2026-05-08 –, Sladkovský Stage
Onchain governance doesn’t have to be complex. This talk explores how EVM-compatible smart contracts on Bitcoin enable DAOs with intuitive UX, making it possible to go from staking to voting in just a few clicks.
Decentralized governance often fails not because of ideology or incentives, but because of poor user experience. Wallet friction, complex flows, and opaque voting systems prevent most users from ever participating.
This talk explores how Rootstock’s EVM-compatible smart contracts have enabled DAOs to exist natively on Bitcoin—and how the focus is now shifting from infrastructure to usability. Drawing on real-world lessons from building governance at RootstockCollective, Sascha shares how simplifying user journeys can dramatically increase participation.
The session will examine how thoughtful UX design can reduce governance to a few intuitive actions: stake, understand, vote. It will cover practical design decisions, common pitfalls in DAO tooling, and how aligning incentives with usability turns passive token holders into active contributors.
Rather than treating governance as a technical hurdle, this talk reframes it as a product problem, one where great UX is the key to sustainable decentralization.
Sascha Goetz is founder of RootstockCollective, a DAO designed to help developers and builders unlock value from Bitcoin. A second time founder who is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs realize their dreams. Sascha brought his expertise to the world of Web3 in 2021 and has since worked in a variety of roles focused primarily around supporting the growth of Rootstock.