TL;DR
- Treasure DAO has laid off 15 contributors and canceled key initiatives as part of a major restructuring to reduce its $8.3 million annual burn rate.
- The project aims to extend its financial runway until February 2026 by withdrawing $785,000 in idle funds from Flowdesk and focusing on just four core products.
- The MAGIC token has lost 98% of its value since its all-time high, yet the community remains committed to building a sustainable Web3 ecosystem.
In a move that has sent ripples through the crypto community, Treasure DAO has announced a sweeping set of layoffs and strategic project cuts in an effort to remain operational through at least February 2026. John Patten, one of the DAO’s core contributors, has resumed a leadership role and introduced a plan aimed at cutting costs, streamlining operations, and doubling down on a handful of high-priority initiatives.
Speaking candidly, Patten revealed that the DAO had been operating with an unsustainable annual burn rate of $8.3 million, forcing a series of difficult decisions. Among them, 15 team members have either left or been laid off, and the DAO will shut down both its game publishing support and the Treasure Chain. To boost liquidity, Patten also proposed withdrawing $785,000 currently sitting idle on the Flowdesk market maker platform, potentially extending the DAO’s stablecoin runway to February 2026 under optimistic conditions.
From Diversification to Focus: Four Projects, One Clear Direction
The new direction centers around just four core pillars: the NFT marketplace, Bridgeworld, Smolworld, and AI agent-based scaling technology. The reasoning is simple: consolidate the DAO’s strengths and build a self-sustaining ecosystem where MAGIC plays a central role in generating value.
Bridgeworld and Smolworld will serve as internal showcases demonstrating how other projects can utilize the DAO’s AI infrastructure and MAGIC-based economy. Meanwhile, future partnerships will only be pursued if they contribute directly to the DAO’s revenue generation, marking a shift toward financial sustainability.
Crisis or Evolution? The Spirit of Web3 Lives On
Even though MAGIC has plummeted 98% from its peak price of $6.32 in February 2022, currently trading around $0.087 according to CoinGecko, the community remains resilient. Far from giving up, the DAO’s leadership sees this transition as a necessary step toward long-term survival and innovation within the Web3 space.
Founded in 2021, Treasure DAO initially set out to empower Web3 game developers with infrastructure and advisory tools. However, the project admits its original model wasn’t scalable. Now, instead of viewing this restructuring as a setback, the team frames it as an opportunity to evolve, adapt, and perhaps even spark a renaissance. In a decentralized world where resilience is key, this could very well be the pivot that saves the project and propels it into its next chapter.
