Welcome to the second edition of DAO Digest, Lokapal’s monthly roundup of real-world governance in action.

This month, we track three stories that highlight how DAOs are recalibrating — not in crisis, but in strategy:

• Compound revives its momentum with a lean foundation and renewed focus,

• Arbitrum adjusts its quorum rules to match voter reality,

• And Uniswap struggles through a two-round vote to fund key infrastructure.

Each case reminds us that governance is an ongoing process, not a static structure — and that even minor adjustments can shape how power flows, decisions land, and communities respond.

With unanimous support and over 3x quorum, Compound DAO has voted to create the Compound Foundation — a lean, 18-month initiative to reignite protocol growth and reassert Compound’s place in the DeFi ecosystem.

Once a defining force in on-chain governance, Compound has seen stagnation due to competition, regulatory headwinds, and operational inertia. The new foundation will act as a strategic coordinator, steering product direction, advocating globally for the protocol, and connecting DAO stakeholders with aligned execution partners.

The plan, backed by a $9M budget through 2026, emphasizes staying lean and proving results before scaling. The team behind the proposal cited input from over 30 community members and active public discussions as a key driver of its final shape.

> DAO note: Foundations are emerging as a favored hybrid — DAO-aligned, but legally grounded. If done well, they can bridge governance intent with real-world delivery.

Arbitrum DAO has passed a constitutional proposal to reduce its quorum threshold from 5% to 4.5% of votable $ARB — a modest yet meaningful shift aimed at aligning governance requirements with current participation levels.

The vote passed with a healthy margin: 215.7M FOR, just over the required 214.6M quorum. The rationale? Participation has declined from 8% to ~4–5% over the past year, while the total $ARB supply has grown — pushing quorum targets higher even as voter engagement stagnates.

This change introduces no smart contract upgrades or costs. It simply updates the constant used to calculate quorum, lowering the bar by roughly 25M ARB, and making it more likely that well-supported proposals reach execution.

> DAO note: Lowering quorum is often seen as risky — but refusing to adapt can be riskier. Arbitrum’s approach: small, data-backed, and reversible.

Uniswap DAO has approved a $340K proposal from GFX Labs to scale Uniswap V4 infrastructure and integrate Unichain into the Oku interface — but only after a second vote, following a failed quorum on the first round.

GFX Labs, a long-time contributor to the Uniswap ecosystem, will now deliver:

• A dedicated V4 liquidity management interface

• Pool analytics, routing, and a public data API

• Full Oku integration with Unichain’s V3 and future V4 deployments

The funding includes $250K for Ethereum Mainnet V4 tooling and $90K for ongoing Unichain support, with GFX waiving standard integration fees. Their pitch: as V4 gains adoption, users need better UX, analytics, and access — or risk losing momentum to complexity.

The proposal gained strong support in both rounds, but only passed quorum on the second, reflecting the ongoing challenge of voter engagement even for clearly backed initiatives.

> DAO note: Voter turnout isn’t just a metric — it’s a bottleneck. If even well-supported proposals require multiple rounds, infrastructure alone won’t scale usage. Governance has to scale too.

DAO Digest isn’t here to predict or praise. It’s here to record — and to notice what’s changing while it’s still unfolding.

We’ll be back next month with more governance signals from the decentralized world.

Until then, observe the votes. Read between the quorums.