Agora, a blockchain governance startup, is set to acquire its competitor Boardroom. The acquisition is seen as a strategic move to bolster governance across the Ethereum ecosystem, especially following President Trump’s promise to provide regulatory clarity to the blockchain sector.
“2025 is the year we make good governance the standard for all protocols in Ethereum,” said Agora co-founder Yitong Zhang.
Founded in 2022 by Zhang, Charlie Feng, and Kent Fenwick, Agora focuses on governance tools initially developed for Nouns DAO, which emerged during the buzz around DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) and NFTs in 2021.
The term “DAO” generally refers to crypto communities governed by their token holders, often seen as a transformative force for decentralization, despite their complexities. Supporting tools like Agora aim to enhance these frameworks.
Agora positions itself as a provider of user-friendly, open-source governance solutions for various DAOs, including Uniswap and Optimism, both of which utilize Agora’s platform for organizing token holders and facilitating governance votes.
Boardroom, which predates Agora and shares similar objectives, has transitioned from a DAO tool to a data feed, akin to a “Bloomberg” for crypto governance data.
While Agora has not disclosed the acquisition cost, Boardroom employees are being offered positions at Agora, and Kevin Nielsen is remaining onboard as an advisor. “There’s no plan to deprecate Boardroom,” Zhang mentioned, emphasizing their commitment to maintaining both platforms while exploring their integration.
A new day for DAOs?
The popularity of DAOs has waned somewhat since their peak, encountering challenges in effective coordination among token holders. The increasing emphasis on improving DAO tools may alleviate some of these issues, but organizational hurdles remain significant. Additionally, a lack of regulatory clarity continues to pose challenges for DAOs, complicating decisions around token issuance and governance.
“From a business perspective, DAOs are making a strong comeback,” Zhang remarked, noting a substantial growth of “10X” in his business amid the ongoing discussions of regulation. “People haven’t noticed yet because of the apprehension stemming from previous DAO experiences.”
The Trump administration’s intention to clarify cryptocurrency guidelines has rekindled optimism among industry players, including Zhang, who anticipates clear definitions for decentralization, security, and compliant token issuance.
