ENS Labs has abandoned its proposal to hand over control of the Ethereum Name Service's DAO treasury, following pushback from delegates. The organization, which develops the ENS protocol, had been exploring a transfer of treasury management authority but decided instead to retain control.
Why delegates pushed back
Details of the original plan remain sparse, but the pushback came from delegates who vote on ENS governance proposals. The move would have shifted treasury oversight away from ENS Labs, likely to a separate entity or a different governance structure. Delegates raised concerns about the timing, the lack of clarity around the new arrangement, and the potential risks of moving funds before safeguards were in place.
What the scaled-back decision means
ENS Labs will keep its current role managing the DAO treasury for now. The decision is a retreat from a more ambitious restructuring that had been under discussion. The organization said it will continue to work with delegates on governance improvements but did not set a new timeline for revisiting the treasury control question.
The ENS DAO controls a significant pool of tokens, used to fund development and community initiatives. Any change to how those funds are managed requires broad delegate support. That support wasn't there for the original plan.
What happens next
ENS Labs has not announced a revised proposal. Delegates are expected to continue discussions in the ENS governance forum. No formal vote on a new treasury control plan has been scheduled.
