Towards Secure and Trustworthy DAOs for Cross-Chain Governance

2026-07-17

AI Summary

This work addresses critical security threats confronting cross-chain DAO governance, including bribery attacks, token manipulation, human-computer interaction spoofing, and protocol-level vulnerabilities. To mitigate these risks, the paper proposes a multi-layered security framework that integrates a governance core enforcing on-chain rule validation, a cross-chain trust layer grounded in threshold cryptography, and a resilience layer enabling time-locked decision reversals and progressive dispute resolution. By combining fraud-resistant consensus mechanisms with decentralized verification techniques, the framework establishes a structured defense architecture that substantially enhances the transparency, security, and attack resilience of cross-chain DAO governance systems.

Abstract

Cross-chain DAOs face unique security challenges that go beyond traditional single-chain vulnerabilities. This paper identifies and categorizes four critical attack vectors in cross-chain DAO governance: bribery attacks, token control exploits, human-computer interaction deceptions, and protocol vulnerabilities. We propose a comprehensive security framework with a multi-layered architecture that integrates cryptographic trust anchors, fraud-resistant consensus mechanisms, and decentralized validation techniques to address these threats. Our framework introduces novel components, including a Governance Kernel with on-chain rule verification, a Cross-Chain Trust Layer using threshold cryptography, and a Resilience Layer offering time-locked decision reversals and progressive dispute resolution. By establishing a structured set of countermeasures, this work lays the foundation for secure, transparent, and attack-resistant governance across diverse blockchain environments.

Problem

• cross-chain DAO
• governance security
• attack vectors
• blockchain interoperability
• trustworthy governance

Innovation

• cross-chain DAO
• threshold cryptography
• governance kernel
• resilience layer
• fraud-resistant consensus