Beyond the Vote: Scaling DAO Governance with Verifiable Computation

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Author: Denis Avetisyan

A new framework proposes leveraging off-chain computation and attestation to enable more sophisticated, continuous, and intelligent governance mechanisms for decentralized autonomous organizations.

This paper details a system for verifiable off-chain governance utilizing policy-as-code, zero-knowledge proofs, and trust graphs to overcome limitations of on-chain voting.

Current DAO governance models, while innovative, often reduce complex organizational decisions to simple token-weighted voting due to inherent on-chain limitations. This paper, ‘Verifiable Off-Chain Governance’, proposes a framework leveraging verifiable computation-including technologies like Trusted Execution Environments and Zero-Knowledge proofs-to overcome these constraints. By enabling attestation-based systems, verifiable preference processing, and autonomous policy execution via Policy-as-Code, the framework unlocks higher-resolution expressivity and increased operational efficiency for decentralized organizations. Will these advancements pave the way for truly scalable and nuanced on-chain governance structures?

Beyond Simple Governance: Why Trust Needs Proof

Decentralized systems, by their very nature, present unique challenges to governance. Traditional models, often reliant on hierarchical structures and centralized authorities, falter when applied to environments demanding broad participation and minimal intermediaries. The inherent scalability issues stem from the difficulty of coordinating actions and enforcing rules across a distributed network without creating bottlenecks. Transparency suffers as decision-making processes, typically opaque within centralized entities, become critical for maintaining community trust. Furthermore, the absence of a universally recognized authority necessitates novel mechanisms for establishing and verifying the integrity of information and actions, as conventional trust models prove inadequate in these trustless environments. This combination of scalability, transparency, and trust deficits underscores the need for innovative governance approaches specifically designed for the complexities of decentralized systems.

Decentralized systems frequently encounter coordination challenges due to the limitations of established governance approaches. Many current methods depend on a central entity to validate actions or enforce rules, creating single points of failure and potential censorship – a clear contradiction to the ethos of decentralization. Alternatively, systems may employ complex consensus mechanisms requiring significant computational resources and time to reach agreement, slowing down processes and limiting scalability. These cumbersome processes introduce friction and can stifle innovation, as even simple decisions require extensive network-wide validation. Consequently, the inherent inefficiencies of both centralized control and overly burdensome consensus hinder the effective and agile coordination necessary for thriving decentralized networks.

Decentralized systems often grapple with the challenges of establishing trustworthy governance, and a promising solution lies in the adoption of attestations – essentially, digitally signed statements verifying specific facts or the ‘state’ of a system. Unlike traditional methods that depend on central authorities or slow, resource-intensive consensus, attestations allow for selective disclosure of truth. A party can prove something is true without revealing the underlying data, offering enhanced privacy and efficiency. This approach moves beyond simply recording transactions to actively asserting and verifying conditions – for example, confirming a participant meets certain criteria or that a process completed successfully. By relying on cryptographic proofs rather than trust in intermediaries, attestations pave the way for more scalable, transparent, and resilient governance models capable of adapting to the complexities of decentralized environments.

The true potential of attestation-based governance hinges on the development of dedicated infrastructure capable of handling attestation processes at a substantial scale. This necessitates more than just the creation of attestations; it demands robust systems for their secure generation, rapid verification, and automated actioning. Such infrastructure includes decentralized networks optimized for attestation delivery, specialized hardware for cryptographic operations, and software tools enabling seamless integration with existing smart contracts and decentralized applications. Furthermore, scalable solutions require efficient data storage and retrieval mechanisms for attestation records, ensuring both accessibility and immutability. Only with these components in place can attestations move beyond theoretical promise and become a practical foundation for trustworthy and efficient decentralized governance, unlocking new possibilities for coordination and decision-making in complex systems.

