Anchorage Digital Unveils DeFi Voting for Custody Clients
Crypto custody firm Anchorage Digital is granting its institutional clients an unprecedented opportunity to vote on governance proposals for tokens they hold, without the burden of expensive gas fees.
Snapshot Integration for Gasless Multi-Governance
In a statement released on May 16, Anchorage revealed plans to incorporate the gasless multi-governance client, Snapshot. This integration empowers the “token-holding community users” of Anchorage to voice their opinions on governance proposals using their tokens, all without incurring any gas fees.
No Movement of Funds
Anchorage confirms that all voting will occur within its custody, negating the need for any movement of funds. Decentralized protocols such as AAVE, Lido (LDO), and BitDAO already employ Snapshot, which records the voting off-chain, ensuring transactions aren’t publicly recorded on the blockchain.
Convenience and On-Chain Guarantees
According to Anchorage, the primary advantage of this approach is “convenience.” However, the convenience comes with a tradeoff in the form of on-chain guarantees. Snapshot voting is free because votes are counted off-chain, eliminating the need for gas payments. Enforcing the decision typically falls to a multisig that the protocol team operates.
Over 60 ERC-20 Tokens Supported
Anchorage currently supports “over 60 ERC-20 tokens,” with an ambitious plan to extend support to all relevant future ERC-20 tokens.
Anchorage’s Expansion to Asia
In October, Anchorage announced it had expanded its operations to Asia, partnering with five new institutional partners, including Bitkub, DreamTrade, and FBG Capital. The announcement highlighted that Asia’s consumers have enthusiastically embraced cryptocurrency.
Snapshot in Action
Snapshot has recently been utilized to garner votes from AAVE and LDO tokenholders on each of the protocol’s latest upgrade or governance proposals. The system has also proved beneficial for AAVE users who inadvertently sent their tokens to the wrong address.
In July 2022, LidoDAO, the governance body overseeing Lido Finance, conducted a Snapshot vote on allocating 1% of LDO’s token supply to DragonFly Capital for $14.5 million. The proposal, however, was rejected by tokenholders.
