DAOs on Ethereum have a fundamental problem: it costs $5–$50 in gas to cast a single vote. When governance participation requires spending real money on every proposal, only whales vote. Small holders are economically locked out of the governance process they're supposed to be part of. This isn't theoretical — Ethereum DAO voter turnout averages 3–5% of token holders.
Solana fixes this. Voting costs less than $0.01. A DAO member can vote on every proposal, delegate their tokens, create proposals, and participate in discussions without thinking about gas. The result: Solana DAOs consistently see higher participation rates than their Ethereum equivalents.
This guide covers the full landscape — the tools for creating and managing DAOs on Solana, the major DAOs worth participating in, and a practical walkthrough for setting up your own.
Why Solana for DAOs?
Before diving into tools, here's why Solana's architecture is particularly suited for governance:
Sub-cent voting costs. The average Solana transaction costs ~0.000005 SOL. At $150/SOL, that's $0.00075 per vote. A DAO member voting on 100 proposals per year pays less than $0.10 total. On Ethereum, the same 100 votes would cost $500–$5,000 in gas.
Fast finality. Solana confirms transactions in ~400ms. Vote results update in real-time. No waiting 12 seconds for block confirmation, no worrying about reorgs. Governance interfaces feel as responsive as Web2 apps.
Composability. DAO governance programs on Solana can compose with DeFi protocols in a single transaction. A DAO could vote to rebalance its treasury across Marinade staking, Kamino vaults, and Jupiter DCA — and execute it atomically.
Token extensions. Solana's Token-2022 program supports transfer hooks, metadata, and confidential transfers. DAOs can use these for vote-escrowed tokens, non-transferable governance NFTs, and privacy-preserving voting.
The Core DAO Tools
Realms (SPL Governance)
Realms is the primary governance platform on Solana. Built on the SPL Governance program (an official Solana Program Library program), it's the most battle-tested on-chain governance framework in the Solana ecosystem.
What it does:
- Create DAOs with custom governance rules
- Token-weighted voting (SPL tokens or NFTs)
- Proposal creation, voting, and execution
- Time-locked execution (proposals execute after a configurable delay)
- Multi-governance structure (different rules for different proposal types)
- Council-based governance (a smaller group with elevated powers, useful for early-stage projects)
- Treasury management (the DAO controls a wallet through governance)
How it works:
Every Realms DAO has:
- A governance token — an SPL token that represents voting power. Holders deposit tokens to receive voting weight.
- One or more governance accounts — each governing a specific wallet or program. You might have one governance for treasury spending and another for protocol parameter changes, with different voting thresholds.
- Proposals — any token holder meeting the minimum threshold can create a proposal. Proposals specify the exact on-chain instructions to execute if passed.
- Voting period — a configurable window (typically 3–7 days) during which token holders cast votes.
- Execution delay — after a proposal passes, there's a mandatory delay before execution, giving opponents time to exit.
Creating a DAO on Realms:
Visit app.realms.today and connect your Phantom or Solflare wallet. The wizard walks you through:
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Choose DAO type:
- Multi-signature — a simple N-of-M signer setup (like a Squads multisig but within Realms)
- NFT Community DAO — governance weighted by NFT holdings
- Community Token DAO — governance weighted by SPL token holdings
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Configure governance rules:
- Minimum tokens to create a proposal (prevents spam)
- Voting period length
- Approval quorum (what % of deposited tokens must vote yes)
- Vote threshold (simple majority, supermajority, etc.)
- Max voting time
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Set up council (optional):
- A smaller group (core team, multisig) with elevated permissions
- Can fast-track proposals or manage day-to-day operations
- Common pattern: council handles operational decisions, community votes on major changes
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Fund the treasury:
- Transfer SOL, tokens, or NFTs to the governance-controlled wallet
- All treasury movements require a passed proposal
The entire setup costs less than $0.10 in transaction fees.
Squads Protocol (Multisig)
Squads is the leading multisig solution on Solana. While Realms handles broad community governance, Squads excels at team-level treasury management — the "3-of-5 signers to move funds" pattern.
