Selective Cross-DAO Execution Coupling for Modular on-Chain Governance

Abstract

As DAOs take on broader operational roles, governance responsibilities are increasingly distributed across autonomous units within and across organizations. Decisions in one unit may condition actions in another, creating cross-DAO dependencies that require deliberate coordination. Existing interoperability tooling addresses technical transport, but not the governance question of when or how tightly such coupling should be activated. This distinction is important because on-chain cross-DAO actions can be difficult to reverse once triggered. This paper therefore introduces a decision framework for evaluating scoped cross-DAO dependencies across cost and value dimensions. The resulting integration score maps deterministically to one of five coordination modes: isolate, manual, partial, conditional, or full. The framework is implemented in a prototype comprising a governance decision layer and an on-chain enforcement layer, where automation is activated only after explicit multi-DAO authorization. A scenario-based evaluation across seven dependency scopes shows that the framework produces differentiated and auditable recommendations tied to scored governance attributes. It further shows that simulation-derived evidence primarily shifts mode selection in near-threshold cases. The framework thus treats coupling as a deliberate, evidence-grounded governance act rather than as a default consequence of available interoperability tooling, offering a step toward practical automation for complex real-world DAO interactions.