Solana’s governance hub, Realms, is taking a major step in its evolution by transitioning to new management under an entity named ‘Realms Today Trust.’ This shift marks its separation from Solana Labs, with the new leadership aiming to bring profitability to the platform while maintaining its commitment to decentralized governance.
Dean Pappas, a longtime contributor to Realms and one of the four leaders of the newly formed entity, emphasized that the governance hub would continue to provide free tools that empower token holders to have a voice in project decisions. However, in order to sustain operations, Realms will begin developing paid services, including crypto consulting for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
New Features and Services on the Horizon
According to Pappas, the separation from Solana Labs is necessary to drive Realms toward financial independence, but he assured that it would not affect the free public products that have become central to Solana-based DAOs. Governance tools—critical for voting and decision-making in decentralized projects—will remain accessible without charge.
To expand its service offerings, Realms is introducing new consulting services designed to assist DAOs in building governance structures. One of the more notable additions is a registration hotline aimed at helping DAOs create legal entities and set up bank accounts. Additionally, Realms plans to issue a credit card that will enable organizations to spend their crypto funds more easily, bridging the gap between decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional financial infrastructure.
The governance hub is also launching a grant program, with $200,000 earmarked to support emerging DAOs on Solana. While Pappas did not disclose the source of these funds, the initiative is expected to help foster innovation and growth within the Solana ecosystem.
Scaling the Team and Expanding Features
Currently staffed by 12 full-time employees, Realms is planning to expand its team further as it embarks on its new mission. The company aims to create more customized front-end interfaces for different governance use cases, moving away from the current one-size-fits-all approach to tokenized governance.
As part of this evolution, Realms may also implement changes to Solana’s SPL token governance standard, allowing for more flexibility in the ways projects manage token-based decision-making processes. While the core of Realms’ governance tools will remain open-source, Pappas confirmed that the codebase will be forked as a foundation for building new features tailored to the needs of specific DAOs.
Challenges and Opportunities Ahead
The shift toward profitability represents a significant change for Realms, which has traditionally operated under the umbrella of Solana Labs as a free platform for decentralized governance. By diversifying its offerings and introducing paid services, Realms hopes to secure its long-term sustainability in the fast-evolving blockchain space.
For Solana’s growing ecosystem of DAOs, this transition offers both opportunities and challenges. While free governance tools will continue to be available, organizations may need to invest in additional services to build more complex governance structures or access legal and financial resources.
With the introduction of new paid features and a grant program to support innovation, Realms is positioning itself as a critical player in the future of decentralized governance on Solana, one that will help DAOs grow while keeping community engagement and transparency at its core.
As Solana’s DAOs evolve and governance needs become more sophisticated, Realms’ shift toward a more sustainable business model could set a new standard for governance platforms across the blockchain ecosystem. Whether these changes will be embraced by the broader community remains to be seen, but Realms’ leadership is optimistic that its new direction will fuel long-term growth and innovation on Solana.
