What led to DefiLlama’s ‘hostile takeover’? Developer weighs in

• Over the weekend, an employee at DefiLlama forked the platform following a disagreement.
• The crypto Twitter community has blamed the conflict on the project’s lack of revenue.

An employee at DefiLlama forked the decentralized finance analytics dashboard following a dispute within the platform. The conflict revolves around the company’s plans to launch a token.

0xngmi, a pseudonymous DefiLlama developer, announced on 19 March that the team was forking the platform.

The DefiLlama team is forking Defillama@Defillama is undergoing a hostile takeover

There is an ongoing attempt to launch a token that does not represent us. We don't want to be associated with it

Use https://t.co/G0h4uBo2mL and @llamadotfi instead!

— 0xngmi (llamazip arc) (@0xngmi) March 19, 2023

DefiLlama was “undergoing a hostile takeover,” according to 0xngmi. The company’s founders launched the token without the support of its employees, the developer added. He asserted:

“The DefiLlama team who have built the site […] for the past three years have decided to fork Defillama and start fresh on llama.fi.”

As a result of this decision, 0xngmi launched the website llama.fi and Twitter account @llamadotfi with over 8,600 followers at the time of writing. Except for the deletion of a few tool links, the new website closely mirrors defillama.com.

Though 0xngmi was the first to assert that DefiLlama was being taken over in a hostile manner, a message posted on a project’s Telegram channel claimed that 0xngmi had “gone rogue” within an hour of the developer’s tweet. The message claimed that Oxngmi and a few others are trying to seize DefiLlama while accusing the owner of a takeover.

Is a lack of revenue behind the fork?

Tendeeno, a pseudonymous DefiLlama contributor, blamed the conflict on the project’s lack of revenue. The contributor opposed the idea of a token launch, claiming that it would be a blot on the project’s reputation. Apart from being against the wishes of an alleged majority of the team, Tendeeno stated that a token launch would impede how the project runs.

(4/12)

The problem is: DL hasn't historically made revenue. This is something that was being worked on…

but the other cofounder (llam4) decided they couldn't wait any longer.

They decided that launching a DL token would be the solution.

— Tendeeno (@Tendeeno_) March 19, 2023

Another crypto Twitter user Insomniac hoped that the team resolves the issues amicably, given that “DefiLlama is both a loved and well used product.”

8. I remember DefiLlama from 2021; when they used to have to almost beg for grants. I can understand the need for monetization, you need funds to keep operating and growing a project.

It's the lifeblood that keeps companies going. Are they just getting by now?

— Insomniac (@insomniac_ac) March 19, 2023