Article Details

New in the Aragon App: Governance and Access Control With Any Address

You can now seamlessly add any EVM address like Safes, OpenZeppelin contracts, DAOs, and more, as governance bodies to your organization on Aragon, all in just a few clicks.

This update is a major leap forward in how onchain organizations can manage governance with interoperability at the helm, enabling projects to tap into merged experiences across leading tools. Building on the launch of the Aragon app and Governance Designer two months ago, this new feature takes effective governance to the next level. Onchain organizations can now integrate existing tools directly into Aragon’s governance framework, making decision-making more streamlined, transparent, and flexible.

The Power of Safes and External Addresses in Aragon

Having the flexibility to add existing EVM addresses, such as Safes, allows you to assign important governance roles, such as approving or vetoing proposals, to multiple contributors across different platforms while maintaining your existing infrastructure without the need to switch tools.

Previously, Aragon allowed the use of OSx plugins as governance bodies—distinct stakeholder groups with a defined role in an organization's governance. Now, with the ability to add any address, you can bring in any contract that supports EVM, enabling you to seamlessly integrate your current setup into your organization and transparently display it in the no-code Aragon app.

With this update, projects can experience:

• Unified Operations: Whether you’re using Safes for treasury management, OpenZeppelin Governor contracts, or multiple sub-DAOs for governance, you can now bring all of these components into Aragon for a smooth and unified experience.
• Transparency: No more admin multisigs controlling contracts behind the scenes—with all governance actions visible onchain and roles like veto powers clearly defined, transparency is built into the system.
• Unmatched Flexibility: You no longer have to rely solely on Aragon plugins available in our UI. Safes, OpenZeppelin contracts, DAOs, or any other EVM-compatible contract can now be integrated into your governance processes, unlocking a world of use cases to be explored and implemented.
• No-Code Integration: The integration process is straightforward and doesn’t require coding. You can configure your governance process in just a few clicks, keeping everything within your existing toolset.

Streamlined Decision-Making = Effective Governance

Whether you're managing treasury funds, reviewing proposals, or overseeing decentralized decision-making, Aragon now gives you the flexibility to handle it all in one place.

Organizations using Safes for treasury management or proposal reviews can now integrate them directly into their Aragon governance processes. No more switching between platforms — everything is done within the Safe UI. Safes can now serve as governance councils, approving or vetoing proposals directly in the interface.

For onchain organizations that rely on security-critical contracts, integrating OpenZeppelin contracts into Aragon governance ensures both high security and the transparency that Aragon provides. The result is a robust and flexible governance framework that combines the reliability of OpenZeppelin’s battle-tested contracts with the transparency of Aragon’s decentralized decision-making process.

Additionally, this update introduces DAO-to-DAO integration, allowing organizations to build hierarchical governance structures. Parent DAOs can now incorporate sub-DAOs as governance bodies, enabling sub-DAOs to vote on proposals within the parent DAO.

Getting Started

Adding external addresses to your governance is easy to set up, and can be completed in a few simple steps:

1. Open the Governance Designer: Launch the Governance Designer in Aragon and create a new governance process.
2. Add External Addresses: Choose “External address” as the governing body type, and paste in the EVM address of your Safe, OpenZeppelin contract, DAO, or any other external contract.
3. Define Roles: Specify the role of the external address (such as approval or veto) and deploy the process.
4. Vote and Execute: Once deployed, the owner of the address can easily connect their wallet via WalletConnect or any other interface, allowing them to vote or initiate transactions directly from the external address.

This new release is a huge win for onchain organizations that want to keep using the tools they trust while unlocking the full potential of Aragon’s governance stack, and just one more way Aragon is empowering onchain organizations to build and scale governance solutions that meet their specific needs.

Learn more about how the Aragon app can help you manage your organization effectively onchain, or get started today on building your governance.