Over the last 18 months since Hats Protocol was deployed, there has been a ton of experimentation by 50+ DAOs on how to use the protocol to solve real problems. One of the big challenges we’ve faced when talking and writing about the protocol is that it can do so many different things, so it was initially hard to distill that down into what the protocol does best. Hats Protocol was designed to be quite unopinionated, flexible, and highly composable, on purpose.
What the protocol does best is still an open inquiry, with some really exciting implementations by top DAOs in the works that we’ll be able to share more about soon. But what the protocol does really well is now quite clear. More DAOs than ever are using Hats to automate onboarding, power elections, and manage permissions across the internet with programmable onchain roles, and four primary use cases have risen to the top, with multiple live examples for each.
They are:
Each of these use cases can be combined with the others, along with any of the other 20+ permissions and accountabilities you can automate with Hats. But for now, we’ll keep things simple and focus on 4 of the most common ways Hats is solving real problems and helping organizations get shit done, with 12 unique examples of Hats in action:
Grant and revoke Safe multisig signing authority for individuals, committees, and councils, increasing security and simplifying role transitions.
As DAOs scale, they often face challenges in securely managing signing authority over their Safe multisigs. This becomes particularly painful during role transitions, when the potential for operational delays and governance risks increase substantially.
Hats enables organizations like Purple, Questbook, and TreasureDAO to securely grant control of funds and contracts to specific individuals, committees, and councils, while retaining the ability to revoke or transfer that authority as needed.
Key features:
Securely delegate, revoke, and transfer Safe multisig signing authority‍
Simplify role transitions to save time
Automate signing authority based on specific eligibility rules
Specific examples:
Questbook is securely managing signing authority across four domains for an Arbitrum grants program (Questbook w/ Arbitrum)*
TreasureDAO formed a council with the power to vote on the organization’s behalf in DAO governance (TreasureDAO)
Purple is granting its Security Council the ability to veto DAO proposals to protect against governance attacks (Purple)
Learn more about these examples of secure multisig management here.
Transform governance into action with fully onchain elections that automatically grant permissions based on election results, enforce term limits, and hold elected positions accountable.
Governance is at the heart in decentralized organizations, but governance is only as effective as its ability to then turn decisions into action. This is where today’s election systems fall short.
Hats Protocol, via our integrations with Snapshot, Tally, JokeRace, and Decent, offers a better way to conduct elections for councils, committees, and important roles, fortified with security, permissions, and automation.
Key features:
Grant permissions automatically based on election results
Revoke permissions automatically after terms expire or when individuals are no longer eligible
Stream compensation to election winners as long as they're holding the role
Specific examples:
Purple elected its Grants Chair and Revenue Chair roles through transparent onchain elections (Purple)*
DecentDAO enables organizations to appoint roles through DAO governance with built-in compensation using Hats & Sablier (Decent DAO)
Premia Finance increased protocol security by enabling token holders to govern the protocol if multisig signers were corrupted or MIA (Premia Finance)
Learn more about these examples of fully onchain elections here.
You can also set additional eligibility rules for roles that are continuously enforced, or build your own and submit it to the Hats modules registry.
Streamline contributor access to workspaces, documents, and communication channels, saving time and reducing manual overhead.
Managing access to workspaces, documents, and communications channels in a growing organization can be a nightmare. With contributors joining and leaving, roles changing, and permissions evolving, it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. This often results in security risks, inefficiencies, and a lack of accountability.
Hats Protocol automates access management across all levels of your organization. By automatically granting and revoking contributor permissions based on predefined eligibility rules — such as agreements, subscriptions, assets, and more — Hats ensures that only the right people have the right access at the right times, without the need for any centralized oversight or manual verification.
Key features:
Automate contributor onboarding and offboarding
Add subscription or membership-based access to community workspaces and channels
Ensure transparent and auditable records of contributor access to permissions
Specific examples:
Optimism Fractal is creating pathways for contributors to "level up" automatically as they get more involved and accrue reputation (Optimism Fractal)*
LEXClinic requires new members to sign an entry agreement in order to access private docs and workspaces (LEXClinic)
Unlock Protocol enables organizations to provide subscription-based access or charge a membership fee to claim specific roles and access their permissions (Unlock Protocol)
Learn more about these examples of automated workspace access management here.
And see the docs for the full list of permissions and authorities that can be accessed via Hats:
Build a better grants program from start to finish, from transparent committee elections to streamlined review permissions to secure fund distribution.
Many DAO grants programs struggle with fragmented permissions, unclear responsibilities, and inefficient fund management. These issues often result in a lack of accountability, compliance problems, and difficulties in managing grants programs effectively, leading to wasted resources and huge operational costs.
Hats Protocol provides organizations with a better way to manage their grants program from start to finish: hold transparent committee elections, give committee members the multisig signing authorities they need, simplify permissions across the review process, and hold both committee members and grantees accountable to their commitments.
Key features:
Delegate, revoke, and transfer control over grants distributions safely
Give grants committee members multisig signing authority & access to different stages of the grant review process
Easily transfer roles and permissions across the review process from one grants round to another
Specific examples:
RareDAO is giving its grants committee the ability to allocate funds on the organization's behalf while holding them accountable to their commitments (RareDAO Grants Committee)
Grant Ships has developed a competitive grant allocation game for the Arbitrum ecosystem where multiple groups compete to best allocate funds within a given domain (Grant Ships w/ Arbitrum)
RareDAO has simplified the grants review process with role-based permissions for its grants committee members, grants chair, and foundation operator roles (RareDAO Grants Committee Members, Chair, and Foundation Operator)*
Learn more about these examples of grants programs here.
Organizations are using Hats Protocol to save time, automate onboarding, and manage permissions across the internet with programmable onchain roles. See all 12 use case examples and 6 organizational case studies on the Hats Protocol website here, and get in touch here to book a demo.
