Why Should you Audit Your DAO?

Time to read: 5 minutes

Date: March 21, 2023

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have become an increasingly popular way to govern in the crypto landscape. However, many DAOs suffer from voter apathy, where there are a large number of token holders but little participation during governance. This is due to a variety of factors, such as poorly run DAOs or proposals that devolve into petty arguments. 

To address this issue, it is important to audit your DAO and practice due diligence when researching potential investments. Auditing your DAO can help ensure that it is secure and running smoothly, while also helping to identify any potential issues or exploits in the code. Additionally, there are several tools available to help you audit your DAO without needing an expensive audit. In this blog post, we will discuss when you should audit your DAO and what steps you should take to ensure that your DAO is secure and running smoothly.

Problem of Voter Apathy in DAOs 

Voter apathy is a major issue for many DAOs, leading to low participation during governance. This can be attributed to a variety of factors, such as poorly run DAOs, bad delegation programs, and proposals that devolve into petty arguments. To address this issue, DAOs should look into rewarding people for voting with badges or staking without having to own 32 ETH. Additionally, they should consider using static analysis tools to determine flaws/exploits in their code without needing an audit. Finally, they should ensure that their treasury address is public and that their team members are transparent and willing to engage with user concerns. By taking these steps, DAOs can help mitigate the problem of voter apathy and ensure that their organization is running smoothly.

Solutions to Address Voter Apathy 

Voter apathy is a major problem for DAOs, but there are several solutions that can be implemented to address this issue. One solution is to reward people for voting on DAOs with badges or staking without having to own 32 ETH. Additionally, price fluctuations should be taken into account when staking, as this will have a greater impact on returns than staking rewards. 

Furthermore, it is important to practice due diligence when researching potential investments, such as looking for projects with audited code and active bug bounty programs. Finally, automated sweep of common smart contract exploits and static analysis tools such as Slither, Olympix, Mythx, and Ethersplay can help determine flaws/exploits in the code without needing an audit.

Definition of Staking 

Staking is an investment strategy where investors pool their funds with other investors to support the work of existing validators. The rewards are then shared among the stakers. Staking is a long-term investment strategy, as leaving early may result in less returns than initially invested. Additionally, price fluctuations will have a greater impact on returns than staking rewards. Staking is a popular way to earn passive income while helping to secure the network and ensuring its decentralization.

An Audit can Benefit Staking 

It is important to audit your DAO on a regular basis to ensure that it is functioning properly and to catch any potential issues that may arise. Additionally, auditing your DAO can help to improve its overall security and performance.

Metrics to Compare Protocols 

Auditing your DAO on a regular basis to ensure that it is running smoothly and to catch any potential issues that may arise. There are several metrics that you can use to compare protocols, and it is important to understand the transparency of the project and its team members. A legitimate audit is essential for any project, and by taking these steps you can mitigate your risk while maximizing your rewards.

Transparency of Project and Team Members 

It is important to audit your DAO regularly to ensure that it is running smoothly and that there are no vulnerabilities in the code. Additionally, audits can help catch bugs and potential exploits. However, audits can be expensive, so it is important to consider whether or not an audit is necessary for your particular DAO. If your DAO is simple, you may be able to get away with using static analysis tools instead of a full audit.

Conclusion

Auditing a DAO is an essential step in ensuring that the protocol is secure and reliable. It is important to research protocols and projects, as well as understand the metrics used to compare them. Additionally, it is important to ensure that project teams are transparent and that there is a legitimate audit of the project code. 

Best practices for DAO audits include using pragma locking to prevent bugs from unfixed compilers, using Merkle Trees for whitelisting users, avoiding incrementing storage values in loops, and allowing users to mint whatever is left and refunding the left over ether. While audits are a great way to ensure security, they are not the only option. Alternatives such as static analysis tools can also be used to help make sure a DAO is secure. Ultimately, it is up to the individual or organization running a DAO to decide when an audit should be conducted.