Intro Once, V. Buterin said: “The most important thing we can do today is move away from the idea that token voting is the only possible form of decentralized governance.” “The most important thing we can do today is move away from the idea that token voting is the only possible form of decentralized governance.” “The most important thing we can do today is move away from the idea that token voting is the only possible form of decentralized governance.” I agree with him, since I hold a simple view: democracy is the rule of the majority, and it was great 300–500 years ago — especially when it began to merge with its opposite, liberalism, which prioritized the rights of the individual. But today, liberal democracy is failing in virtually everything: most countries (by various estimates, around 60-80%) either reject democracy altogether or fail to implement it correctly. International institutions, bogged down by constant voting bureaucracy, make no meaningful decisions, and almost no one reads their reports. no one reads At the same time, most people think democracy is the perfect governance system, since on the opposite side stand autocracies, totalitarian regimes, tyrannies, and despotisms. But that is not the case. In this sense, Web 3.0 & Web3 is an ideal testing ground for experimenting with new governance models. Example Zero Check out this article about the Bitcoin network: it explains that Bitcoin Core’s governance is based on… anarchy! article As an anarchist-libertarian, I know that for many, the word anarchy is associated with a circled “A” painted on walls, or even with riots and uprisings. But that’s not true!.. anarchy Bitcoin Core follows the principle of least privilege, so that any powers granted to individuals can easily be revoked if they are abused. Details: blog.lopp.net/who-controls-bitcoin-core. principle of least privilege blog.lopp.net/who-controls-bitcoin-core blog.lopp.net/who-controls-bitcoin-core The main takeaway for me is: “Bitcoin is anarchy — without rulers, but not without rules. The rules are defined and enforced by individual participants on the network.” “Bitcoin is anarchy — without rulers, but not without rules. The rules are defined and enforced by individual participants on the network.” “Bitcoin is anarchy — without rulers, but not without rules. The rules are defined and enforced by individual participants on the network.” Of course, the history of anarchism is complex and nuanced, but I won’t dive into it today — I’ll simply note that anarchy fits perfectly with modern social relations when local decentralization is required. Modernized Voting Modernized Voting To change something, we always have at least two options: Completely abandon the old and develop the new; Modernize the old. Completely abandon the old and develop the new; Modernize the old. Let’s start with the second approach, since it’s more obvious to most. Negative Voting Negative Voting In short: if a proposal (say, in a DAO) has fewer than 10% no votes from the total voting power, it goes forward for final review. Yes, this is still voting — but only in emergency cases. Otherwise, decisions can be algorithmically adopted or made differently. no Quadratic Voting Quadratic Voting Quadratic voting (QV) is a voting system that encourages voters to express their true relative intensity of preference (utility) between multiple options or elections. By doing so, quadratic voting seeks to mitigate tyranny of the majority — where minority preferences are suppressed since under majority rule, cooperation from the majority is needed to make any change. Quadratic voting (QV) is a voting system that encourages voters to express their true relative intensity of preference (utility) between multiple options or elections. By doing so, quadratic voting seeks to mitigate tyranny of the majority — where minority preferences are suppressed since under majority rule, cooperation from the majority is needed to make any change. Quadratic voting (QV) is a voting system that encourages voters to express their true relative intensity of preference (utility) between multiple options or elections. By doing so, quadratic voting seeks to mitigate tyranny of the majority — where minority preferences are suppressed since under majority rule, cooperation from the majority is needed to make any change. In essence, the cost of each additional vote grows quadratically. This lets voters express the importance of an issue using a budget of “voice credits” while protecting minority interests. essence Forks Forks A fork is also a form of governance — but only partly. It often requires: Computational resources (as in ETH → ETC or Bitcoin Cash’s creation); Technical skills (most coordinated hard forks); Certain capital (for DPoS, PoS, LPoS, etc. systems); Timeframes; Other resources. Computational resources (as in ETH → ETC or Bitcoin Cash’s creation); Technical skills (most coordinated hard forks); Certain capital (for DPoS, PoS, LPoS, etc. systems); Timeframes; Other resources. Proof-of-Participation (PoP) Proof-of-Participation (PoP) Limits voting to active users who genuinely contribute to the project or community, not just token holders. Proof-of-Humanity Proof-of-Humanity Assigns one vote per verified human — preventing Sybil attacks and keeping the principle of “one person — one vote.” Beyond Voting