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

> Originally published on chainsights.one/blog

**Published by:** [ChainSights](https://paragraph.com/@chainsights/)
**Published on:** 2026-02-06
**Categories:** governance, daos, dgi, analytics, decentralization
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@chainsights/introducing-the-dgi

## Content

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 FoundAfter analyzing 46 major DAOs:CategoryAverage DGIAssessmentDeFi6.01HealthySocial4.74At RiskInfrastructure4.27At RiskPublic Goods3.27CriticalThe 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 NotLet'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 IndexThe full DGI rankings are live and free at 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 provide detailed insights, competitive benchmarks, and actionable recommendations.ChainSights is built by Mario Semper, founder of masemIT e.U. 3% of all revenue is donated to hoki.help, supporting families with seriously ill children. Wallets lie. We don't.

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