ArbusAI Relaunch Faces Governance Crisis as Investors Flag Smart Contract and Transparency Issues

Relaunch Triggers Buzz but Raises Trust Issues

On May 17, 2025, ArbusAI relaunched its native utility token across Ethereum and BNB chains.The move was part of a broader restructuring of its decentralized artificial intelligence platform.The project claims to power autonomous AI agents governed by a distributed DAO voting system. However, the relaunch has ignited fresh concern across crypto forums and developer channels.

Within 48 hours, developers flagged issues in the smart contract’s ownership logic.
Specifically, several community members noted hardcoded admin wallets without time-locked transitions. A GitHub review showed inconsistent commit histories tied to DAO decision mechanics.
Critics warned this could potentially allow backdoor control of future token minting or fund movement.

Community members on Twitter called for an independent audit, tagging firms like CertiK and Hacken.The ArbusAI team responded with a post stating that a full audit “is underway.”
But no formal documents or auditor confirmations have yet been released as of May 18.

DAO Governance and Token Allocation Under Scrutiny

Investors also raised transparency concerns around the updated DAO structure.
The DAO vote logs released post-relaunch revealed over 60% of votes came from 12 wallets.
These wallets were pre-funded during the private round, raising fears of centralized influence.
Additionally, the DAO dashboard showed no clear delegation mechanisms or accountability tracking tools.

Tokenomics data released in the whitepaper was reportedly altered just two days before relaunch.
Initial claims of a 35% community reserve were edited down to 20% without disclosure. This change affects both staking rewards and AI training fund allocation, sparking community outrage.Prominent DAO researchers pointed out that this behavior violates standard decentralized governance norms. “If you can’t trace a vote or challenge it, it’s not a DAO—it’s just a wrapper,” said one analyst.

Despite a spike in early trading volume, the token dropped nearly 28% within 24 hours.Multiple users reported failed staking attempts through the Web3 dashboard, possibly due to backend errors.

Market Sentiment Highlights Trust Gap in Decentralized AI Models

The ArbusAI controversy illustrates growing market sensitivity to transparency in decentralized AI platforms.Investors are demanding clearer governance flows, especially in projects claiming AI decision-making autonomy.Concerns also extend to how on-chain AI models are trained and validated by token-holders.

Some developers argued that AI-generated decisions tied to unclear voting systems risk systemic manipulation.Others stressed the need for community-led model training, not opaque lab-driven tweaks.Although ArbusAI markets itself as an open-source, modular AI stack, critics question its verifiability.As of now, neither model weights nor training protocols are available for public audit or fork.With Web3 moving toward agent-led economies, governance in AI-linked crypto systems is under the spotlight.Whether ArbusAI will publish a complete audit or restructure its DAO remains uncertain.But one thing is clear: decentralized AI projects now face the same level of scrutiny as DeFi.