# How the DAO Works

The Alvara DAO is the decentralized governance body of the protocol. It is governed by veALVA holders who participate in gauge weight voting, directing ALVA rewards to BSKTs each epoch.

## Governance Model

Alvara's governance includes a **gauge weight voting** mechanism, similar to protocols like Curve and Balancer. As well as voting on individual proposals for protocol changes, veALVA holders vote on how to allocate reward emissions across BSKTs.

This creates a feedback loop:

1. **Managers** create high-performing BSKTs to attract gauge weight votes
2. **Voters** direct rewards to BSKTs they believe in
3. **Depositors** in rewarded BSKTs earn additional ALVA
4. **More capital** flows into well-performing BSKTs

## Voting Power

Your voting power equals your veALVA balance. More veALVA means more influence over reward allocation.

* veALVA is earned by locking ALVA (see [What is veALVA?](https://docs.alvara.xyz/staking-and-vealva/what-is-vealva))
* No minimum veALVA is required to vote
* Each veALVA equals one vote
* Voting power is proportional. If you hold 1% of all veALVA, you control 1% of the gauge weight allocation

## Proposals

For protocol-level governance decisions (beyond gauge weight voting):

* **Viewing**: Anyone can view proposals on [Snapshot](https://snapshot.org/#/s:bskt.eth)
* **Creating**: Requires 3,000 veALVA minimum
* **Voting**: No minimum veALVA required
* **Pass threshold**: 51% of votes cast, with a 20% quorum of total veALVA

## Where Governance Happens

| Activity             | Platform                                             |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| Gauge weight voting  | Alvara app (DAO page)                                |
| Governance proposals | [Snapshot](https://snapshot.org/#/s:bskt.eth)        |
| Discussion & debate  | [Governance Forum](https://governance.alvara.xyz/)   |
| Community chat       | [Discord](https://discord.com/invite/alvaraprotocol) |