Compound's Proposal 289 Nearly Drained 499,000 COMP via Late Voting Surge

CryptoSlate reported that Compound's Proposal 289 nearly succeeded in transferring 499,000 COMP tokens — then valued at roughly $24 million — into a yield-bearing vehicle controlled by a small group of voters. Two earlier versions of the proposal had failed, but a third attempt appeared headed for the same outcome until a surge of votes arrived in the final 34 minutes. Supporting addresses cast 563,591 votes in that window, representing 82% of all support for the proposal, with the largest block landing eight minutes before the deadline. The measure ultimately passed by 682,191 votes to 633,636. CryptoSlate described the situation as extremely controversial and highly contested, while noting the code itself functioned as intended — meaning the wallets had gathered and delegated sufficient voting power before the period closed. After the dispute, Compound added a veto mechanism as a safeguard, though the outlet noted that emergency brakes of that nature necessarily grant someone more control. Separately, a study of 48 Ethereum DAOs cited in the article found that registration, staking, and delegation routinely concentrate practical voting power among a small group.