Protocol for decentralized finance (DeFi) ROOK appears to be gaining more attention these days for its multimillion-dollar crypto treasury than for its development in its core business of producing Ethereum blockchain solutions. Some of its token holders have expressed dissatisfaction, prompting the CEO to respond on Thursday.
In a governance call that CoinDesk attended on ROOK’s Discord channel, the project’s pseudonymous leader Hazard fought back on concerns that management has failed to deliver. Their recent silence on development and lack of a roadmap, he claims, is due to ROOK’s clientele and their “conservative” lawyers’ penchant for remaining silent.
“We’re limited by the desire of the order flow providers,” Hazard said of individuals who wish to use ROOK to collect transaction value on Ethereum, also known as maximum extractable value, or MEV. “They’re the client, and the client is always right.” The remarks come as some in the ROOK DAO chafe at what they see as a stagnant project that is no longer serving the best interests of its community. One recent proposal calls for the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to dissolve and divide ROOK’s treasury, which is valued over $50 million in various cryptos, among ROOK token holders.
ROOK’s token has generally traded sideways this year, despite a strong rally in many other crypto assets. Yet, at press time, it was trading about $15.71, up roughly 12% in 24 hours.
On the call, Hazard minimized the token’s significance and advised speculators not to base their expectations on the output of ROOK – a fundamental component in defining what is and isn’t a security. The ROOK token grants its holders voting power in DAO decisions.
Yet, the DAO has had little operational input in what ROOK has done recently – or even transparency into what ROOK’s management has done. On the call, Hazard admitted this and blamed it on “big projects” interested in employing ROOK: “their limits are what’s leading us to be a little bit more constrained about what we can talk about.”
“Having public governance with private information is tough,” Hazard remarked during the call. “Maybe it has swung a little too far toward private information, and perhaps we need to swing back a little.” Hazard’s stance on roadmap disclosure “may be understood,” but only to a degree, according to Wismerhill, a pseudonymous self-described trading fund that recently called for ROOK’s dissolution.
