Disagreements within decentralised autonomous organisations are a sign of healthy governance rather than dysfunction, according to Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov.
“If everyone automatically agrees on something, it feels like people just don't really care,”
Egorov told Cointelegraph, adding that low participation and “governance apathy” would be a far greater warning sign than open debate.
He pointed to a 2024 Curve DAO proposal to grant Swiss Stake AG about $6.3 million, which drew significant pushback before being revised and resubmitted in December 2025, when the updated version achieved more than 80% voter turnout.
The comments come as DAOs continue to face participation challenges, with a LamprosTech analysis finding that voter turnout in most DAOs rarely exceeds 15%, concentrating influence among a small group of active participants.
Egorov also referenced a December 2025 dispute within the Aave DAO over fees from a CoW Swap integration that were directed to a wallet controlled by Aave Labs, triggering debate over intellectual property rights and brand control.
A subsequent proposal to transfer Aave brand assets and intellectual property to DAO control ultimately failed, highlighting ongoing tensions between decentralised governance and core development teams.
Egorov argued that clearer legal recognition allowing DAOs to own business entities and bank accounts could reduce such conflicts, while noting that decentralised structures are well suited to governing onchain activity but may still require traditional frameworks for offchain operations.