Governance capture — where a small number of wallets accumulate enough voting power to control outcomes — is the single biggest structural risk in token governance. Several mechanisms help mitigate it:

• Delegation: Allowing token holders to delegate votes to trusted representatives increases effective participation without requiring every holder to be active.
• Time-weighted voting (veToken models): Locking tokens for longer periods grants more voting power, selecting for participants with longer time horizons.
• Security councils: A small, elected body with veto power over proposals that threaten protocol security or violate the constitution — Arbitrum and Optimism both use this model.

No single mechanism is sufficient. The most resilient governance systems layer multiple anti-capture mechanisms and adjust them as the power distribution evolves.