Latest news with #DAOs
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Real-world assets onchain: The next wave of institutional DeFi
Real-world assets onchain: The next wave of institutional DeFi originally appeared on TheStreet. TL;DR: DeFi lost over 75% of its liquidity after 2022, prompting funds and DAOs to seek more reliable yield sources. Zoth enables the restaking of tokenized real-world assets, such as T-Bills and ETFs, by combining off-chain interest with on-chain DeFi yield. Institutions can earn dual returns from a single asset without losing liquidity or violating compliance. ZeUSD, a stablecoin backed by staked RWAs, unlocks composability across DeFi protocols. With RWA tokenization projected to exceed $2T by 2030, Zoth is building core infrastructure for institutional DeFi. Zoth is rebuilding with stronger security partnerships, real-time AI monitoring, and governance upgrades that are setting a new bar for institutional-grade DeFi The collapse of DeFi liquidity in 2022 exposed more than just a market downturn. Total value locked dropped from $180B to under $40B, and stablecoin supply fell across the board. Yields dried up. Institutional capital didn't disappear; it pulled back because the risks no longer justified the returns. DeFi wasn't offering stable, credible income. It was offering volatility wrapped in complexity. At the same time, traditional markets offered clarity. Treasuries paid 4 to 5 percent with far less risk. Institutions didn't lose interest in blockchain. They just needed something grounded. Something with real value behind it, built to meet compliance needs, and flexible enough to fit into modern portfolios. The problem wasn't yield. It was yield without structure. DeFi relied too heavily on native token incentives and short-term lending models. As confidence fell, stablecoins like USDC, DAI, and Tether lost billions in market cap. Treasury managers and funds had nowhere safe to move capital without taking on volatility or counterparty exposure. What institutions need hasn't changed. They want stable yield with transparency. Real-world assets like tokenized T-Bills and receivables deliver that. But to unlock their full value on-chain, they need infrastructure that connects traditional returns with DeFi liquidity. Rethinking Institutional Yield Through Restaking Zoth is building the infrastructure layer for institutions to unlock real-world yield within DeFi. It was designed for a new kind of allocator, one that expects regulatory clarity, capital efficiency, and stability from on-chain assets. Traditional DeFi lending relied on overcollateralization and token-based rewards. That model worked in a speculative cycle but breaks down under institutional standards. It lacks predictability and cannot scale across regulated portfolios. Zoth takes a different approach. It starts with tokenized real-world assets like Treasury bills, ETFs, or receivables issued through compliant custodians. These assets generate off-chain yield as they would in traditional markets; that's the first layer. But Zoth allows these same assets to be restaked within DeFi protocols, unlocking an additional layer of returns from lending markets, staking programs, or liquidity strategies. To make this composable, Zoth introduces ZeUSD, a stablecoin backed by restaked real-world assets. Users can mint ZeUSD without giving up exposure to the original yield source. It functions across DeFi, creating a liquid bridge between regulated collateral and programmable capital. The result is a dual-yield structure. While staking traditional stablecoins might offer 1 to 2 percent returns, Zoth's restaked positions often generate between 7 and 9 percent by combining off-chain interest with on-chain rewards. What Makes Zoth's Model Work Zoth isn't just a technical upgrade; it's a structural rethink of how real-world assets interact with DeFi. The platform applies institutional finance principles to an on-chain environment without compromising the composability that defines crypto infrastructure. At the asset layer, Zoth works with trusted tokenization partners who issue regulated, real-world collateral. These assets meet compliance and custody standards and are validated both on-chain and through legal agreements. That dual structure solves a key blocker for institutions: trust in asset provenance and recoverability. At the protocol layer, Zoth's staking system is built for interoperability. Its stablecoin, ZeUSD, acts as a cross-chain asset backed by staked real-world instruments. Unlike stablecoins that rely on market pricing or liquidity incentives, ZeUSD is anchored in income-producing collateral. This system allows institutions to unlock yield across multiple layers while maintaining liquidity, auditability, and control. It's capital that performs without being locked or exposed to unstable reward mechanisms. Solving Fragmentation and Regulation Zoth tackles two of the most persistent barriers to institutional DeFi participation: fragmented liquidity and regulatory uncertainty. DeFi has long suffered from siloed infrastructure. Assets locked in one protocol often cannot be used elsewhere without unwinding positions. This makes capital inefficient and limits yield opportunities. Zoth addresses this with ZeUSD, a stablecoin that enables tokenized real-world assets to move fluidly across DeFi platforms. Whether used for lending, liquidity provisioning, or credit markets, ZeUSD maintains access to underlying yield while freeing up composable liquidity. On the regulatory front, Zoth is built to meet the standards that institutional capital requires. It aligns with frameworks