SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report Thread

[v3naru]

SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report #1: April 2024

We are excited to publish the first release of the SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report, covering key governance metrics and insights for April 2024. This report marks a significant milestone in our efforts to enhance transparency and foster informed decision-making within the SafeDAO community.

Special thanks to @Andre on his help in reviewing the initial version of the report.

Key Findings:

1. Token Transferability Impact:

• Votable Supply Increase: Post-transferability, votable supply rose from 231.8M to 331.89M SAFE Tokens (+43.18%).

  Disclaimer: The reported increase in votable supply may not fully capture the subtleties of actual token votable supply. Our data model accounts for vesting tokens linked by delegation or signature. Tokens available for voting but not actively linked are not included. While the primary rise is due to Gnosis treasury and SafeDAO <> Gnosis Joint Treasury tokens, the actual increase from other sources is slightly less than reported.

• Voting Power Distribution: Significant reshaping with broader base inclusion but notable concentration at the top (e.g., GnosisDAO Treasury with 68.4M SAFE).

• New Delegates: Over 132 new delegates, enhancing diversity but yet to see how active these new delegates will be in participating in SafeDAO governance.

• Sell-off Among Delegators: Post-transferability, 104 existing delegates experienced an average voting power reduction of 30.2%, indicating a significant sell-off by their delegators.

2. Governance Metric Monitoring:

• Participation Rate: Increased to 20.41% in April from 19.32% in March.
• Unique Voters: Decreased to 1,057 in April from 1,322 in March (-20.05%).
• Voting Power: Average participation voting power increased to 47.3M SAFE Tokens.
• Delegate Engagement: Slight increase in active delegates and decrease in inactive ones, reflecting improved engagement.

3. Proposal Outcomes:

• Unpause SAFE Token Contract: Near-unanimous support with high participation, marking a crucial milestone.
• OBRA Safe Token Utility Sprint 1: Strong consensus and high engagement, highlighting strategic alignment.
• Treasury Management Proposal: Significant support but notable opposition, indicating areas needing further discussion.

4. Shifts in Voting Power Dynamics:

• Power consolidation among top 10 voters, with growing influence in the broader community, especially within the Top 201-500 voters.

Governance Impact and Strategic Implications:

• The enablement of token transferability marks a pivotal development in SafeDAO’s governance, promising greater inclusivity and democratic potential. However, it necessitates enhanced mechanisms to manage new participants and ensure robust governance.

For a detailed analysis, you can view the full report here: SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report #1: April 2024.

[v3naru]

SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report #2: May 2024

We’re excited to share with you the SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report for May 2024. This edition continues our commitment to enhancing transparency and informed decision-making within the SafeDAO community.

Key Findings:

1. Votable Supply and Voting Power Distribution:

• Votable Supply Changes: The votable supply slightly increased to approximately 334.4 million SAFE tokens from 331.9 million in April. This modest growth reflects ongoing adjustments in token distribution among stakeholders, highlighting the dynamic nature of the votable supply.

• Voting Power Distribution: While the top 10 voters still control a significant portion of the total voting power at 51.37%, their share has slightly decreased, marking a positive step towards reducing power consolidation. Additionally, there’s an observable shift in voting power towards lower-tier voters, particularly in the 201-500 bracket, which saw the largest percentage growth in voting power. This adjustment indicates a more balanced distribution of voting power.

2. Governance Metric Monitoring:

• Participation Rate: Dramatically decreased to 4.64% from April’s 20.41%. This significant drop highlights the need for strategies to re-engage the community and boost participation.
• Unique Voters: Dropped sharply to 269 from 1,057 in April, emphasizing the reduced engagement in this month’s governance activities.
• Delegate Engagement: May saw a decrease in active delegates alongside a small increase in inactive ones, indicating a shift towards reduced engagement within SafeDAO.

3. Voter Dynamics:

• Existing Voters: Significant shifts observed; 24 voters increased their stake, while 76 decreased, including 30 dropping to zero, indicating a significant disengagement.

• New Voters: 57 newcomers brought potential voting power of 20.9M SAFE tokens, possibly altering governance dynamics depending on their participation levels.

4. Proposal Outcomes:

• [SEP #25] Palmera Module: Saw nearly unanimous support with minimal opposition, despite 21.31% abstaining over concerns about the audits funding request process.

