Snapshot New Feature: Introduction to Governance Reward Plugin

Written by: Snapshot Labs

Compiled by: DAOSquare

Snapshot has just released Boost, attempting to address governance apathy through governance rewards. While governance rewards are one method to tackle governance apathy, they are not the optimal solution and can be a double-edged sword. However, this does not prevent us from understanding and using it, especially given the current state of decentralized governance, where any valuable exploration is worthy of respect and experimentation. In this article, Snapshot briefly introduces what Boost is and how it works. We will publish a more detailed introduction after trying it out.

Did you know that the average voting rate in DAOs is astonishingly low (below 20%)? This low level of participation (which can be somewhat understood as voter apathy) threatens the essence of decentralized governance. The launch of the Boost feature can be seen as a response to this challenge. It incentivizes members to vote on proposals by providing rewards, making participation not only a responsibility but also a rewarding experience.

Boost is a protocol and new feature in the Snapshot beta, designed to encourage more voters to participate in specific proposals by offering ERC-20 token rewards. It allows anyone to enhance proposals by rewarding voters, laying the groundwork for increased participation. Traditional airdrops typically only provide a temporary spike in participation. Boost encourages active involvement, a method similar to what large DAOs like Optimism and Uniswap are exploring or using.

Boost adopts strategies similar to those considered or used by active DAOs.

How does it work?

With Boost, proposal initiators can choose how to allocate rewards and specify eligibility criteria to provide the right incentives for voter participation.

Setting Up Boost for Proposals

Anyone can create Boost directly from the proposal page by deciding on three parameters:

1. Rewards

The first step in creating Boost is to decide on the tokens to be used and the amount to be deposited. These tokens are held in the Boost smart contract to be distributed to eligible voters.

2. Distribution

Next, choose the method of reward distribution. For example, using a "lottery" method, you can define the number of randomly selected voters, where voters with more voting power have a higher chance of winning, and you can choose to limit the fairness probability. The "proportional" distribution of rewards aligns with voting power, meaning the larger your voting power, the larger your share of the rewards. Additionally, you can set a cap to ensure that no single voter can take too much of the rewards.

This is just the initial prototype of Boost, and we are continuously expanding its features, including more distribution strategies to better serve DAOs and communities. If you have more interesting ideas or suggestions for improvements, we welcome collaboration with you. Our goal is for anyone to freely formulate their own strategies to enhance the distribution of rewards, just as we have already provided customizable voting strategies.

3. Eligibility

Finally, you can also set eligibility criteria, deciding whether to reward all voters to encourage broad participation or specifically reward those who vote for a certain outcome.

Please note that the latter option is often referred to as bribery, which can be abused and negatively impact governance. This is why we only recommend this option in specific use cases, such as deciding how liquidity mining rewards should be distributed. By default, this option will be disabled and can only be enabled by the DAO in the Space settings.

Claiming Rewards

Voters can participate in Boost by performing two key actions:

1. Voting

By voting on proposals, voters may become eligible for their Boost rewards.

2. Claiming Rewards

After the voting period ends, eligible voters can claim their rewards.

Join the Test!

Boost will soon be available to all Spaces on Snapshot. If you are interested in trying it out, we invite you to join us. Please fill out this form to embark on this exciting journey.

To further validate the effectiveness of Boost, we are collaborating with Eliza Oak from Yale University and a16z crypto to conduct research on how token rewards can increase participation in DAOs. If you are interested in participating and want to learn more, you can find more details in this article.