such as MiCA and Basel III by ensuring each RWA on the platform has clear legal ownership, compliant custodianship, and transparent reporting structures. These design choices make it possible for hedge funds, DAOs with legal entities, and asset managers to deploy capital on-chain without triggering regulatory red flags. By solving for both compliance and composability, Zoth removes two of the largest structural frictions preventing real-world capital from entering DeFi. The RWA Market Is Scaling The market for tokenized real-world assets is no longer theoretical. Over eight billion dollars worth of assets have already been issued on-chain. These include Treasury bills, investment-grade credit, real estate debt, and even carbon offsets. Analysts project that this number will grow beyond $2T by 2030, driven by institutional demand for transparent, liquid, and programmable yield instruments. Major players are already building. BlackRock launched a tokenized Treasury fund with direct access to on-chain settlement. JPMorgan's Onyx network processes tokenized repo trades and cross-border transactions between global banks. Franklin Templeton and WisdomTree are managing real-time tokenized portfolios with daily net asset value reporting on public blockchains. What was once an idea is now an active migration. Capital markets infrastructure is being rebuilt with programmable assets and real-world financial primitives. Zoth is positioning itself within this change not just as a tokenization wrapper, but as a restaking engine that makes these assets productive across multiple layers of DeFi. Expanding the RWA Stack: Zoth's Roadmap Zoth is adding support for more asset types beyond short-term Treasuries, including corporate credit, commercial loans, real estate, and private equity. These assets differ in how they are structured, valued, and settled. To support them, the infrastructure needs to account for different data sources, custody models, and time horizons. ZeUSD is being integrated into treasury management systems, lending protocols, and staking platforms. This allows institutions to use a stable unit of account across DeFi without needing to unwind their real-world positions. That becomes more useful when the underlying assets are less liquid or have longer lock-up periods. On the security side, Zoth has introduced automated monitoring to track protocol-level behavior in real time. It has also completed independent audits, published a bug bounty, and open-sourced parts of the stack. These measures help reduce the operational overhead for institutions that need audit trails and internal review processes. The team is also adapting the system to work within regional regulatory frameworks. This includes changes to how asset ownership is recorded, how custody is handled, and how stablecoin mechanics are disclosed. These adjustments are necessary for working with counterparties who have legal or reporting obligations. DAOs and Hedge Funds are Already Participating Zoth is already being used by institutional players. Hedge funds are deploying tokenized Treasury bills through the platform to earn dual yield while remaining fully compliant. DAOs are converting idle USDC into ZeUSD to access yield strategies without giving up liquidity. For treasury managers, ZeUSD offers composability across protocols. It can be lent on platforms like Morpho or Clearpool, used in automated vaults, or paired in liquidity pools. Throughout this process, the underlying real-world assets remain intact and continue generating primary yield. This dual yield structure is proving to be one of the first practical alternatives to simply holding stablecoins. Institutions no longer have to choose between yield and security. With Zoth, they can have both. The Team behind Zoth Co-founder and CEO Pritam Dutta brings 15+ years of experience from Unilever and AB InBev, where he led the Digital Ventures unit. There, he launched fintech and Web3 initiatives, generating $275M in revenue and $12M in gross profit in 2021. He spearheaded Budweiser's NFT launch, selling $50M worth in under four hours. Pritam also founded Eagle10 Ventures, backing 25+ companies with two exits. His earlier food-tech startup, Pasto, was acquired by Ghost Kitchens after reaching $1M in annual sales. Co-founder and CTO Koushik Bhargav Muthe is a blockchain researcher and ETH Scholar with experience at UC Berkeley, NTU Singapore, and ASTAR IHPC. A winner of 15+ global hackathons, including ETHDenver, he previously led Web3 initiatives at AB InBev's ZTech division. Koushik's work bridges academic research and protocol development, with multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals. Conclusion: Real Yield Is the Future of DeFi As DAOs, funds, and asset managers rethink how they allocate capital on-chain, Zoth offers the infrastructure to do it with accountability and scale. The next wave of yield will come from systems built to handle real assets, not just native ones. Zoth combines real-world yield with on-chain utility. Its restaking model turns static collateral into productive capital. ZeUSD enables participation across protocols without sacrificing regulatory standards or asset stability. If you're allocating in DeFi or designing around tokenized assets, it's time to look at where real yield is coming from. Check Zoth's technical documentation for a more in-depth look at their system. Real-world assets onchain: The next wave of institutional DeFi first appeared on TheStreet on Jul 22, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jul 22, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is There a Future for DAOs?
