How Does a Large Token Holding Impact a DeFi Protocol’s Governance Mechanism?

A large treasury holding translates directly into significant voting power for the core team or a few entities if the tokens are used for governance. This concentration undermines the decentralized nature of the protocol, creating a pseudo-centralized authority.

It can discourage community participation, as smaller voters feel their influence is negligible. This can lead to decisions being pushed through that benefit the insiders over the broader community.

What Is ‘Miner Centralization’ in PoW and How Does It Compare to ‘Validator Centralization’ in PoS?
How Does Token Distribution Affect the Decentralization and Fairness of a DeFi Community?
What Is a Common Mechanism for Vesting or Locking Treasury Tokens to Prevent Immediate Governance Abuse?
How Can a DAO Demonstrate “Sufficient Decentralization” to Regulators?
How Does the DPoS Model Attempt to Solve the Low Participation Problem in Governance?
How Can a DAO Use Tokenized Vaults to Manage Its Governance Participation?
How Does the Concept of “Delegated Voting” Impact the Valuation of a Governance Token?
What Is the Potential for Voter Apathy in On-Chain Governance Systems?

Glossar