Scaling Coordination: Off-Chain Services That Actually Deliver

Verifiable Off-chain Services (VOS) address blockchain scalability limitations by relocating computationally intensive tasks from the on-chain environment to external execution. This decoupling significantly reduces the demand for blockspace and associated transaction fees – often referred to as “gas” – as only proof of computation, rather than the computation itself, is submitted to the blockchain. By shifting complex calculations off-chain, VOS drastically improves transaction throughput and lowers costs for end-users. The core principle is to maintain the security and validity of these off-chain processes through cryptographic verification, ensuring that the results are trustworthy and consistent with on-chain state, despite being computed externally.

Verifiable Off-chain Services (VOS) utilize Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) and Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to assure the correctness of computations performed outside the blockchain. ZKPs allow a verifier to confirm the validity of an off-chain result without needing to re-execute the computation or access the underlying data; only the proof itself is submitted on-chain. TEEs, such as Intel SGX or AMD SEV, provide a secure enclave for executing code and protecting data confidentiality and integrity. These environments prevent malicious modification of the computation during execution. Combining ZKPs with TEEs provides a dual layer of assurance: the TEE guarantees correct execution within a secure boundary, and the ZKP verifies the result to the on-chain contract, regardless of trust in the TEE itself.

Deterministic computation is a fundamental requirement for Verifiable Off-chain Services (VOS) because it ensures that any given input will always produce the same output, irrespective of the hardware or software environment executing the computation. This consistency is critical for verification; off-chain computations are performed outside the blockchain’s direct execution, and the resulting proof must be valid regardless of where or how the original computation occurred. Without determinism, discrepancies in execution environments could lead to invalid proofs and compromise the integrity of the VOS. This is achieved through the use of strictly defined execution models and the avoidance of non-deterministic operations such as accessing external state or relying on system time, thereby guaranteeing reproducible results essential for secure off-chain processing and on-chain verification.

The implementation of Verifiable Off-Chain Services (VOS) demonstrably reduces gas costs for governance participation. A direct on-chain implementation of comparable functionality requires approximately 210 million gas units per participant. Utilizing VOS, participant gas costs are reduced to near-zero levels. This substantial decrease in cost enables the deployment of sophisticated governance mechanisms previously impractical due to economic constraints, allowing for broader participation and more complex voting or signaling processes without prohibitive fees.

WebAssembly (Wasm) serves as the execution environment for Verifiable Off-chain Services (VOS) due to its design prioritizing portability, safety, and performance. Wasm binaries are compiled from languages like Rust, C++, and others, enabling developers to utilize existing codebases and skillsets. The Wasm runtime is designed to be platform-independent, executing consistently across various hardware and operating systems. Crucially, Wasm operates within a sandboxed environment, mitigating security risks associated with executing untrusted code. Its compact binary format and efficient decoding contribute to faster execution times and reduced computational costs, making it suitable for resource-constrained environments and computationally intensive tasks within VOS.

TrustGraph: Proof of Concept in a World of Empty Promises

TrustGraph serves as a pilot program designed to evaluate the feasibility of attestation-based governance within expert networks. This implementation utilizes attestations – cryptographically verifiable statements – to assess the legitimacy and contributions of network participants. By leveraging attestations, the system aims to move beyond traditional reputation systems reliant on pre-existing social connections and instead focus on demonstrated expertise. The pilot focuses on incentivizing valuable contributions through a quantifiable TrustScore, currently ranging from 34 to 1,811 with a median of 76, and has successfully onboarded 12 participants solely based on merit as determined by this attestation process. This approach intends to create a more objective and transparent system for recognizing and rewarding expertise within decentralized networks.

The Localism Fund serves as a real-world application of TrustGraph, enabling the evaluation of local initiatives based on attested data. Through TrustGraph, the Fund assesses the legitimacy of projects by analyzing attestations from qualified experts regarding their impact and adherence to stated goals. This process moves beyond simple funding decisions, providing a transparent and verifiable record of project validation. The system allows for the quantification of a local initiative’s credibility, informing resource allocation and promoting accountability within the network of funded projects. This use case demonstrates TrustGraph’s capability to move beyond theoretical governance models and deliver practical insights into the efficacy of community-level efforts.

