# Introducing the DGI: The First Governance Health Index for Web3

*Originally published on chainsights.one/blog*

By [ChainSights](https://paragraph.com/@chainsights) · 2026-02-06

governance, daos, dgi, analytics, decentralization

---

**Wallets lie. We don't.**

"DAO passes proposal with 99% approval." Sounds democratic, right? Look closer. That 99% came from 12 wallets. Three of them are controlled by the same person. The "community vote" was decided before it started.

We have the infrastructure for decentralized decision-making, but almost no way to measure if it's actually working. Until now.

The Decentralized Governance Index (DGI)
----------------------------------------

The DGI is the first curated governance health index for the Snapshot ecosystem. We analyze **46 DAOs** across **4 categories**, producing a single score from 0–10 that measures how healthy a DAO's governance really is.

Not how many tokens voted. Not how many wallets participated. **How many humans are actually governing.**

Why "Wallets Lie"
-----------------

Traditional metrics count wallets. But wallets are cheap — one person can create hundreds. Whales split holdings across dozens of addresses to simulate "broad participation."

The DGI cuts through this with four identity-first signals:

**Human Participation Rate (35%)** — What percentage of unique humans (not wallets) are actively voting?

**Delegate Engagement (25%)** — Are delegates actually participating, or just holding tokens?

**Power Dynamics (20%)** — How concentrated is voting power among top holders? (Modified Gini coefficient)

**Grassroots Participation (20%)** — Is governance driven by the community or dominated by insiders?

What We Found
-------------

After analyzing 46 major DAOs:

Category

Average DGI

Assessment

DeFi

6.01

Healthy

Social

4.74

At Risk

Infrastructure

4.27

At Risk

Public Goods

3.27

Critical

The uncomfortable truth: only **3 of 46 DAOs** score in the "Vital" range (8.0+). Public Goods DAOs — those built to serve the community — have the weakest governance structures, averaging barely above "Critical."

**Current Top 3** (February 2026): Radiant Capital (8.6), Alchemix (8.4), Aavegotchi (8.3).

What the DGI Is Not
-------------------

Let's be clear: a high DGI doesn't mean a DAO makes good decisions — just that its decision-making process is decentralized and participatory. We analyze Snapshot governance only. Identity detection has confidence intervals, and we're transparent about uncertainty.

Explore the Index
-----------------

The full DGI rankings are live and free at [**chainsights.one/governance-index**](https://chainsights.one/governance-index).

Every DAO profile includes overall score, component breakdown, 7-day trends, and category benchmarking. No login. No paywall.

Want deeper analysis? Our [Governance Reports](https://chainsights.one/check) provide detailed insights, competitive benchmarks, and actionable recommendations.

* * *

_ChainSights is built by_ [_Mario Semper_](https://linkedin.com/in/mariosemper)_, founder of masemIT e.U. 3% of all revenue is donated to_ [_hoki.help_](https://hoki.help/)_, supporting families with seriously ill children._

_Wallets lie. We don't._

---

*Originally published on [ChainSights](https://paragraph.com/@chainsights/introducing-the-dgi)*