Reading 3 min Views 3 Published Updated
Leaders of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) that runs the ApeCoin ecosystem have been criticized by community members for what they called “insane” salaries after the amounts were posted on an org chart.
On June 10, the secretary of ApeCoin DAO, known by the pseudonym “Volcano”, posted on Twitter an organization chart detailing the salaries of the DAO’s leadership. This showed wages ranging from $7,000 to $75,000 per month, amounts that shocked some members of the community and prompted many inquiries from some.
creating an org chart: $7k/month
managing a forum: $24k/month
supervising stuff: $27k/month
being “special”: 104k/month
watching our bags go down 90%+: priceless
there’s something $APE can’t buy. for everything else, there’s ApeCoin DAO. pic.twitter.com/Qla0Gspe2d
— Michael (@MiKeMeUpP) June 11, 2023
A Twitter user called the salaries “insane” and said the DAO might be “burning money for nothing”. According to a community member, they had no idea what the “special council” was doing to make $20,000 a month.
In the organizational structure, it was said that the so-called “special board” is responsible for administering the proposals of the DAO. Because of this, a Twitter user also asked the community if anyone could remember if any proposals were accepted in 2023.
Related: Ooki DAO to close after ‘precedent’ CFTC litigation
Meanwhile, a member of the community going by the pseudonym Michael tweeted that the council’s work, if done properly, could justify the sums for the right people. However, a community member added that “100,000 for forum modification and another one for oversight – lol.”
One community member called the salaries “insanely inappropriate”, while another Twitter user accused those who made the decision of “disconnecting from reality”.
Responding to concerns raised by the community, ApeCoin DAO board member Yat Siu stated in a Twitter thread that the compensation being paid is in line with the “responsibility and responsibility of the role.” Different industries pay more due to factors such as risk and liability, Siu said, noting that there are many of them in the cryptocurrency and Web3 industries.
The board member said that while not exactly the same, the roles of the special council bear some resemblance to mid-cap executives who receive similar rates. “The importance and duty of care associated with maintaining a multi-billion dollar DAO, and the associated risks and responsibilities for each member, are real and serious,” Siu tweeted.
In a thread, a community member asked if people who are paid $20,000 a month have a resume equivalent to a director of a public company. Siu responded that not all of them are typical boardroom candidates, but said that’s what makes DAOs interesting. According to Siu, this proves that people without typical experience can work well if given the opportunity.