SafeDAO token unlock looms after nearly two years of waiting

Anxious SafeDAO community members are a step closer to gaining access to SAFE, the governance token of the DAO behind the $104 billion DeFi custodian Safe Protocol.

Early voting figures show unanimous support for the move, as shown by data from Snapshot.

The vote will end on March 18.

If it passes, a new vote next month to determine whether these tokens can officially be unlocked is expected.

The DAO’s tokens have been locked for almost two years — since their launch via an airdrop in October 2022. That launch saw SafeDAO spin out of GnosisDAO as a separate project.

SafeDAO was previously known as Gnosis Safe, a custody solution offered by Gnosis DAO.

Since the tokens couldn’t be moved, SAFE holders, most of whom are early adopters or contributors to the protocol, haven’t been able to sell their holdings.

Other members of the crypto community have also remained on the periphery of the DAO’s decision-making process due to the token freeze. Because SAFE tokens are non-transferable, they don’t have the power to publish proposals or vote on governance polls.

“Please, for the love of God, let this pass, or we will never make any progress.”

—  Adrian Hacker, SafeDAO contributor.

SAFE’s launch happened during the week of the FTX collapse in October — a “true black swan event,” according to SafeDAO contributor Daniel, who previously described it to DL News.

Given the market turmoil and plummeting token prices following the collapse of FTX, newly appointed SAFE token holders quickly voted to lock the tokens, a decision praised by Auryn Macmillan, a SafeDAO guardian — a steward of the DAO.

Macmillan previously told DL News that delaying token transferability enabled the DAO to “focus on its core mission.”

However, other community members have been clamouring for a policy reversal.

The DAO devised a five-step plan to do so, but for some community members, the process has been slow.

DAO contributor Adrian Hacker proposed expediting the process last year, with one community member lamenting, “Please, for the love of God, let this pass, or we will never make any progress.”

Hacker’s proposal did not yield any progress at the time. The DAO voted to maintain its stance and complete all five milestones, the last of which is the subject of the current vote.

Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. To share tips or information about stories, please contact him at osato@dlnews.com.