• [SEP #26] Three-Part Research Series: Also strongly supported, but highlighted the need for alternative funding strategies, as suggested by the 20.47% abstention rate.

Governance Impact and Strategic Implications:

This month’s report highlights the challenges of maintaining high participation and the importance of adapting strategies to improve community engagement more effectively. Enhancing mechanisms to onboard new participants and ensure robust governance remains a priority.

For a detailed analysis, you can view the full report here: SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report #2: May 2024.

[v3naru]

SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report #3: June 2024

We’re excited to share the SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report for June 2024, continuing our commitment to transparency and informed decision-making within the SafeDAO community.

Key Findings:

Votable Supply and Voting Power Distribution:

• Votable Supply Changes: The votable supply remained stable at approximately 334.4 million SAFE tokens, unchanged from May 2024.

• Voting Power Distribution: The top 10 voters controlled 51.4% of the total voting power, almost unchanged from May. There were slight decreases and increases among other voter brackets, reflecting stable power distribution with minor fluctuations.

Governance Metric Monitoring:

• Participation Rate: Decreased to 3.65% from 4.64% in May, highlighting a continued decline in engagement.

• Unique Voters: Increased to 266 from 229 in May, indicating broader community participation.

• Voting Power (Average voting power on proposal): Dropped to 12.2M SAFE from 15.5M SAFE in May, showing decreased engagement.

• Delegates Voting: 29 delegates voted at least once, down from 32 in May, continuing the challenge of maintaining engagement.

• New Voters: 16 new voters, down from 31 in May, aligning with lower overall engagement.

Voter Dynamics:

• Existing Voters: 29 increased their voting power by 2.89M SAFE, while 38 decreased by 4.88M SAFE. 19 voters’ voting power dropped to zero.

• New Potential Voters: 19 new potential voters holding 2.72M SAFE voting power.

Delegate Status Shifts:

• Active Delegates: Decreased to 66 from 70 in May.
• Inactive Delegates: Increased to 37 from 30 in May.
• Ghost Delegates: Decreased to 131 from 133 in May.

Proposal Outcomes:

1. [SEP 27] Governance Amendments Season 2, Sprint 4

   • Category: Governance
   • Overview: Allows flexible voting on governance amendments throughout the season.
   • Participation: 258 voters, 12.1M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Nearly unanimous support.
   • Top 20 Voters: All supported the proposal.

2. [SEP 28] OBRA Budget Amendments Season 2, Sprint 4

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Manages OBRA budget with three redistribution options.
   • Participation: 255 voters, 12.2M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Highly contentious, with a nearly equal split between two main options.
   • Top 20 Voters: Divided, with a slight majority favoring even distribution (Option 2).

Governance Impact and Strategic Implications:

This month’s report still highlights the challenges of maintaining high participation and the importance of adapting strategies to improve community engagement more effectively. Enhancing mechanisms to onboard new participants and ensure robust governance remains a priority.

For a detailed analysis, you can view the full report here: SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report: June 2024.

[v3naru]

SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report #4: July 2024

We’re pleased to share the SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report for July 2024, continuing our commitment to transparency and informed decision-making within the SafeDAO community.

Key Findings:

Votable Supply and Voting Power Distribution:

• Votable Supply Changes: The votable supply slightly increased to approximately 336.8 million SAFE tokens from 334.4 million in June, reflecting a modest growth of 0.71%.

• Voting Power Distribution: The top 10 voters controlled 51.03% of the total voting power, a slight decrease from 51.4% in June. There was notable growth in the middle and lower tiers, with the top 51-200 voters increasing by 7.53% and the top 201-500 voters by 9.40%.

Governance Metric Monitoring:

• Participation Rate: Increased slightly to 3.89% from June’s 3.65%, reflecting a modest rise of 0.24%. Despite this uptick, the participation rate remains relatively low, highlighting the need for enhanced community engagement.

• Unique Voters: Decreased to 209 from 266 in June, indicating a reduction in the breadth of participation within the SafeDAO community.

• Voting Power (Average voting power on proposal): Increased to 13.01M SAFE from 12.21M SAFE in June, suggesting a consolidation of influence among fewer voters.

• Delegates Voting: 32 delegates voted at least once, up from 29 in June, indicating a slight improvement in delegate engagement.

