What Went Wrong at Sushi? Unpacking the DeFi Project’s Woes

Sushi CTO Joseph Delong has resigned from the project after reports of internal conflict. Delong’s resignation is the latest turn of events for the highly controversial project.

Sushi CTO Resigns

The Sushi saga has encountered another twist.

The DeFi project’s CTO, Joseph Delong, posted a resignation notice on Twitter on Dec. 8, stating that his departure would be “effective immediately.”

Though Delong said that he would look back on the project positively, he went on to say that he is “saddened that Sushi is so imperiled within and without.” He expressed fears that Sushi’s issues will not be resolved by remaining team members, and that the project will become a shadow of what it once was.

Delong urged the project to bring in outside management and to be “wary of any self-proclaimed leaders” from within the group. He noted that he will transfer accounts and information to future leaders as necessary.

Unlike past departures, it does not appear that Delong will maintain any relationship with Sushi. Following a vacation, Delong plans to begin work on a new unnamed project.

Delong’s Ongoing Complaints

Delong’s resignation follows a prolonged period of infighting within the project.

On Dec. 5, Delong said that there had been “a lot of drama within Sushi” and manipulation from outside the project, stating that the “absurd defamation has risen to a level I can’t tolerate.”

Specifically, Delong drew attention to complaints from BoringCrypto, otherwise known as 0xM3rlin, and the departure of core team developer Mudit Gupta as issues that heightened the conflict. Various other developers, including 0xKeno and LevX, have reportedly left Sushi’s core development team as well.

BoringCrypto specifically expressed dissatisfaction with Delong’s development skills and leadership, suggesting that his main achievement was promoting the project by “shit-posting on Twitter.”

Delong responded to those complaints by saying that his role was misunderstood. He went on to explain that he joined Sushi as CTO at the request of co-founder 0xMaki to help reform the project—a task that would have involved the creation of a legal entity in order to sign business contracts and open bank accounts. Such a move would have brought Sushi in line with the operation model of projects like Uniswap, which is operated by Uniswap Labs. Now, with Delong’s departure, it is unclear whether such an entity will be created.

Prior to Delong quitting the project, some members of the Sushi community were calling for Sushi’s Product Manager Rachel Chu to be fired from the project. She kept her…