What is the Polkadot DAO? A Beginner’s Guide to Decentralized Governance

The Polkadot DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that enables community-driven governance through on-chain rules and token holder voting, operating on the OpenGov system with over 1.3 million participants, making it one of the largest on-chain governance communities globally.
Key Features:
- OpenGov replaces centralized committees, allowing any DOT holder to submit proposals and vote in real-time referendums.
- Voting power scales with staked DOT and can be amplified via conviction voting (up to 6x weight for longer lockup periods).
- Technical oversight is handled by the decentralized Technical Fellowship, avoiding centralized bottlenecks.
How It Works:
- Proposals range from funding developer tools to network upgrades, becoming referendums once approved.
- Voting is transparent and on-chain, with options to delegate votes to trusted community members (Decentralized Voices).
- Platforms like Polkassembly and Subsquare simplify proposal tracking, discussion, and voting.
Treasury & Funding:
- A multi-million DOT treasury funds initiatives like hackathons, DeFi liquidity, and partnerships (e.g., 3M DOT for Hydration/StellaSwap).
- Bounties ensure accountability by breaking work into milestones with pre-approved rewards.
Participation:
- Open to all DOT holders—no approval needed. Options include voting, delegating, proposing, or contributing skills.
- Newcomers can start small (e.g., voting on bounties) to learn the process.
Why It Stands Out:
- Fully on-chain execution eliminates intermediaries, ensuring transparency and scalability.
- Unlike theoretical models, it’s a live system with hundreds of processed proposals.
- Projects using Polkadot SDK can replicate its governance module.
Call to Action: Users can engage via Polkassembly, submit proposals, or vote to shape Polkadot’s future.

Original text: https://polkadot.com/blog/polkadot-dao-explained/

Compiled by: OneBlock+

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is a community-governed entity that operates transparently through on-chain rules and token holder voting. DAOs are not just a novel governance model, but the foundation for decentralized decision-making and resource allocation in blockchain ecosystems.

Polkadot DAO takes this concept a step further. Built on the powerful OpenGov governance system, it enables the Polkadot community to propose, vote, and implement changes without relying on centralized intermediaries. It's not just about discussing ideas: it's about turning them into action. Today, Polkadot DAO has the most on-chain wallets in the world, with over 1.3 million participants, making it one of the largest on-chain governance communities in the world.

In this post, we’ll explore what the Polkadot DAO is, how it works, and why it matters — not just in theory, but in practice. Whether you’re an experienced DOT holder or new to Web3 governance, you’ll discover how you can get involved and help shape the future of the Polkadot ecosystem.

What is the Polkadot DAO?

The Polkadot DAO is a community-owned system for coordinating funding, decision-making, and growth across the Polkadot ecosystem. It empowers DOT holders to propose changes, vote, and directly shape the future of the network — all without relying on a centralized organization or intermediaries.

At the heart of the DAO is OpenGov, the network's advanced fully on-chain governance system. Launched in 2023, OpenGov replaces the earlier committee and technical board model. Instead, it allows any DOT holder to submit proposals and participate in real-time, ongoing referendums. This creates a more open, continuous, and decentralized process where anyone can submit proposals, vote, or delegate their vote.

Voting power is determined by the amount of DOTs committed to each decision. Voters can also choose to increase their influence by using conviction voting - a system that multiplies voting power when token lockup periods are longer. Depending on the selected lockup period, votes can be weighted up to six times, rewarding long-term commitment while giving all DOT holders a meaningful voice.

Technical oversight is provided by the Technical Fellowship, a decentralized advisory group that replaces the centralized Technical Committee. This ensures expert guidance without creating bottlenecks or monopolies.

As the company with the largest number of on-chain wallets in the world, Polkadot DAO is setting a new standard for decentralized, community-driven governance in blockchain.

How the Polkadot DAO Works: Proposals, Voting, and Participation

Anyone who holds DOT can actively shape the future of Polkadot, and community members can submit proposals, vote directly, delegate voting, or participate in discussions through platforms such as Polkassembly.

Proposals can cover a wide range of initiatives, from funding developer tools and educational campaigns to approving major network upgrades. Once a proposal gains enough support or completes the required steps, it becomes a referendum — an official vote open to all DOT holders.

Voting power depends on how many DOTs you stake towards a decision, and it can be amplified through conviction voting: the system increases the weight of votes when tokens are locked for longer periods of time. If you are not ready to vote directly, or you don’t have the time to follow proposals closely, or don’t want to rely on more experienced participants, you can delegate your vote to Polkadot’s Decentralized Voices (DVs), an initiative backed by the Web3 Foundation that aims to highlight trusted, active contributors to the governance process.