Key features:
- M-of-N multisig: Require M signatures out of N total members to execute a transaction
- Transaction batching: Queue multiple instructions in a single proposal
- Program management: Upgrade authority for Solana programs can be assigned to a Squad, ensuring no single developer can push malicious upgrades
- Spending limits: Set per-member spending limits for routine expenses without full multisig approval
- Sub-accounts: Create dedicated wallets for specific purposes (payroll, grants, marketing) within the same Squad
- Authority management: Transfer program upgrade authority, token mint authority, or any PDA authority to the Squad
Why Squads matters for DAOs:
Most DAOs use a hybrid model:
- Squads multisig for the core team's operational wallet (paying developers, covering server costs, managing liquidity)
- Realms governance for community-facing decisions (protocol parameters, grant allocations, major treasury movements)
This separation is practical. You don't want the community voting on whether to pay a $500 hosting bill. But you do want the community voting on a $2 million treasury allocation.
Setting up a Squad:
- Visit app.squads.so and connect your wallet
- Name your Squad and add member wallet addresses
- Set the threshold (e.g., 3 of 5)
- Fund the Squad wallet
- Any member can propose a transaction; the required number of members must approve before it executes
Squads is used by major Solana projects including Marinade, Tensor, Jito, and many others for their operational treasuries.
Governance Aggregators and Interfaces
Tribeca was an earlier governance framework focused on vote-escrowed tokens (veTokens). While less active than Realms today, some legacy DAOs still use it. The key concept: lock tokens for longer periods to get more voting power, aligning long-term holders with governance influence.
MonkeDAO tools — MonkeDAO (the Solana Monkey Business community) built custom governance tools including delegation, off-chain signaling, and tiered voting. Some of these patterns have been adopted more broadly.
Major Solana DAOs
Jupiter DAO
Jupiter is the largest DEX aggregator on Solana and runs one of the most active DAOs in the ecosystem.
Structure:
- Governance token: JUP (airdropped to active Solana users in multiple rounds)
- Voting mechanism: Token-weighted, with vote-locking for increased power
- Key decisions: Protocol fees, grant allocations, token emissions, new product launches
- Participation: Active Governance section on jup.ag with proposal discussions and voting
Jupiter's DAO is notable for its transparency. Major decisions — like the approval of the Jupiter mobile app, changes to the fee structure, and the allocation of the Jupuary airdrop — go through governance votes with detailed forum discussions.
How to participate:
- Hold JUP tokens
- Visit the Jupiter governance portal (vote.jup.ag)
- Deposit JUP to activate voting power
- Vote on active proposals
Jupiter regularly sees 50,000+ unique voters on major proposals — one of the highest participation rates in all of crypto governance.
Marinade DAO
Marinade Finance is the largest liquid staking protocol on Solana, and its DAO governs the protocol's direction.
Structure:
- Governance token: MNDE
- Platform: Realms
- Key decisions: Validator delegation strategy, protocol fees, mSOL integrations, grant funding
- Unique feature: Marinade's stake delegation algorithm is partially governed by MNDE holders — they influence which validators receive stake
Marinade's governance is particularly interesting because its decisions directly impact Solana's decentralization. By voting on validator delegation criteria, MNDE holders shape the distribution of stake across the network.
How to participate:
- Hold MNDE tokens
- Visit Marinade's governance page on Realms
- Deposit MNDE for voting power
- Vote on proposals and participate in forum discussions
Jito DAO
Jito, the largest MEV protocol on Solana, launched its DAO alongside the JTO token airdrop. The DAO governs:
- JTO staking rewards and emissions
- Jito (Re)staking vault parameters
- Protocol fee allocation
- Validator client development priorities
Jito's governance model uses Realms with a council structure — the core team retains some operational authority while community votes govern strategic decisions.
Other Notable Solana DAOs
- Helium DAO — Governs the decentralized wireless network (HNT token), one of the largest real-world DAOs on Solana
- Orca DAO — Governs the concentrated liquidity DEX
- Drift DAO — Governs the perpetuals DEX (DRIFT token)
- Grape DAO — Community tools and verification platform
- MonkeDAO — NFT community DAO with real-world meetups and investments
How to Create a DAO: Step by Step
Here's a practical walkthrough for launching a community DAO on Solana.
