PANews reported on April 9 that according to Cryptonews, tensions are escalating in the PancakeSwap ecosystem. As the largest veCAKE holder and a contributor to PancakeSwap's long-term growth, Cakepie DAO strongly opposes DEX's newly announced token economics proposal 3.0 . The proposal includes plans to remove veCAKE, pledge, vote measurement, and revenue sharing, raising many questions, especially in protocols that have built entire ecosystems around these mechanisms.
Cakepie DAO published a blistering post on the X platform, expressing deep dissatisfaction with the proposed removal of veCAKE, a governance mechanism designed to reward long-term commitments and align incentives across the ecosystem. Cakepie was particularly upset with the way the proposal was announced. Despite having locked up millions of CAKE tokens in good faith for four years and continuing to contribute to liquidity growth, Cakepie claimed that it was informed of these changes along with the public without their knowledge. Cakepie, which has locked up 13 million CAKE, stressed that this sudden change not only undermined its own efforts, but also damaged the trust of the broader BNB chain builder community.
Critics say that by removing veCAKE, PancakeSwap will transfer influence from long-term supporters to whales and short-term holders. Adding fuel to the fire, Cakepie raised serious concerns about the governance process before the proposal was introduced. The DAO claimed that multiple wallets locked about 25 million CAKE tokens shortly before the announcement of the Token Economics Proposal 3.0 table, possibly planning a governance attack. If true, this would allow participants to vote for proposals and unlock their tokens immediately after the change is passed, undermining the spirit of fair participation. The DAO warned that a compromised governance process would undermine trust and must not be ignored. For this situation with PancakeSwap, Cakepie proposed a series of constructive alternatives instead of abolishing veCAKE altogether. These include directly rewarding pools that create real value, allowing voting veCAKE holders to receive part of the transaction fees, and allowing users to exit veCAKE locks early at the cost of paying a penalty, thereby increasing flexibility while maintaining the promised incentives. Cakepie said these options would address efficiency issues while maintaining the integrity of long-term token economics and governance.
