ApeCoin DAO Votes In Two New Special Council Seats, Replacing Alexis Ohanian and Yat Siu

ApeCoin DAO, the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) made up of ApeCoin (APE) holders, has voted in two new members of its Special Council governing body, filling seats formerly held by Animoca Brands chairman Yat Siu and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

ApeCoin is an Ethereum-based native currency of the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem launched in March 2022. According to the ApeCoin website, the Ape Foundation was put in place to ensure smooth governance over the ApeCoin DAO and its treasury. The Ape Foundation is overseen by a Special Council, whose purpose is to “administer DAO proposals and serve the vision of the community,” though what that specifically entails is not laid out.

Beginning last Thursday, the DAO opened up a vote to add two members to its Special Council, replacing Siu and Ohanian who had served since the DAO’s inception. The new term will begin on July 1 and last for one year.

Voting concluded on Wednesday evening, welcoming pseudonymous ApeCoin DAO community manager Waabam and Bored Ape holder CaptainTrippy to the Special Council. Of the five candidates brought forward, Wabaam earned 31.2% of the vote with 7.7 million APE, while CaptainTrippy took in 29.4% of the vote with 7.3 million APE.

The new recruits will join existing Special Council members Bored Ape G, Gerry and Vera Li. The ApeCoin DAO also filled two Governance Steward seats, bringing in All City BAYC and tiger is fine.

CaptainTrippy previously said in his nomination statement that he hopes to help the ApeCoin DAO community “align and drive culture forward into the metaverse.”

Both and Ohanian expressed support for the new Special Council members.

Siu posted a Twitter thread expressing support for the organization in its growth.

“I deeply treasure my experience as an SC member for ApeCoin, it was full of experimentation, creative problem solving and innovating on the edge of a living breathing organism!” said Siu. “As an organization, Animoca Brands will continue to build and support the ApeCoin ecosystem including games that are going to support APE and I look forward to being a contributor to the DAO alongside all of you, in the trenches as part of the community.”

Ahead of the Special Council election earlier this month, some ApeCoin community members questioned the high salary of Special Council members, who earn $20,800 each per month, or nearly $250,000 per year for the role. Some ApeCoin DAO members put forward proposals to cut the salary by half, or reward leaders per contribution to the organization.