SushiSwap 'Head Chef' May Pocket a Third of All Tokens Paid to Staff - The Defiant

The proposed new “head chef” of SushiSwap could pocket more than a third of the crypto exchange’s total SUSHI coins allocated to staff over the next four years, according to an analysis of the compensation package by The Defiant.

The token would have to hit some ambitious targets and trigger performance bonuses to reach hat level. If you add up salary, guaranteed SUSHI, and incentives, using current prices, the tally comes to a potential $10.6M payday.

Enflamed Tensions

The news may enflame tensions in the SushiSwap community as it clashes over the proposed hiring of Jonathan Howard to head the fifth-largest decentralized exchange and ease a leadership crisis that’s been brewing since last year.

The donnybrook also casts a spotlight on the thorny governance challenges DAOs are grappling with as the bear market cranks up fiscal pressure on projects. SushiSwap is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization.

On July 27, The Defiant reported that many on SushiSwap’s community were aghast at the size of the pay package for a new chief. While Howard, a seasoned crypto vet, pledged to bolster the SushiSwap’s dev team and invest in its nascent NFT marketplace, DeFi analysts warned the kerfuffle could undermine confidence in the platform.

“Sushi governance needs unity and focus above all else,” Cam Crossley, an analyst at web3 venture studio NotCentralised, told The Defiant. “If a vote passes as proposed, the new Head Chef won’t exactly be starting on the right foot.”

The possible election of Jonathan Howard as Sushi’s new head chef, which the protocol’s governance forumgoers are voting on through Aug. 4, also earmarks a base salary of $800,000 worth of stablecoins — which would account for 14% of the total payroll budget of $5.75M USDC.

Poll Under Way

If passed, the measures will be escalated to a community-wide snapshot vote, which would determine whether Howard is elected.

So far, the poll has received 125 votes, 57% of which are in favor of Howard becoming the new head chef.

But Howard’s proposed salary has sparked push-back, with many members taking to social media decrying the proposal as a sign declaring that SushiSwap is no longer a community-driven project. Detractors argue the terms of his election could hand over too much of the project’s war chest to a single individual.

“Sushi governance needs unity and focus above all else. If a vote passes as proposed, the new Head Chef won’t exactly be starting on the right foot.”

Cam Crossley

The proposed severance package is a real sore point. It could result in Howard pocketing millions in the event of termination.

Currently boasting a total value locked of more than $1B, SushiSwap was a darling in the DEX space during the bull run of 2021. Yet SUSHI has tumbled 84% this year compared to a 49% drop by its rival Uniswap.