The cracks in DAO governance are beginning to show. In the span of a few weeks, two high-profile players—Solana-based exchange Jupiter and NFT conglomerate Yuga Labs—abandoned their DAO structures, issuing blunt statements about dysfunction and disillusionment. Jupiter cited a 'breakdown in trust,' while Yuga CEO Greg Solano called Apecoin DAO 'sluggish, noisy and often unserious governance theater.' While hundreds of DAOs still operate across crypto with thousands of participants, questions are being raised over whether DAOs, once the beating heart of crypto's decentralization dream, can flourish in this cycle. DAOs, decentralized autonomous organizations, are blockchain-native governance systems that allow token holders to vote on treasury allocation, protocol upgrades, and more. In the last decade of crypto experimentation, they were heralded as the future of community capitalism. Now, their limitations seem to be catching up with them. 'I absolutely understand the frustration with sluggish, broken governance," said Kollan House, founder of MetaDAO. 'This is the problem with token voting.' Originally celebrated as a way to 'give a voice to the voiceless,' DAOs have often been criticized for being a legal and financial gray area. By issuing 'governance tokens,' many projects found a way to circumvent securities laws, without delivering the accountability or utility those tokens promised. Today, CoinMarketCap lists 273 DAO tokens with a combined market cap of over $21 billion. But those numbers are misleading. Nearly 50% of that value is concentrated in just three tokens—Uniswap (UNI), Aave (AAVE), and Bittensor (TAO). At the other end of the spectrum, 63 DAO tokens are worth less than $1 million, effectively dead-on-chain. Take Mango Markets for example. It was once a bustling decentralized exchange that notched more than 1,000 governance proposals. It now has zero activity after the platform shut down in February, but $19 million worth of MNGO tokens still exist – completely useless. DAOs were often criticized for 'governance theater'—in other words, for appearing to be decentralized and governed by the crowd, but actually being controlled or dictated by a small number of people. DAOs required large numbers of people to participate in order to be effective. But numbers were often lacking, leading to disillusionment. 'To vote on anything, you need a quorum. But to reach quorum, you need incentives. And when you start incentivizing voting, you get mercenary participation. Everything works against itself from the start,' House said. Joshua Tan is executive director of Metagov, a research group focused on self-governance. 'There are reasonable questions about the value DAOs are actually providing,' Tan, co-author of a recent report on DAO M&A, told CoinDesk. 'Grant systems are often inefficient. Governance can be a mess. Still, this doesn't mean DAOs are done. It just means they're changing.' In Tan's view, the struggles of Jupiter and Yuga Labs are symptomatic of deeper systemic issues. But governance failures at particular projects shouldn't be confused with a failure of the DAO concept itself.'If you compare billion-dollar DAOs to billion-dollar public companies, sure, DAOs look inefficient,' he said. 'But so do most corporate boards. Governance is a cost center—not a profit center. That doesn't mean it's dispensable.' Far from writing off the concept, Tan and House both see a bright future for DAOs—albeit one that looks radically different. House points to futarchy, a governance model where decisions are made based on prediction markets, as a promising evolution. MetaDAO is actively building a fundraising platform rooted in that vision. 'We're solving issues with liquidity, decision making and ownership,' House said. 'The goal is to build the organizations of the future from the start.' Tan is focused on infrastructure—developing standards for DAO mergers and acquisitions (M&A), governance tooling, and valuation metrics through Metagov and DAOstar. 'We need to build muscles that TradFi has had for decades,' Tan said. 'That includes M&A workflows, legal frameworks, and robust metrics—not just relying on TVL.' The regulatory gray zone is another ongoing headwind. While some jurisdictions like Wyoming, Utah, and the Cayman Islands have built legal wrappers for DAOs, others lag behind. And even where structures exist, they're often expensive and impractical for small teams. 'We're still seeing two to three DAO registrations per week in the Caymans,' Tan noted. 'These are $50K setups. The fact that people are paying that much tells you DAOs still offer unique advantages.' Both experts agree: a shakeout is inevitable. 'We'll probably end up with 50 to 100 vibrant DAOs,' Tan said. 