What is conviction voting?

Conviction voting is a continuous voting mechanism where your voting power accumulates over time. The longer you stake tokens on a proposal, the more 'conviction' you build. Proposals pass when total conviction exceeds a threshold. Unlike snapshot voting, you can change your vote anytime - conviction decays when you withdraw. Pioneered by 1Hive and used in Gardens DAOs.

How does conviction accumulate?

Formula: Conviction(t+1) = Conviction(t) × decay + tokens_staked. Each time period, old conviction decays slightly while new conviction from staked tokens adds. With constant staking, conviction approaches a maximum: tokens × (1/(1-decay)). Typical decay is 0.9-0.99 per period. Higher decay = slower accumulation but higher max.

What is the decay rate?

Decay (α) determines how fast conviction fades when you withdraw. α=0.9 means 10% decays per period. Higher α = conviction persists longer, benefits long-term supporters. Lower α = more responsive to recent votes. 1Hive uses α≈0.9999 with ~3.5 day half-life. Decay prevents permanently locked governance.

How is the threshold calculated?

Threshold often scales with request amount. Larger funding requests need more conviction. Common formula: threshold = weight × (requested / (total_funds - requested)). This makes small requests easy to pass, large requests need broad support. Some DAOs use fixed thresholds or tiered systems.

When does a proposal pass?

When total conviction from all supporters exceeds the threshold. Could take hours for small popular proposals, weeks for large controversial ones. Proposals don't have deadlines - they stay open until passed or supporters give up. This encourages patient, genuine support over rushed voting.

Can I vote on multiple proposals?

Yes, but your tokens are split. If you have 1000 tokens and vote 60% on proposal A, 40% on proposal B, you contribute 600 tokens worth of conviction to A and 400 to B. Some implementations let you allocate percentages, others require choosing one proposal per token.

What happens if I withdraw my vote?

Your contribution to conviction stops adding, and your existing conviction decays each period. With α=0.9 decay, your conviction drops by 10% each period until near zero. Other supporters' conviction keeps building. Strategic withdrawal can be used to shift support between proposals.

Conviction voting vs quadratic voting?

Different goals. Quadratic reduces whale dominance via cost curves. Conviction rewards patience and sustained support - whale with 100x tokens but voting for 1 day might lose to small holder voting for 30 days. Conviction also allows continuous voting without discrete voting periods. Can be combined.

Conviction Voting Calculator

Time-based voting power accumulation

Conviction(t+1) = Conviction(t) × α + Staked Tokens|Max Conviction = Tokens × 1/(1-α)|α = decay rate (0.9-0.99)

Conviction Accumulation

Tokens Staked

Decay Rate (α)

Time Periods

Initial Conviction

Threshold & Time to Pass

Threshold to Pass

Your Tokens

Other Supporters' Tokens

Decay Rate

Conviction Over Time

Calculate to see chart

ConvictionThresholdMax Possible

Decay Rate Comparison

See how different decay rates affect conviction accumulation (1000 tokens over 50 periods)

α = 0.8

~5,000

Fast buildup

Max: 5,000

α = 0.9

~9,950

Moderate

Max: 10,000

α = 0.95

~18,350

Slow buildup

Max: 20,000

α = 0.99

~39,500

Very slow

Max: 100,000

Real Example: 1Hive Gardens Proposal

A community wants to fund a $10,000 developer grant from a $100,000 treasury:

Threshold Calculation

threshold = 2 × ($10K / ($100K - $10K))

= 0.222 of total stake needed

Support Needed

If 1M tokens total staked

Need ~222K tokens worth of max conviction

Time Estimate

With 50K tokens supporting, α=0.9

~15-20 periods to pass

Conviction Voting FAQ

Why does conviction take so long to build?

By design. Conviction voting filters out impulsive decisions and rewards genuine, sustained support. If you really want something, you'll wait. If a proposal can't maintain support for a few weeks, maybe it shouldn't pass. The patience requirement is a feature, not a bug.

Can a whale pass anything instantly?

No - even whales need time for conviction to accumulate. A whale with 50% of tokens still needs multiple periods to reach threshold. This prevents governance attacks where someone borrows tokens, votes, then returns them. The time component is the defense.

What if I need to use my tokens?

You can withdraw anytime - conviction just decays. There's no lock. This is different from veToken systems. The tradeoff: easy liquidity but your governance influence fades. Some people keep a portion always staked on proposals they support long-term.

How do I know what threshold my proposal needs?

Check the DAO's parameters. Usually visible in the governance interface. Threshold often depends on request size - asking for 1% of treasury needs less conviction than asking for 20%. Some DAOs publish threshold formulas in their documentation.

Should I concentrate votes or spread them?

Depends on priorities. Conviction is linear with tokens - no quadratic effects. Splitting 1000 tokens across 2 proposals gives each 500 tokens worth of conviction growth. If one proposal is urgent and another can wait, concentrate on the urgent one first.

What happens after a proposal passes?

Typically the requested funds are released automatically via smart contract. Your tokens are freed and conviction resets. You can immediately stake on another proposal. Some systems have a brief execution delay for security review, similar to timelocks.

Conviction Voting Calculator

Conviction Accumulation

Threshold & Time to Pass

Conviction Over Time

Decay Rate Comparison

Real Example: 1Hive Gardens Proposal

Conviction Voting FAQ

Why does conviction take so long to build?

Can a whale pass anything instantly?

What if I need to use my tokens?

How do I know what threshold my proposal needs?

Should I concentrate votes or spread them?

What happens after a proposal passes?

Recommended Tools

💬 User Comments

Conviction Voting Calculator

Conviction Accumulation

Threshold & Time to Pass

Conviction Over Time

Decay Rate Comparison

Real Example: 1Hive Gardens Proposal

Conviction Voting FAQ

Why does conviction take so long to build?

Can a whale pass anything instantly?

What if I need to use my tokens?

How do I know what threshold my proposal needs?

Should I concentrate votes or spread them?

What happens after a proposal passes?

Recommended Tools

💬 User Comments

Search Tools

Rate this tool

AI Share Optimization

Current Tool

Generated Share Messages

Grok AI Integration