TL;DR:
- Across Protocol published an exploratory proposal to migrate from a DAO structure to a private corporation in the United States.
- ACX holders would have two options: exchange tokens for equity in AcrossCo or redeem their tokens in USDC at $0.04375, a 25% premium above the average price.
- The protocol has processed over $35 billion in volume and raised $51 million in funding. Paradigm led the last $41 million round.
Across Protocol, the blockchain interoperability protocol backed by Paradigm, published a proposal to migrate its structure from a decentralized autonomous organization to a C-corporation in the United States. The resulting entity would be called AcrossCo and would operate as the company behind the protocol.
Under the proposed plan, ACX token holders would have two alternatives. The first is a token-for-equity exchange in AcrossCo: larger holders would complete the swap directly, while smaller ones could do so through a special purpose vehicle with no fees. The second option is a buyback in USDC at $0.04375 per token, representing a 25% premium over the past month’s average price. Holders would have a six-month window to decide.
The Transition Across Protocol Needs
The team behind the protocol argues that the current DAO structure creates friction with institutional partners, who require enforceable contracts and a clear legal counterparty. “The type of agreements that would drive the next phase of growth require a structure that a DAO, today, simply cannot provide,” the team stated in the proposal. Hart Lambur, co-founder of Across Protocol, indicated that if community sentiment is positive, a formal governance proposal would be published two weeks after the temperature check. Approval would depend on a majority of votes.
AcrossCo would consolidate the protocol’s intellectual property, development management, partnerships, and commercialization. The underlying infrastructure, however, would continue to operate in an open and permissionless manner.
The protocol is currently managed by Risk Labs Foundation, the organization that also oversees UMA Protocol. Over more than four years of development, Across has processed more than $35 billion in volume and co-created the cross-chain intents standard ERC-7683. In its latest funding round, it raised $41 million, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and Multicoin Capital alongside Paradigm.
Currently, the ACX token trades at around $0.035, up nearly 4% over the past 24 hours, though it has accumulated a decline of approximately 84% over the past year.
