diff --git a/entities/internet-finance/snapshot.md b/entities/internet-finance/snapshot.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..43d43373 --- /dev/null +++ b/entities/internet-finance/snapshot.md @@ -0,0 +1,58 @@ +--- +type: entity +entity_type: company +name: "Snapshot" +domain: internet-finance +handles: ["@SnapshotLabs"] +website: https://snapshot.org +status: active +tracked_by: rio +created: 2026-03-11 +last_updated: 2026-03-11 +founded: 2020-01-01 +category: "Off-chain DAO voting platform" +stage: mature +key_metrics: + dao_count: "10,000+" + total_votes_cast: "Millions" + pricing: "Free" +competitors: ["[[tally]]", "[[metadao]]"] +built_on: ["Ethereum", "Multi-chain"] +tags: ["governance", "token-voting", "dao-tooling"] +--- + +# Snapshot + +## Overview +Free off-chain voting platform. The default governance tool for DAOs — over 10,000 DAOs use Snapshot for token-weighted voting on proposals. Off-chain execution (votes are gasless, recorded on IPFS). Widely adopted because it's free and frictionless, but off-chain results are non-binding unless paired with execution layers. + +## Current State +- **Adoption**: 10,000+ DAOs, including most major DeFi protocols +- **Mechanism**: Token-weighted voting, off-chain (gasless). Results stored on IPFS. +- **Pricing**: Free — no fees for creating spaces or running votes +- **Limitation**: Off-chain = non-binding. Requires trust that multisig holders will execute vote results. No onchain enforcement. + +## Competitive Position +- **Dominant incumbent** in DAO voting. Network effects + free pricing = high adoption inertia. +- **vs MetaDAO/futarchy**: Fundamentally different mechanism — Snapshot uses voting (legitimacy-based), MetaDAO uses markets (information-based). Not direct competition today, but if futarchy proves superior for capital allocation decisions, Snapshot's governance model becomes the "legacy" approach. +- **vs Tally**: Tally does onchain voting (binding execution). Snapshot does off-chain (non-binding). Different trade-offs: Snapshot is cheaper/easier, Tally is more secure. +- **Moat**: Network effects + free = strong adoption inertia. But switching costs are actually low — DAOs can migrate governance tools without changing anything else. + +## Investment Thesis +Snapshot is the token voting incumbent. If DAO governance evolves toward market-based mechanisms (futarchy) or founder-led hybrid models, Snapshot's relevance diminishes for high-stakes decisions. But for low-stakes community polling and signaling, Snapshot likely persists indefinitely. The question: does governance converge on Snapshot's model or evolve past it? + +**Thesis status:** WATCHING — incumbent under structural pressure from governance evolution + +## Relationship to KB +- [[DAO governance degenerates into political capture because proposal processes select for coalition-building skill over operational competence and the resulting bureaucracy creates structural speed disadvantages against focused competitors]] — Snapshot enables the governance model this claim critiques +- [[quadratic voting fails for crypto because Sybil resistance and collusion prevention are unsolvable]] — applies to Snapshot's token-weighted model (not quadratic, but same Sybil problem) +- [[token voting DAOs offer no minority protection beyond majority goodwill]] — Snapshot facilitates this dynamic + +--- + +Relevant Entities: +- [[tally]] — onchain voting alternative +- [[metadao]] — market-based governance alternative + +Topics: +- [[internet finance and decision markets]]