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DAO Delegation Overview �Raphael Spannocchi - Governance Lead

Questions: DM me on X (@raphbaph) or raph@stablelab.xyz

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Why run a delegate program ?

  • Empowering Participation: Token holders can delegate their voting rights, increasing votable supply to include more passive holders.
  • Expert Delegates: Knowledgeable delegates who specialize in DeFi, protocol development, or other key areas improve decision making.
  • Efficient Governance: Delegates improve decision-making speed and quality by virtue of being active and informed.
  • Community Engagement: Delegates canvas their following to attract delegation, leading to decentralized community engagement.
  • Liability protection: As with proxy voting in public companies, delegates add a layer of liability protection to token holders and investors.

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Building blocks of a program

Delegation Smart Contract

Delegate Threads on Forum

Delegate Compensation

Code of Conduct

Eligibility Criteria

Retro vs monthly

Own Category on Forum

Ways to make it binding

Delegation UX

Delegation Event / Race

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Delegate Program Overview

Aave DAO with Aave Orbit

  • Delegate framework and code of conduct.
  • Aave Orbit program for delegate. compensation. (5k$ per month in GHO and gas refunds for voting and proposing)
  • Orbit requires min 20k delegation and 70% participation rate.
  • Service providers can not be paid delegates.
  • Orbit is administered by ACI - a service provider to Aave.

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Delegate Program Overview

Arbitrum DAO

  • Tally delegation event as part of the airdrop.
  • Delegate compensation introduced by SEEDGov and extended.
  • Up to 16,5k ARB or 7k$/month.
  • Min 25% participation and 50k ARB delegation.
  • Must publish a forum post to participate in the compensation program.
  • 50 delegates get compensated, 194 eligible.
  • Points system determines which 50 get compensated.

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Delegate Program Overview

Gnosis DAO

  • Delegate program announced in June ‘24 based on an earlier proposal.
  • Eligibility means 70% voting and 100% communication of rationales
  • Application via forum thread.
  • No delegate compensation.
  • Eligible delegates get 5000 GNO delegation from the DAO treasury

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Delegate Program Overview

Lido DAO

  • Program published July ‘24.
  • 70% participation rate required.
  • Voting rationales published.
  • 0.1% of supply min delegated (>2M LDO)
  • $5k per month max per delegate.
  • Adherence to code of conduct or removal.
  • Aimed to help with Lido DAO missing quorum repeatedly.
  • Pilot ends Feb ‘25.

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Delegate Program Overview

MakerDAO / Sky - The OG

  • First DAO delegate program
  • Delegate while using tokens elsewhere
  • Delegate compensation was 144k DAI per year max, now is in USDS only and at 48k$ per year max.
  • Delegate comp tied to participation and MKR delegated.
  • Only top six delegates get compensated
  • Penalties for not adhering to the code of conduct.
  • Delegates must be anonymous!

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Delegate Program Overview

Optimism DAO

  • Advanced delegation by Agora.
    • Partial delegation and
    • Redelegation by delegates to others (basically liquid democracy)
  • Delegates are retro funded per season
  • 6k $OP per month
  • Eligibility criteria: participation (70%+)
    • Feedback to RPGF Round
    • Token House Mission support

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Delegate Program Overview

RARI DAO

  • Foundation delegates to active community members who apply.
  • New delegation event every six months.
  • Delegation via Tally. 974 delegates.
  • No delegate compensation.

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Delegate Program Overview

Paraswap DAO

  • Delegate program in pilot mode (Dec ‘24)
  • No delegate compensation
  • No treasury tokens delegated
  • 80% min voting participation
  • 100% of voting rationales published
  • If voter participation picks up > might introduce delegate compensation

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Delegate Program Overview

Polygon Delegate Incentives

  • Delegate program announced Nov ‘24.
  • Applications on the Forum.
  • 60k POL total rewards across all delegates for a quarter
  • Voting participation and delegation size among other criteria determine rewards.
  • Pilot program runs for 12 months.
  • Strong focus on technical capabilities to govern system upgrades.

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Delegate Program Overview

Push DAO

  • Delegate pilot program started Nov ‘24.
  • 85% voting participation required to unlock delegated tokens after 1 year.
  • 85% of votes must have a rationale
  • 10,000 PUSH to five delegates
  • Selection of the delegates by the DAO Council
  • Delegate threads on the Forum, applications as replies to original post.

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Delegate Program Overview

Uniswap DAO

  • Initial delegation with token launch, no compensation. Initial delegation very sticky.
  • Proposal for foundation’s delegation to active, but smaller delegates
  • Proposal for delegate compensation tied to activity and voting.
  • 9,400$ per month per delegate compensation for top 11, points system.
  • Foundation delegation led to more stable governance and quorum more frequently met.

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Delegate Program Overview

1Inch DAO

  • Delegates post a plan with KPIs on the Forum.
  • Compensation is 4k USDC per month if they meet their KPIs.
  • Min voting weight is 500k 1Inch.
  • Min forum membership with contributions three months.
  • Pilot for six months, extended afterwards.

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Delegate Program Overview

Questions:

DM me on X (@raphbaph) or email: raph@stablelab.xyz