XAO DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization on the XRP Ledger, is preparing a series of governance changes over the next two to three months, according to co-founder Fabio Marzella. The proposed updates aim to make participation easier and more representative, with measures including wallet delegation, revised quorum rules, and community mini-grants.

Under the first change, members would be able to delegate their voting power to others when they lack time or expertise to vote on individual proposals. The DAO is also reviewing quorum requirements, including how inactive wallets count toward proposal thresholds, to prevent inactive participation from blocking decisions while keeping governance tied to the active community. Additionally, community mini-grants would allow members to submit smaller initiatives and seek funding for projects contributing to the XRPL ecosystem.

Marzella emphasized that these are not changes for the sake of change, but rather to give the community the ability to act, not just vote. He wrote that the broader goal is to create a DAO where members have real agency.

The timing comes amid growing questions about developer support within the XRPL community. On August 13, Marzella commented on the shutdown of Gen3's retail platforms, saying that funding developers alone does not solve the problem of building lasting businesses. Gen3, an XRPL infrastructure team, announced on August 12 it would spin down two retail products, aigent.run and AxiomProtocol, citing weak user demand and rising infrastructure costs. The platforms will remain live until September 13 for users to withdraw funds, while Gen3 continues its core infrastructure and participation in the ledger's amendment process.

Marzella pointed to the Gen3 news as evidence of a larger issue, arguing that funding developers only addresses half the problem if there is no path from a funded project to a sustainable business. Builder Handy Andy, replying in the same thread, described colleagues quietly calculating how much longer they can fund their own work without support, calling it 'the last roll of the dice' for some.

The reshuffle comes as XRP closed near a 21-month low this week. Santiment data shows daily active addresses averaging 35,700 in August, up from 26,400 in July, even though the number of new wallets has stayed almost flat. That distinction may matter for XAO DAO's participation plans, as more activity among existing users does not automatically mean a larger pool of people taking part in governance.

As it stands, Marzella has not provided a final timetable or detailed voting mechanics for the proposed changes, instead promising that more information will follow as each initiative progresses, leaving the community to see how delegation, quorum changes, and mini grants are eventually implemented.