What is Snapshot Voting?

Snapshot is a decentralized off-chain voting platform that allows DAOs to conduct governance votes without gas fees. Participants sign messages to cast votes, which are stored on IPFS. This makes governance accessible regardless of network congestion or gas prices.

How Snapshot Works

1. Proposal Creation: Anyone meeting requirements creates a proposal specifying voting options, duration, and snapshot block. 2. Voting Power Calculation: At the snapshot block, token balances are recorded. This prevents vote manipulation through token transfers. 3. Gasless Voting: Voters sign messages with their wallets. No transaction is needed. Just a signature. 4. Result Verification: Votes are publicly verifiable. Anyone can audit the calculation and signatures. 5. Execution: Results must be manually executed by a multisig or trusted party (Snapshot doesn't execute on-chain).

Snapshot Strategies

Voting power can be calculated using various strategies:

ERC-20 token balance
LP token positions
NFT holdings
veToken balances
Combination of multiple sources

Advantages of Snapshot

Zero Gas Costs: Anyone can vote regardless of ETH balance Fast Setup: Easy to configure for any token or NFT Flexible: Custom voting strategies and rules Cross-chain: Works with tokens on any EVM chain

Limitations

Execution Trust: Approved proposals require trusted execution No Enforcement: Results are advisory unless bound to on-chain actions Manipulation Risk: If snapshot block is predictable, gaming is possible

Snapshot + On-chain Hybrid

Many protocols use Snapshot for temperature checks and preliminary votes, then move to on-chain voting for binding decisions. This balances accessibility with trustless execution.

Notable Snapshot Usage

Over 15,000 DAOs use Snapshot, including:

ENS (Ethereum Name Service)
Gitcoin
Balancer
Aavegotchi
Decentraland

Snapshot Voting