Voter Dynamics:

• Existing Voters: 24 voters increased their voting power by 5.17M SAFE, while 35 decreased by 8.65M SAFE. 12 voters’ voting power dropped to zero.

• New Potential Voters: 20 new potential voters holding 6.46M SAFE voting power.

Delegate Status Shifts:

• Active Delegates: Decreased to 45 from 66 in June.
• Inactive Delegates: Increased to 57 from 37 in June.
• Ghost Delegates: Remained unchanged at 131 from June to July.

Proposal Outcomes:

1. [SEP 29] Nounish Safes - Rocketman

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Requests $30,000 in USDC to develop a Revolution Protocol extension.
   • Participation: 174 voters, 18.8M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Highly contentious with a nearly equal split between the top two options.
   • Top 20 Voters: A few high-power voters’ decisions significantly influenced the outcome, result in the rejection of the proposal.

2. [SEP 30] Native Split Delegation on Mobile with Notifications about Delegate Participation - Goverland

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Aims to implement the Split Delegation feature into the Goverland App (iOS).
   • Participation: 173 voters, 10.1M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Nearly unanimous support.
   • Top 20 Voters: Strong support for “Accept”.

3. [SEP 31] Next Generation Frontend for Decentralized Safe Registry

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Requests 96,000 USDC to build a new frontend with an optimized UI/UX and a Telegram bot.
   • Participation: 184 voters, 17.6M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Highly contentious with a nearly equal split between top two options.
   • Top 20 Voters: Divided opinions with a slight majority favoring the rejection.

4. [SEP 32] Continuation of Governance Accessibility and Participation Enhancement at SafeDAO - StableLab

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Requests $24,000 to enhance community updates and foster discussions.
   • Participation: 186 voters, 8.18M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Nearly unanimous support but failed to reach quorum.
   • Top 20 Voters: Strong support for “Accept”.

5. [SEP 33] Safe Accounts for NFC Tags - Citizen Wallet

• Category: OBRA Initiatives
• Overview: Seeks $10,000 to fund the creation of a Safe Module for NFC tags.
• Participation: 193 voters, 10.2M SAFE tokens cast.
• Contentiousness: Nearly unanimous support.
• Top 20 Voters: Strong support for “Accept”.

Governance Impact and Strategic Implications:
In July, SafeDAO faced engagement challenges with voter participation consistently below average. SEP #29 and SEP #31 were highly contentious, revealing divided community opinions. SEP #30, SEP #32, and SEP #33 saw strong support, but SEP #32 failed to reach quorum despite broad backing, underscoring the need for increased participation. High voting power significantly influenced outcomes, highlighting the importance of strategies to balance participation and enhance community engagement. Ensuring robust governance and onboarding new participants remain priorities to address these issues.

For a detailed analysis, you can view the full report here: SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report: July 2024.

[Nneoma_StableLab]

Great insights, thanks for this. Really highlights where more focus is required in terms of inspiring more participation and engagement in governance.

[v3naru]

SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report #5: August 2024

We are pleased to share the SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report for August 2024, continuing our efforts to provide transparency and foster informed decision-making within the SafeDAO community.

Key Findings:

Votable Supply and Voting Power Distribution:

• Votable Supply Changes: The votable supply remained relatively stable at approximately 336.89 million SAFE tokens, reflecting a minor increase from 336.8 million in July 2024.

• Voting Power Distribution: The top 10 voters controlled 50.85% of the total voting power, a slight decrease from 51.03% in July. The top 201-500 voters saw a notable increase of +7.13%, and the top 501-1000 voters grew by +5.89%. These shifts suggest a modest redistribution of voting power towards the lower tiers, even as the top 10 remain dominant.

Governance Metric Monitoring:

• Participation Rate: Slightly increased to 4.44% from 3.89% in July, indicating a modest rise in engagement.

• Unique Voters: Decreased to 163 from 209 in July, reflecting a reduction in voter participation across the broader community.

• Voting Power (Average voting power on proposal): Increased to 14.95M SAFE from 13.01M SAFE in July, suggesting a consolidation of influence among fewer, more engaged voters.

• Delegates Voting: 27 delegates voted at least once, down from 32 in July, continuing the decline in delegate engagement.

Voter Dynamics:

• Existing Voters: 38 voters increased their voting power by 6.64M SAFE, while 28 decreased by 7.38M SAFE. One notable increase was malikelbay.eth, with over 75.28% increase in voting power, strengthening his influence in governance decisions.

