The Yearn Finance community is considering a significant strategic shift after a new proposal was introduced on September 28, 2025, by a pseudonymous contributor known as 0xPickles. The three-part initiative aims to realign stakeholder incentives, prioritize profitability, and steer the protocol toward sustainable growth.

This move comes as Yearn works to regain its former prominence in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector. The protocol, once a dominant force with a Total Value Locked (TVL) of nearly $7 billion in December 2021, has seen its user participation and deposits decline by over 90% from that peak.

A New Economic Model for YFI Stakers

At the heart of the plan is a radical change to revenue distribution. The proposal suggests allocating 90% of all future protocol revenue directly to stYFI holders—users who have staked their YFI tokens. This change is designed to directly reward long-term supporters who have remained invested despite the protocol’s dwindling performance.

While Yearn’s recent profits are modest, with data from DefiLlama showing under $200,000 in revenue for August, the proposal’s focus is on creating a foundation for future growth. By increasing accountability and prioritizing profitability, the initiative seeks to make the YFI token more valuable over time.

This new plan would replace a previous attempt at an overhaul from October 2023, which introduced a vote escrow token model similar to those used by Curve Finance and Balancer. That model failed to gain significant traction, a point highlighted by 0xPickles, who noted that “only 3.8% of the YFI supply is locked, a figure that is in decline,” demonstrating a clear lack of interest from the community.

Restructuring for Accountability and Growth

Beyond the revenue-sharing model, the proposal calls for a simpler staking system to replace the unsuccessful vote escrow mechanism. Under the new system, YFI holders could lock up their tokens to become eligible for a share of the protocol’s earnings.

Another key component involves restructuring the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) to be more profit-oriented. This includes mandating on-chain financial reporting to justify budget requests from contributors, a change intended to address what the proposal’s author described as “organizational misalignment and coordination inefficiency.”

Finally, the plan outlines a formal strategy to distribute 1,700 YFI tokens through strategic incentives, establish a performance bonus program, and create a retention pool for long-term contributors. The three proposals are being presented as an “all-or-nothing” package, meaning the entire initiative must be approved by a DAO vote to take effect. Discussions are currently underway on the Yearn governance forum.