Delegates: the profession of "voting for you" and how to choose your own

Direct democracy in DAOs died from apathy: the typical holder has no time to read proposals. The industry's answer is delegation: votes are handed over to professionals, and it is they who decide the fate of treasuries.

Who are delegates

The spectrum is wide: research collectives and universities, DeFi analysts, lawyers, funds with their own interests, and simply active community members. In large DAOs, delegates are public: profile, voting history, rationale for decisions - all on open dashboards.

What they earn on

Mature DAOs pay delegates (fixed or activity-based) - this has created the profession of governance specialist. Plus soft monetization: reputation, consulting, access. The downside is obvious: a delegate paid by the treasury votes on matters related to their own pay - the conflict is built into the design.

How to choose yours

• Voting history: dashboards show every decision and participation rate - an empty history means a dormant delegate, and your votes will go to waste.
• Rationale: does the delegate explain WHY they voted a certain way: the quality of argumentation is the main public signal.
• Conflicts of interest: fund delegates vote with their portfolio in mind; this isn't a disqualifier, but know whose interests you're inheriting.
• Alignment of values: treasury distribution, stance on the fee switch, risk appetite - delegates have positions, choose the one closest to yours.

Delegation is reversible and doesn't transfer tokens - only voting weight. Not delegating at all is also a choice: in favor of whales. Governance analysis is in the section.