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As user activity and volumes across the DeFi space sink, a protocol that peaked at $70 million in total value locked (TVL) in late 2021 voted to \u201cunwind the Protocol and the DAO\u201d on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a vote passed early Tuesday morning, the GRO DAO voted to effectively cease ongoing operations. It will redeem the rest of its treasury directly to GRO token holders who deposit into a redemption contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Three options were presented: unwinding the operations, supporting a two-person team for continued development, or dismissing the proposal entirely. The decision was made to allocate $180,000 (in USDC) for a three-month period, allowing the \u201cGroda Pod\u201d development team to release the reimbursement contract and cease activities.<\/p>\n
The proposal cited \u201cdifficult market, underperformance of the Gro protocol, and key departures\u201d as extenuating circumstances leading to the decision to put an existential vote before the DAO.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project was founded in 2020 by former employees of Goldman Sachs, Spotify, Morgan Stanley, and Revolut. In 2021, they announced a $7.1 million raise that included funds such as Framework, 3AC, and Nascent. At the protocol\u2019s peak in October 2021, it boasted over $68 million in stables deposited into its yield aggregation and risk tranching contracts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The vote to wind down comes amid a rocky period for DeFi protocols. The sector\u2019s aggregate TVL has drifted from a high of $1.05 billion in April to just $80 billion as of today. The pullback comes amid a broader downturn in user activity across Ethereum<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n User numbers for popular DeFi protocols are especially languid. Uniswap weekly volume<\/a> is set to print new 2023 lows, and monthly users for popular lending protocols such as Aave have slumped<\/a> by 40% from yearly highs.<\/p>\n
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