Proposal to dissolve ENS DAO arises after founder blocks key security council renewal

Christoph Jentzsch, an ENS community member, has called for dissolving the ENS DAO entirely. He made the proposal on X, saying the DAO is “broken” and that its core mission – managing the Ethereum Name Service – is essentially complete. The move comes days after ENS founder Nick Johnson blocked renewal of the DAO’s security council, a decision that Jentzsch argues renders the governance structure unworkable.

“As it seems, the ENS DAO is broken,” Jentzsch wrote. “I would propose turning this into a win, by actually dissolving it. Its goals have been accomplished.” He did not specify what would happen to the DAO’s treasury, which holds millions of dollars in ENS tokens and other assets. The proposal remains a suggestion – no formal vote has been scheduled.

The dispute centers on a power struggle over the DAO’s security council, a multi-sig group that can execute emergency transactions. Johnson, who leads the ENS protocol development, reportedly blocked the council’s renewal, effectively freezing its ability to rotate members. Jentzsch and others view that as a violation of the DAO’s decentralized ethos. Without a functioning council, the DAO’s ability to secure funds and respond to threats is in question.

Jentzsch is not a random voice – he co-founded the DAO concept on Ethereum and helped write the original DAO framework. His call carries weight in the governance community. But dissolving a DAO is not trivial. It would require a token-holder vote, legal steps, and a plan to distribute or burn the treasury. There is no timeline yet.

For ENS token holders, the proposal adds uncertainty to an already shaky governance environment. The DAO has been gridlocked on key decisions for months, and this latest flare-up could push the community to a binary choice: restructure or liquidate.

The next verifiable event to watch is whether the ENS DAO puts Jentzsch’s proposal to a formal vote. If it does, the outcome will determine the fate of one of Ethereum’s most-used naming protocols – and the millions of dollars sitting in its treasury.