Quorum

What is Quorum?

Quorum is the minimum participation required for a DAO vote to be valid and binding. It prevents a small minority from pushing through changes during periods of low engagement.

How does Quorum work?

1. The DAO sets a quorum threshold in its governance contract, typically as a percentage of total token supply.
2. Both yes and no votes count toward reaching the threshold.
3. If the voting period ends below quorum, the proposal automatically fails regardless of the outcome.

Why does Quorum matter?

It ensures decisions reflect broad community consensus. Set too low, minority groups can game votes.

Set too high, the DAO risks gridlock where nothing can pass.

Key features of Quorum

• Enforced automatically by the governance smart contract
• Applies regardless of yes/no outcome
• Some DAOs use dynamic quorums that adjust by proposal type
• One of the most debated parameters in new protocol governance

Examples of Quorum

Uniswap requires 40 million UNI tokens to reach quorum. A proposal with only 3 percent participation against a 5 percent quorum fails even if every vote is in favor.