This report is split into two posts due to character limits
Post 1/2
Initial Clarification: Most of the Snapshot data used to be taken from the VeloraDAO governance dashboard developed by SEEDGov. Unfortunately, in mid-August, the solution that Snapshot was using to upload data to Dune was deprecated, meaning a new script needs to be coded to continue feeding data into Dune. As this has not yet been implemented by Snapshot, the data up to mid-August is sourced from these dashboards, while from that point onwards it has been manually collected by SEEDGov from VeloraDAO Snapshot Space and incorporated through editing into the charts to graph the relevant data.
This document represents the third quarterly report we committed to presenting to the DAO as part of our role in the Velora Governance Task Force, to provide insight into the DAO’s overall state and participation.
To that end, we will begin by analyzing the starting point, the condition of the DAO prior to our full involvement in October 2024. We will then review an intermediate stage, from October 2024 to March 2025, during which we acted as delegates, then the first GTF quarter from April to June 2025 -a period covered by our first quarterly report-, the second GTF quarter from July 2025 to September 2025 -a period covered by our second quarterly report- and finally examine the third GTF quarter from the period from October 2025 to the present. We will highlight the evolution, activity levels, participation, and overall condition of the DAO.
Let’s now look at concrete numbers and how they’ve evolved since then:
1.- Proposals
This metric is particularly relevant to us, as proposals are the lifeblood of a DAO. They reflect that community members are actively submitting governance initiatives, engaging in discussion, and ultimately putting them to a vote. This is the purest expression of a DAO: generating ideas, debating them, and collectively deciding on actions that will impact the DAO and/or the protocol.
Since the inception of the DAO until November 2024, a total of 68 proposals have been voted on over approximately three years, averaging 1.8 proposals per month, consistent with the scale of ParaSwap:
- 2021 (November and December): 11 proposals - Average of 5.5 proposals per month
- 2022: 22 proposals - Average of 2 proposals per month
- 2023: 29 proposals (the year with the highest activity) - Average of 2.4 proposals per month
- 2024 (until November): 6 proposals - Average of 0.6 proposals per month
- From November 2024 to March 2025: 10 proposals - 2 proposals per month
- From April 2025 to June 2025: 14 proposals - 4.66 proposals per month
- From July to September 2025: 11 ****proposals - 3.67 proposals per month
- From October to November 2025: 10 ****proposals - 3.33 proposals per month
These metrics show that since our involvement in the DAO, during the period from November 2024 to March 2025 (with an average of 2 proposals per month), the DAO quickly reversed the near-paralysis it had experienced during the earlier part of 2024, which averaged only 0.6 proposals per month. This shift brought proposal activity levels closer to those of 2023, which had been the DAO’s most active year to date, averaging 2.4 proposals per month.
Furthermore, during the first quarter since we assumed the role of Governance Task Force (GTF), between April 2025 and June 2025, these metrics have shown meaningful growth, reaching an average of 4,66 proposals per month. During the July–September quarter, a total of 11 proposals were voted on, averaging 3.67 per month.
And finally, during the October-December quarter, a total of 10 proposals were voted on, averaging 3.33 per month. This level of activity remains consistently higher than in the November 2024–March 2025 period and well above earlier levels and confirms the sustained high activity the DAO has shown since late 2024, which further intensified starting in April 2025, demonstrating that the DAO is consolidated, healthy, and active. This level of activity remains consistently higher than in the November 2024–March 2025 period and well above earlier levels and confirms the sustained high activity the DAO has shown since late 2024, which further intensified starting in April 2025, demonstrating that the DAO is consolidated, healthy, and active.
2.- Voters
The number of individual voters (addresses) has steadily declined since the inception of the DAO:
- First 10 votes: Average of 708 addresses
- From November 2023 to October 2024: Average of 160 addresses
- From November 2024 to March 2025: Average of 67 addresses
- From April 2025 to June 2026: Average of 57 addresses
- From July to September 2025: Average of 49 addresses
- From October to November 2025: Average of 42 addresses
These data continue to reflect the shift in the DAO’s participation model from a highly atomized structure of direct involvement by many tokenholders with low voting power, to one where professional delegates now play a central role.