Step 1: Define Your Governance Model
Before touching any tools, answer these questions:
- What does the DAO control? A treasury, a protocol's parameters, a community fund, a content platform?
- Who can vote? Token holders, NFT holders, stakers, or a fixed set of signers?
- What's the quorum? What percentage of voting power must participate for a vote to be valid?
- What's the threshold? Simple majority (>50%), supermajority (>66%), or unanimous?
- How long is the voting period? 3 days for minor decisions, 7 days for major ones?
- Is there a council? Does a core team retain emergency powers?
For a new project, a common starting configuration:
- Council (3-of-5 multisig): handles day-to-day operations and treasury under $10K
- Community governance: handles any treasury movement over $10K, protocol changes, and strategic direction
- 3-day voting period, 60% approval threshold, 5% quorum
- 24-hour execution delay after proposal passes
Step 2: Create or Assign a Governance Token
You need an SPL token for voting. Options:
Create a new token:
Use the Solana Token Program (or Token-2022 for advanced features). Mint your governance token and distribute it through:
- Airdrops to early community members
- Liquidity mining rewards
- Contributor grants
- Public sale
Use an existing token:
If your project already has a token (from a launch, airdrop, etc.), you can designate it as the governance token in Realms.
NFT-based governance:
If your community is organized around an NFT collection, use NFT Community DAO on Realms. Each NFT = 1 vote (or weighted by traits/rarity).
Step 3: Set Up on Realms
- Go to app.realms.today
- Connect your wallet (Phantom or Solflare)
- Click "Create DAO"
- Select "Community Token DAO"
- Enter your token's mint address
- Configure the parameters you defined in Step 1
- Add council members (wallet addresses) if using a council
- Review and confirm — total cost: a few cents in transaction fees
Step 4: Set Up Operational Multisig
Create a Squads multisig for day-to-day operations:
- Go to app.squads.so
- Create a new Squad with your core team's wallets
- Set threshold (3-of-5 is standard)
- Transfer operational funds to the Squad wallet
- Assign program upgrade authority to the Squad (critical for protocol security)
Step 5: Fund the DAO Treasury
Transfer funds to the governance-controlled wallet created by Realms. This wallet can only be spent via passed proposals.
Common treasury allocation patterns:
- 40% protocol development and audits
- 25% community grants and ecosystem growth
- 20% liquidity incentives
- 10% operational expenses (via Squads sub-account)
- 5% emergency reserve
Step 6: Write Your First Proposal
A good first proposal sets the tone. Common inaugural proposals:
- Ratify the DAO's mission statement and operating principles
- Approve the initial budget allocation
- Elect or confirm council members
- Set up a grants committee
Proposals on Realms include:
- Title and description (written in markdown)
- On-chain instructions (the exact transactions that execute if the proposal passes)
- Discussion link (to a forum post or Discord thread)
Step 7: Establish Governance Practices
DAOs that work well have clear practices:
- Forum discussions before on-chain votes. Don't surprise the community with proposals. Discuss ideas in Discord or a governance forum first, refine them, then submit an on-chain proposal with broad support.
- Temperature checks. Use off-chain polls (Discord polls, Snapshot-style signaling) to gauge sentiment before committing to a formal proposal.
- Regular updates. Council members or core contributors should post regular treasury and development updates.
- Delegation. Allow token holders to delegate their voting power to active participants. This improves participation rates — passive holders don't need to vote on every proposal, but their tokens still count.
Participating in Governance
If you're not creating a DAO but want to participate in existing ones, here's how to get started.
Finding DAOs to Join
- Browse Realms: app.realms.today lists all active Solana DAOs
- Follow projects you use: If you use Jupiter, Marinade, Jito, or Orca, you're already part of their ecosystem. Get their governance tokens and vote.
- Check governance forums: Most DAOs maintain discussion forums or Discord channels where proposals are debated before going on-chain.
The Voting Process
- Acquire governance tokens — buy on Jupiter, earn through participation, or receive via airdrop
- Deposit tokens into the DAO — on Realms, you deposit tokens to activate your voting power. Tokens are locked during active votes (you can withdraw after).
