Understanding DAOs.

DAOs or Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, are internet-native communities governed by their members using tokens. Unlike traditional companies, where decisions are made by a board or executives, DAOs aim to give every token holder a voice in how the organization runs.

At their core, DAOs offer two major things:

• Voting Power —Every member with tokens can propose and vote on decisions, helping shape the project’s direction in a transparent, collective way.

• Shared Capital — DAOs manage funds together, usually through a treasury and members vote on how that capital gets used to grow the project.

They represent a new way to build and run organizations faster, more open and without needing traditional banking or legal setups. Instead of waiting weeks to form a company, people can spin up a DAO in minutes and start coordinating globally.

This blend of community and business unlocks new possibilities like:

• Remote work opportunities

• Crowdfunded initiatives

• Member-owned platforms

and more.

Is Governance Just a Myth?

The promise of DAOs was simple yet powerful, put decision-making in the hands of the community.

But the reality? Many so called “DAOs” today fall far short of that vision.

Instead of empowering their members, they operate with strict permissions, where even governance token holders need approval just to submit a proposal. Behind the scenes, a small core team often controls what gets discussed, what gets voted on and ultimately, what decisions get made.

• Token holders have no real say.

• Community voices are often ignored.

• “Decentralization” is used as a buzzword, not a principle.

What you’re left with is a system that promised participation but delivers control. Governance, in many cases, is just an illusion — and token holders are merely watching from the sidelines.

Redefining DAOs with Realms.

Most DAOs today are either stuck in Discord, rely on off-chain governance tools or operate like gated Telegram groups with a multisig. That’s not decentralization — that’s delegation with extra steps.

Realms flips the script.

Built on Solana and powered by SPL Governance, Realms is a fully on-chain platform designed to give communities the tools to govern transparently, efficiently and without compromise. It brings the full spectrum of DAO infrastructure into one interface allowing voting, role-based access, proposal creation and treasury management. All designed for true decentralization.

With Realms, DAOs aren’t just easier to manage. They’re fundamentally more powerful. Here’s what makes that possible:

• SPL Governance: Realms is built on a DAO-agnostic, standardized governance protocol that works for everything from two-person multisigs to billion-dollar DeFi protocols.

• Treasury Management: DAOs can stake, allocate capital and manage funds — all governed through community proposals and on-chain votes.

• 3rd-Party Integrations: From DeFi to identity and notifications, Realms connects with over 10+ tools like Mango, Marinade, Cardinal, Dialect, Notifi and more — giving DAOs instant access to Solana’s growing ecosystem.

• Customizable Governance: Use Realms as it is or fork the frontend to match your DAO’s brand, domain and style — all while retaining full compatibility with SPL Governance.

• Vote-Escrowed Tokens (veTokens): Lock tokens to boost voting power and reward long-term alignment, not just short-term speculation.

• Low Fees, High Speed: Built on Solana, Realms enables fast, low-cost, high-frequency governance — making your DAO as responsive as your community.

Realms supports flexible structures to accommodate any type of community:

• Multisig Wallet DAOs: Perfect for small teams and working groups. Multiple members must approve before funds move.

• NFT Community DAOs: Leverage NFTs for membership and voting rights, enabling holder-based governance.

• Community Token-Based DAOs: Distribute community tokens to members and let them vote on proposals based on token holdings or veToken locks.

Whether you’re a protocol team, an NFT project, or a grassroots collective, Realms can adapt to how your community wants to organize and grow.

And the best part? It’s all on-chain.

Realms doesn’t compromise on decentralization, it enables it. So if you’re tired of DAOs that feel more like group chats than real organizations, Realms is where your community becomes an actual force for on-chain coordination.

But Realms isn’t just theory. It’s powering some of the most effective, mission-driven DAOs on Solana today.

DAOs in Action.

Too many DAOs today feel like social clubs — vague missions, sporadic proposals and no real way to move fast and stay decentralized.

Realms powers some of Solana’s most active and mission-driven DAOs that coordinate, build and govern all fully on-chain. Here’s a list of DAOs using Realms DAO infra: app.realms.today/realms

Among the hundreds of DAOs built with Realms, a few stand out for how effectively they combine mission, momentum and meaningful governance.