'Just like after the ICO boom, most will disappear. And that's fine.' What remains will be leaner, better governed, and—hopefully—less performative. Tan sees a future where DAOs don't disappear, but merge into broader organizational strategies, particularly in the merging of TradFi and DeFi. DAOs could become tools in the corporate stack—used when necessary, ignored when not. 'The underlying tech, smart contracts, is here to stay,' he said. 'Not everyone wants the 'movement' version of DAOs. But the infrastructure layer is decentralized. It's modular. Companies will choose what fits.' A good governance system is invisible when it works—and painfully obvious when it doesn't. That truism now haunts the DAO ecosystem. 'The dream of community-led protocols isn't dead,' said House. 'But we're still discovering the right way to build it. And failure is part of that.' 'Governance can't be optional. Without it, you get chaos. But that doesn't mean the system we've built so far is the right one,' Tan said. It remains to be seen whether more DAOs will follow Yuga and Jupiter in shutting down community governance, but one thing is clear. DAOs may be struggling, but they aren't dead, for now.
Forbes
27-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Future Of Companies In Web3 And Decentralized World
Ashish Chopra is CIO at TDECU. AI Meets DAOs: How Artificial Intelligence Will Supercharge the Future of Decentralized Organizations Imagine a global organization that runs without a CEO, raises money without banks and makes decisions based on thousands of token-holder votes—all executed automatically by code with a human at the center of it. Now imagine it has an AI co-pilot that analyzes proposals, prevents fraud, ensures regulatory compliance, allocates capital intelligently and evolves on its own. That's the future we're heading toward: DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations), supercharged by artificial intelligence (AI). As someone who's worked inside agentic AI-native banking and is a blockchain contributor, advisor and builder, I've seen the raw power and glaring limitations of decentralized governance. DAOs represent a radical departure from hierarchical corporations. But they're still missing something critical: intelligence. The kind that helps make sense of complexity, mitigates risk and scales trust. That's where AI comes in. The Promise Of DAOs And Their Growing Pains DAOs are blockchain-native entities that rely on smart contracts and token-holder voting to operate. From venture capital to public goods funding, they've reimagined what it means to build, govern and invest collectively. Today, DAOs manage over $16.9 billion in assets, with more than 50,000 active organizations and millions of participants worldwide. And yet, many DAOs suffer from decision fatigue, coordination chaos and shallow voter participation. Governance forums are flooded with jargon-heavy proposals. Treasury allocations often lack due diligence. Scams still find loopholes. Despite these hurdles, the mission remains powerful: DAOs enable permissionless, global collaboration. But to fulfill their potential, they need better tools for judgment, foresight and automation. That's exactly what AI can deliver. Where AI Supercharges DAOs DAOs face a deluge of governance proposals, many poorly written or redundant. AI can act as a filtering and summarization engine—ranking proposals based on community values, precedent and potential impact. Large language models (LLMs) can draft proposal summaries, identify regulatory red flags and even suggest improvements in real time. Think of AI as the first layer of 'governance quality control,' improving both efficiency and clarity before proposals even reach voters. Many DAOs hold multimillion-dollar treasuries, but few have the financial modeling sophistication of traditional asset managers. AI can analyze portfolio risk, optimize token allocations, simulate cash flow under different scenarios and flag anomalies in treasury activity. In essence, AI can give DAOs the equivalent of a 24/7 CFO—only one that's unbiased, always on and continuously learning. DAOs struggle with member engagement. AI-driven onboarding bots can tailor educational journeys for new contributors, match talent to open roles and track member contributions across platforms. Reputation scores—long discussed in DAO circles—can be managed more fairly and dynamically using AI. By embedding intelligence into participation, DAOs can turn passive token holders into active citizens. Security remains a top concern. AI-powered auditing tools can scan smart contracts for vulnerabilities before deployment, flag suspicious wallet activity and monitor governance outcomes for signs of collusion or sybil attacks. As DAOs become stewards of real assets (land, capital, IP), this layer of defense will be