{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T17:42:03Z","timestamp":1785951723475,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":68,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,16]],"date-time":"2025-05-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1747353600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Blockchain"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper explores the intersection of decentralized governance, blockchain technology, and the digital commons through the lens of Elinor Ostrom\u2019s principles. It examines how Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and tokenization models present both opportunities and risks for managing digital resources in transparent, community\u2010driven ways. The authors assess how token\u2010based, reputation\u2010based, and hybrid governance mechanisms\u2014ranging from quadratic voting to Soulbound Tokens\u2014can enhance democratic participation and accountability within blockchain ecosystems, while also recognizing their susceptibility to plutocracy, voter apathy, and collusion. Drawing on case studies such as MakerDAO, MolochDAO, Commons Stack, and Aragon, the paper critically analyzes real\u2010world implementations of decentralized governance and the extent to which they adhere to\u2014or deviate from\u2014Ostrom\u2019s design principles for common\u2010pool resource management. It highlights structural limitations in governance design, especially in the presence of unequal voting power and centralized control disguised as decentralization. The paper also critiques the socio-economic implications of blockchain\u2019s global expansion, noting how digital governance can replicate neo-colonial dynamics in the Global South and amplify state surveillance in authoritarian contexts. Further, it underscores the environmental costs of blockchain infrastructure and introduces DAOs like KlimaDAO and Regen Network as emerging experiments to align decentralized finance with sustainability goals. Ultimately, the authors propose a \u201cdual imperative\u201d: to develop context\u2010sensitive, inclusive governance architectures within DAOs, while pursuing international legal recognition and standards. The conclusion calls for communitarian models that fuse algorithmic rule enforcement with human-centered deliberation to protect the emancipatory potential of blockchain governance. Whether blockchain becomes a force for democratization or digital enclosure, the authors argue, will depend on how its governing architectures are designed, contested, and evolved by the communities that steward them.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fbloc.2025.1538227","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,16]],"date-time":"2025-05-16T05:20:31Z","timestamp":1747372831000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Decentralizing governance: exploring the dynamics and challenges of digital commons and DAOs"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Mark","family":"Esposito","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Terence","family":"Tse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Danny","family":"Goh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","article-title":"Decentralized governance","volume-title":"Gemini","year":"2012"},{"key":"B2","volume-title":"Gemini","year":"2014"},{"key":"B4","unstructured":"Understanding the MakerDAO governance process for stablecoins: insights and mechanisms\n          \n          \n          2024"},{"key":"B5","unstructured":"Logic(s) magazine\n          \n          \n          2015"},{"key":"B6","article-title":"Blockchain: capabilities, economic viability","volume-title":"The socio-technical environment","author":"Braun-Dubler","year":"2020"},{"key":"B7","volume-title":"Scaling CDR space","year":"2023"},{"key":"B8","unstructured":"Changes rates for bitcoin miners and data centers\n          \n          \n          2021"},{"key":"B9","volume-title":"Unveiling the impact of delegated voting on decentralized autonomous organizations governance","author":"Cheng","year":"2024"},{"key":"B10","unstructured":"Token engineering commons\n          \n          \n            \n              Commons\n              T. E.\n            \n          \n          \n          2021"},{"key":"B11","unstructured":"Our solutions\n          \n          \n          2013"},{"key":"B12","unstructured":"Fund and govern your mission\n          \n          \n          2014"},{"key":"B13","unstructured":"Our solutions\n          \n          \n          2024"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/20539517231208455","article-title":"Living on the block: how equitable is tokenized equity?","volume":"10","author":"Crandall","year":"2023","journal-title":"Big Data and Soc."