When users visit a DAO page on Realms, they can instantly view:

• 📊 Token Stats — Total supply, circulating tokens and voting power

• 👥 Members — List of DAO members and council participants

• ⚙️ DAO Parameters — Governance settings like quorum, thresholds and voting structure

• 💼 Treasury — DAO wallets and on-chain assets

• 🖼️ DAO-Owned NFTs — NFTs held by the DAO

• 🧩 Programs — Any integrated programs or dApps the DAO interacts with

• 📑 Proposals — Active, passed, or rejected governance proposals

And if you’re connected with your Solana wallet, you can:

• ✅ View your governance power

• 🔁 Deposit, withdraw, delegate, or lock tokens directly from the UI

Let’s take a look at how Realms powers organizations:

1. Saga Mobile DAO — Turning Users into Stakeholders.

Website: sagamobiledao.com

Saga isn’t just building Android phones — it’s building community-native hardware.

Saga DAO flips the traditional company-consumer dynamic. Instead of customers waiting on corporate decisions, Saga token holders actively propose new features, vote on product direction, and shape the future of mobile crypto adoption.

• A recent proposal focused on community-led distribution of developer units to indie builders. 📱

• Governance over token distribution for referral rewards was transparently executed via Realms. ⚙️

• The DAO even voted on key design choices for the Saga Genesis drop.🌐

All of this happens transparently, on-chain and without gatekeeping — powered by Realms.

2. Metaplex DAO — Building the Foundation of Solana NFTs.

Website: dao.metaplex.com

Metaplex isn’t just a protocol — it’s the backbone of the NFT ecosystem on Solana. And the Metaplex Foundation ensures that evolution of this standard is community-driven, not dictated by a central team.

Through Realms, $MPLX holders steer the protocol’s future by:

• Voting on strategic roadmap proposals like compressed NFTs and programmable assets. 🧭

• Approving grants to NFT marketplaces, infra tools and creators building on Metaplex. 📦

• Participating in discussions that guide partnerships, upgrades and ecosystem-wide initiatives. 📣

Metaplex Foundation shows what happens when the most critical NFT infra becomes co-owned by the community that relies on it.

3. Pyth Network DAO— Coordinating High-Stakes Data Feeds.

Website: app.realms.today/dao/PYTH

As a real-time oracle network powering price feeds for DeFi apps, Pyth runs on precision and trust.

Pyth DAO uses Realms for high-stakes governance, including:

• Managing multisigs tied to network upgrades and data feed updates.🔐

• Onboarding new data publishers and contributors with community votes. 📥

• Approving ecosystem funding proposals to expand developer tooling.🧩

Governance isn’t just a feature here — it’s essential to ensuring the oracle infrastructure remains secure, responsive, and decentralized.

These DAOs are working models of what’s possible when governance tools are actually used to govern. Realms gives them the structure, speed and transparency to scale like protocols, not group chats.

The Realms Effect.

Most DAOs today suffer from one of two extremes :

• either they’re too centralized to be meaningful or

• too disorganized to be effective.

Realms isn’t just a governance tool. It’s an end-to-end coordination engine that gives every DAO the superpowers it needs to actually do things.

Here’s how Realms empowers communities to Build, Govern and grow together:

1. Choose your governance structure: Realms lets communities pick the structure that fits their mission.
You can:

• Mint your own community token,

• Use an existing NFT collection for membership,

• Lock tokens via veToken mechanics to align incentives,

• Or use a simple multisig to start small and scale later

2. Invite and coordinate your members: Communities thrive on participation. With integrations like Cardinal, DAOs can tie on-chain roles to Twitter/X handles, NFT ownership or custom logic — making it easy to onboard and organize members.

3. Engage with proposals: Governance isn’t just about voting — it’s about shaping the future. DAOs on Realms can:

• Create proposals directly from the UI,

• Customize voting logic with tokens, NFTs, or veTokens and

• Use delegation to empower trusted voices without losing decentralization.

