TL;DR:
- 8.42 million DAI allocated under Proposal 536 were allegedly converted into 344,780 COMP tokens through exchange transactions.
- 58 minutes before voting closed on Proposals 580 and 582, the assets were transferred back to the Safe multisig wallet to delegate voting power.
- $1.6 billion represents the total value locked (TVL) recorded by Compound Finance on DefiLlama metrics at the time of the complaint.
The Compound Foundation was formally accused by delegate Ugurmersin of misappropriating 8.42 million DAI from the Compound DAO reserves to purchase COMP tokens and influence key governance decisions during September 2026.
Alleged Misappropriation and Vote Manipulation
The formal accusation was published on the decentralized protocol’s official governance forum. The complainant asserts that the funds allocated under Proposal 536 were intended to be safeguarded as operational capital for the community. According to a market report, the approved terms explicitly prohibited speculative use of these assets and mandated that they remain under the exclusive ownership of the decentralized autonomous organization.
On-chain records presented by the delegate detail that the 8.42 million DAI were swapped on an exchange for 344,780 COMP tokens. According to Ugurmersin’s analysis, these assets were transferred back to the Safe wallet 58 minutes before voting closed on Proposals 580 and 582. The signers of the multisig treasury allegedly delegated that voting power immediately to the Foundation’s address.
The information submitted by the delegate suggests that this technical maneuver enabled the approval of handing over treasury control to the Treasury Management Committee (TMC). It also facilitated the ratification of a Version 4 (V4) development program valued at $52 million.
The complaint also mentions the alleged involvement of collaborating entities, including the Compound Growth Working Group, audit firm ChainSecurity, and security provider Certora. The source noted that it has not yet been able to independently verify the transaction records referenced in the allegation, while the Compound Foundation has not released an official statement on the matter.
Governance Friction in the DeFi Ecosystem
Conflicts surrounding treasury control reflect a persistent challenge within decentralized lending protocols. DefiLlama market data places Compound Finance at approximately $1.6 billion in total value locked and a market capitalization near $230 million, with the COMP token trading around $23 and a direct treasury of $8.26 million as of late September 2026. By comparison, Aave V3 holds more than $18 billion in locked assets.
The situation shares direct parallels with the governance dispute seen in Aave in late 2025. During that episode, Aave Chain Initiative founder Marc Zeller claimed that wallets tied to Aave Labs intervened to tip the balance in favor of the “Aave Will Win” proposal, which initially passed with 52.58% support.
While the Foundation has not addressed the misappropriation claims, representatives from the implicated groups have recently defended the legitimacy of their operational processes. In a forum post dated September 24, 2026, delegate AranaDigital argued that Snapshot votes serve as a fully legitimate tool for operational efficiency when resolving matters that do not require direct on-chain execution.
The complainant confirmed that all on-chain traces and forum screenshots have been preserved publicly, pending formal responses to the delegate community from the technical teams at Certora, ChainSecurity, and the Compound Foundation.
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