Why Did Across Protocol’s DAO Fail? The $23M Vote Manipulation and the Death of Decentralization
The Ritual Was Never Real
I still remember the first time I saw ACX trade below \(0.05—quiet, almost humble. Then came the spike: \)1.80. A 36x rally built on hope, not utility. And then—the fall. Six months later, $0.14. A 90% crash not from market panic, but from inside.
Across didn’t fail because it was hacked.
It failed because its own governance structure became a puppet theater—where one wallet held more votes than ten thousand small holders combined.
The Ballot That Wasn’t There
Ogle’s findings weren’t rumors—they were on-chain poetry.
The proposal to move $23M from DAO treasury to Risk Labs bore KevinChan.Lens’s signature—but passed through maxodds.eth with 44% of voting power.
No one voted.
They stacked.
A single address cast nearly half the ballots while pretending to be ‘community-driven.’ This isn’t decentralization. It’s algorithmic authoritarianism—with a DAO logo and a CEO’s bank account.
The Ghosts in the Code
This isn’t unique. Compound had its Golden Boys. The DAO died in ’16 with $50M stolen by external hackers—yet here? We were robbed by our own hands. DAO was meant to be trustless—but we trusted too much and audited too little.
Quadratic voting? Time locks? ZK proofs? These aren’t features—they’re lifelines we refuse to install until ethics become non-negotiable.
You Can’t Fix What You Won’t See
The real failure isn’t technical—it’s moral. We built a temple for transparency… then filled it with secret wallets and silent votes. The chain doesn’t care if you’re rich—it cares if you’re awake enough to read it before you vote again.
CryptoSage79
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So the DAO didn’t get hacked—it got voted to death by one wallet holding 90% of the ballots while the rest whispered in silence. We built a temple of transparency… then filled it with secret wallets and silent votes. Quadratic voting? More like quadratic lying. ZK proofs? More like ZK pretending. You don’t need more code—you need fewer billionaires and more awake readers.
Vote now or forever be rich? 🤔
(Yes, I still remember when ACX traded below $0.05… quiet as my therapist’s couch.)
El DAO no murió por un hack… ¡murió de hambre! Sus votos eran como tapas en una fiesta donde solo los ricos comen y los demás miran con hambre. $23M se fueron al bar… pero nadie votó. ¿Quién decidió que un ‘nodo’ era más importante que una tortilla? La tecnología descentralizada no es para todos… es para los que tienen billetera y abrigo. ¿Tú voto o comes? 🍽
O DAO não falhou por falta de código… falhou porque alguém trocou o orçamento por uma pilha de cafés e votos! Um baleia com terno votou 23M em cripto… enquanto os pequenos detentores só tinham um botão de “like”. Quadratic voting? É como pedir um pastel ao João com um burro na mão — e ele ainda dormiu enquanto o mercado desabou. E agora? O que vamos fazer? Botar mais café… ou votar de novo? 🤔☕
¡El DAO no fracasó por hackeos! Fracasó porque su gobernanza se convirtió en un flamenco donde cada billetera votaba como si fuera un toro en la plaza de Las Ventas. ¡Ni siquiera los ZK-proofs pudieron salvarlo! La verdad es que el $23M no se fue… ¡se lo llevó un gato con botas de código! ¿Y tú? ¿Votaste o solo miraste desde tu sofá? #DAOFlamenco #NoVoteSoloMira
