Gnosis DAO vote pits holders against founders over 2017 ETH

A governance proposal posted on-chain on May 5, 2026, would allow GNO token holders to redeem pro rata shares of the Gnosis DAO treasury. The vote, opened by community member Wismerhill, remains live through May 12. If it passes, holders would gain a direct mechanism to claim a share of the DAO’s assets; if it fails, debate over historical returns and spending is likely to continue.

The proposal targets Gnosis Ltd, the operating company led by the project’s original co-founders, and aims to provide token holders a route to exit the treasury. Proponents say the change would require the company to justify ongoing expenditures or face a gradual outflow of capital.

Co-founder Lukas Schor posted a defense of the team’s record, writing that the DAO “raised $12.5 million in its 2017 ICO and now holds over $200 million in assets ‘without any fundraise in between,'” and that the project has been “building a ton of value for the industry.” Analytics data corroborate a $12.5 million fundraising figure and show total value locked on the Gnosis chain at roughly $83.5 million.

Other community members argue that dollar figures do not reflect the asset actually raised. Community participant chud[.]eth posted that Gnosis took in about 250,000 ETH in 2017 and now holds less than 85,000 ETH, and added that the DAO “spent heavily on salaries” over the same period.

Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave Chan Initiative, weighed in on the comparison method, writing that measuring returns in ETH would indicate underperformance by holders. DeFi analyst Ignas wrote “RFV Raiders are back,” calling Gnosis DAO “the new target,” a reference to activists who press DAOs that appear to trade below the redeemable fair value of their treasuries. Similar campaigns in 2023 led to the wind-down of Rook, the dissolution of Tribe (Fei Protocol), and a contested campaign against another protocol’s treasury.

Ethereum Foundation DeFi coordinator Ivangbi offered a cautious view and noted he had no stake in the vote. He wrote that Gnosis is “one of the oldest, successful, product-shipping and richest” DAOs and added that “If GNO isn’t officially advertized as having assets backing (RFV) or having a bottom price line protected by the assets – then moral claims to treasury can’t be assumed.”

As of May 7, 2026, Gnosis Ltd and the DAO’s core contributors had not published a formal response to the redemption proposal. The outcome of the vote by May 12 will determine whether holders gain a direct exit route to the treasury or whether questions about how the 2017 ICO funds were managed will continue to drive governance debate.