A block snapshot is a record of on-chain state, typically token balances or governance weights, captured at a specific block height. In decentralised governance it freezes voting power at a chosen block so that token holdings used to weight votes cannot be manipulated by transfers during the voting window. Snapshots underpin gasless off-chain voting systems and fair airdrop distributions by providing a tamper-evident, reproducible baseline state.
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- By fixing eligibility and voting power at a pre-announced block, snapshots prevent vote-buying via last-minute token transfers. The same mechanism supports reproducible airdrop eligibility and any process that must reference a deterministic past state of the ledger.