-
Vitalik Buterin criticized token-holder voting as inefficient
-
He called for new DAO models focused on privacy and usability
-
Zero-knowledge proofs and AI could play a role
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is pushing the crypto industry to rethink how decentralized autonomous organizations are designed.
In a recent post, Buterin argued that the dominant DAO model, where governance is handled through token-holder voting, is inefficient and vulnerable to manipulation. While functional, he said the system often recreates the same political problems seen in traditional institutions.
Buterin highlighted several areas where better DAO design is urgently needed. These include building more secure oracle systems for DeFi, handling onchain dispute resolution for complex contracts, maintaining shared infrastructure like verified token lists, and funding short-term or long-term projects without constant governance overhead.
Two major obstacles stand in the way, according to Buterin. The first is privacy. Without it, governance becomes a social contest rather than a technical process. The second is decision fatigue, where frequent voting causes participation to drop over time as users disengage.
To address these issues, Buterin pointed to zero-knowledge technology as a way to preserve privacy, and selective use of AI to reduce the burden on human decision-makers. He stressed that AI should support human intent, not replace it.
Ultimately, Buterin said governance needs to be treated as core infrastructure. Projects that want effective decentralization should design DAOs with privacy, automation, and communication tools built in from the start.