All proposals and referendums are processed entirely on-chain, ensuring transparency and eliminating centralized bottlenecks. Unlike traditional governance systems with fixed voting windows, Polkadot’s OpenGov supports public, ongoing referendums, enabling the community to respond to needs and opportunities in real time.

Polkassembly: Your portal to Polkadot governance

Polkassembly is the primary platform for interacting with Polkadot’s OpenGov system. It provides an easy-to-use interface where anyone can browse proposals and referendums, participate in discussions, and vote or delegate their voting power to trusted community members.

Through Polkassembly, DOT holders can:

Submit a proposal or track an existing proposal
Vote on an ongoing referendum
Comment and discuss proposals with other community members
Delegate your voting rights to others who share the same vision

In addition to Polkassembly, Subsquare offers an alternative interface that is preferred by many community members due to its simplified user experience. Each platform has its pros and cons, and users typically choose the one that best suits their preferences.

Whether you’re submitting a major proposal or just learning the ropes, Polkassembly lets you directly and transparently participate in community-driven blockchain governance.

Treasury, Bounties, and Builder Support

At the heart of the Polkadot DAO is a multi-million DOT treasury, which is funded through a portion of block production rewards, transaction fees, slashing, and staking inefficiencies. The treasury is managed entirely through community-driven governance and is one of the largest in the blockchain ecosystem.

Any DOT holder can make a proposal on how the Treasury should be used. Funds can support a variety of initiatives, including:

Developer tools and infrastructure
Hackathons and other educational programs
Bounties for ongoing work and accountability
Ecosystem growth initiatives such as DeFi liquidity or partnerships

For example, the community has approved:

3 million DOT liquidity funds for Hydration and StellaSwap
Polkadot 2.0 Upgrade Proposal
High-profile partnerships and sponsorships, including racer Conor Daly, InterMiami and HEROIC
Fast Track Grants, a fast-track funding pathway for early-stage builders (backed by the Treasury) designed to accelerate innovative proposals without lengthy review cycles

Bounties allow the community to fund ongoing work while maintaining accountability. Larger bounties can be divided into sub-bounties to allow for more granular funding and oversight of specific tasks or milestones, with contributors completing work in exchange for pre-approved rewards, ensuring transparency and performance.

By using a DAO Treasury, Polkadot reduces reliance on centralized organizations and ensures that funding decisions are based on value, measurable impact, and the broader benefit of the ecosystem, rather than personal relationships or closed-door negotiations.

How to Join and Participate in Polkadot DAO

Participation in the Polkadot DAO is open to everyone, no application or permission is required, and if you hold DOT tokens, you are already eligible to participate.

There are many ways to participate:

Vote on proposals and referendums
Comment and discuss ideas on Polkassembly and other platforms
Delegate your vote to trusted community members
Submit proposals to shape the direction of the network
Contribute your skills to community events or funded bounties

If you’re new to blockchain governance, it’s easy to start small, voting or joining a bounty can be a meaningful first step to help you understand the process and make an impact without investing a lot of time or finances.

The Polkadot DAO is designed to be accessible and flexible, empowering community members at all levels to help grow the ecosystem.

Why Polkadot DAO is different

While many blockchains have experimented with decentralized governance, the Polkadot DAO stands out for its scale, transparency, and true decentralization.

Unlike DAOs that rely on multi-signature or off-chain decision making, the Polkadot DAO is executed entirely on-chain, eliminating bottlenecks and the need for trusted intermediaries. The Treasury is open and accessible, meaning proposals are judged on their merits, not based on insider relationships or opaque grant processes.

Polkadot’s governance structure is also scalable and repeatable. It’s not a theoretical model or a limited pilot. It’s a live system that has processed hundreds of proposals and has thousands of participants. Builders using the Polkadot SDK can even launch DAOs for their own projects, using the same on-chain governance module that powers the Polkadot DAO itself. Compared to DAOs on other chains, Polkadot’s system is more inclusive and transparent, giving both large stakeholders and individual community members a meaningful voice.

Get involved in Polkadot DAO now

The Polkadot DAO makes decentralization actionable by translating community discussions into actual decision-making, funding, and development of the entire ecosystem.

Whether you’re interested in voting, proposing ideas, or contributing your skills, anyone can get involved and have an impact. With OpenGov and a powerful, transparent treasury, the Polkadot community has built the most advanced governance system in blockchain.

Get started with the Polkadot DAO today: set up your wallet, explore Polkassembly, and make your voice heard.