Yuga Labs CEO Greg Solano filed an Ape Improvement Proposal titled “Sunsetting the DAO and Launching ApeCo” in a pitch to wind down the two-year-old decentralized autonomous organization and pass its assets to a new entity to “supercharge the APE ecosystem.”
Solano called the DAO “sluggish, noisy, and often unserious governance theater” that funds “vanity proposals and low-impact initiatives.”
A leaner vehicle controlled by Yuga Labs, he argued, can “eliminate gridlock” and push capital only to “high-caliber projects” across three pillars: ApeChain, Bored Ape Yacht Club and Otherside, Yuga’s metaverse bet.
Under the plan, ApeCo would first top up the staking contract with 11.25 million APE ($8.3 million), reserve 10 million APE for legal and transition costs, then swallow everything else in the Foundation treasury — from tokens and domains to smart contracts. All active governance powers, working groups and future AIPs would be removed if the proposal is passed.
At this stage, the post is only a temperature check, as a formal on-chain vote must follow before the dismantling begins.
If passed, ApeCo would begin by funding staking, shuttering DAO infrastructure and rerouting every last APE into its new war chest — marking an end to one of crypto’s most high-profile NFT-focused governance structures.