Many token holders have chosen either to step back from direct involvement or to delegate their voting power to experienced and dedicated delegates. While direct participation from token holders is positive and desirable, it has become increasingly rare in practice. In contrast, professional delegates have proven to offer a more balanced and stable governance approach, often bringing technical expertise, consistent involvement, and a long-term perspective—unlike individual holders who may be driven by short-term incentives.
This shift, which has been instrumental to the growth of VeloraDAO, was enabled by the successful launch of the Delegate Program Trial Period and later the 6‑month Delegate Incentive Program, which ended in August and provided the foundation for a more professional and reliable delegation system. You can read the final report on Cycle 1 of the program here. We hope this progress will be further consolidated with the recently launched Velora Contributor Program (VCP) Cycle 2. The effectiveness of this model is further reflected in the following section, where we analyze the sustained growth of voting power in the DAO’s decision-making process.
3.- VP (Voting Power - PSP Voter)
The amount of tokens used for voting has increased over time. Since the implementation of the PSP 2.0 system in February 2023:
- First 10 DAO votes: Average voting power of nearly 76 million PSP
- From November 2023 to October 2024: Average voting power of nearly 139 million PSP (83% increase)
- From November 2024 to March 2025: Average voting power of nearly 325 million PSP (134% increase)
- From April 2025 to June 2026: Average voting power of nearly 394 (21% increase)
- From July to September 2025: Average voting power of nearly 364 **(**7,5% decrease)
- From October to November 2025: Average voting power of nearly 352 (3.3% decrease)
Voting PSP has shown a consistent upward trend since the DAO’s inception, with a noticeable dip in participation during Q1 2024 that was subsequently reversed. Since November 2024, PSP participation has recovered significantly, growing by over 130%, with further growth by over and additional 21% observed in the first quarter since we assumed our role as GTF between April and June 2025. The July–September quarter shows a slight decrease of nearly 7,5% compared to the previous quarter. However, activity remains at very similar levels, clearly higher than those recorded before April 2025, and still much higher than those observed prior to November 2024.
A closer look at the chart above, combined with that of Proposals Over Time, not only confirms this exponential growth but also reveals four distinct phases in the DAO’s voting PSP participation.
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Phase 1 (November 2021 – February 2023):
This early stage was marked by very low PSP participation, but high numbers of individual voters. This suggests that many retail users, each holding small amounts of tokens, were actively involved in governance, though total voting PSP remained low.
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Phase 2 (February 2023 – January 2024):
A period of steady growth in voting PSP, increasing from around 55 million to 251 million. Combined with an increase in governance proposals, this indicates a DAO that was expanding in both activity and engagement.
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Phase 3 (January 2024 – October 2024):
This phase reflects the previously discussed stagnation period. Both proposal activity and voting PSP sharply declined. This decline was not coincidental—the DAO’s inactivity led to growing apathy among token holders, creating a vicious cycle of disengagement.
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Phase 4 (November 2024 – Present):
In this most recent phase, the DAO has experienced a strong resurgence, with record highs in both proposal activity and voting PSP/VLR. The prior vicious cycle has been replaced by a virtuous one: more proposals, deeper debate, and significantly higher PSP/VLR engagement in decision-making processes.
The observation of this graph also confirms that the previous ceiling of PSP/VLR token participation in votes during 2024, around 300 million PSP, which was a historical record until November of that year, has become consolidated as the floor of participation. This significantly higher presence of voting VLR is highly positive for the overall health of the DAO for multiple reasons:
- Greater legitimacy and representativeness in decision-making.
- Greater security and resilience against potential capture attempts or governance attacks.
- Greater accountability, control, and alignment of interests over the proposals debated and voted on.
- Increased engagement and a sense of community.
- Community maturation which is key for the long-term stability and evolution of a DAO.
