A public exchange between Vitalik Buterin and Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko has renewed discussion over token-based governance in crypto protocols. Vitalik compared token voting to traditional shareholder voting in joint-stock corporations, arguing it is a workable governance model despite criticism. Yakovenko responded that, in blockchain systems, tokens cannot be true shareholders because the hardware and infrastructure belong to individual operators who are not legally bound to token-holder votes. Yakovenko highlighted that even if 100% of token holders vote for a change, the people actually running the protocol can still choose to update or not update the software, underscoring a gap between on-chain votes and off-chain enforcement.