The Bootstrap is clearly a step in the right direction [EDIT: The Bootstrap failed to pass because some large validators prevented governance from being put in place to limit the exact type of action that Binance just recently made 
]. It shows that at least some people care. But there is uncertainty that it will significantly increase the number of elected validators. I also think itâs very likely that once the Bootstrapâs support is over, many of the validators they were subsidizing will become unelected again
Below is part of my comment in the Bootstrap thread:
I also agree with Rutilant that it will be hard to grow the Bootstrap validators beyond the level that the VDAO is investing in them. For starters, the high APY of ânewâ validators is definitely an attraction that helps them grow their delegation/delegator count
And secondly, a lot of validators simply hit a âceilingâ that is very hard to break through. You suggest ending the bootstrapping of a validator if they reach 1.2x EMS (6.27M) before the end of the 100 epochs. But out of the 161 elected validators listed on staking.harmony, 87 (54%) of them are below that 1.2x (6.27M) threshold! So I think it will be incredibly rare that you would ever need to end the bootstrapping prior to the conclusion of 100 epochs. It goes to show how difficult it is to grow your delegations as a new/smaller validator
Also, if Iâm reading it correctly, if a bootstrap validator doesnât reach a large enough delegation to remain elected without VDAO support, and there are other validators waiting to be brought into the bootstrap program, that the currently elected validator will lose 100% of their VDAO support after 100 epochs? I think thereâs a high likelihood that many of these validators (perhaps 100%) wonât achieve the necessary level of delegation required to remain elected once the VDAO pulls its support. Theyâd be starting over at square one. These validators will just keep cycling through the bootstrap program every few hundred epochs, imo
Nobody addressed the 1.2x EMS issue that I raised 
Hip-19 is going to release the final 100 internal keys to external validators
In that thread I asked that the Bootstrap coordinate with Hip-19 in order to ensure those released keys go to unelected validators and arenât just taken by already elected, multi-key validators. There hasnât been any feedback from the VDAO, Harmony team, or anyone at all 
Is there anything being done to ensure that when the 100 internal slots convert to external, that they wonât almost entirely go to existing multi-key validators?
Is there an effort to prevent/discourage the bidding on these keys by already elected validators, in order to allow unelected validators to grab those keys?
Could the @HarmonyValidatorDAO organize a coordinated message through the validator ranks? Both amongst elected validators to prevent excess bidding, and also unelected validators to make sure theyâre prepared to sign
Could the Bootstrap Initiative time its implementation to coincide with the 100 key release, to further ensure this results in a significant net gain in elected validators?
What other methods could we adopt to use this opportunity to grow Harmonyâs ranks and further increase decentralization?
Tranquil says they want to further improve Harmonyâs decentralization, but their methods have had the opposite affect. Their program actually took millions of ONE away from small validators and redistributed it to multi-key validators
Have they acknowledged the centralization issue? Have they provided insight into how they plan to help decentralize Harmony in the future? Maybe they really will help improve decentralization, but itâs very much a âbelieve it when I see itâ situation for me