Crypto glossary
Off-chain voting (Snapshot)
Off-chain voting lets DAO members sign votes for free, weighted by token balances recorded at a set block, on platforms such as Snapshot.
Instead of sending transactions, voters sign a message with their wallet. A platform such as Snapshot records the signatures and calculates each voter's weight from their token holdings, NFTs or delegated power at a chosen block height, so moving tokens after the vote starts does not change the tally. Signing costs nothing, and the results are stored on decentralized storage for anyone to verify.
Because it is free and easy to set up, off-chain voting is the default tool for most DAOs, from small communities to large DeFi protocols that use it for temperature checks before a binding on-chain vote. Custom strategies allow quadratic weighting, whitelists or votes counted across several chains.
The result is not self-executing: a multisig or core team must carry it out, so members still trust those signers to respect the outcome. Tools such as oSnap link Snapshot results to automatic execution through an optimistic oracle. Low turnout and whales voting at the last minute are recurring problems.
Example
A DAO opens a Snapshot poll on a new treasury policy; members sign their votes in a few seconds without paying gas, and the multisig executes the transfer once the poll closes in favour.