In the journey to build a truly decentralized ecosystem, the core factor lies not only in superior Layer-1 infrastructure technology but also in community governance. With @Somnia Official , the challenge is particularly special: how to transfer control from the founding development team (such as Improbable) to a decentralized community while still maintaining the speed, smoothness, and enormous scalability that are hallmarks of Somnia Chain.

DAO – The pillar of power transfer

Somnia DAO is designed as a tool to balance rapid innovation and transparent, secure decision-making. The focus of this model is the token $SOMI, which allows holders to participate directly in the governance mechanism. Through staking, delegation, and voting, the community will decide on key issues: from network upgrades, ecosystem funding, to long-term strategic direction.

#Somnia also outlines a 'Governance 2.0' roadmap extending from 2029–2030, in which power is gradually transferred from the core team to the DAO. This is a cautious yet sure approach, ensuring that the ecosystem is mature enough to operate decentralized without losing metaverse-grade performance.

Governance is tied to the consensus mechanism

Somnia implements Delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPoS), where staking not only ensures network security but also determines voting rights. SOMI holders can:

  • Directly running validators to validate transactions.

  • Delegating tokens to other validators and still receiving rewards.

This mechanism creates a close linkage: those who stake the most economically are also the ones with the strongest voice in governance. As a result, the DAO minimizes the risk of making short-term decisions or undermining the long-term value of the network.

Treasury and Ecosystem Fund – The foundation for community growth

One of the highlights of Somnia is the Ecosystem Fund, holding 27.35% of the total SOMI supply. Initially, this fund is managed by the Virtual Society Foundation, but according to the roadmap, control will gradually shift to the DAO.

This opens up opportunities for the community to decide how to allocate this massive capital:

  • Funding for developers and projects building on Somnia.

  • Upgrading the SDK to expand applications.

  • Organizing global hackathons to encourage creativity.

  • Establishing strategic partnerships.

With over 55% of the total token supply dedicated to community and ecosystem development, Somnia lays the foundation for an Open Metaverse that is not only decentralized but also inclusive and comprehensive.

Technical challenges and governance approaches

Somnia is designed to achieve 1 million TPS and confirmation latency under 1 second – a key standard for real-time metaverse applications. However, this performance also brings challenges: the DAO must handle extremely complex technical proposals.

To avoid risks from 'decisions lacking expertise', Somnia DAO will integrate:

  • A specialized voting mechanism for technical proposals.

  • A delegation system for validators, researchers, and partners with deep expertise.

This ensures that critical upgrades – such as optimizing MultiStream Consensus or integrating zk-Rollups – will be evaluated and approved by those with solid technical understanding, rather than relying solely on the majority.

The road ahead

Somnia's governance model is both practical and ambitious: starting with centralized leadership to ensure stability, then gradually decentralizing as the community and infrastructure mature.

By tightly integrating governance – staking – treasury – technical capability, Somnia not only creates an efficient DAO mechanism but also shapes the DAO as a guardian for the expansive, decentralized, and sustainable metaverse vision.

👉 In this scenario, speed and security are never sacrificed, while the community increasingly holds more power in shaping the future of Somnia. This can be seen as one of the pioneering models for blockchain governance in the Open Metaverse era. $SOMI