},{"key":"B15","article-title":"A16z buys up $15 million worth of MakerDAO\u2019s MKR stablecoins","year":"2018"},{"key":"B16","unstructured":"Measuring voting power in maker DAO with the banzhaf power index ledgerback labs\n          \n          \n          2025"},{"key":"B17","volume-title":"Blockchain and the law: the rule of code","author":"De Filippi","year":"2018"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5210\/fm.v21i12.7113","article-title":"Blockchain technology as a regulatory technology: from code is law to law is code","volume":"21","author":"De Filippi","year":"2016","journal-title":"First Monday"},{"key":"B37","volume-title":"Report on artificial intelligence and blockchain convergences","author":"de la Roche","year":"2022"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.1624697","article-title":"Designing Reputation Systems for the Social Web. Boston U. School of Management Research Paper","author":"Dellarocas","year":""},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2360","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.1694370","article-title":"\u201cMedia, Aggregators, and the Link Economy: Strategic Hyperlink Formation in Content Networks,\u201d Management Science, INFORMS,","author":"Dellarocas","year":""},{"key":"B222","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315211909-8","article-title":"Experiments in algorithmic governance: a history and ethnography of \u201cThe DAO,\u201d a failed decentralized autonomous organization","volume-title":"Bitcoin and beyond","author":"DuPont","year":"2017"},{"key":"B21","unstructured":"Celo\n          \n          \n          2020"},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/3412569.3412579","article-title":"An overview of decentralized autonomous organizations on the blockchain","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 16th international Symposium on open collaboration","author":"El Faqir","year":"2020"},{"key":"B23","unstructured":"Project grant funding from MolochDAO\n          \n          \n          2015"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100080","DOI":"10.1016\/j.diggeo.2024.100080","article-title":"Cautious hope: prospects and perils of communitarian governance in a Web3 environment","volume":"6","author":"Ettlinger","year":"2024","journal-title":"Digital Geogr. Soc."},{"key":"B25","unstructured":"2023"},{"key":"B26","unstructured":"Quadratic funding for the world\n          \n          \n          2020"},{"key":"B27","article-title":"Crypto\/space","author":"Howson","year":"2020"},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.polgeo.2024.103210","article-title":"Crypto\/space: computational parasitism, virtual land grabs, and the production of Web3 \u2018exit zones","volume":"115","author":"Howson","year":"2024","journal-title":"Polit. Geogr."},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20539517241259674","DOI":"10.1177\/20539517241259674","article-title":"The curious case of blockchain in rural China: unravelling power, profit, and surveillance","volume":"11","author":"Hung","year":"2024","journal-title":"Big Data and Soc."},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7585","DOI":"10.3390\/s22197585","article-title":"A systematic literature review and meta-analysis on scalable blockchain-based electronic voting systems","volume":"22","author":"Jafar","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sensors Basel, Switz."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104009","DOI":"10.1016\/j.geoforum.2024.104009","article-title":"Playing for keeps: digital labor and blockchain precarity in play-to-earn gaming","volume":"151","author":"Kuo Siong Tan","year":"2024","journal-title":"Geoforum"},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"998","DOI":"10.1002\/ejsp.674","article-title":"How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world","volume":"40","author":"Lally","year":"2010","journal-title":"European Journal of Social Psychology"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.2022.1630","article-title":"Powerlessness Also Corrupts: Lower Power Increases Self-Promotional Lying","author":"Li","year":"2022","journal-title":"Organization Science"},{"key":"B34","volume-title":"The maker protocol","year":"2020"},{"key":"B35","unstructured":"DeFi for collateralized loans gemini\n          \n          \n          2014"},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nbsj.2023.100063","article-title":"Scenario-based land use modeling for nutrient management in the Finger Lakes region","author":"Mantius","year":"2022","journal-title":"Water Front- Peter Mantius"},{"key":"B223","first-page":"108","article-title":"Blockchain networks as knowledge commons","volume-title":"Int. J. Commons","author":"Murtazashvili","year":"2022"},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.24251\/HICSS.2025.252","article-title":"Is DAO governance fostering democracy? Reviewing decision-making in decentraland","author":"Pe\u00f1a Calv\u00edn","year":"2025"},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"927","DOI":"10.1145\/3589335.3651481","article-title":"Concentration of power and participation in online governance: the ecosystem of decentralized autonomous organizations","volume-title":"Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web conference 2024","author":"Pe\u00f1a-Calvin","year":"2024"},{"key":"B40","article-title":"A feminist subversion of the economy","volume-title":"Contributions for a debate on the capital-life conflict","author":"P\u00e9rez-Orozco","year":"2014"},{"key":"B41","unstructured":"Catapult dynamics of neural networks\n          \n          \n          2017"},{"key":"B42","unstructured":"Invest in high-integrity carbon credits\n          \n          \n          2021"},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"569","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118x.2015.1012532","article-title":"Digital inequalities and why they matter","volume":"18","author":"Robinson","year":"2015","journal-title":"Inf. Commun. and Soc."