Insights · Governance
Running research as a DAO_
Shared ownership changes the incentives of a research programme. A first look at how our governance model performed in year one.
- 14 November 2025
- Implausible Community
- 7 min read
Traditional research funding rewards positive results. That incentive quietly shapes which experiments get run, which get finished, and which get published. We wanted a structure where contributors are rewarded for participation and rigour rather than for outcomes.
What worked
Contribution tracking on-chain gave participants a durable, portable record of their involvement. Protocol changes went to open vote, and the two most contested changes of the year — target pool expansion and a stricter exclusion rule — both passed with higher turnout than we expected.
What did not
Governance fatigue is real. Voting on methodological minutiae is a poor use of a community's attention, and participation fell sharply on low-stakes proposals. We have moved routine protocol maintenance to a standing research committee, with the community retaining veto and appointment rights.
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