{"id":25631,"date":"2025-05-07T16:09:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T16:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=25631"},"modified":"2025-05-07T16:09:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T16:09:49","slug":"why-one-of-uniswap-daos-most-outspoken-members-just-walked-away-in-frustration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=25631","title":{"rendered":"Why One of Uniswap DAO\u2019s Most Outspoken Members Just Walked Away in Frustration"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

One of the Uniswap DAO\u2019s top contributors walked away in frustration on Monday amid concerns that other stakeholders wield too much power over the decentralised protocol.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Pepo, a pseudonymous delegate whom other token holders entrusted to vote on their behalf, had participated in Uniswap\u2019s governance since 2023. He wielded<\/a> 455,000 UNI tokens, making him one of the top 20 largest delegates.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The reason for the departure? Other organisations involved in the running of Uniswap \u2014 primarily the nonprofit Uniswap Foundation \u2014 have pushed aside the opinions of DAO members and have been unreceptive to feedback, Pepo said<\/a> in an X post.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Foundation\u2019s behavior seems to have prioritized insulation over collaboration, and in doing so, may have actively harmed Uniswap,\u201d Pepo said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Devin Walsh, Executive Director of the Uniswap Foundation, didn’t provide direct comment to CoinDesk when asked about the accusation. However, she did provide a rebuttal on social media.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cDelegate participation is essential to the success of the Uniswap ecosystem,\u201d she said<\/a> on X. \u201cThe Uniswap Foundation takes their feedback seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Uniswap is the biggest decentralized exchange with some $4 billion worth of deposits<\/a>, down 60% from its peak of nearly $10 billion total-value-locked during 2021-2022, <\/strong>according to DefiLlama data.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"Uniswap<\/p>\n

Like many DeFi protocols, Uniswap is controlled and managed through a somewhat byzantine structure.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The protocol was created by Uniswap Labs, a for-profit company which is also responsible for its continued development. The Uniswap Foundation, a nonprofit, is tasked with supporting Uniswap and its community, while protocol changes and allocation of resources is controlled by the Uniswap DAO, a type of crypto collective governed by holders of the UNI token.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In March, the DAO granted<\/a> the foundation $165 million to boost Uniswap ecosystem growth and development. This gave the foundation a mandate to do certain things in pursuit of its goals without directly consulting the DAO.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Some, like Pepo, feel the Uniswap Foundation\u2019s actions are putting the DAO\u2019s interests behind those of itself and Uniswap Labs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This situation highlights the persistent struggle to balance the interests of DeFi protocol token holders with those of other stakeholders.<\/p>\n

Not the first time<\/h2>\n

Pepo isn\u2019t the only one to highlight a perceived lack of DAO control at Uniswap. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In October, Billy Gao, vice president of Stanford Blockchain Club, a Uniswap delegate, said<\/a> Uniswap Labs\u2019 sudden decision to launch its own blockchain \u201craised serious questions about DAO governance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Gao argued that the Uniswap DAO should have been told about the blockchain ahead of time and allowed to weigh in on key decisions in its implementation. \u201cIt calls to question (once again) how decentralized [Uniswap\u2019s] governance actually is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Uniswap Labs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Others have questioned how the Uniswap Foundation uses the funds granted to it, and have complained that it isn\u2019t transparent enough about its spending and decision making.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cTransparency and communication are values that many delegates agree with,\u201d Doo Wan Nam, Co-founder of DAO governance solutions provider StableLab, a Uniswap delegate, told CoinDesk. \u201cThere have been improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

On May 1, the Uniswap Foundation responded to criticism by creating<\/a> a Foundation Feedback Group, intended to ensure effective communication and strengthen accountability between the foundation and the DAO.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Additionally, as a nonprofit company, the foundation must legally publish<\/a> its finances.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But the problem is that for some delegates, it\u2019s not enough.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a loss for any DAO whenever a delegate feels the only way to make an impact is through stepping down,\u201d PaperImperium, Governance Liaison at Uniswap DAO delegate GFX Labs, told CoinDesk.<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes<\/h2>\n

Some governance participants also complained that a lot of Uniswap DAO communication and decision-making happens privately, instead of publicly on the Uniswap governance forums.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This has led to complaints<\/a> that major decisions are all agreed on by large delegates behind closed doors before going to a public vote.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s necessary for proposals to receive a degree of feedback before being presented publicly, Nam said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unlike traditional governance. \u201cCongressmen won’t just blindly write bills without talking to relevant stakeholders or other Congressmen,\u201d Nam said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s a double-edged sword. As DAOs mature, there\u2019s also a sense that they are becoming more about politics and appearances rather than pursuing what\u2019s best for the protocol.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Multiple Uniswap delegates declined to comment to CoinDesk when asked about the complaints highlighted by Pepo.<\/p>\n

Read more: Uniswap Passes $165M Funding Plan After DAO Vote<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the Uniswap DAO\u2019s top contributors walked away in frustration on Monday amid concerns that other stakeholders wield too much power over the decentralised protocol. Pepo, a pseudonymous delegate whom other token holders entrusted to vote on their behalf, had participated in Uniswap\u2019s governance since 2023. He wielded 455,000 UNI tokens, making him one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-25631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}