SUSHI is an ERC-20 governance token that powers the SushiSwap decentralized exchange. SushiSwap began as a vampire attack on the Uniswap DEX after copying its code wholesale but improving on a governance mechanism that did not offer any rewards for taking part in the management of the decentralized finance project. SUSHI tokens offered a staking reward drawn from the exchange's transaction fees, as well as governance control. SushiSwap founder Chef Nomi — who remains anonymous behind that alias — realized that by offering Uniswap liquidity providers big rewards in SUSHI tokens for staking their Uniswap LP tokens, he could entice many to move away from Uniswap. It worked, with $840 million worth of liquidity moving from Uniswap to SushiSwap. SushiSwap remained strong despite founder Chef Nomi draining — and quickly returning — $14 million from the project's treasury, causing SUSHI's price to fall in the process. Three months after the Chef Nomi controversy, SushiSwap announced a merger with Andre Cronje's Yearn Finance project. As part of this partnership, SushiSwap and Yearn Finance are collaborating on the Deriswap project — an upcoming derivatives platform.