Multisig & Governance
Advanced
1-2 weeksDAO Treasury & Voting Pattern
Simple on-chain DAO: proposal boxes, token-weighted voting, timelocked execution
Problem
You need decentralized governance where token holders can propose and vote on treasury spending or protocol changes.
Solution
Use proposal boxes that collect votes as separate voting boxes. After voting period, proposals with sufficient support can be executed with timelock for safety.
How It Works
- 1Create governance token distributed to stakeholders
- 2Proposals are created as special boxes with action details in registers
- 3Token holders lock governance tokens in voting boxes pointing to proposal
- 4After voting period, tally votes from voting boxes
- 5If quorum and threshold met, proposal enters timelock period
- 6After timelock, anyone can execute the approved action
Code Examples
{
// Proposal box structure
// R4: Proposal ID (unique identifier)
// R5: Action type (0=spend, 1=parameter change, 2=upgrade)
// R6: Action data (recipient address, amount, or new parameter)
// R7: Voting start height
// R8: Voting end height
// R9: Execution timelock (blocks after vote ends)
val proposalId = SELF.R4[Coll[Byte]].get
val actionType = SELF.R5[Int].get
val votingEnd = SELF.R8[Int].get
val timelock = SELF.R9[Int].get
val executionHeight = votingEnd + timelock
val governanceNFT = fromBase64("DAO_NFT_ID")
// Proposal can be executed after timelock if:
// 1. Voting period ended
// 2. Timelock passed
// 3. Vote passed (checked via data inputs)
val votingEnded = HEIGHT > votingEnd
val timelockPassed = HEIGHT > executionHeight
// Vote tally from data inputs (voting boxes)
val votingBoxes = CONTEXT.dataInputs.filter(b =>
b.R4[Coll[Byte]].get == proposalId
)
val yesVotes = votingBoxes.filter(b => b.R5[Boolean].get == true)
.map(b => b.tokens(0)._2).fold(0L, (a, b) => a + b)
val totalVotes = votingBoxes.map(b => b.tokens(0)._2)
.fold(0L, (a, b) => a + b)
val quorum = 1000000L // Minimum total votes
val threshold = 500 // 50% approval needed (in basis points)
val quorumMet = totalVotes >= quorum
val thresholdMet = yesVotes * 1000 / totalVotes >= threshold
votingEnded && timelockPassed && quorumMet && thresholdMet
}Proposal box that can only be spent (executed) after voting passes and timelock expires. Votes are tallied from voting boxes.
Use Cases
- →Protocol governance
- →Community treasury management
- →Grant programs
- →Parameter changes (fees, thresholds)
- →Protocol upgrades
- →Emergency actions with timelock
Security Considerations
- !Use sufficient timelock for security (e.g., 7 days)
- !Implement emergency pause mechanism
- !Consider vote delegation for participation
- !Guard against flash loan attacks on voting
- !Audit proposal validation thoroughly
Resources
Fee Considerations
Multiple transactions: create proposal, vote, tally, execute. Budget ~0.1 ERG total.