On April 15, a proposal known as AIP-1.05 to return 700 million ARB governance tokens to Arbitrum’s DAO treasury was overwhelmingly defeated, with 118 million votes against and only 21 million in favor. In March, the Arbitrum Foundation transferred funds without community approval, which led to the introduction of the proposal. The defeated proposal called for the tokens to be returned as a symbolic gesture to demonstrate the DAO’s control over the foundation. One 4.8 million ARB whale voter opposed the proposal, stating that it was an unnecessary step that would delay the foundation’s ability to support the ecosystem’s growth.
Another 18 million ARB whale voter emphasized the need for balance between decentralization and progress in the ecosystem. After its governance proposal AIP-1, which suggested investing nearly $1 billion worth of ARB tokens for operational funding, faced community backlash, the foundation clarified that it was actually a ratification and that some of the tokens had already been sold for stablecoins. To restore communication with the community, the foundation has subsequently put forth new improvement proposals.
