We at Cakepie are deeply troubled by PancakeSwap’s Tokenomics Proposal 3.0, specifically the proposed retirement of veCAKE. As the largest and most dedicated veCAKE holder, we were blindsided by this decision—learning about it at the same time as the rest of the community. After our continuous support and consistent contributions, this abrupt shift feels deeply misaligned with the mutual trust we’ve worked hard to establish.
Sunsetting veCAKE would be devastating for Cakepie and for every project built on long-term alignment with PancakeSwap. Our entire ecosystem is structured around veCAKE, with millions of CAKE locked for four years as a clear show of commitment. Removing veCAKE would erase that commitment overnight and undermine the trust and efforts of all builders who believed in PancakeSwap’s vision.
This move also sets a dangerous precedent in decentralized governance: even those who commit resources and dedication long-term risk having foundational rules changed abruptly, without prior consultation or community dialogue, leaving loyal stakeholders unfairly penalized.
Key Risks of Sunsetting veCAKE
Removing veCAKE introduces significant risks to PancakeSwap’s ecosystem and long-term sustainability. Here are key points raised by community members in the forum, highlighting thoughtful user-driven concerns:
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Damaged Trust: Severely undermines the confidence of protocols currently building on PancakeSwap, discouraging future integrations.
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Loss of Voting Incentives: Eliminates substantial co-incentives and voting rewards activities from projects engaging directly with veCAKE voters.
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Reduced Appeal for New Protocols: PancakeSwap would lose its competitive advantage as the go-to DEX for new protocol token launches and incentivized pools—Uniswap and others become more attractive alternatives.
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Lost Revenue for CAKE Holders: Removes a crucial revenue stream directly benefiting long-term CAKE stakeholders.
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Increased Sell Pressure and Volatility: Eliminates a mechanism that effectively aligns holders’ long-term interests, significantly increasing risk of immediate token dumping once tokens unlock.
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Erosion of Decentralized Governance: Removes the unique weighting-by-time governance system, which empowered committed long-term holders over short-term large holders, handing excessive influence to whales.
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Unsustainable Burn Model: A burn-only mechanism struggles with scalability as the price of CAKE increases, since the same volume will burn fewer tokens. In contrast, the veCAKE model becomes more effective at higher prices, attracting more bribes from ecosystem projects and better aligning incentives for long-term holders.
We understand that the veCAKE model isn’t perfect and could benefit from thoughtful improvements. However, scrapping it entirely feels both unnecessary and unfair to long-term supporters. There are more balanced ways to improve efficiency and fairness without hurting those who have shown lasting commitment.
Some practical alternatives include:
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Cap emissions to low-volume pools: Redirect rewards toward high-volume pools that genuinely drive activity and create tangible value for the ecosystem.
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Reward Voters with Fee Sharing: Allocate a portion of the fees generated by a pool to veCAKE holders who vote for that pool. This incentivizes directing emissions toward pools with higher trading volumes.
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Introduce Exit Flexibility with Penalties: Enhance veCAKE’s design by allowing early exits with penalties. These penalties could be burned or redistributed, offering users more flexibility while preserving the tokenomics integrity.
These solutions demonstrate that addressing PancakeSwap’s efficiency concerns does not require the drastic step of dismantling veCAKE. Cakepie remains fully committed and eager to collaborate on enhancing veTokenomics in ways that preserve community-driven governance and long-term value.
We also have serious concerns regarding the integrity of the governance process itself. On-chain evidence indicates that approximately 25 million CAKE tokens were suddenly locked across multiple wallets immediately prior to this proposal’s announcement. Such behavior strongly suggests an orchestrated governance attack intended to manipulate the outcome by stacking votes while being able to unlock those tokens immediately if the proposal passes. This raises alarming questions about fairness, transparency, and the decentralization principles PancakeSwap was built upon. A compromised governance process undermines trust and must not be overlooked.
Cakepie’s track record shows our strong commitment to PancakeSwap and the wider BNB Chain community. We’ve locked 13 million CAKE, helped grow liquidity, supported better yields for users, and worked directly with protocols to bring their liquidity and voting incentives to the PancakeSwap ecosystem — all made possible through veTokenomics. Everything we’ve done is rooted in our belief in community ownership, decentralization, and long-term, sustainable growth. This proposal profoundly hurts because it undermines these core values and threatens to erode community trust.
We strongly urge the #DeFi and #BNBChain communities to join us in opposing PancakeSwap’s Tokenomics Proposal 3.0. This decision impacts every long-term builder and holder who has invested time, resources, and trust into PancakeSwap’s ecosystem. We call upon PancakeSwap’s leadership to reconnect with the project’s foundational principles, reconsider the abandonment of veCAKE, and engage openly with the builders and community members who have consistently supported its growth.