Centralization Fears Rise as Scroll DAO Restructures Governance

Scroll DAO, the governance body for Ethereum’s zkEVM Layer 2 scaling project, has announced a restructuring of its governance framework following a period of operational suspension and leadership resignations. Key figures, including DAO leader Eugene, resigned in late September 2025, leaving the organization without clear decision-makers and creating confusion over active proposals. Co-founder Haichen Shen stated the team is “redesigning governance,” while growth lead Raza Zaidi emphasized the pause is not a dissolution but a temporary halt to reorganize operations title1^[1]. The suspension has left pending proposals—such as treasury management measures and governance council formation—in limbo, affecting approximately $185 million in corporate vaults tied to Scroll’s zkEVM infrastructure title4^[4].

The restructuring plan, outlined in a September 2025 forum post, includes the formation of a new Governance Council to draft an updated DAO constitution, with implementation targeted for the January 2026 voting cycle. Under the revised structure, the DAO will report to the Scroll Foundation, which will retain veto authority over critical decisions. The Foundation aims to shift toward strategic oversight while delegating daily operations to the Execution Council title2^[2]. Treasury allocations will transition to an annual or biannual schedule, aiming to streamline decision-making while maintaining user fund security title2^[2].

Community delegates have expressed frustration over the lack of transparency and clarity regarding the DAO’s future direction. Delegate Olimpio criticized the approach as “lacking transparency” and warned of potential centralization risks, noting that top delegates retain significant voting power despite the restructuring title1^[1]. The uncertainty has also impacted community engagement, with some delegates reportedly banned from official Discord servers after raising concerns. Meanwhile, ongoing initiatives like the Delegate Accelerator Program and Security Subsidy Program will continue under existing budgets title3^[3].

The crisis highlights broader challenges in DAO governance, particularly in balancing decentralization with operational efficiency. As noted by industry analysts, 76.2% of voting power in DAOs typically concentrates among the top 10% of voters, exacerbating centralization risks even in decentralized structures title1^[1]. Scroll’s situation reflects a growing industry-wide debate over governance models, with some projects adopting quadratic voting and delegation systems to address participation inequality. However, these mechanisms have yet to resolve the tension between rapid development and community-led decision-making title4^[4].

Despite governance turmoil, Scroll’s technical ecosystem continues to expand, processing over 1.5 billion monthly transactions and forming new partnerships. The project’s ability to maintain operational growth while redefining governance underscores the complexity of separating protocol execution from community oversight in blockchain projects. As the new Governance Council begins recruitment, the success of Scroll’s restructuring will hinge on its ability to restore trust, clarify decision-making processes, and address concerns about centralization without compromising decentralization principles title5^[5].