'RFV Raiders' target Gnosis DAO for treasury redemption proposal

A group of activist investors (or treasury “raiders,” depending on who you ask) are proposing a treasury redemption program for GNO tokenholders.

Should proposal GIP-150, which calls for “a one-time, opt-in pro-rata treasury redemption,” pass, those in favor would receive a share of the over $220 million held by the “well-capitalized” treasury.

This move comes less than six months after Gnosis DAO voted to fire its former treasury manager KPK.

The proposal’s author, who goes by Wismerhill argues that GNO trades at a “persistent and widening discount” to the value of the Gnosis DAO treasury.

Despite $22.5 million of recent DAO funding to Gnosis Ltd, this “discount to NAV has widened” and value accrual to GNO has been “minimal,” they add.

Voting is currently underway and runs until May 12. Despite a significant early lead for those voting in favor, 65% of the 330,000 votes cast are currently against the proposal.

Read more: DeFi gets leaner: Gnosis fires treasury manager with 88% backing

Pro-rata calculations would be based on 1.3 million eligible GNO tokens, excluding tokens held by Gnosis Ltd, which the proposal argues “already operates with DAO funding.”

This would produce a redemption value of approximately $170 per token, almost 30% above GNO’s current market price of $131.

DeFi community reacts

DeFi commentator and GNO holder Ignas admits, “the RFV logic has a point” but also points out that “this is pure arbitrage trade, not some moral mission.” They voted against the proposal.

Ethereum Foundation DeFi coordinator “ivangbi” agrees that if GNO isn’t advertised as having its “bottom price line protected by the assets,” holders have no “moral” right to the treasury.

Given Gnosis’s contributions to the ecosystem, including Safe, CoW Swap, Gnosis Pay and Gnosis Chain, others were less understanding.

Gnosis’ Sebastian Bürgel questioned when “the most respected builder in the space” transitioned to a “hedge fund,” while Jito’s Nick Almond dismissed the proposal as a clear “treasury rug.” 

Anthony Leutenegger, of Aragon (the same group targeted in 2023), shows more nuance, urging for improvements in “programmatic token holder rights… [as] a powerful tool for incentive alignment.”

Previous RFV plays

The group made a series of similar plays in 2023, earning the moniker “RFV (risk-free value) Raiders,” which it rejects.

Amongst the projects targeted at the time were Rook, FEI/Tribe and Aragon, which was ultimately forced to repurpose the DAO treasury into a grants program.

Read more: Aragon helped Lido, Curve form DAOs — now it’s dissolving

More recently, after Beefy Finance’s token BIFI fell below its net asset value in April, the DAO introduced a buyback system to avoid the risk of attracting an RFV play.

As for Gnosis, Wismerhill even previously admitted to being a “big admirer” of the DAO, foreshadowing that KPK’s firing would usher in “more business sense driven decisions ahead.”

The current vote is set to prove whether tokenholders are focused more on “business sense” or long-term building potential.

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