Gnosis DAO treasury vote sparks Aave-style governance drama

A governance proposal allowing GNO token holders to redeem their pro rata share of the Gnosis DAO treasury that went live on May 5, 2026, has led to a public dispute over how well the DAO’s leadership has delivered adequate returns on the project’s original 2017 fundraise.

The proposal was shared on-chain by community member Wismerhill, who is asking GNO holders to vote in favor of direct treasury access. According to Wismerhill, the push is a response to concerns about Gnosis Ltd, the operating company led by the project’s original co-founders and funded by the DAO.

Why are Gnosis community members feuding? 

In a post that was also a clap back to people who, according to him, call Gnosis communist or bad business, co-founder Lukas Schor, stated that the DAO raised $12.5 million in its 2017 ICO and now holds over $200 million in assets “without any fundraise in between,” while also “building a ton of value for the industry.” 

Data from DeFiLlama corroborates that fundraise figure of $12.5 million and lists the current total value locked on the Gnosis chain at roughly $83.5 million.

Critics will point to the downward trending TVL in their argument. Source: DeFiLlama.

Community member chud[.]eth did not buy into Schor’s submission, stating that people calling Gnosis “value creators, good business, etc.” are completely ignorant to the fact that Gnosis took in 250,000 ETH in 2017 and now holds less than 85,000 ETH in assets “without any significant ops rev in between.” 

He also added that the DAO spent heavily on salaries during the same period.

Zeller enters Gnosis debate after Aave fallout 

Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) and a prominent figure in Aave’s own recent governance crisis, weighed in on the Gnosis numbers. 

Responding to Schor’s dollar-denominated defense, Zeller wrote that measuring in ETH (the asset actually raised) would show holders “massively outperformed by a teenager solely focused on wanking in his mom’s basement during the same period.”

Earlier this year, Cryptopolitan reported that Zeller’s ACI and Aave Labs disagreed over the protocol funding, governance power, and the legitimacy of a narrow 52.58% vote on the “Aave Will Win” proposal.

Zeller challenged that vote’s outcome, alleging that addresses linked to Aave Labs had swayed the result.

The latest Gnosis drama is not so far off from the events that occurred between Zeller’s ACI and Stani Kulechov’s Aave Labs:

• A well-funded DAO.
• A disputed record of returns.
• Token holders are questioning whether insiders control outcomes.

‘RFV Raiders’ comparison draws mixed reactions

DeFi analyst Ignas stated that RFV Raiders are back, adding that “Gnosis DAO is the new target.” RFV Raiders is a term for activists who target DAOs trading below their treasury’s redeemable fair value.

He pointed to precedents from 2023, when similar campaigns led to the wind-down of Rook (which returned roughly 5x to raiders), the dissolution of Tribe (Fei Protocol), and a contested push against Aragon’s treasury.

Ethereum Foundation DeFi coordinator Ivangbi offered a measured take while acknowledging that he had no skin in the Gnosis game.

He stated that he found the discussion notable given that Gnosis is “one of the oldest, successful, product-shipping and richest” DAOs in the space.”

Ivangbi wrote 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.”

Gnosis has until May 12 to decide 

The vote is live until May 12. If it passes, GNO holders would gain a mechanism to claim a share of the DAO’s treasury. This could pressure Gnosis Ltd to justify ongoing expenditures or face a slow bleed of capital. 

The Gnosis vote is live until May 12. Source: Gnosis.

If it fails, the debate over ETH-denominated returns and allegations of insider spending will be very unlikely to go away.

Gnosis Ltd and the DAO’s core contributors have not published a formal response to the redemption proposal as of May 7, 2026.

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