in reality, it is often seen as "large holders call the shots" or "extremely low voting rates." You need to clearly see the power structure.
What to look for?
Number of voters: How many addresses participate in each proposal?
Concentration of governance tokens: How much voting power do the top 10 addresses hold?
Voting weight distribution: Are most proposals decided by one or two large holders?
Average participation rate: How many governance tokens are "asleep"? What is the actual participation ratio?
How to interpret?
Analyze the voting page of specific proposals to see the voting power distribution chart.
Check the distribution of governance token holders in the DAO (whales vs. retail).
Compare the number of voters with the total number of token holders to calculate the participation rate.
Recommended tools:
DeepDAO: Detailed voting power distribution and participation rankings.
Dune: Can check DAO voting participation rates and customize analysis dashboards.
Etherscan: View the concentration of governance token holders.
Tip: Decentralization is not just written in the white paper; it must be observed on-chain. Be wary of large holder hegemony and "governance fatigue."
3. How is the DAO's treasury functioning? Is the money being utilized?#
The resources of a DAO are mainly concentrated in the "treasury." To assess the vitality of a DAO, one must see if the treasury is active, with expenditures, investments, and returns.
What to look for?
Treasury balance and asset distribution: How much money is there? In what form is it held? Stablecoins or native tokens?
Asset utilization rate: How much has the DAO spent in the past 3-6 months? Where has it been directed?
Investment returns/expenditure direction: Has the money spent generated returns? What proportion is allocated to project investments, incentives, subsidies for development, etc.?
Are there treasury management proposals: Have large transfers or investments gone through governance processes?
How to interpret?
Check the official treasury address and multi-signature wallet's historical transaction records.
Compare the growth of the treasury with expenditure curves to see if funds are being utilized reasonably.
Look for mechanisms for regular audits and disclosure of treasury usage.
Recommended tools:
OpenOrg: View the composition of the treasury and the financial status of the DAO.
Treasury page on DeepDAO.io.
Safe (Gnosis): The multi-signature management entry for most DAOs.
Dune: DAO treasury trend charts (can be self-built).
Tip: Transparency of the treasury does not equal usability; it is essential to see if it truly creates value for the community rather than "holding millions without action."
4. Is the community healthy? Are developers and users participating?#
A DAO is not just about voting; it is also a co-construction model. Without developer participation, content output, or offline governance experiments, a DAO can easily devolve into "governance idling."
What to look for?
Developer activity: Is there ongoing contribution on GitHub? Are there BUIDL groups?
Community content output: Are members writing proposal interpretations and analyses on forums, Mirror, or X?
Number and distribution of contributors: Is it driven by a core group, or are multiple groups involved?
How to interpret?
Check the frequency of content updates on governance forums, Notion, Discord, etc.
Look at the diversity of contributor addresses through proposals.
Observe whether a contributor incentive mechanism, timesheets, or retro funding has been established.
Recommended tools:
Charmverse: DAO contributor management platform.
GitHub Pulse: Check the activity level of DAO engineering projects.
Discord/X community activity, forum interactions, and the number of posts on Mirror.
[Builder DAO Toolkits]: Such as Dework, Wonderverse, etc., to view collaboration systems.
Tip: The governance of a DAO is not just a "voting machine"; it should also be "co-creators." Whether there is community participation from development, proposals, execution, to content promotion is an important indicator of whether a DAO is alive.
Summary: How to interpret DAO project data?#
Is governance active?
Look at the number of proposals, voting counts, execution rates, and whether there is "true autonomy."
Is power concentrated?
Check the distribution of voting rights, the proportion of large holders, and participation rates to prevent "oligarchic governance."
How is the treasury being used?
Examine asset distribution, usage direction, and governance records to assess "economic vitality."
Is there co-construction?
Look at whether developers, proposers, and content creators come from the community rather than the operations team.
DAOs are the closest form of "social experiments" in Web3; to understand them, one must focus on governance data, financial flows, and community activity. This is the on-chain portrait of a DAO, not just "having tokens makes it a DAO."
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