• SushiSwap governance has voted to redirect 100% of trading fees to the exchange’s treasury for operations and maintenance for one year.
• The exchange has also proposed to “clawback” 10,936,284 unclaimed SUSHI tokens rewarded to early liquidity providers.
• This move comes after CEO Jared Grey warned that the exchange only has 1.5 years of treasury runway left.
SushiSwap, the sixth largest decentralized exchange (DEX) by 24-hour trading volume, has made a major move towards sustainability. In a recent governance proposal, the exchange has voted to redirect 100% of the platform’s trading fees to its treasury for operations and maintenance for one year. This decision comes after CEO Jared Grey warned that the exchange only had 1.5 years of treasury runway left, even after slashing annual operating expenses from $9 million to $5 million amid the ongoing crypto winter.
The proposal, passed on Jan. 23, states that revenue to the treasury will be in the form of 50% ETH and 50% USDC with a projection of approximately $6 million earned over the following year. In addition, the exchange has proposed to “clawback” 10,936,284 unclaimed SUSHI tokens rewarded to early liquidity providers. These rewards were available to SushiSwap users who provided trading liquidity for the exchange from August 2020 to February 2021, and had been open to claim for close to two years.
The decision to clawback the unclaimed tokens has been met with mixed reactions from the community. Some users argued that “people have earned these SUSHI fair and square”, and their claim to these assets should not be denied. Others said that they support the clawback as “idle SUSHI that can be put to better use”. The assets will be returned to the SushiSwap treasury.
The move towards sustainability is a welcome sign for the exchange and its users, as the crypto market downturn has taken its toll on SushiSwap. With the 100% fee relocation and the clawback of unclaimed tokens, the exchange is well on its way to improve its financial situation and become a more viable platform for users.