? On-Chain Governance Lifecycle
From off-chain idea to on-chain execution - every phase of the DeFi governance pipeline visualized.
The 6-Phase Governance Pipeline
Every proposal travels through these stages. Click through each phase to see what happens and how long it takes.
Phase 1
Idea
Off-chain
->
Phase 2
Temperature Check
Discourse
->
Phase 3
Forum Spec
>30 responses
->
Phase 4
On-Chain Vote
2-7 days
->
Phase 5
Timelock Queue
48-72 hours
->
Phase 6
Execution
Calls dispatched
Click "Play" or "Step" to explore each phase
? Voting Power Calculator
Enter your token holdings and see your voting power, weight percentage, and cost to reach quorum.
0.025%
of quorum reached
1,000 tokens / 4,000,000 quorum
Delegation: You can delegate your tokens to another address to let them vote on your behalf. Delegation does not transfer ownership - your tokens remain in your wallet, but the delegate's address casts the vote.
Quorum Requirements by Protocol
Each protocol sets its own quorum threshold - the minimum YES voting weight needed to pass a proposal.
| Protocol | Token | Quorum Required | Voting Period | Timelock Delay | Emergency? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aave | AAVE | 4,000,000 AAVE | 5 days | 48 hours | Guardian pause |
| Compound | COMP | 4,000,000 COMP | 3 days | 48 hours | Admin pause |
| Uniswap | UNI | 10,000,000 UNI | 7 days | 48 hours | Gov pause |
| MakerDAO | MKR | 5,000,000 MKR | 3 days | 24 hours | Emergency shutdown |
| Nouns DAO | Noun | 1 NFT (simple majority) | 2 days | 0 hours | Veto power |
| Lido | LDO | 5% of supply + majority | 7 days | 24 hours | Aragon?? |
Note: UNI reduced its quorum from 40M to 10M in September 2023 via governance vote. Quorum reductions are themselves governance actions and require the old quorum threshold to pass, making it a chicken-and-egg problem that Uniswap solved only after whale coordination.
Proposal State Machine
Every on-chain proposal transitions through these states. A proposal can only execute if it reaches the "Executed" state.
Active
Voting is open
Queued
Waiting Timelock
Executed
Calls dispatched
Defeated
Failed quorum/majority
Canceled
Withdrawn by proposer
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the full on-chain governance lifecycle from idea to execution?
- The full lifecycle is: off-chain idea -> Temperature Check (Discourse, <100 responses) -> Governance Forum proposal (detailed spec, >30 responses) -> On-chain Proposal submitted to Governor contract -> Voting window opens (typically 2-7 days) -> If quorum reached and majority YES, proposal is queued in Timelock (48-72 hours delay) -> Timelock executes the transaction. Every step beyond the Temperature Check is on-chain and immutable.
- What are quorum requirements for major DeFi protocols?
- Aave requires 4M AAVE for approval, Compound 4M COMP, Uniswap 10M UNI, MakerDAO 5M MKR, and Nouns DAO requires 1 NFT (simple majority). Quorum requirements are set by governance and change over time. When UNI dropped from 40M to 10M quorum in 2023, it immediately unlocked a wave of new proposals that had been blocked for months.
- What is the Timelock and why does it exist?
- The Timelock is a contract that enforces a mandatory delay between when a proposal passes and when it executes. The delay (24-72 hours on most protocols) serves as a security backstop: if a malicious or buggy proposal slips through voting, the community has a window to panic-exit the protocol, pause via an emergencyMultisig, or coordinated via social consensus. Without it, a proposal could execute instantly after passing, leaving no reaction time.
- Can on-chain governance be circumvented or attacked?
- Flash loans were used in 2022 to pass a malicious B-Protocol proposal on Aave by flash-borrowing enough AAVE to pass quorum, execute the attack, then repay. Most protocols now require tokens to be held for at least 1 epoch (1 block to several days) before voting, which eliminates one-block flash loan attacks. Governance concentration remains a risk: a whale controlling 40%+ of voting tokens can unilaterally pass proposals.
- What happens to a proposal that fails to reach quorum?
- A proposal that does not reach its quorum threshold by the voting deadline is automatically defeated. The proposal remains on-chain as a historical record but its call data is never executed. Failed proposals can be resubmitted with modifications, which is common after quorum was nearly reached but fell short.
- How does proposal state transition work?
- Every Governor contract maintains a state machine. A new proposal starts as Pending (pre-voting), transitions to Active (voting open), then either Defeated (quorum or majority not met), Succeeded (passed, queued), Queued (waiting Timelock), Executed (calls dispatched), or Canceled (by proposer or governance). Canceled proposals cannot be re-executed.
- Why do some protocols have off-chain temperature checks before on-chain proposals?
- On-chain proposals cost gas and create an immutable record, so submitting a poorly-received idea on-chain is noisy and potentially embarrassing. Temperature checks on Discourse or the governance forum let authors gauge sentiment, collect feedback, and iterate on the proposal before committing to an on-chain submission. Uniswap's forum requires a Discourse thread with >30 responses before an on-chain proposal is accepted by their Governor.