Decentralization Reforms to Mitigate Power Concentration, Conflicts of Interest, and Potential Collusion
Governance reform proposal for Aquarius DAO addressing power concentration risks. Proposes vote weight caps (25% per entity with aggregation), mandatory conflict-of-interest disclosures with on-chain verification, and raised quorum thresholds (15% for treasury/grant proposals) to reduce manipulation and collusion among dominant delegates.
Aquarius governance faces systemic risks from vote concentration among dominant delegates and large blocs. The proposal cites a June 2025 case study: proposal #108 to allocate 50 million AQUA tokens passed with 87% support but only 10.2% quorum, with the top two wallets controlling 73% of all supporting votes, effectively deciding a $41M treasury commitment despite widespread community concerns. To prevent future governance capture, the proposal enacts three reforms: vote weight caps limiting any entity to 25% of participating voting power (with entity aggregation to prevent multi-wallet circumvention), mandatory conflict-of-interest disclosures by delegates before voting on related proposals (with on-chain evidence bounty system), and raised quorum requirements to 15% for high-stakes treasury and grant proposals. Implementation includes Soroban smart contract updates, with no changes to monthly delegation rewards. Success metrics include participation rates exceeding 15% on grant votes, maximum vote share remaining below 25%, and reduced post-vote team interventions.