essential. Looking ahead, AI won't just assist DAOs—it could participate in them. Autonomous AI agents could propose initiatives, vote based on programmed values or sentiment analysis or even represent stakeholders who choose to delegate their governance rights. Imagine an investment DAO where an AI agent proposes promising early-stage projects, defends its case with data and helps optimize exit timing. This isn't science fiction—it's already being prototyped. Why This Matters For Capital Markets The convergence of AI and DAOs will reshape how capital is raised, allocated and governed. DAOs already challenge the norms of venture funding, IPOs and corporate ownership. Adding AI to the mix takes it a step further: from decentralized to intelligent capital formation: This is especially powerful in underserved markets where traditional funding is scarce. A DAO, equipped with AI, can become a globally accessible VC fund, grant program or public goods allocator—with less bias, more reach and greater transparency. Legal Infrastructure Still Needs To Catch Up Even as technology races ahead, regulation is still lagging. U.S. states like Wyoming, Tennessee and Utah have introduced legal frameworks for DAOs, but they don't yet address the AI layer. Who is responsible for decisions made by an autonomous AI agent? What rights does a synthetic governance participant have? These questions may seem esoteric today, but they'll be center stage tomorrow. We'll need new governance frameworks—not just for DAOs but for AI-augmented organizations where lines between human and machine blur. Final Thoughts The synergy between AI and DAOs is not just a tech upgrade—it's a transformation. We're moving from decentralized coordination to intelligent, adaptive systems that can manage capital, make decisions and evolve continuously. Yes, there are risks: AI bias, over-automation and governance theater. But there's also enormous promise. In a world that increasingly demands transparency, inclusivity and speed, AI-powered DAOs might just be the operating system we've been waiting for. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proof of Personhood: Inside the companies reinventing digital identity for Web3
Proof of Personhood: Inside the companies reinventing digital identity for Web3 originally appeared on TheStreet. You don't notice identity until it fails. Until the login doesn't work, the KYC flags, or the system freezes because some server in some jurisdiction doesn't recognize you. That's the problem decentralized identity is trying to erase. The crux of decentralized identity (DID) is about who controls verification. Today, identity flows through banks, governments, and platforms that monetize your data in exchange for access. DID flips it. Credentials become portable. Verification happens cryptographically. You own your proofs. You disclose only what you choose to disclose. Nothing more. The implications run deep. Compliance, finance, healthcare, AI, cross-border commerce — none of it scales without trust. And right now, trust is centralized, fractured, and increasingly fragile. Fraud is accelerating. Synthetic identities are cheap to manufacture. Verification costs are rising. Regulators know it. Enterprises know it. DID offers a quiet exit ramp. Backend scaffolding for identity is coming together, locking into place. Composable frameworks slotting into banks, SaaS platforms, DAOs, and government stacks. Silent infrastructure. Open rails. No token games. Just trust, rebuilt from first principles. And as tokenized capital markets accelerate, as AI agents start executing on behalf of humans, as decentralized systems mature, identity becomes paramount. Let's take a look at 3 companies currently navigating the sector. Proving you're human shouldn't mean handing over your life. Civic builds verification without the data drain. 'As digital identity experts, our goal is to give people more control over their identities,' says CEO Chris Hart. 'We provide businesses with tools that give people more consent over what information they're sharing.' With over one million Civic Pass credentials issued, users verify themselves by completing a CAPTCHA or video selfie — no passports, no government IDs. 'We work hard to ensure portability and reusability of credentials across chains and applications,' Hart says. The problem Civic is solving is only getting worse: AI-generated fraud. Bots mimicking humans, infiltrating systems. 'This is important because bad actors sometimes use AI pretending to be human in order to commit fraud,' adds Hart. Instead of over-collecting data, Civic strips verification down to its core. 