Beyond Voting Futarchy Futarchy Futarchy is a form of government proposed by economist Robin Hanson, in which elected officials define measures of national wellbeing, and prediction markets are used to determine which policies will have the most positive effect. Futarchy is a form of government proposed by economist Robin Hanson, in which elected officials define measures of national wellbeing, and prediction markets are used to determine which policies will have the most positive effect. Futarchy is a form of government proposed by economist Robin Hanson, in which elected officials define measures of national wellbeing, and prediction markets are used to determine which policies will have the most positive effect. Futarchy From 2023–2025, prediction markets have risen sharply — making futarchy worth revisiting. In this model, the DAO (or government) sets a success metric (GDP growth, token price, etc.), and people trade on markets predicting the outcome under various proposals. The market’s collective wisdom determines which proposal is most likely to yield the best result — and that’s the one adopted. This shifts decision-making from token-holder votes to open markets, where anyone can back their opinion with money. Proponents argue that this leads to wiser decisions, filtering out noise and political bias. Silence Is Not Consent Silence Is Not Consent Silence can be acceptance — or rejection. This must be agreed upon beforehand. It’s similar to how we use multisig: for example, a 2-of-3 multisig with two primary signers and one backup. The backup signer checks transactions but doesn’t sign unless necessary. If all is fine, they silently accept; if not, they flag or reject the transaction. If you think this is trivial, remember the Bybit case, where the lack of a proper acceptance algorithm ended in a hack exceeding $1.4B. Other ways There are quite a few of them, and all can be found in DeFi mechanics, DAO experience, and so on.We’ll talk about them if the article gets at least 200–300 views.For now… AI-Modifications AI-Modifications We live in an era where more and more people trust scripts, algorithms, and AI over fellow humans. Some approaches: AI for routine decisions, expert review for complex ones; AI where human consensus is too slow (e.g., DePIN); AI agents as DAO workers. AI for routine decisions, expert review for complex ones; AI where human consensus is too slow (e.g., DePIN); AI agents as DAO workers. In short: AI governance combines human expertise with algorithmic efficiency — and its role will only grow. Tempography Tempography Time-based consensus mechanisms are common in Web3: think PoH in Solana (not directly a consensus mechanism) or Bitcoin’s timestamps. Proof-of-Elapsed-Time (PoET), for example, grants block production rights to the node with the shortest randomly assigned wait time, verified inside a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). Unlike PoW or PoS, it’s based on secure random delays rather than hashing power or stake size. Proof-of-Elapsed-Time (PoET) Conclusions Conclusions We have many governance models that are not voting: not voting Negative “voting” → consensus, but traditional in form; Silence → consensus (positive or negative); Active inaction → consensus (reward for not doing something harmful); Fork → consensus; Probabilistic expert councils → consensus. Negative “voting” → consensus, but traditional in form; Silence → consensus (positive or negative); Active inaction → consensus (reward for not doing something harmful); not Fork → consensus; Probabilistic expert councils → consensus. Democratic voting is slow, often manipulated, and increasingly unfit for the future. Further reading: Further reading: vitalik.ca/general/2021/08/16/voting3.html vitalik.eth.limo/general/2024/09/28/alignment.html time.com/6158182/vitalik-buterin-ethereum-profile x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1883972053570568489 Token Structure and Distribution Governance mechanisms: How token holders participate in decision-making theconversation.com/the-dao-a-radical-experiment-that-could-be-the-future-of-decentralised-governance-59082 messari.io/report/governor-insights-1 messari.io/report/governor-insights-2 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_democracy vitalik.ca/general/2021/08/16/voting3.html vitalik.ca/general/2021/08/16/voting3.html vitalik.eth.limo/general/2024/09/28/alignment.html vitalik.eth.limo/general/2024/09/28/alignment.html time.com/6158182/vitalik-buterin-ethereum-profile time.com/6158182/vitalik-buterin-ethereum-profile x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1883972053570568489 x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1883972053570568489 Token Structure and Distribution Governance mechanisms: How token holders participate in decision-making theconversation.com/the-dao-a-radical-experiment-that-could-be-the-future-of-decentralised-governance-59082 theconversation.com/the-dao-a-radical-experiment-that-could-be-the-future-of-decentralised-governance-59082 messari.io/report/governor-insights-1 messari.io/report/governor-insights-1 messari.io/report/governor-insights-2 messari.io/report/governor-insights-2 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_democracy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_democracy And that’s it for now. See you! See you!