- Attraction of new stakeholders that an increase in new opportunities.
In short, the new consolidated floor of VLR participation not only improves the quality and legitimacy of decision-making but also represents an institutional shield against governance capture and a clear sign of the resilience and maturity the DAO has achieved.
4.- Forum Activity
An equally important indicator of the DAO’s progress is the noticeable increase in both the activity and quality of discussions on the governance forum. While this may seem like a subjective observation, it becomes evident when reviewing current threads: there is a clear rise not only in the number of contributions but also in their depth and constructiveness.
We now see more thoughtful and well-rounded conversations, with extensive constructive feedback and actionable suggestions that often lead to revised proposals. These improved versions tend to reach Snapshot with greater clarity, robustness, and broader consensus than the initial drafts. These reflect a DAO that is entering a more mature and active phase, not only in terms of proposal volume but also in its quality and sophistication of governance discussion.
Over the past quarter, we have observed two particularly relevant and in-depth debates within the DAO:
- On the one hand, there has been a discussion around the need to establish a buyback mechanism for Velora, which has drawn the attention of delegates, community members, and various stakeholders. We understand this debate as a starting point for a broader and ongoing discussion, which should continue until the DAO reaches a clear conclusion on whether a buyback mechanism should be implemented and, if so, under what characteristics and design.
- On the other hand, there has been a debate regarding a user who claims to have been affected by the March 2024 AugustusV6 vulnerability, requesting funds to compensate for the losses incurred. This situation prompted SEEDGov to take an active role, posting a formal proposal that was later submitted to Snapshot, encouraging the DAO to formally decide on this specific case and, at the same time, set a clear precedent for similar cases in the future.
To deepen the analysis and obtain more information about how activity in the forum has grown exponentially in recent times, we recommend reading the Velora DAO Governance Forum by Curialab.
5.- PSP/VLR staking
Source: Dune dashboard developed by SEEDGov, analyzing and displaying multiple indicators related to the PSP to VLR migration.
By the first days of January 2026, the total VLR staked amounted to 317M, distributed as 204M on Ethereum, 91M on Base, and 22M on Optimism. The total VLR staked shows lower numbers than last quarter, which was marked by the transitional migration from PSP to VLR.
We understand that these results are not yet fully representative of the full picture, as Velora and its tokenholders/stakers still are in the midst of the migration process to the new VLR token and the new seVLR staking, while the previous sePSP1 staking was deprecated and Base has been introduced as a new chain for holding and staking VLR. In the previous report, we anticipated that”this migration would take some time to complete or even to reach a more advanced stage.
As shown in the chart “VLR Staked – Velora Staking: Sum of VLR transferred to the seVLR contract”, the largest amount of seVLR staking occurred in September, reaching approximately 249M VLR staked by the start of that month. Afterwards, staking activity continued, although at a naturally slower pace, during September with an additional 40.6M, October, with around 13.7M additional VLR staked, and November, with nearly 13M more VLR added to staking. This trend indicates that the migration process has not yet fully concluded and that, albeit at a lower rate, new seVLR staking continues to take place, presumably driven by ongoing migrations from the previous PSP staking system. We will continue to monitor and analyze the evolution of this metric going forward.
6.- DAO Structure
In November 2024, the DAO had a minimal structure:
- GovCo was the only existing structure, centralized in nature, and had a relatively minor role: overseeing the Ethereum Fee Claimer wallet and executing the fee distribution and gas refund, as well as approving emergency proposals for PIP qualification.
- The calculations for fee distribution and gas refunds were done manually, with the responsibility falling on the ParaSwap/Velora team. This not only added to their workload but also carried the latent risk of human error due to the manual nature of the process.
- There were no other structures in place.
- While Snapshot was enabled, there were no delegates formally introduced on the forum, nor were there any participating or reporting on their activity.
- The DAO community was limited to the Paraswap team at the time and a few individual contributors acting without coordination.