• New Potential Voters: 22 new potential voters holding 1.64M SAFE voting power, adding diversity to the voter base.

Delegate Status Shifts:

• Active Delegates: Decreased to 41 from 45 in July.
• Inactive Delegates: Increased to 62 from 57 in July.
• Ghost Delegates: Remained relatively stable at 132.

Proposal Outcomes:

1. [SEP 34] Resource Lock Module - Cometh & Gnosis Guild & OneBalance

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Requests 75,000 USDC to develop a module for SAFEs enabling cross-chain interactions.
   • Participation: 149 voters, 15.74M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Minimal, with 75.91% supporting “ACCEPT.”

2. [SEP 35] Improve voting UI/UX with SAFE on mobile

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Aims to enhance mobile voting UI/UX via the Lighthouse app.
   • Participation: 152 voters, 14M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Minimal, with 82.07% supporting “ACCEPT.”

3. [SEP 36] Simulations/Demos and Tidbits for All Safe Use Cases

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Seeks 24,000 USDC to create interactive guides for Safe wallet use.
   • Participation: 156 voters, 15M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Minimal, with 98.97% supporting “ACCEPT.”

Governance Impact and Strategic Implications:
Despite the slight increase in participation, voter turnout in August remained low, continuing to present a challenge for SafeDAO. While the strong consensus on proposals indicates alignment within the community, the influence of high-voting power participants continues to significantly shape outcomes. Moving forward, addressing low turnout, fostering broader participation, and re-engaging inactive delegates will be essential priorities.

For a detailed analysis, you can view the full report here: SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report: August 2024.

[v3naru]

SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report: September 2024

We are pleased to present the SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report for September 2024. This month saw an influx of 9 proposals, higher than usual, reflecting a growing governance activity within SafeDAO. This report continues our efforts to promote transparency and provide key insights that inform governance decision-making within the SafeDAO community.

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Key Findings:

Votable Supply and Voting Power Distribution

• Votable Supply Changes:
  The votable supply of SAFE tokens decreased slightly to 335.47M, down from 336.89M in August, indicating minor adjustments in votable supply distribution among stakeholders.

• Voting Power Distribution:
  

  
  
  In September 2024, the top 10 voters controlled 50.96% of the total voting power, a slight increase from 50.85% in August. The voting power among the top 11-50 voters showed a minor decrease of -0.31%, while the top 51-200 voters experienced a more notable decrease of -2.35%. However, the top 201-500 voters saw a significant increase of +4.42%, and the top 501-1000 voters experienced modest growth of +1.52%. These shifts indicate a relatively stable distribution of power at the top, while the lower tiers show more dynamic changes.

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Voting Participation Trend

• Participation Rate:
  In September 2024, the participation rate dropped to 3.27% from 4.44% in August, signaling a decline in voter engagement. This reversal of the previous month’s improvement highlights the need for ongoing efforts to strengthen community participation in governance.

• Unique Voters:
  The number of unique voters increased to 240 from 163 in August, marking a modest rise of 47.24%. While this is a positive shift, more efforts are required to broaden participation and involve more members in decision-making.

• Voting Power:
  Average voting power per proposal dropped significantly to 11.00M SAFE from 14.95M SAFE in August, a -26.39% decline. This suggests that larger voting power participants were less active, indicating potential disengagement among high-influence voters.

• Delegate Participation:
  Delegate participation saw a notable rise, with 41 delegates voting at least once, up from 27 in August, marking a +52% increase.

• New Voters:
  The onboarding of new voters decreased, with only 13 new voters casting their first vote in September, down from 22 in August. This drop reflects a slowdown in fresh voter engagement within the SafeDAO governance process.

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Voter Dynamics

Existing Voters:
Among existing voters, 24 increased their voting power, adding 4.083M SAFE tokens, while 46 saw decreases, with 15 voters dropping to zero voting power, resulting in a total reduction of 7.958M SAFE tokens. Notable examples include:

• stablelab.eth: Voting power surged by +1273%, representing about 1.38% of the proposal quorum, strengthening their influence in SafeDAO governance.

• governance.karpatkey.eth: Voting power increased by +16.63%, now representing 7.51% of the proposal quorum, further solidifying their influence in decision-making.

