🎯 Threshold Models: 2-of-3 vs 3-of-5
Understand how to balance security and usability
Secure DAO funds with multi-signature wallets
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0 / 5 completed📊 Choosing Your Threshold
There's no perfect multi-sig configuration. Higher threshold = more secure but slower. Lower threshold = faster but more vulnerable. The right choice depends on treasury size, operational needs, and threat model. Here's how top protocols think about it.
🎮 Interactive: Threshold Model Comparison
Compare different threshold strategies. Each model balances security, speed, and operational complexity differently.
Supermajority (60-70%)
Require 60-70% consensus for enhanced security
Most DAOs with significant treasuries ($10M-$100M)
- • Strong security (4+ signers needed)
- • Still reasonable to coordinate
- • Tolerates 2-3 offline signers
- • Industry standard for large treasuries
- • Slower than simple majority (need 4+ people)
- • Coordination overhead increases
- • Emergency actions take longer
- • More complex signer management
Real Example: Uniswap, Compound, Aave use 4-of-6 or 5-of-9 for main treasuries
Risk Assessment: Low: Recommended for most serious DAOs with substantial assets
🎯 Threshold Selection Guide
Use 3-of-5 simple majority. Operational speed matters more than maximum security. Focus on key distribution and signer independence.
Use 4-of-6 or 5-of-7 supermajority. Balance security and operability. This is the industry standard for established protocols.
Use 6-of-8 or 7-of-9 high security. Maximum protection justified. Accept slower operations as cost of security. Have emergency sub-committees for urgent actions.
💡 Key Insight
The biggest mistake: choosing threshold based on security alone. A 9-of-11 multi-sig sounds ultra-secure, but if it takes 3 weeks to coordinate 9 signatures, you can't respond to emergencies. Smart protocols use tiered multi-sigs: high threshold (6-of-8) for main treasury, lower threshold (3-of-5) for operational spending with monthly limits. Security AND operability.