Uniswap DAO backs $113 million 'Treasury Delegation' program to boost governance participation

The Uniswap DAO has voted to continue its “treasury delegation program,” which could set aside up to 18 million UNI tokens — worth approximately $113.4 million at current prices — for selected delegates to increase their voting power, according to a preliminary governance decision on Tuesday. With the proposal tangentially approved, the details will be hammered out and then ratified if passed via an onchain vote. 

Uniswap’s first treasury delegation program — called the “Delegation of UNI to Active but Underrepresented Delegates” — began in December 2023. The idea was to support “active but under-represented delegates” that vote on behalf of UNI token holders by locking up tokens in the DAO's treasury to empower select delegates, Takeshi, a member of the Tane delegate platform that made the proposal, told The Block.

“This program has been essential to keep the governance healthy and retain the active and capable delegates,” Tane wrote in its proposal, citing data it collected about the performance of its previous funding program. Tane noted that after the program was initiated, “all delegates participated in all votes, which made the DAO healthier.”

If the new delegate funding program passes, approximately 12 selected delegates will receive 1 million UNI tokens to incentivize their governance participation. An additional 1 million tokens will be given to “top tier” delegates, which are determined by “objective criteria,” including maintaining a minimum 80% voting participation rate over the past three months.

While the vote passed its “temp check,” the Uniswap community is not fully aligned on the program. Only 60% of voting power was in favor of the program while nearly 30% abstained from participating. Tane’s proposal includes a plan to evaluate its effectiveness on a three-month rolling basis. 

This latest governance conversation comes on the heels of a controversial $165.5 million funding program for Uniswap Foundation, which will fund the non-profit’s operations and a new grants program for Unichain and Uniswap v4 over the next two years. 

Editor's note (April 4 — 10:00 a.m. ET): Clarifies that the tokens are locked up in the Uniswap DAO treasury.