- Review proposals — read the proposal description, the forum discussion, and the exact on-chain instructions
- Cast your vote — "Yes," "No," or "Abstain." Costs ~$0.001.
- Wait for execution — if the proposal passes and the execution delay expires, anyone can trigger the on-chain execution
Delegation
Don't have time to vote on every proposal? Delegate your tokens to someone who does. On Realms, you can delegate your voting power to any wallet address. Your tokens stay in your account, but the delegate votes on your behalf. You can revoke delegation at any time.
Good delegation practices:
- Delegate to active community members who share your values
- Check the delegate's voting history before delegating
- Revoke and re-delegate if the delegate stops participating or votes against your interests
Why You Should Participate
Beyond the civic duty angle, governance participation often comes with tangible benefits:
- Airdrop eligibility: Projects increasingly reward governance participants in subsequent token distributions. Jupiter's Jupuary airdrops weighted for active voters.
- Protocol direction: If you're a heavy user of a protocol, governance lets you influence its roadmap.
- Reputation: Active governance participation builds your on-chain reputation. Some projects grant NFTs or badges to consistent voters.
- Financial alignment: If you hold governance tokens, the protocol's success affects your holdings. Voting for good proposals protects your investment.
Advanced Governance Patterns
Vote Escrow (veToken) Model
Lock tokens for longer to get more voting power. If you lock JUP for 1 year, you might get 4x the voting weight compared to someone who locks for 3 months. This aligns voting power with long-term commitment and reduces governance attacks from short-term holders.
Optimistic Governance
Proposals pass by default unless enough members vote against them. This reduces voter fatigue for routine decisions — only controversial proposals need active opposition. The execution delay acts as the safety mechanism.
Gauge Voting
Used by protocols that need to allocate resources across multiple options (e.g., which liquidity pools receive incentives). Token holders allocate their voting weight across options proportionally rather than voting yes/no.
Marinade uses a form of this for validator delegation — MNDE holders influence how stake is distributed across validators.
Sub-DAOs and Working Groups
Large DAOs often create sub-DAOs with specific mandates:
- Grants committee: Evaluates and funds ecosystem projects
- Security council: Emergency powers for critical vulnerabilities
- Marketing/growth: Manages partnerships and content budgets
Each sub-DAO can have its own Squads multisig with a budget allocated by the parent DAO.
Security Considerations
DAO governance is a high-value target for attacks. Key risks and mitigations:
Governance attacks (51%): An attacker buys enough tokens to pass malicious proposals (drain treasury). Mitigation: time-locked execution (gives defenders time to react), quorum requirements, and vote-escrow models that make short-term accumulation less effective.
Flash loan attacks: Borrow tokens, vote, return tokens in the same block. Mitigation: Realms requires token deposits before voting, and the voting period prevents same-block attacks. Some DAOs add a "warm-up" period — tokens must be deposited for N hours before they can vote.
Council key compromise: If the council multisig keys are compromised, the attacker has elevated permissions. Mitigation: use hardware wallets for all council members, set high thresholds (4-of-7 rather than 2-of-3), and limit council powers to time-sensitive operations.
Voter apathy: If quorum is low, a small group of active voters controls everything. Mitigation: delegation (passive holders delegate to active participants), vote incentives, and reasonable quorum thresholds.
The Bottom Line
Solana's low fees don't just make DeFi cheaper — they make governance actually work. When voting costs nothing, participation goes up. When proposals execute in seconds, governance feels responsive. When the DAO treasury can compose with DeFi protocols atomically, treasury management becomes sophisticated rather than just holding tokens in a multisig.
The tools are mature. Realms handles community governance. Squads handles operational multisig. Phantom and Solflare make participating frictionless from any wallet.
If you're building a project on Solana, plan for governance from day one. If you're holding governance tokens for any Solana protocol, use them. The cost of participation is literally less than a penny — and the protocols you use every day are making decisions that affect your experience and your holdings.
Start by visiting app.realms.today, exploring the active DAOs, and casting your first vote. It takes 30 seconds and costs nothing. That's the power of doing governance on Solana.
