A16z 15M bloc vote against Uniswap BNB Chain deployment raises decentralization concerns

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) voted against the deployment of decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap (UNI) on the BNB Chain via Wormhole.

The crypto investment firm placed its 15 million UNI holdings against the proposal — making it the largest voting bloc among the 36 million votes cast at press time.

A16z defends decision

A16z said it does not believe Wormhole offers the most secure or decentralized bridging option for the DEX — citing the network vulnerability and breaches it suffered in 2022.

It added that the Uniswap DAO would be unable to control the bridge independently if Wormhole is selected as the provider — an essential factor to consider, according to the firm.

A16z also mentioned that an independent third party should formally assess all cross-chain bridge options.

A partner at the firm Eddie Lazzarin previously hinted that the firm would support LayerZero — one of its portfolio companies — as Uniswap’s bridge of deployment. Lazzarin said:

“To be totally unambiguous, we at a16z would have voted 15 million tokens toward LayerZero if we were technically able to. And we will be able in future Snapshot votes.”

The Wormhole bridge is backed by another crypto investment firm Jump Capital — which was yet to vote as of press time. Voting will end on Feb. 10.

Community questions Uniswap’s decentralization

Meanwhile, a16z’s vote raised concerns about Uniswap’s decentralization among the crypto community.

The community was being lied to about UNI governance because a16z could control 41.5 million UNI through 11 wallets — representing more than 4% of the supply, Blockchain analytical firm Bubblemaps said. It added that 4% is the required quorum needed to pass any proposal.

The a16z-related wallets can collectively change the outcome of any governance vote, according to the firm.

Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao also asked a rhetorical question of if “Uniswap [is] controlled by a16z?” CZ added:

“On-chain voting just means the large whale(s) control the blockchain then. Just like shareholders.”