The TrustGraph implementation utilizes a TrustScore, a quantifiable metric derived from network attestations, which currently ranges from 34 to 1,811. Analysis of the initial participant cohort reveals a median TrustScore of 76. This score is calculated based on the weight and validity of attestations received by each network participant, effectively representing a measure of their demonstrated expertise and reputation within the system. The range indicates varying levels of established credibility, with higher scores signifying greater recognition and validation from other network members.

The TrustGraph pilot successfully onboarded twelve participants solely on the basis of demonstrated merit, specifically excluding individuals with pre-existing network connections within the system. This onboarding process validated the platform’s capacity to identify and reward expertise independent of established relationships or social capital. The implementation confirmed TrustGraph’s ability to discover qualified contributors who might otherwise be excluded from traditional, connection-based networks, and to incentivize their participation based on skill and contribution rather than existing affiliations.

TrustGraph’s governance framework is built upon the OpenCivics Principles of fairness, inclusivity, and good faith. These principles are operationalized through mechanisms designed to mitigate bias and ensure equitable participation. Specifically, the system prioritizes meritocratic assessment, allowing individuals to contribute and gain recognition based on demonstrated expertise, rather than pre-existing social connections. The emphasis on good faith interactions aims to foster a collaborative environment where participants act honestly and transparently, reinforcing the integrity of the network and its governance processes. This commitment to foundational principles informs all aspects of TrustGraph’s design, from participant onboarding to the assignment of TrustScores and the evaluation of local initiatives.

TrustGraph leverages the Ethereum Attestation Service (EAS) to establish a verifiable record of expertise and contribution. EAS allows participants to cryptographically sign attestations – statements vouching for the skills or impact of others – which are then recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. These attestations are publicly auditable and tamper-proof, providing a transparent and secure mechanism for evaluating network participants. The system utilizes EAS’s support for multiple attestation types and key revocations, ensuring data integrity and preventing malicious claims. Because attestations are anchored on-chain, TrustGraph benefits from the security and immutability inherent in the Ethereum network, forming the foundation for its merit-based governance system.

The Future is Attested: DAOs Beyond Token-Holding

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations are evolving beyond simple token-weighted voting systems, and attestation-based governance represents a significant step toward more sophisticated and effective decision-making. This approach allows DAOs to incorporate signals beyond mere financial stake, recognizing expertise, reputation, and relevant experience through verified attestations. Rather than every token holder having an equal voice on every issue, this system prioritizes input from individuals demonstrably knowledgeable in specific areas, fostering more informed outcomes. By weighting proposals based on the collective attestations of qualified members, DAOs can achieve greater nuance, respond more efficiently to complex challenges, and ultimately unlock possibilities previously unavailable to traditional governance models. This creates a dynamic system where expertise is rewarded and impactful decisions are driven by those best equipped to make them, rather than simply those with the most tokens.

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations frequently rely on token-weighted voting, a system where decision-making power is directly proportional to the number of tokens held. However, this approach can be limiting, often prioritizing financial stake over genuine expertise or relevant experience. Attestation-based governance offers a compelling alternative by integrating reputation and demonstrated skill directly into the decision-making process. Through attestations – verifiable statements of competency or contribution – DAOs can identify and weight the opinions of knowledgeable individuals, creating a more nuanced and informed system. This moves beyond simply counting tokens to valuing the quality of input, allowing DAOs to tap into collective intelligence and potentially achieve more effective and equitable outcomes. The result is a governance structure that more accurately reflects the distribution of expertise, rather than simply the distribution of wealth.

