What Is Quadratic Voting?

What Is Quadratic Voting?

Quadratic voting is a governance mechanism where voting power equals the square root of tokens (or credits) committed to a vote. A participant committing 100 tokens receives 10 votes, while a participant committing 10,000 tokens receives 100 votes — a 100x difference in tokens produces only a 10x difference in voting power.

How Quadratic Voting Works

Quadratic voting is based on the economic principle that the optimal allocation of governance power should reflect preference intensity across participants, not absolute wealth. By making the cost of additional votes increase quadratically, the mechanism reduces the governance influence of wealthy participants while still rewarding greater commitment.

The mathematical formula is: Votes = Square Root of Tokens Committed

Key Advantages

• Reduces plutocratic governance capture by large token holders
• Provides mathematically optimal preference aggregation (Weyl, 2017)
• Encourages broader participation from smaller token holders
• More resistant to governance capture than token-weighted voting

Key Challenges

• Requires robust Sybil resistance (preventing one entity from splitting across multiple identities)
• More complex to implement than standard token voting
• Limited production deployment and battle-testing in DeFi governance
• Identity verification requirements may conflict with pseudonymity preferences

Institutional Relevance

Quadratic voting represents a theoretically superior alternative to standard token voting for many governance applications. Institutional governance professionals should understand quadratic mechanisms when evaluating protocols that implement them, including Gitcoin’s quadratic funding mechanism.

Related: Token Voting vs. Quadratic Governance | Vitalik Buterin Governance Philosophy | Governance Token Voting Rights | What Is Token Governance | Conviction Voting | Quorum Threshold Design