DefiLllama Drama Put to Rest: No Token Planned After ‘Poor Communication’

The DefiLlama team apologized Monday for confusing its users over the weekend through a statement directed people to a forked version of its decentralized finance dashboard.

“The DeFiLlama team would like to apologize for the events that unfolded yesterday, as a result of poor communication and a misunderstanding within the team,” the company tweeted.

Yesterday, a rift between 0xngmi and 0xLlam4—the company’s two pseudonymous co-founders—erupted in public over a potential token launch. But after one side teased a llama-themed cryptocurrency days ago, the collective clarified today that it wasn’t in the works.

“We would like to put what happened behind us,” DeFiLlama said. “There is no LLAMA token currently planned, and any airdrop will be discussed with the community, as every important decision is.”

0xngmi said Sunday that the team was forking DefiLlama due to a hostile takeover that involved a token launch, encouraging his followers to use llama.fi instead of defillama.com. By Monday afternoon, the new website redirected people to its predecessor.

As the drama between two pseudonymous llamas played out, members of DefiLlama’s Discord server vocalized concerns over whether the website had been compromised or hacked. But confusion gave way to relief as members reacted to Monday’s announcement.

“Great to see you guys found a way to keep the team together,” one user named 0xSerdar said. “Happy for you!”

A message posted in one of DefiLlama’s Telegram channels yesterday suggested that 0xngmi had “gone rogue” and was trying to steal the company’s IP with a few team members, but it has since been deleted.

The pseudonymous DefiLlama contributor Tendeeno had claimed that it was 0xLlam4 who was in the wrong, forging ahead with a token launch despite the team’s wishes. And because 0xLlam4 controlled the company’s Twitter account and domain name, “they could announce a token at any time and essentially hold the team hostage.”

Following the fallout from this past weekend, the DefiLlama team appeared to have reconciled the disagreement, and it vowed that similar issues would not arise again.

“We will take steps to operate in a more transparent manner to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” DefiLlama said, adding that the company will “continue to cooperate with each other in developing open and transparent solutions.”