Power Struggle Erupts in ENS DAO as Founder Aims to Redistribute Voting Power

The decentralized governance of Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is facing a critical test. At the heart of the issue is a severe concentration of voting power, where a single entity can overwhelmingly influence the protocol's future direction.

A Governance Imbalance

The current state of ENS DAO reveals a significant flaw: the voting power of one delegate is sufficient to unilaterally meet quorum and pass any proposal. This single delegate's influence even surpasses the combined voting power of the next 50 delegates. This dynamic undermines the core principle of broad-based, community-led governance.

The 5 Million ENS Rebalancing Act

In response, ENS co-founder Alex Van de Sande has put forward a radical proposal. He suggests delegating 5 million ENS tokens from the DAO's idle community treasury to a diverse set of individual participants.

The proposal is structured with key safeguards:

  • DAO Retains Ownership: The delegated tokens remain the property of the treasury; recipients cannot sell them.
  • Voting Rights Only: Participants would receive pure governance voting power, aimed directly at dispersing the currently centralized decision-making authority.
  • Targeted Dilution: The explicit goal is to dilute the relative influence of the largest whale by increasing the number and diversity of active voters.

Context: The "Treasury Capture" Debate

This move comes amidst rising tensions within the ENS community. It follows a controversial proposal from ENS Labs (the core development team) to transfer control of the DAO's operational wallets, ENS holdings, and an endowment fund to a five-member board.

That earlier proposal sparked immediate accusations of attempted "treasury capture"—a consolidation of community assets into the hands of a small group. Van de Sande's counter-proposal is widely seen as a corrective measure, seeking to re-anchor governance power within the broader community.

The proposal is now open for community deliberation. Its outcome will determine not only the fate of 5 million ENS tokens but also set a precedent for whether ENS governance moves toward greater decentralization or remains dominated by capital-heavy whales. The battle for voting power will shape the ENS ecosystem for years to come.