A major DEX foundation's 2024 financial report just came out, and the community is furious. The issue is straightforward: the spending is completely disproportionate to the output.

The foundation spent $4.8 million on salaries alone, while only providing just over $10 million in funding to ecosystem projects. Compared to a peer public chain's funding committee, which has only $2.6 million in personnel costs but manages a $63.5 million fund—spending less money to accomplish more than six times the work. Even more painfully, the top three executives of this DEX foundation earn a total of $3.87 million, nearly equal to the entire operational costs of the peer funding committee, yet the allocatable funds are less than one-fifth of theirs.

Looking closely at the numbers, the $4.8 million in salaries accounts for 22% of the annual expenditure, a notably high ratio in the industry. In contrast, the peer organization has 13 evaluators plus a dedicated team, with clear role divisions and milestone-based funding mechanisms, resulting in high efficiency. The foundation’s listed allocation looks decent—$4.38 million for core technology development, $4.59 million for developer training, with a promised $14.8 million in grants for the year and over $9.9 million actually disbursed—but the community still feels that the investment and returns are mismatched.

Deeper resentment lies here: this foundation previously distributed all income to equity investors, leaving token holders with no say. Now, spending ecosystem funds with such low efficiency naturally isn’t acceptable. Token holders’ demand is simple: they don’t oppose spending, but they want transparency. They want the board to clarify exactly who the $4.8 million was spent on and why it’s worth that much. Besides the $10 million in grants, what tangible results has the ecosystem actually gained? After all, the money comes from the ecosystem, and those who contribute funds should see matching returns.