Research Methodology

ZUG DAO draws on a structured set of primary and secondary data sources across four domains: on-chain governance data, DAO treasury and financial data, Swiss legal and regulatory sources, and academic governance research. This page describes the sources we use and how we use them.

On-Chain Governance Data

Snapshot (snapshot.org)

Snapshot is the dominant off-chain signalling platform used by DAOs for governance votes. Snapshot records are publicly accessible and include: proposal text, vote counts, voter addresses, token balances at the snapshot block, and outcomes. We use Snapshot data to assess governance participation rates, voter distribution, proposal pass rates, and governance activity levels for specific DAOs. Snapshot data is not on-chain and represents signalling only — execution still depends on multisig or other mechanisms.

Tally (tally.xyz)

Tally indexes on-chain governance events for protocols using the OpenZeppelin Governor standard and similar contracts (Governor Bravo, Governor Alpha). Tally provides structured access to: on-chain proposals, vote tallies, delegate voting power, quorum attainment, and execution status. We use Tally data for analysis of protocols with on-chain binding governance — primarily Uniswap, Compound, Aave, ENS DAO, and other Governor-based systems.

Commonwealth (commonwealth.im)

Commonwealth is used by some DAOs for governance discussion forums prior to formal Snapshot or on-chain votes. We review Commonwealth discussions to understand the deliberative process behind specific governance decisions — what arguments were made, what objections were raised, and how debate evolved before formal voting.

Direct smart contract and block explorer data

For specific analyses, we query governance and treasury smart contracts directly via Etherscan, Arbiscan, Polygonscan, and equivalent block explorers. This is the most authoritative source for on-chain state — token holdings, proposal execution, timelock status, and multisig transaction history.

Polkadot OpenGov (polkassembly.io, subscan.io)

For Polkadot and Kusama governance analysis, we use Polkassembly (the canonical Polkadot governance discussion and tracking platform) and Subscan for transaction and on-chain data.

DAO Treasury and Financial Data

DeepDAO (deepdao.io)

DeepDAO is the primary aggregator of DAO treasury data across Ethereum and major L2 chains. DeepDAO tracks treasury asset composition, historical balances, governance activity, and member statistics across hundreds of DAOs. We use DeepDAO data for comparative treasury analysis and aggregate DAO ecosystem metrics.

Dune Analytics (dune.com)

Dune Analytics enables custom SQL queries against indexed blockchain data. We use published Dune dashboards and construct specific queries to analyse: DAO treasury flows, token distribution, LP positions, staking activity, and DeFi yield deployment. Dune data is sourced directly from on-chain events and is the most granular available.

Token Terminal (tokenterminal.com)

Token Terminal aggregates financial metrics for DeFi protocols — revenue (fees), earnings (protocol revenue minus liquidity mining incentives), TVL, and user counts. We use Token Terminal data for protocol revenue and financial performance analysis in DAO profiles.

CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap

For governance token price data, market capitalisation, and circulating supply figures, we use CoinGecko as the primary source and CoinMarketCap as a cross-reference. All market data is explicitly timestamped.

Protocol-published treasury reports

Several major DAOs publish periodic treasury reports or maintain public treasury dashboards. Where available, we use these primary disclosures: Ethereum Foundation annual reports, Uniswap Foundation treasury reports, MakerDAO financial reports (published via Maker governance), and Aave treasury data published via the Aave community.

Swiss Legal and Regulatory Sources

Swiss Civil Code (ZGB — Schweizerisches Zivilgesetzbuch)

The foundational legal text governing Swiss Verein (Articles 60-79) and Swiss Stiftung (Articles 80-89a). All references to Swiss association and foundation law cite directly to the ZGB.

Swiss Code of Obligations (OR — Obligationenrecht)

Governing Swiss GmbH and AG corporate structures, contract law, and commercial relationships relevant to DAO operational entities.

FINMA publications

FINMA (Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde) publishes guidance on digital assets, ICOs, tokens, and DeFi through: the 2018 ICO Guidelines, FINMA Guidance 02/2019 (stable coins), the 2021 DeFi guidance letter, and periodic speeches and press releases from FINMA leadership. We monitor FINMA’s published positions and update analysis accordingly.

Swiss DLT Act (2021)

The Federal Act on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Electronic Register Technology — the DLT Act — amended multiple federal statutes to create a legal framework for DLT-based securities and infrastructure. We cite the DLT Act where relevant to token classification and DAO legal wrapper analysis.

Cantonal commercial registers (Handelsregister)

Swiss Verein and Stiftung formations are registered at cantonal level. We verify specific entity registrations (Ethereum Foundation, Web3 Foundation, Crypto Valley Association) against the relevant cantonal Handelsregister (primarily Zug and Zurich).

Swiss Federal Gazette (SHAB — Schweizerisches Handelsamtsblatt)

The official register of Swiss commercial and non-commercial entity formations, changes, and dissolutions.

Swiss legal scholarship

We draw on published Swiss legal scholarship from law reviews including the Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Finanzmarktrecht (SZW), the Aktuelle juristische Praxis (AJP), and academic publications from the University of Zurich, University of Bern, and University of Basel law faculties. Where academic positions are cited, we identify them as scholarly opinion rather than settled law.

Academic DAO Governance Research

Stanford Center for Blockchain Research

Publishes empirical research on DAO governance participation, voting power distribution, and governance outcomes. We draw on peer-reviewed papers from this institution for quantitative governance analysis.

MIT Digital Currency Initiative

Research on DAO governance design, token economic incentives, and governance mechanism analysis.

Blockchain at Michigan / other university research groups

University-based research teams publishing empirical analyses of specific DAO governance events, treasury management, and governance mechanism performance.

SSRN and arXiv

Pre-print academic papers on DAO governance, mechanism design, and decentralised organisation economics. Pre-prints are identified as such and distinguished from peer-reviewed publications.

Editorial Standards and Source Attribution

All quantitative claims are attributed to their primary source. We distinguish clearly between:

Established fact: verified on-chain data, official regulatory publications, statutory text
Informed analysis: our interpretation of data, trends, or regulatory intent
Forward-looking assessment: our projections and predictions, clearly labelled as such
Third-party opinion: positions from named third parties, attributed and labelled

Where data conflicts between sources, we note the discrepancy and explain our source selection. We correct errors promptly — factual corrections can be submitted to [email protected].

ZUG DAO does not provide legal, governance, or investment advice. Research and analysis is provided for informational purposes only.