🤝 Delegation: Empower Representatives
Learn how to delegate voting power to active governance participants
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0 / 5 completed🤝 Vote Delegation: Transferring Governance Power
Most DAO token holders never vote. Gas costs, time commitment, and complexity keep participation under 15%. Delegation solves this: transfer your voting power to someone who will use it. You keep your tokens, earn yields, stay liquid—but an active participant votes on your behalf. It's representative democracy for DAOs.
🎮 Interactive: Delegation Power Calculator
See how delegation amplifies voting power. Compare direct voting (your tokens only) vs becoming a delegate (your tokens + delegated tokens).
Your voice is negligible in governance
You're 51x more powerful — a meaningful voice
💡 Effective Power with Low Participation
Only 15% of holders actively vote. Among active voters, your effective influence is:
(1,000 tokens ÷ 150,000 active tokens)
Key insight: With delegation, your 50,000 delegated tokens become 33.33% of active voting power—often enough to swing close votes.
🎯 Why Delegation Matters
Voting on-chain costs $20-$100 in gas. If you hold $500 in tokens, that's 4-20% of your stake per vote. Economically irrational for small holders.
Understanding proposals requires reading technical docs, forum discussions, code reviews. Most holders don't have time or expertise—delegates specialize.
Delegation doesn't lock tokens. You can trade, stake for yield, or use them in DeFi—while still participating in governance through your delegate.
400M UNI delegated to ~12k addresses. Top 10 delegates control 40M+ UNI each. Small holders amplify power by choosing active delegates.
🔑 Core Concept
Delegation is representative democracy for DAOs. Instead of every token holder voting directly (low participation, high costs), holders choose representatives who vote on their behalf. It's not perfect—power concentrates in delegates—but it beats apathy. 1000 tokens means nothing if you never vote. 1000 tokens delegated to an active participant means real influence. Next, we'll explore exactly how delegation works on-chain, how to choose delegates, and what happens when you change your mind.