Prominent crypto law firm Burwick Law has issued a public warning to NFT infrastructure provider Metaplex, calling out its plan to absorb unclaimed Solana (SOL) tokens into its DAO treasury—a move the firm says could invite litigation and damage community trust.
In an open letter dated April 22, Burwick Law criticized the lack of transparency and user consent in the sweeping process.
“Many minters never received clear notice that these imports could be swept, let alone diverted to a treasury they do not control,”
the firm wrote, emphasizing the potential for legal action under consumer protection laws or claims of unjust enrichment.
According to data on Metaplex’s website, only 7,043 SOL have been claimed, while over 54,000 SOL—worth more than $6.5 million at current prices—remain unclaimed.
The controversy arose from Metaplex’s initiative in October 2024, which introduced a “resize optimization” feature for Token Metadata NFTs to reduce on-chain storage and allow NFT holders to reclaim a portion of SOL as a rent refund. Holders had until April 25, 2025, to claim their funds, after which any unclaimed SOL would automatically go to Metaplex’s DAO treasury without a clear plan for its use. This decision has raised concerns among NFT collectors, as expressed in Burwick’s letter, which argues that it undermines trust and contradicts Web3 principles. Burwick also challenged the “code is law” notion, emphasizing that if protocols can retroactively change rules, it threatens the concept of decentralized permanence.
Metaplex initially proposed using reclaimed SOL for community initiatives like airdrops, builder grants, or DAO votes. However, Burwick suggested a more balanced approach: refunding 90% of rent to NFT holders while keeping 10% for network maintenance. This strategy aims to protect users, support DAO funding, and demonstrate the Solana ecosystem’s ability to self-regulate without legal intervention, following similar models in other DeFi protocols.
Meanwhile, according to DappRadar’s Industry Report, NFT trading has sharply declined since December 2024, while AI-powered dApps have emerged as the fastest-growing sector in Web3.
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