'Civic Pass allows businesses to check for humanity instead of requiring an ID document, which allows a transaction to proceed with a minimal amount of information exchanged,' the CEO highlights. Less data exposure. Same outcome. The way identity should work in Web3. SPACE ID has locked in over 6.7 million domains across BNB, Arbitrum, Ethereum, and Story Protocol — but it's not just slinging vanity handles. Every domain is wired for function. 'Everyone's talking about identity. We're building the infrastructure,' says SPACE ID CEO Alice Shikova. Payment ID makes wallet spaghetti obsolete. Payment ID makes sending crypto as easy as @yourname. You want yourname@bybit? That's your address. Cross-wallet, cross-exchange, no more copy-paste roulette. And with MetaMask Snap integration, domain-based payments slot directly into Web3's most widely used wallet. 'We're not just handing out vanity tags. We're building the most usable, interoperable, agent-ready ID system in Web3,' Shikova says. While others chase scale, SPACE ID's chasing surface area: 'SPACE ID isn't just scaling up—we're scaling out. Our strategy is horizontal expansion: more chains, more use cases, more utility. Why? Because real adoption comes from utility, not hype,' Shikova continues. Already embedded across 200+ dApps, the next phase fuses AI into the stack: 'We're fusing DeFAI by giving AI agents and AI services the infrastructure they currently lack—names, payment rails, and seamless execution. That's what we're actively exploring and building,' Shikova underlines. WALT ID has been in the game early — open-source, all-in-one infrastructure powering governments, enterprises, and over 20,000 developers worldwide. ' has been among the first companies in the decentralized identity space and built a powerful, all-in-one open-source infrastructure used by more than 20,000 developers as well as governments and businesses around the globe,' says CEO Dominik Beron. While others obsess over compliance checklists, WALT ID took a developer-first approach. 'While everyone is looking to build holistic, standard and regulatory compliant solutions (we do all that too), one of the things that makes us unique is our open-source strategy,' Beron adds. It's infrastructure, not an app. A platform for builders: 'We are building a development platform — infrastructure for dev and product teams — to power large organizations and new SaaS platforms and services,' Beron underscores. SDKs. APIs. Full composability. WALT ID's stack lets governments, enterprises, and startups deploy credential-based identity without vendor lock-in. Quietly becoming the scaffolding everyone else builds on. Proof of Personhood: Inside the companies reinventing digital identity for Web3 first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 26, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 26, 2025, where it first appeared. Sign in to access your portfolio
Coin Geek
03-06-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
BSV: Powering decentralized voting systems
Homepage > News > Business > BSV: Powering decentralized voting systems Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... In an era where trust in electoral processes and governance systems is increasingly fragile, the need for transparent, secure, and verifiable voting mechanisms has never been more critical. BSV, a blockchain designed to scale and fulfill Satoshi Nakamoto's vision of a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, offers a groundbreaking solution for decentralized voting systems. By leveraging its immutable ledger, high transaction throughput, and low-cost transactions, BSV can revolutionize voting—from global elections to niche micro-democracies like decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and local cooperatives. This article explores how BSV addresses the challenges of traditional voting systems, its unique advantages for niche voting applications, and its potential to reshape democratic processes. The crisis in traditional voting systems Traditional voting systems, whether paper-based or electronic, face persistent vulnerabilities; centralized databases are prone to hacking, as seen in the 2016 U.S. election interference concerns, while paper ballots can be lost, manipulated, or miscounted. Transparency is often lacking, with citizens unable to independently verify results. In niche contexts like corporate governance or community organizations, inefficiencies in vote tallying and disputes over legitimacy further erode trust. There is a growing public demand for systems that ensure every vote is provable and untouchable. Centralized digital voting platforms, while convenient, introduce risks of censorship and control. Governments or corporations managing these systems can suppress votes, alter records, or exclude participants based on arbitrary criteria. These challenges are particularly pronounced in micro-democracies—small-scale governance