DeFi DAO 的權力集中度可與世界上最不平等的國家相媲美

劍橋另類金融中心的一份新報告發現，DeFi 協議背後的去中心化自治組織的權力集中程度與世界上最不平等的國家相當，治理往往由少數大型參與者主導。

A new report from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance has found that the decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) behind DeFi protocols exhibit levels of power concentration comparable to the world’s most unequal countries, with governance often dominated by a few large players.

劍橋另類金融中心的一份新報告發現，DeFi 協議背後的去中心化自治組織 (DAO) 的權力集中程度與世界上最不平等的國家相當，治理往往由少數大型參與者主導。

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, a research institute based at the University of Cambridge, examined the level of centralisation among DAOs as part of the launch of its new DeFi analytics tool, the Cambridge DeFi Navigator.

劍橋大學研究機構劍橋中心替代金融在推出新的 DeFi 分析工具 Cambridge DeFi Navigator 時檢查了 DAO 的中心化程度。

Among the DAOs analysed, the consolidation of power was “shocking,” Christopher Jack, the Cambridge DeFi Navigator programme lead, told DL News.

劍橋 DeFi Navigator 項目負責人 Christopher Jack 告訴 DL News，在分析的 DAO 中，權力的整合「令人震驚」。

Jack’s team applied the Gini coefficient — a widely used metric for assessing income or wealth inequality within a population — to evaluate the concentration of power within DAOs. In this scale, a score of zero indicates perfect equality, while a score of one signifies complete inequality.

Jack 的團隊應用基尼係數（一種廣泛用於評估人口內部收入或財富不平等的指標）來評估 DAO 內的權力集中度。在此量表中，零分錶示完全平等，而一分則表示完全不平等。

The analysis found that the 10 biggest DAOs all have Gini coefficients ranging from 0.97 to 0.99. For comparison, South Africa — the most income-unequal country globally — has a Gini coefficient of 0.63.

分析發現，最大的 10 個 DAO 的基尼係數均在 0.97 至 0.99 之間。相較之下，全球收入最不平等的國家南非的基尼係數為 0.63。

“When I speak to industry participants, they’ve all said to me governance is quite concentrated in the hands of a few large players,” Jack said. “That’s really what you see here as well.”

「當我與行業參與者交談時，他們都對我說治理相當集中在少數大型參與者手中，」傑克說。 “這確實也是你在這裡看到的。”

DAOs were heralded as a progressive way to govern new technologies like blockchain apps in a fairer and more decentralised way. But in practice, many have become dominated by small groups of large token holders who wield disproportionate influence and often make key decisions in private.

DAO 被認為是一種以更公平、更去中心化的方式管理區塊鏈應用程式等新技術的進步方式。但在實踐中，許多已成為由大型代幣持有者組成的小團體所主導，他們擁有不成比例的影響力，並且經常私下做出關鍵決策。

The analysis forms part of a larger investigation into DeFi using data spanning from the sector’s inception in 2018 to the present day. It looks at DeFi adoption, ecosystem trends, and protocol distribution, as well as DAO governance and custody.

該分析是對 DeFi 進行更大規模調查的一部分，該調查使用了從 2018 年該行業成立至今的數據。它著眼於 DeFi 採用、生態系統趨勢、協議分發以及 DAO 治理和託管。

The results were compiled into a publicly available dashboard on the Centre for Alternative Finance’s website.

結果被彙編成另類金融中心網站上公開的儀表板。

Measuring DAO power

測量 DAO 功率

DAOs operate by issuing so-called governance tokens, which give holders the right to propose and vote on changes to the DeFi protocols they manage.

DAO 透過發行所謂的治理代幣來運作，該代幣賦予持有者對其管理的 DeFi 協議的變更提出建議和投票的權利。

While some remain highly restricted, governance tokens from DAOs are also typically tradable in crypto markets.

雖然有些仍然受到嚴格限制，但 DAO 的治理代幣通常也可以在加密市場上進行交易。

The idea is that anyone can buy a DAO’s tokens and participate in governance. Many DeFi protocols attempt to distribute their tokens among as many users as possible through airdrops.