The reliability of expert networks within attested DAOs can be significantly bolstered through the application of the PageRank algorithm, originally designed to rank webpages. This analytical tool doesn’t simply count the number of attestations an individual receives, but rather assesses the quality of those endorsements by considering the attestors themselves. An attestation from a highly-regarded, well-connected expert carries more weight than one from a less-established source. By iteratively calculating a score based on the network of attestations – where an expert gains ranking from being attested by other high-ranking experts – PageRank effectively identifies and elevates genuinely knowledgeable individuals. This process moves beyond simple tallying, creating a dynamic and self-correcting system that enhances the discernment of expertise and fortifies the foundations of informed decision-making within the DAO.

TrustGraph demonstrably mitigates the risk of Sybil attacks – where a single entity creates numerous fake identities to disproportionately influence a network – through a carefully designed decay mechanism. This system operates on the principle that trust diminishes with distance; an attestation carries full weight from a direct connection, but its influence weakens with each subsequent hop within the network. Specifically, TrustGraph employs a 3-hop decay, meaning that after three connections, the attestation’s contribution to a node’s reputation effectively diminishes to zero. This prevents malicious actors from artificially inflating their influence by creating a long chain of indirect attestations, ensuring the network remains resistant to manipulation and preserves the integrity of its reputation-based system. The implementation successfully balances the need for broad network connectivity with robust Sybil resistance, fostering a more trustworthy and reliable decentralized environment.

The practical implementation of attestation-based governance relies heavily on the capabilities of smart contracts, which serve as the definitive enforcement mechanism for on-chain decisions. These self-executing agreements automate the translation of attested expertise into actionable governance outcomes, ensuring transparency and immutability. However, effective deployment necessitates careful consideration of gas limits – the computational cost required to execute the contract. Insufficient gas can lead to failed transactions, while excessive limits increase costs unnecessarily. Optimization strategies, including efficient data structures and minimized computational complexity within the smart contract code, are therefore crucial for sustainable and scalable attestation-based systems. This on-chain enforcement, when paired with thoughtful gas management, provides a robust foundation for DAOs seeking to move beyond simple token-weighted voting and leverage the power of verified expertise.

The pursuit of decentralized governance, as outlined in this work, inevitably courts complexity. Attempts to build perfectly democratic, fully automated systems consistently run aground on the shoals of real-world usage. This framework, with its focus on verifiable off-chain computation and attestation-based delegation, is a logical extension of that trend – adding layers of cryptographic assurance to processes already straining under their own weight. As Linus Torvalds once said, “Talk is cheap. Show me the code.” The elegance of policy-as-code means little when production environments expose unforeseen edge cases. The system’s reliance on trust graphs and zero-knowledge proofs offers mitigation, but doesn’t erase the fundamental truth: every revolution eventually accrues technical debt.

What’s Next?

The pursuit of ‘verifiable’ governance, as outlined, merely shifts the attack surface. Current decentralized autonomous organizations wrestle with on-chain congestion and gas costs; this framework promises to outsource complexity. It will, inevitably, discover new forms of centralization – perhaps not in consensus mechanisms, but in the tooling required to interpret those proofs. Anyone who believes that policy-as-code eliminates ambiguity hasn’t met a production environment. The system’s elegance hinges on the assumption that trust graphs will remain static, which is statistically laughable.

Future work will, predictably, focus on scaling these attestation networks. Expect a proliferation of ‘trust brokers’ – entities offering to vouch for others, for a fee, naturally. The architecture invites optimization towards ever-more-complex zero-knowledge circuits, each one a potential vulnerability waiting to be discovered. The real challenge isn’t cryptographic soundness, it’s the human factor: ensuring the attesters themselves aren’t compromised, bribed, or simply incompetent.

Ultimately, this is another layer of abstraction. Each attempt to simplify decision-making adds another component to fail. CI is the new temple – and the prayers offered are, mostly, pleas that nothing breaks when deployed. Documentation, as always, remains a myth invented by managers. The field will advance, of course, but the fundamental truth remains: governing anything is messy, and ‘verifiable’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘solved.’

Original article: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2512.23618.pdf

Contact the author: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avetisyan/

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2025-12-31 10:57