By March 2024, the reality of the DAO had changed significantly:
- 18 formally introduced delegates on the Delegation section of the forum, 17 of whom had varying degrees of considerable activity, and only 1 was inactive. 12 joined during the successful Delegate Program Trial Period, and the remaining 5 joined in March during the next phase of the DIP. Of the 18 delegates, 9 were active participants in the DIP.
- Cycle 1 of the Delegate Incentive Program had just been approved and launched after a successful test.
- A DIP Program Manager was formalized, responsible for the program’s operational tasks and for providing the community with public reports on its performance.
- Approval of PIP-55 to develop an automated fee and gas refund distribution mechanism.
- The creation of the ParaSwap Growth Working Group (PGWG) as a temporary DAO structure.
From April to June 2025, even within a short period, this trend toward greater maturity and structuring of the DAO deepened:
- 2 new delegates joined, bringing the total to 20 formally presented delegates on the forum, 19 of them with varying levels of participation and only 1 inactive. 14 of them participated in the DIP.
- Creation of the Velora Growth Committee (VGC) and the launch of its 6-month first season as a structure with the potential to become a permanent DAO body, contingent on the success and impact of the experience. The committee has 5 participating members, along with representation from Laita.
- Formation of the Governance Task Force, tasked with facilitation, coordination, and overall DAO management.
- Formalization of Laita as a DAO service provider to perform marketing facilitation, infrastructure and developer support tasks. Presentation in the forum of updates on its activities, increasing transparency in the DAO.
- Successful automation of the fee and gas refund calculation and distribution mechanism.
- Deprecation of GovCo and decentralization of both multisig management/signing responsibilities and emergency proposal PIP qualification—now handled by various DAO contributors through a public, structured, and predictable selection and onboarding process.
From July to September 2025, although once again a short period of time, significant progress was made in further structuring and managing the DAO more mature and professionally:
- Formalization and activation of a decentralized and transparent multisig authority composed of 8 members (5/8 threshold), including service providers and delegates, to manage a total of 11 DAO safe wallets across different blockchains.
- Development and presentation of the VeloraDAO Expense Dashboard as a transparency tool to track all DAO expenses.
- Formalization of the Velora Treasury Manager to manage, activate, optimize, safeguard, and sustainably grow the DAO’s treasury, under an appropriate framework that clearly defines and limits its functions and responsibilities.
- Strengthening of the delegate program towards a cycle 2 that will aim to achieve delegates act as genuine contributors to the protocol’s success.
- The Velora Growth Committee (VGC) created and presented the Velora Community Mirror, where numerous pieces of content generated by VGC members and other delegates have been submitted, as a tool for the DAO to support Laita’s efforts in content generation and promotion of Velora.
From October to December 2025, although once again a short period of time, the DAO showed some important structural changes that will shape the near future:
- The first quarter of VCP Cycle 2 delivered some of the outcomes we were aiming for, which we expect to further deepen over time, particularly regarding delegate contributions that generate direct impact on the protocol, beyond the standard activities typically associated with the delegate role. This was reflected in the participation of several delegates who drove initiatives such as the production of educational content about Velora, outreach and dissemination efforts on social media, token growth proposals within the DAGP framework, the booth representing VeloraDAO at Devconnect’s Governance Day, among other actions. As previously noted, we view this as only the beginning of the new program, and we expect delegate contributions to continue expanding and evolving toward deeper actions with increasingly tangible and meaningful impact on the protocol as the program matures.
- The VGC has completed its cycle, and while it delivered some concrete results, its structure began to overlap with the new VCG cycle, particularly with respect to the Contributor Points (CP) system. In line with the objective of simplifying structures, reducing bureaucracy, and optimizing costs, we recommend discontinuing the committee and instead focusing on empowering all delegates to contribute to the growth of Velora and its token through the VCG. This represents a shift from a closed, committee-based model toward delegate-driven, incentive-aligned initiatives.
- The community multisig continues to operate and show reasonable signing times. We conducted the first quarterly review, and as there were no changes in the VP of the Top 3 Delegates, it was not necessary to replace any signers.