structures like DAOs, neighborhood councils, or worker cooperatives—where frequent, low-stake votes require cost-effective, secure solutions. BSV's decentralized architecture and technical capabilities position it as an ideal platform to address these issues, offering a level of transparency and security that traditional systems cannot match. BSV's technical edge for voting systems BSV's design makes it uniquely suited for voting applications. Its unbounded block size—reaching 4GB in recent tests—enables massive transaction throughput, with the BSV Infrastructure Team reporting 1,000,000 transactions per second (TPS) on the Teranode upgrade. This scalability ensures that BSV can handle the high volume of votes required for national elections or frequent micro-votes in DAOs without network congestion or delays. Unlike blockchains like Ethereum, which face high gas fees and throughput limits, BSV's low transaction fees—often below $0.00011—make it economically viable for small-scale, high-frequency voting. The immutability of BSV's proof-of-work blockchain is a cornerstone of its voting potential. Once a vote is recorded on-chain, it cannot be altered or deleted, ensuring a tamper-proof record. Each vote can be timestamped using BSV's native timestamping capabilities, providing a verifiable audit trail. Voters can use Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) to independently confirm their vote was counted, without relying on a central authority. This transparency addresses concerns that verifiable voting is the only way to restore trust. BSV's smart contract functionality further enhances its voting capabilities. Smart contracts can automate vote tallying, enforce eligibility rules, and ensure anonymity where needed, using cryptographic techniques like zero-knowledge proofs. For instance, a voter could prove they meet eligibility criteria (e.g., membership in a cooperative) without revealing their identity. This flexibility makes BSV adaptable to diverse voting scenarios, from anonymous ballots to weighted shareholder votes. Niche applications: Micro-democracy BSV's low-cost, scalable infrastructure shines in niche voting contexts like DAOs, local cooperatives, and community organizations. DAOs, which govern decentralized projects through token-based voting, often face challenges with voter apathy and high costs on other blockchains. BSV's micropayment capabilities allow DAO members to vote frequently without prohibitive fees, fostering active participation. For example, a DAO managing a decentralized fund could use BSV to record daily micro-votes on investment decisions, with each vote costing a fraction of a cent. Local cooperatives, such as agricultural or housing co-ops, can leverage BSV for transparent governance. Votes on resource allocation or leadership elections can be recorded on-chain, ensuring members can verify outcomes. In regions with limited digital infrastructure, BSV's peer-to-peer nature allows offline communities to sync votes via mobile apps, bridging accessibility gaps. These applications, rarely discussed in mainstream blockchain conversations, highlight BSV's potential to democratize governance at the grassroots level. The future: BSV as a voting standard BSV's potential to transform voting extends beyond niche use cases. Its regulation-friendly design, built to comply with legal frameworks, makes it appealing for governments exploring blockchain-based elections. Pilot projects, suggest BSV could underpin national voting systems, reducing fraud and increasing turnout. By integrating with digital identity protocols, BSV could ensure voter authenticity while preserving privacy and addressing concerns about centralized digital IDs. Challenges remain, including educating stakeholders and countering misinformation about BSV's capabilities. However, ongoing developments, such as Teranode's scalability enhancements and the BSV Association's outreach, are paving the way for broader adoption. As trust in traditional voting erodes, BSV's transparent, decentralized approach could become a global standard, from micro-democracies to national elections. Conclusion BSV offers a powerful solution to the transparency and security challenges plaguing voting systems. Its scalable, immutable blockchain, low-cost transactions, and smart contract capabilities make it ideal for both large-scale elections and niche micro-democracies. BSV restores trust in governance processes by enabling verifiable, tamper-proof voting empowering communities and individuals. As the world grapples with democratic deficits, BSV stands poised to redefine how we vote, proving blockchain can deliver on its promise of decentralization and fairness. Watch: State of the Union with John Pitts title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