New Potential Voters:
September introduced 21 new potential voters, collectively holding 3.252M SAFE tokens.

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Delegate Status Shifts

• Active Delegates:
  Active delegates increased to 45, up from 41 in August, indicating improved engagement in governance activities.

• Inactive Delegates:
  The number of inactive delegates remained at 62 in both August and September 2024.

• Ghost Delegates:
  Ghost delegates, those who have never voted, decreased slightly to 125 from 132, signaling a positive trend toward re-engaging previously inactive participants.

These shifts suggest positive momentum in delegate engagement, but continued efforts are necessary to sustain this participation and further reduce inactivity.

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Proposal Outcomes

1. [SEP 37] Contribution Efficiency System (CES) Extension - Areta

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Seeks to extend the CES to maintain continuity for SafeDAO’s OBRA initiatives during a transitional period of organizational restructuring.
   • Participation: 145 voters, 10.16M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Minimal, with 94.73% supporting the proposal.

2. [SEP 38] Governance Accessibility and Participation Enhancement - StableLab

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Proposes a strategy to boost governance participation through refined community initiatives and governance updates.
   • Participation: 135 voters, 9.82M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Moderate, with 90.96% support, but failed to meet quorum.

3. [SEP 39] Public API Development and Continuation of SafeDAO Governance Analytics

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Aims to extend the SafeDAO Governance Analytics Dashboard and reports for six months with additional API for public data access.
   • Participation: 129 voters, 10.52M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Minimal, with 94.31% supporting the proposal.

4. [SEP 40] Governance Cycle Amendments Season 3, Sprint 3

   • Category: Governance
   • Overview: Proposes changes to the governance cycle, including removing Phase 0, introducing a proposal change freeze period, and shortening the voting period.
   • Participation: 137 voters, 6.60M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Minimal, with 98.89% support, but did not meet quorum.

5. [SEP 41] Safe Ecosystem Roundups and Highlights by FinOps3

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Builds on the FinOps3 partnership to produce bi-weekly Safe Ecosystem Roundups and 10 highlight campaigns showcasing Safe Builders’ solutions.
   • Participation: 138 voters, 8.09M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Moderate, with 76.38% support, but failed to meet quorum.

6. [SEP 42] Simulations and Report: Safings Accounts and Safe Vaults - Kolektivo Labs & Hopper Protocol

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Explores the potential value of Safings Accounts and Safe Vaults for the SAFE token economy using data from Safe {Pass}.
   • Participation: 153 voters, 12.26M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Minimal, with 98.27% supporting the proposal.

7. [SEP 43] ZK Email Account Recovery

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Proposes implementing a secure account recovery system using the ZK-Email SDK for digital wallets, compatible with EIP 7579 and legacy Gnosis Safes.
   • Participation: 151 voters, 11.05M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Moderate, with 92.66% support and some abstentions.

8. [SEP 44] Creating SafeDAO’s First Revenue Stream - Community-Aligned Fees

   • Category: OBRA Initiatives
   • Overview: Introduces SafeDAO’s first revenue stream to enhance token utility and governance, supporting ecosystem vibrancy.
   • Participation: 167 voters, 15.28M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Minimal, with 99.26% support.

9. [SEP 45] Implementation of Transition Period for Committees and Councils Structure

   • Category: Governance
   • Overview: Signals intent to adopt a Committees and Councils Structure and introduces a transition period while pausing new OBRA initiatives.
   • Participation: 165 voters, 15.23M SAFE tokens cast.
   • Contentiousness: Minimal, with 95.42% support, though with a higher level of abstentions.

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Governance Impact and Strategic Implications

In September, SafeDAO saw an influx of proposals, with 9 proposals voted on. However, voter participation remained low, reflecting a broader challenge in sustaining engagement. While most proposals met quorum, SEP 38, SEP 40 and SEP 41 fell short due to insufficient participation.The reduction in voting power participation from high-influence voters further highlights the need to re-engage more delegates and voters. Moving forward, SafeDAO must prioritize strategies to address low turnout, foster broader participation, and activate both new and existing delegates to ensure a more balanced and inclusive governance process.

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For a detailed breakdown and insights, you can view the full report here: SafeDAO Governance Analytics Report: September 2024.

Note: We’re trying out a new format for this update. Let us know if you have any feedback!