The DAO era may be closed for Apecoin, with community members showing a cautious but clear desire to pass the reins to a new, more centralized structure called Apeco.
Apecoin Dao appears poised for Maign Sa, as many members are gathering, but it could potentially replace the current system with a more focused, founder-driven model called Apeco, as it is behind the plans of Greg “Garga” Solano at Yuga Labs.
AIP-596 proposes to make Apecoin Dao a sunset by ending token holder governance and transferring controls to Apeco, a Cayman-based entity created by Yuga Labs. Why: The organization was “deferred to a governance theater that was dull, loud and often unsafe,” Solano writes.
“Apecoin Dao was a bold experiment, but it came from another era. What began with a promise deviated from a loose, loud, and often unsafe governance theater.
Greg Solano
This new structure aims to “replenish the monkey ecosystem” by focusing resources on three key pillars: Apechain, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and others.
APECO is designed to block governance gridlocks by replacing a wide range of votes with a governance light model, featuring stronger leadership and faster decision-making. It plans to accelerate product development, raise standards based on the quality of its funding, and concentrate capital on impact and alignment while maintaining existing commitments such as contract staking.
According to Solano, the proposal aims to focus on “Apecoin is the core of what it means to power” by moving from DAO to Apeco to Apeco.
It’s still in line with Web3 principles
Animoca Brands, an early participant at Apecoin Dao, expressed his understanding of the shift, while co-founder Yat Siu emphasized that such decisions reflect the will of the community. In an interview with Crypto.News, SIU said that while Animoca places a deep emphasis on decentralization and token holder rights, the move towards a centralised structure like Apeco remains in line with Web3 principles when democratically elected by token holders.
Dozens of Apecoin owners have expressed approval across the DAO Forum and social media, including several long-time contributors and AIP authors. The dominant tone was one of the relief and optimism, as it framed the shift as the evolution required for the ecosystem.
You might like it too: D3 launches the .APE domain name of the Apecoin user
Still, not all responses were critical. Some people questioned the meaning of disbanding DAO. Community member Frostis asked whether recent allocations like the banana bill and acquisition NFT would be transferred to APECO, and whether undecided co-investment proposals such as those from Animoca’s Yat SIU would be cancelled, “What will happen to an approved AIP for any AIP that has not been approved?”
When asked about Animaka’s involvement prior to the release of the proposal, SIU said the company was given a heads-up but was not consulted with its development. The results he reiterate will ultimately be decided by the Apecoin holders through their vote, he said.
“Exit Game”
Others have expressed concern about the optics and the rapid sequence of events as Lanzer writes that AIP is “a bad optic for Yuga Labs and Garga. I am personally concerned about the confusing, fast sequence of events that led here.”
Likee.eth repeatedly reiterated previous concerns that the structure was unsustainable, pointing to frustration such as requiring another AIP just to update the official website using the Apechain link. He called DAO “disposable VC exit game.”
“What’s undoubtedly, Yuga is one of the most successful pioneers in the NFT space, but if Yuga is Apeco’s controller, I need to worry. The ability to take on another organization again isn’t a beautiful transcript to win Cryptopunk, Meebit, Meebit, MoonBirds, Wenew, Wenew, Roar, Roar, Building othersios and more.
Likekee.eth
Some provided alternative paths. One detailed proposal suggested sunset governance, but rather than a full transition to external companies, it uses time-locked reserve policies and new investment policies to keep the foundation as a central steward.
Still, these concerns were largely owned by vocal supporters as comments that reflected the dominant mood, such as “This is a perfect evolution,” “Let’s make history — again,” and “This is absolutely necessary.”
Regarding concerns about decentralised optics, SIU noted that Apecoin Dao was created in a very different regulatory environment, particularly in the US, and adaptation of governance models is a natural response to evolving conditions.
“In the case of Apedao, the regulatory environment and sentiment that he has won over the majority of the last three years have posed challenges to operations and provided some important lessons that are topics of many discussion.”
Yat Siu
SIU said the Animoca brand will continue to support the Apecoin ecosystem under the new models. He said the company is a shareholder, a partner in Yuga Labs and an active participant in governance. He also hopes Animoca will play a role in Apeco in the future.
The final vote on Garga’s proposal remains open, but with over 98% of votes so far supported, the active community appears to be showing strong support for DAO for sunset in favor of Apeco’s more centralized operational model.
read more: Apecoin announces blueprints for Apechain to plead with creators