4. Fund and allocate the treasury: Realms brings treasury management on-chain. From funding grants to staking assets, DAOs can tap into Solana’s DeFi ecosystem through integrations with Mango, Marinade, Solend and more — all governed by community votes.

5. Notify your members: No more missed votes or silent proposals. With tools like Dialect and Notifi, DAOs can send real-time alerts via email, SMS or wallet-based notifications — making sure members stay informed and involved.

6. Analyze the metrics: Effective governance needs transparency. Realms provides dashboards to track proposal history, voting participation, treasury flows and more — giving your community the insights it needs to make better decisions.

This is the Realms Effect. A complete toolkit that transforms DAOs from vague ideas into fully-functioning organizations. Fast, flexible and most importantly — truly decentralized.

If most DAOs today feel like decoration, Realms is what actual decentralization looks like in practice.

Don’t Just Watch, Shape the Future with Realms.

Till now we’ve talked about what makes a DAO meaningful, what Realms unlocks and how it’s powering communities across Solana.

Now let’s get a little hands-on.

Whether you’re a developer, a community builder or just DAO-curious — starting your own organization on Realms isn’t some gated technical process. It’s open, modular and surprisingly intuitive.

Here’s how you can go from zero to DAO using Realms:

1. Here’s how to set up a Multi-Signature DAO in a few simple steps:

Here’s a link to the video tutorial: https://youtu.be/JKcjDgfyWXk

• Step 1: Selection
  Head to Realms.today and click on “Create DAO.” This will open an interactive setup wizard to guide you.

• Step 2: Name
  Pick a name that represents your community. Realms will auto-generate a governance program ID, or you can add a custom one under advanced settings.

• Step 3: Invite Members
  Enter the Solana wallet addresses of your team members. These members will receive council tokens and will be able to vote on proposals.

• Step 4: Set the Voting Threshold
  Decide what percentage of yes-votes are required for a proposal to pass. The default is 60%, but you can adjust it to fit your team’s needs.

• Step 5: Review and Deploy
  Double-check all your inputs. When everything looks good, hit “Create Wallet” and approve the transaction in your wallet. Your DAO is now live on-chain.

• Step 6: Create a Test Proposal
  Once deployed, submit a simple test proposal to make sure everything’s working as expected. This helps verify that your DAO’s quorum logic and voting are functioning correctly.

2. Here’s how to set up a Community Token DAO in a few simple steps:

Here’s a link to the video tutorial: https://youtu.be/eIjuq2IAnck

• Step 1: Launch the DAO Creator
  Go to Realms.today, connect your wallet, and click on “Create DAO.”
  Select Community Token DAO to get started.

• Step 2: Name Your DAO
  Give your DAO a name. Realms will auto-generate a governance program ID, but you can use a custom one under Advanced Options.

• Step 3: Choose or Create a Community Token
  You’ll be asked whether your DAO already has a token:
  If yes, paste the token address (SPL or Token22). Realms will validate it. You can optionally transfer the token’s mint authority to the DAO.
  Set a minimum token amount required to manage the DAO (recommended: high value for security).
  Configure max voter weight (default: “Supply Fraction” for SPL, “Absolute” for Token22).
  If no, Realms will guide you to set the minimum tokens needed and continue setup.

• Step 4: Set the Approval Threshold
  Decide how many “yes” votes are needed to approve proposals (default is 60%).
  You can set this higher or lower depending on how strict or flexible you want your governance to be.

• Step 5: Set Up a DAO Council
  You can choose to create a new token for the council or use an existing one.
  A council can help moderate the DAO, especially in early stages.
  Use this if you want a smaller group to handle sensitive or critical decisions.

• Step 6: Invite Council Members
  Add the wallet addresses of your council members. These users will have special permissions and governance powers.

• Step 7: Set the Council Approval Threshold
  Similar to the community vote, define the minimum percentage of council votes required to pass proposals within the council.

• Step 8: Review & Deploy
  Double-check your inputs. Once everything looks good, click “Create Wallet” and approve the transaction. Your DAO is now live on Solana!

