Original Title: What Across Protocol's going private proposal really means for its token holders and DAO

Original Author: Jacquelyn Melinek

Original Translation: Ken, ChainCatcher

Today, as many traditional companies deeply explore the field of tokenization, Across Protocol has proposed a different path for its token holders: to go private by buying back their tokens or exchanging them for equity.

@AcrossProtocol co-founder @hal2001 Lambur stated on the @TokenRelations @_TalkingTokens podcast: “The protocol is seeking privatization because its DAO structure hinders its development.”

“I have always been a maximalist for tokens,” Lambur said. “We launched the Across token early on when its market cap was very low and conducted a very broad airdrop because we wanted to build in public and accumulate value for our community and users. But I think the macro environment has changed.”

Across Protocol connects multiple major networks (including @Ethereum and @Solana), allowing users to bridge or exchange tokens across chains. To date, it has processed over $35 billion in transaction volume.

However, with the growing demand from institutions and enterprises, its structure has proven to be a bottleneck. Lambur believes that “adopting a more traditional structure will result in better development.”

To our knowledge, the proposal for Across to privatize itself is a rare move, coinciding with the industry's acknowledgment that DAOs are a challenging organizational structure to operate.

In August 2025, when @UniswapFND proposed the creation of the legal entity DUNI, the protocol indicated that a formal structure would bring more “capabilities and greater autonomy.”

Earlier this week, @Aave founder @StaniKulechov wrote about the friction caused by operating a DAO. “As we have always operated, DAOs are exceptionally difficult, and this difficulty is different from the kind faced when building complex things. The challenge lies in that you are fighting against your own organizational structure every day.”

For Across, Risk Labs is “currently responsible for signing contracts” and building the protocol as a foundation and legal entity, but Lambur said the DAO is separate from it.

The protocol currently operates under a “classic token structure,” where you have an on-chain protocol and a legal entity that has a loose cooperative relationship with that protocol. However, Lambur stated that they are two independent structures. “This is one of the reasons why people criticize the DAO model, and essentially, we are trying to unify the two,” he added.

Before announcing the proposal on Wednesday, Across had considered this move for several months. “It’s like this: you examine the macro environment, see how undervalued these tokens are, and then look at the friction faced when trying to operate in a more traditional way.”

The proposal offers token holders two options: to exchange their ACX tokens for equity in AcrossCo. or to convert them into USDC at a monthly average market price. Users holding a large amount of tokens can directly exchange their tokens for shares, while users with a small amount can exchange them through a fee-free special purpose entity.

Lambur acknowledged that one of the major downsides of the proposal is the limitation on how many token holders can transfer their holdings into a potential S corporation through equity. “This is based on U.S. securities law, and we have designed it to be as inclusive as possible under the artificially possible premise.”

“A U.S. C corporation cannot have 5,000 entries on its capital structure chart,” so some consolidation is needed, he pointed out. Nevertheless, he remains optimistic that it will work.

There will be a two-week discussion period before the community publishes a Snapshot vote or poll regarding the proposal.

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