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anchored·2pYuvE…C4zgSummary
SushiSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) and DeFi protocol launched in August 2020 as a fork of Uniswap, offering an automated market maker (AMM), governance token (SUSHI), and multi-chain liquidity pools. The protocol has endured a series of serious controversies spanning its entire history: a founding exit-scam attempt by anonymous creator Chef Nomi, early operational control handed to convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, an SEC subpoena issued to the protocol and its CEO in 2023, a $3.3 million smart contract exploit the same year, allegations that North Korean IT workers were embedded in its developer team, disputed DAO treasury centralization in 2024, and a governance process in late 2025 where a single wallet controlled 99.9% of a vote. TVL has declined approximately 98.7% from its 2022 peak of over $8 billion to roughly $100 million as of late 2025.
Connected Entities
1 entities- + 8 more
Timeline(18 events)
August 2020
SushiSwap launched by anonymous developer 'Chef Nomi' as a fork of Uniswap, introducing SUSHI governance token and yield farming incentives.
5 September 2020
Chef Nomi withdraws approximately $13–14 million from the developer fund wallet, converting SUSHI and LP tokens to ETH; SUSHI price collapses ~90%. Community labels it a rug pull or exit scam.
6 September 2020
Chef Nomi transfers multi-sig control of SushiSwap to FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to restore community confidence.
11 September 2020
Chef Nomi returns approximately 38,000 ETH ($14 million) to the developer fund, publicly apologizes, and withdraws from governance.
11 September 2020
Sam Bankman-Fried oversees SushiSwap's migration from Uniswap and transfers control to a broad multi-sig arrangement.
March 2021
SUSHI reaches all-time high of approximately $23.38. SushiSwap TVL exceeds $5 billion.
2022
SushiSwap TVL peaks at over $8 billion before declining sharply during the broader crypto market downturn.
11 October 2022
Jared Grey appointed Head Chef. Within days, Twitter user YannickCrypto publishes allegations of past scams and other misconduct; Grey denies all charges.
December 2022
Grey discloses SushiSwap treasury has less than 18 months of runway remaining, with alleged $30 million loss attributed to prior administration mismanagement.
21 March 2023
SEC serves SushiSwap and Jared Grey with a subpoena. SushiSwap proposes $3 million legal defense fund from the DAO treasury.
9 April 2023
RouterProcessor2 smart contract exploit drains approximately $3.3 million across 14 chains. Largest victim is wallet 0xSifu (Michael Patryn, QuadrigaCX co-founder). White hats recover over 1,000 ETH.
12 April 2023
SushiSwap announces reimbursement plan via Merkle Claim contract for exploit victims.
April 2024
SushiSwap proposes transitioning to 'Labs model,' shifting approximately $42.5 million in treasury assets from DAO control to new Sushi Labs entity.
10 April 2024
Sushi Labs treasury proposal passes with approximately 62% of the vote amid allegations by community members that the team used protocol wallets and borrowed funds to boost voting power.
11 June 2024
Sushi Labs formally established as the autonomous administrative entity governing SushiSwap operations.
December 2025
Jared Grey steps down as Head Chef and transitions to advisory role. Synthesis invests $3.3 million; Alex McCurry becomes Managing Director.
14 December 2025
Governance vote increases SUSHI annual emission rate from 1.5% to up to 5%; on-chain analysis shows a single wallet controlled approximately 99.9% of voting power.
12 March 2026
A trader routes $50.4 million USDT through CoW Protocol into a SushiSwap pool with only $73,000 liquidity, losing approximately $50 million to slippage and MEV exploitation.
Decision Log
- hash: Ho5f8ZfwnKVLWVdWziWnogE7y21fToW3g8V3Cy3MD2FR
- hash: 2oFcvXnRVUuJR1zJj9cXD5kPCqXDFMEtEVycDZNb923G
- hash: D8JGMitKYCoXCzKvr9LQgnMxSKv9pSZuXuJBqxKY7BTh
- hash: FRAWZEdca3DMPD8VRcZuwBUSfihQ7EUHCdXWABFvvoNg
- hash: EwfZrz8THf6Qrxydjbg5Kjva58dM89ku1SVpznVwQv5t
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (5 events). 39 of 47 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/4/2026, 2:54:42 AM
last updated: 8/30/2026, 5:14:11 AM
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