Terra validator hits out at Do Kwon’s ‘dictatorship model’ on key fork vote

Quick Take

  • Terra validators are voting on whether to approve Do Kwon’s plan to revive the Terra blockchain.
  • One validator with 1.49% of the vote claims the proposal is being pushed forward without regard to the community’s wishes.

A Terra validator voting against Do Kwon’s plan to revive the network has hit out at the way the vote has been managed, blasting a lack of decentralization.

Allnodes CEO and founder Konstantin Boyko-Romanovsky told The Block, “We didn’t like the fact that the whole governance process of this proposal looks like a dictatorship model. It looks like the launch of [the] new chain is decided even before voting is finished.”

TerraUSD, a stablecoin native to the Terra blockchain, lost its peg to the US dollar last week, destroying more than $40 billion of value in a few days. To revive the network, Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon is seeking approval from validators to fork Terra and reallocate its tokens, with many subject to vesting periods.

While a majority of validators — who stake tokens and processes transactions on the network — have so far voted in favor of the plan, many in the wider Terra community have expressed concerns. Boyko-Romanovsky went as far as to say that the way the vote has been managed goes against the decentralized philosophy of crypto.

Allnodes is one of five validators voting against the plan and represents 1.49% of the Terra network's staked Luna, the token used to vote. Currently 19.7% of votes are vetoing the plan. If this climbs to more than 33.4% when the poll ends in six days, the vote won't pass.

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Ahead of the main vote, there was a preliminary poll on the Terra governance forum. Nearly 7,000 people voted, with 91% against the idea of a fork. 

Boyko-Romanovsky said he didn’t like what happened regarding the preliminary poll. “90% of [the] active community is against [a] fork and still the founder pushes his own narrative without listening to his community,” he said.

He added that the proposed solution was not the best option and that more time should be given to discussions about the path forward. He said that since Terraform Labs may have access to significant voting power, Allnodes decided to stand on the community’s side and vote to veto the proposal.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Tim is the Editor-In-Chief of The Block. Prior to joining The Block, Tim was a news editor at Decrypt. He has earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of York and studied news journalism at Press Association Training. Follow him on X @Timccopeland.