As former team members of Umami Labs, we would like to clarify a few points concerning recent events:
- In his role as CEO of Umami Labs, Alex O’Donnell was moving the company in a direction that the entire team unanimously agreed was not in keeping with the expectations or best interests of the UMAMI token holder community. Plans included a “consolidation” of treasury assets onto the Umami Labs balance sheet (a service provider company beneficially owned in part by Alex O’Donnell, not the DAO), and huge shifts to the nature and behavior of the UMAMI token that represented a significant departure from what he had been communicating with the UMAMI token holder community since the very start of his tenure as CEO. The team felt that, at best, the plans were unethical.
- Due to the corporate structure of Umami Labs, there was unfortunately no mechanism through which the CEO could be materially challenged or removed. As a result, the team felt they had no alternative but to resign. This was not a decision that was taken lightly.
- Contrary to suggestions otherwise, both the treasury and the code that the DAO has paid Umami Labs to produce remain in the hands of the DAO, as they always have been. The treasury and the code are the property of the DAO. No funds have been moved and the code remains in the same repository that it was in before the formation of Umami Labs.
- To date, The UMAMI token holder community provides governance of the DAO. While Alex O’Donnell controls Umami Labs, Umami Labs does not control the DAO. The services agreement between the DAO and Umami Labs provided the DAO with technical services to enable a high level of autonomy within the strict bounds of acting in the best interests of UMAMI token holders.
- The operators of the multi-sig are now, and have always been, accountable to the DAO itself and not to Alex O’Donnell. This obligation of trust and the role of the operators pre-dated the existence of Umami Labs. While an entity called “Umami DAO Foundation’’ exists in the Cayman Islands, this entity was formed by Alex O’Donnell. Like Umami Labs, Umami DAO Foundation has never had control of the DAO, or DAO assets, and was formed to be subservient to the DAO. This distinction has always been clearly stated in our documentation.
- The future of the DAO shall be determined by the UMAMI token holder community, and not by Umami Labs or Alex O’Donnell. The services agreement between the DAO and Umami Labs has now been terminated by the DAO through a successful snapshot vote. Further proposals can be made to alter the structure of the multi-sig and provide a more comprehensive governance framework for the DAO. The team strongly encourages this and would wholeheartedly support the process.
We are committed to act for the best interests of the UMAMI token holder community. These best interests should be determined by the UMAMI token holder community, and not by Alex O’Donnell (who we understand is no longer an UMAMI token holder as he has recently sold his UMAMI tokens).
Finally, the team is humbled by the overwhelming support from the UMAMI community, and our friends in the broader DeFi community. We are proud that we are able to assist UMAMI in achieving transparency, decentralized governance, community accountability, and, of course, juicy, juicy yields.
