Recently, someone uncovered the 2024 ledger of a leading DEX Foundation, and the numbers blew everyone away as soon as they were released.

Last year, this foundation's total expenditure was $12.8 million, with $4.8 million spent on employee salaries. Sounds okay? The key point is that three executives took home $3.87 million—almost 30% of the total expenditure. You read that right, the salaries of three people nearly equal half of the entire ecosystem funding budget.

This raises an awkward comparison. Meanwhile, a neighboring ecosystem foundation with a funding budget of $63.5 million only spent $2.6 million on salaries. In other words, the combined salaries of the three top executives at the leading DEX are roughly equal to the entire team’s costs at the other foundation, yet their actual funding received is only one-fifth of that. Such a huge efficiency gap explains why the community has concerns.

The deeper issue behind this is even more troubling. Under the DAO governance framework, there’s a lack of the strict performance evaluations and accountability systems typical of traditional companies. Without clear results tied to compensation and transparent incentive mechanisms, funds tend to flow into internal management rather than ecosystem development. Questions about how community funds are spent and whether they are worth it—these are issues no one dares to confront directly.

Looking at this discussion, it’s clear that DAO foundations need to seriously rethink their budgeting systems. How to balance executive costs with ecosystem investments, and how to establish effective oversight mechanisms—these are the real challenges ahead. It’s expected that this controversy will put significant pressure on future budget proposals and governance structures.