這個想法是任何人都可以購買 DAO 的代幣並參與治理。許多 DeFi 協議試圖透過空投將其代幣分發給盡可能多的用戶。

The Cambridge DeFi Navigator analysis shows that while these distribution methods initially succeed in spreading tokens widely, within weeks, the majority of tokens consolidate into a few large wallets.

Cambridge DeFi Navigator 的分析顯示，雖然這些分配方法最初成功地廣泛傳播了代幣，但在幾週內，大多數代幣都整合到了幾個大錢包中。

DeFi protocol Gini coefficient: The top 10 DAO governance tokens all have Gini coefficients of 0.97 to 0.99. (Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance)

DeFi協議基尼係數：前10名DAO治理代幣的基尼係數均在0.97至0.99之間。 （劍橋另類金融中心）

The analysis measured how distributed a DAO’s token was among all wallets holding it. For example, at Aave, the biggest DeFi lending protocol with $34 billion of deposits, the top 121 wallets hold over 10,000 AAVE tokens each, collectively accounting for almost 73% of AAVE token supply.

該分析測量了 DAO 代幣在所有持有該代幣的錢包中的分佈。例如，在擁有 340 億美元存款的最大 DeFi 借貸協議 Aave，前 121 個錢包各自持有超過 10,000 個 AAVE 代幣，總共佔 AAVE 代幣供應量的近 73%。

Jack said his team plans to break down the data further in a future update by looking at the percentage of wallets that hold a certain percentage of token supply, which should make it easier to understand.

傑克表示，他的團隊計劃在未來的更新中透過查看持有一定比例代幣供應的錢包的百分比來進一步細分數據，這應該會讓數據更容易理解。

The issue of centralisation extends beyond token distribution. Critics have also pointed out other ways DAOs fail to achieve true decentralisation.

中心化問題超出了代幣分配的範圍。批評者也指出了 DAO 未能實現真正去中心化的其他方式。

In October, Billy Gao, Head of Governance at Stanford University’s blockchain club, said key decisions for the Uniswap protocol were made by its creator, Uniswap Labs, behind closed doors without consulting its DAO.

10 月，史丹佛大學區塊鏈俱樂部治理負責人 Billy Gau 表示，Uniswap 協議的關鍵決策是由其創建者 Uniswap Labs 秘密做出的，沒有諮詢其 DAO。

DeFi’s rise

DeFi 的崛起

Another surprising insight from the Centre for Alternative Finance’s analysis came from looking at historical data.

另類金融中心的分析中另一個令人驚訝的見解來自於歷史資料。

The analysis found that in 2018, when DeFi on Ethereum started to take off, 90% of the value was concentrated in just one or two protocols. Fast forward to 2024, and now over 140 protocols make up 90% of the sector.

分析發現，2018 年，當以太坊上的 DeFi 開始起飛時，90% 的價值集中在一兩個協議中。快進到 2024 年，現在超過 140 個協議佔該行業的 90%。

Protocol dominance snapshot: In 2024, 90% of DeFi deposits are held across 146 different protocols, compared to just two in 2018. (Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance)

協議主導地位快照：到 2024 年，90% 的 DeFi 存款由 146 種不同協議持有，而 2018 年只有兩種協議。

“The interesting point there has just been to see how complex the ecosystem has become in such a short time frame,” Jack said. “To us, this signals that there’s a lot of user interest, but that there’s also a lot of developer interest.”

「有趣的是，生態系統在如此短的時間內變得多麼複雜，」傑克說。 “對我們來說，這表明用戶有很多興趣，但開發人員也有很多興趣。”

Jack attributed DeFi’s comparatively fast growth to developers being more motivated to build something that they have control over. In the private sector, anything an employee builds belongs to the company that employs them.

Jack 將 DeFi 相對較快的成長歸因於開發人員更有動力建立他們可以控制的東西。在私營部門，員工建造的任何東西都屬於僱用他們的公司。

“There’s quite a few developers that have been fed up with creating stuff on corporate software, because they can just shut it off,” Jack said.

「有相當多的開發人員已經厭倦了在企業軟體上創建東西，因為他們可以將其關閉，」傑克說。