⚠️ Power Concentration: Risks of Mega-Delegates
Discover how delegation can centralize voting power
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0 / 5 completed📊 Delegation Creates Oligarchy
Delegation solves the participation problem but creates a new one: power concentration. When thousands delegate to a few dozen active voters, those delegates become de facto governors. Top 10-20 delegates often control 25-40% of voting power. It's efficient—but is it decentralized?
🎮 Interactive: Power Concentration Simulator
Model how many delegates control governance. See how concentration changes with delegation rates and delegate count.
Power Controlled by Top 10 Delegates
11.0%Power is well-distributed across 10 delegates. More decentralized but potentially slower decisions.
🌍 Real-World Concentration Data
Uniswap
MediumNote: a16z alone: 7% (42M UNI). Top delegate (GFX Labs): 14M UNI voting power.
Compound
Medium-HighNote: Gauntlet (risk analysis firm): 920k COMP delegated. Votes align with protocol safety.
ENS
HighNote: ENS Labs holds significant voting power. Top 3 delegates control 20%+ combined.
Gitcoin
HighNote: Stewards program creates official delegates. Most power held by aligned community leaders.
⚖️ The Oligarchy Trade-off
✅ Benefits of Concentration
- •Efficiency: Small group can coordinate quickly, make informed decisions
- •Expertise: Professional delegates research proposals full-time
- •Accountability: Public voting records, reputation on the line
- •Participation: Better than apathy—at least someone's voting
❌ Risks of Concentration
- •Collusion: Top delegates can coordinate to push self-serving proposals
- •Capture: Companies/VCs can lobby or bribe influential delegates
- •Groupthink: Small elite may miss community concerns, blind spots
- •Centralization: Not truly decentralized if 15 people control 30%
💡 Key Insight
Delegation trades decentralization for efficiency. Pure democracy (everyone votes) is impractical—gas costs, time, expertise barriers. Pure plutocracy (whales decide) is unfair. Delegated representative governance is the pragmatic middle ground—but it creates a new elite. The question isn't whether concentration exists (it does), but whether delegates are accountable and aligned with their delegators. Next, we'll explore strategies for choosing delegates and holding them accountable.