SushiSwap DAO supports the transition to the ‘Labs model’ with early voting

Decentralized exchange SushiSwap's decentralized business model has received a positive signal to move forward with a hotly debated plan.

According to a signal vote completed on April 10, more than 62% of voters supported the proposal to move the exchange to the so-called “labs model”.

Sushi Swap introduced the proposal on March 26, sparking intense debate in the community. According to the plan, the exchange seeks to establish an independent management, technical and operational company that will manage the sushi ecosystem.

Tokens still decide on treasury allocations, but without going into the practical details. The labs will receive 25 million SUSHI tokens, worth approximately $39 million at current prices. In addition, Sushi Labs will be designated as the exclusive recipient of future airdrops from related protocols and partners.

“We are asking Sushi Dao to donate 25 million Sushi tokens to Sushi Labs, including Arbitrum climate, business development and partner support, Kanpai 2.0, Sushi 2.0, rewards, stablecoin and ‘Sushi House' funds.”

Next steps for the sushi community include voting on the implementation proposal by April 17. It supports approximately 7 million tokens, representing 92% of the authorized volume at the time of writing.

A signal vote is the first step in gauging community interest or opinion without implementing any changes. Implementation voting is the next step in which the community decides whether the proposal should be implemented.

The sushi community responded

At the Sushi Governance forum, several community members voiced their opposition to the proposed plan, citing concerns about the Treasury's financial stability and allegations of voting power abuse.

“I think it's important to get a large amount of all revenue, airdrops, going directly to the DAO treasury. This doesn't interfere with hiring, firing or other operations. […] Treasury should not be ignored. […] I propose a revenue split between Treasury and Operations,” said community member Nick Rishwain in the proposal thread.

Another member of the SushiSwap community, Naeem Bubziz, said on X that the move was a hate attack. According to Bubziz, the core development team created new wallets ahead of the vote to increase their voting power.

“Sushi Dao seems to be at the end of the journey,” said another member of the management forum.

Sushi “head chef” Jared Gray responded to the criticism. “After consulting our legal counsel, I instructed the operation team to carry out the YY vote due to the threat of hostile control over the OPs' purses and possessions,” he said on X's allegations of fraud. Gray says Labs' model will help sushi regain lost market share.

“Most product development roadmap limitations and delays stem from DAO's overambitious ambitions, unrealistic expectations, and budget constraints, evidenced by real-time voting since Sushi's resources were plentiful.”

Despite a bull market, SushiSwap's revenue has been declining since 2022. According to Defillama data, the decentralized exchange generated $11.65 million in payouts and $1.5 million in revenue in March 2023, compared to $3.5 million in payouts and $531,640 in revenue last month.

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