ENS Labs revises Foundation plan to keep DAO treasury under tokenholder control

ENS Labs has revised its proposal to establish an ENS Foundation, abandoning plans to transfer the ENS DAO’s operational wallet and token holdings to the new entity after delegates pushed back against the original governance proposal.

The latest draft keeps control of the DAO’s 54.6 million ENS tokens and approximately $16 million operational treasury with tokenholders, while granting the Foundation administrative oversight only of the $65 million Endowment Safe.

The proposal also authorizes a one-time transfer of 1 million ENS for employee compensation and introduces new safeguards requiring Endowment transactions to pass through a timelock with Security Council veto authority.

The proposal maintains the previously proposed Foundation board structure, including ENS co-founder Nick Johnson, while preserving governance checks such as independent approval for ENS Labs funding and limiting startup funding to $500,000 until a detailed operating budget is approved.

The revised plan marks the latest development in an ongoing dispute over governance, treasury control and voting concentration within the ENS ecosystem.