},{"key":"B44","article-title":"When Ostrom meets blockchain","author":"Oteros-Rozas","year":"2014"},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"204","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.24393","article-title":"Loosen control without losing control: formalization and decentralization within commons-based peer production","volume":"72","author":"Rozas","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"21582440211002526","DOI":"10.1177\/21582440211002526","article-title":"When Ostrom meets blockchain: exploring the potentials of blockchain for commons governance","volume":"11","author":"Rozas","year":"","journal-title":"Sage Open"},{"key":"B47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fbloc.2021.577680","article-title":"Analysis of the potentials of blockchain for the governance of global digital commons","volume":"4","author":"Rozas","year":"","journal-title":"Front. Blockchain"},{"key":"B48","article-title":"Analysis of the potentials of blockchain","author":"Rozas","year":"2016"},{"key":"B49","article-title":"Analysis of the potentials of blockchain","year":"2022"},{"key":"B50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.18352\/bmgn-lchr.397","article-title":"Preliminary steps toward a general theory of internet-based collective-action in digital information commons: findings from a study of open source software projects","volume":"7","author":"Schweik","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. Commons"},{"key":"B51","volume-title":"Centralized decentralization: does voting matter? Simple economics of the DPoS blockchain governance","year":"2020"},{"key":"B52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1111\/jofi.13192","article-title":"Decentralization through tokenization","volume":"78","author":"Sockin","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Finance"},{"key":"B53","unstructured":"Division of enforcement director ian McGinley on the Ooki DAO litigation victory CFTC\n          \n          \n          2024"},{"key":"B54","volume-title":"Tim draper backed aragon, disrupts traditional governance with A decentralized court","author":"Stephen Haley","year":"2016"},{"key":"B55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.18352\/ijc.305","article-title":"Design principles for global commons: natural resources and emerging technologies","volume":"5","author":"Stern","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Commons"},{"key":"B56","volume-title":"The impact of shareholder primacy: what it means to put the stock price first","year":"2022"},{"key":"B57","unstructured":"Maker foundation announces $27.5 million MKR sale to dragonfly capital partners and Paradigm\n          \n          \n          2012"},{"key":"B58","unstructured":"White paper\n          \n          \n          2024"},{"key":"B59","unstructured":"The Untold Technological Revolution Sweeping Through Rural China\u2014The N. Y. Times\n          \n          \n          2016"},{"key":"B60","unstructured":"OpenZeppelin docs\n          \n          \n          2021"},{"key":"B61","article-title":"Impact tokens: a blockchain-based solution for impact investing","author":"Uzsoki","year":"2016"},{"key":"B62","article-title":"DAO design for the commons and the common good","author":"Vulpen","year":"2015"},{"key":"B63","article-title":"Decentralized autonomous organization design for the commons and the common good","year":"2023"},{"key":"B64","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.35490\/EC3.2022.213","article-title":"What if properties are owned by No one or everyone? Foundation of blockchain enabled engineered ownership","volume-title":"Computing in construction EC3 conference 2022","author":"Wang","year":"2022"},{"key":"B65","unstructured":"Optimism docs\n          \n          \n          2024"},{"key":"B66","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/11449.001.0001","volume-title":"The blockchain and the new architecture of trust","author":"Werbach","year":"2018"},{"key":"B67","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fbloc.2020.00012","article-title":"Decentralized network governance: blockchain technology and the future of regulation","volume":"3","author":"Zwitter","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Blockchain"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Blockchain"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fbloc.2025.1538227\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,16]],"date-time":"2025-05-16T05:20:43Z","timestamp":1747372843000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fbloc.2025.1538227\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,16]]},"references-count":68,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fbloc.2025.1538227"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fbloc.2025.1538227","relation":{},"ISSN":["2624-7852"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2624-7852","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,16]]},"article-number":"1538227"}}