• Step 9: Run a Test Proposal
  Submit a sample proposal to make sure your DAO settings work as expected and proposals reach quorum.

3. Here’s how to set up a NFT Community DAO in a few simple steps:

Here’s a link to the video tutorial: https://youtu.be/sLQMMWsrXWM

• Step 1: Launch the DAO Creator
  Go to Realms.today, connect your wallet, and click on “Create DAO.”
  This time, choose NFT Community DAO as your DAO type.

• Step 2: Name Your DAO
  Give your community a unique name. Realms will auto-fill a governance program ID, or you can add your own under advanced settings if you need more control.

• Step 3: Link Your NFT Collection
  You’ll be prompted to add the NFT collection address (candy machine ID or verified creator address).
  This is how Realms verifies which NFTs are eligible for governance.
  ✅ Pro Tip: Make sure the NFT metadata is verified and properly indexed on Solana.

• Step 4: Define Voting Power
  Set how many votes each NFT gets (default is 1 NFT = 1 vote).
  You can also choose whether voters need to lock their NFTs during voting to prevent double-voting.

• Step 5: Configure Quorum and Threshold
  Decide the minimum number of NFT holders needed to vote on proposals (quorum), and what percentage of votes are required to pass a proposal.
  Default is 60% — but feel free to tweak it for your community’s needs.

• Step 6: Add a DAO Council (Optional)
  If you want a smaller core team to handle high-impact decisions, you can set up a Council with its own approval logic — similar to the previous DAO types.

• Step 7: Review and Deploy
  Double-check all your DAO settings.
  Once confirmed, hit “Create Wallet”, approve the transaction in your wallet, and boom — your NFT-powered DAO is live.

• Step 7: Submit a Test Proposal
  To make sure everything’s functioning properly, create a test proposal (e.g., “Should we host a community call this weekend?”).
  This helps validate your setup and gives members a chance to get familiar with the governance flow.

Now that your DAO is live, it’s time to explore what’s possible within the vibrant and ever-growing Realms DAO ecosystem.

The Realms DAO Ecosystem.

The Realms DAO Ecosystem is where the most active and innovative communities on Solana come together to govern, grow and fund public goods — all on-chain.

At the heart of this ecosystem is the Realms Ecosystem DAO (R.E.D.), a decentralized grants program powered by Realms. Launched with $200,000 in initial funding, R.E.D. supports governance builders across Solana by giving DAOs a shared space to propose ideas, fund initiatives and coordinate transparently.

This is what makes the ecosystem powerful:

• 20+ Member DAOs — Including some of Solana’s top protocols, collaborating to shape the future of decentralized governance.

• Fully On-Chain Governance — Every decision, proposal and vote happens transparently via Realms.

• Collective Funding Power — With a pooled treasury and shared oversight, DAOs can allocate grants and resources where they matter most.

• Open Participation — DAOs can apply to join the ecosystem or request funding through R.E.D.

• Support for New Projects — Founders gain access to mentorship, capital, and a network of aligned builders.

R.E.D. has already funded:

• Epicentral Labs — Building tools for DAO collaboration.

• Save Finance — Driving innovation in DeFi governance.

And this is just the start.

By launching your DAO on Realms, you’re not just building in isolation — you’re becoming part of a connected, high-impact governance ecosystem that’s shaping the future of internet-native capital markets.

Conclusion.

Realms is a foundation for collective action. What started as a governance UI has quietly grown into Solana’s coordination layer, powering everything from multi-sigs to massive community treasuries. It’s open, flexible and battle-tested.

To me, the most exciting part isn’t just the tech.

It’s what Realms enables:

• communities funding public goods,

• protocols decentralizing power and

• new builders finding support through grants like R.E.D.

This is governance that does something — and it’s happening in real time.

If you’re working on a DAO or thinking of launching one, Realms gives you the infra and the ecosystem to grow with purpose.

Reference.

• Twitter: https://x.com/realmsdaos

• Website: https://www.realms.today/

• Application: https://app.realms.today/

• Documentation: https://docs.realms.today/

• Realms Ecosystem DAO: https://red.realms.today/