Amidst heated discussions, the possibility of the SushiSwap team treasury being seized appears increasingly likely.

Despite facing significant opposition on social media, the team behind decentralized exchange SushiSwap is pushing forward with a controversial proposal to change the platform’s treasury structure. The proposal, made on March 26, aims to transform SushiSwap by adopting a Labs model to enhance operational efficiency and expedite protocol development. However, the proposal includes a contentious tokenomics overhaul that seeks to transfer control of the Sushi Treasury’s assets, valued at approximately $42.5 million, to Sushi Labs through a minting of 25 million tokens. Additionally, the proposal introduces a 1.5% APR to boost liquidity, incentivize participation, and strengthen the Treasury. Currently, there is a maximum supply of 250 million SUSHI tokens under the existing tokenomics model. Furthermore, Sushi Labs will be the sole recipient of future airdrops from protocols and partners. Voting on the proposal began on April 3 and will conclude on April 10. As of now, over 29 million SUSHI tokens have been pledged, surpassing the quorum requirement. Initially, the votes for and against the proposal were evenly divided, but recently, the ‘yays’ have gained an advantage. Presently, only 9.7 million tokens, constituting a third of the votes, have been cast against the proposal. Notably, the Sushi Labs team, who proposed the changes, pledged 5.5 million tokens in favor of the proposal, while a vocal opponent pledged 4.4 million SUSHI against it using the address ‘sushicitizens.eth’. Former SushiSwap contributor Naïm Boubziz has alleged that the team voted for themselves using the protocol’s multi-signature wallet, claiming they had previously attempted to withdraw 4 million SUSHI from the treasury multi-sig in early March. There have also been accusations that the Sushi team obtained a loan to vote in favor of their own proposal. Boubziz stated on April 4 that “they borrowed money for a few hours to add liquidity in order to double their voting power for snapshots.” In response to critics accusing Sushi Labs of manipulating the vote, Sushi ‘Head Chef’ Jared Grey defended the team, stating that they added liquidity and voted with the OPs wallet to prevent a hostile takeover. SushiSwap has previously experienced power struggles, with its launch in 2020 surpassing industry leader Uniswap following a vampire attack. However, its founder, known as ‘Chef Nomi’, attempted a rug-pull shortly afterward, leading to controversy, internal disputes, and ongoing turmoil. As of the time of writing, SUSHI tokens were trading at $1.70, representing a 93% decline from their all-time high in March 2021.