Jupiter DAO freezes voting until 2026 after governance criticism

• Jupiter DAO Pauses Governance Votes Until 2026
• Community criticizes centralization of JUP tokens
• JUP staking distribution continues quarterly

The DAO responsible for managing the Jupiter Exchange decentralized exchange aggregator on the Solana blockchain has announced the suspension of all governance votes until early 2026. The decision was prompted by growing discomfort among community members, who pointed out structural flaws in the project’s current governance.

According to Kash Dhanda, a collaborator on the project, the measure aims to provide the necessary time to restructure governance tools and focus on developing new products within the so-called “Jupiverse”. The expectation is that a new model will be presented by January 2026 at the latest.

Pausing DAO Voting to Focus on Jupiter & Jupiverse @JupiterExchange stands at the edge of an inflection point. The window to define the future of DeFi is open, but it won't stay open for long.

Right now, we have the best product suite (Jup dot ag), the best community…

— Kash (🐱, 🐐) (@kashdhanda) June 19, 2025

During this period, JUP token staking rewards will continue to be active, with 50 million tokens distributed per quarter. However, there will be no additional JUP issuances for voting incentives or working group budgets.

Following the announcement, the JUP token began trading at around $0,40, a 50% drop this year. The decline reflects not only the voting freeze but also a general weakening among alternative crypto assets (altcoins).

The move comes in the wake of criticism over the concentration of power in the hands of the project team. In a recent vote, a single team wallet accounted for over 4,5% of the total votes. Estimates indicate that founders and contributors control around 20% of the total JUP supply, raising concerns about the true decentralization of governance.

Previous controversies have fueled the debate. In March, a $7 million salary package was approved for four new employees. Around the same time, a vote authorized the payment of 220 million JUPs in bonuses to co-founder Ming Ng, after a commitment to allocate 280 million tokens to new hires.

The suspension of votes therefore aims to avoid centralized decisions while the DAO structure is reformulated, seeking greater balance between the community and those responsible for the protocol.