🦉Gnosis Weekly Recap ~ 21 February 2025

Exploring the Future of Decentralized Money with Circles

This week, we’re breaking down a fiery debate between Martin Köppelmann, the co-founder of Gnosis and creator of Circles, and Ameen Soleimani, a blockchain entrepreneur in the Ethereum ecosystem who came ready to throw punches. The topic? Circles, the decentralized currency framework that’s either the future of money or, depending on who you ask, “retarded space communism bullshit”, according to Soleimani.

Martin kicked things off by painting Circles as the ultimate tool for financial self-sovereignty. Imagine a world where everyone can issue their own currency, backed not by banks or governments, but by trust networks. Sounds utopian, right? Well, Ameen wasn’t buying it. He called Circles a “trust me bro” system with terminal bag holders, arguing that without collateral, it’s just a fancy way to rug people.

But Martin wasn’t backing down. He fired back, pointing out that all money—yes, even the almighty dollar—is fundamentally a social construct. Circles, he argued, just makes that explicit. With features like demurrage (a 7% annual decay on balances) and peer-based trust networks, Circles ensures that money stays dynamic, fair, and aligned with active participation. Ameen, however, wasn’t convinced. “Why not just back it with ETH or GNO and make it redeemable?” he asked, essentially calling Circles a decentralized Ponzi scheme.

The debate got spicy when Ameen accused Martin of promoting “Marxist ideology,” pointing to Circles' references to equality and universal access. Martin, in turn, framed Circles as a libertarian dream—a system where individuals take control of their financial destiny, free from the shackles of centralized institutions.

By the end, Ameen was practically begging Martin to abandon the project, calling it a waste of time and money. But Martin stood firm, defending Circles as a bold experiment in reimagining money for the digital age.

This debate is a microcosm of the broader vision behind Gnosis 3.0: bridging the gap between blockchain’s technical potential and real-world applications. Circles is a cornerstone of this vision, alongside other innovative projects like Gnosis Pay and Metri, all working to make decentralized financial tools accessible to everyone.Whether you see Circles as revolutionary or ridiculous, one thing’s clear—it’s sparking the kind of conversations that push the boundaries of what’s possible in Web3.

So, what’s your take? Is Circles the future of money, or is it just a high-tech pipe dream? Let us know—and let’s keep building this wild, decentralized future together. Onwards and upwards! 🚀

Missed the debate? Listen to the recording here:

Circles also dropped their highly anticipated litepaper, outlining their vision for a decentralized, trust-based monetary system. Dive in to explore how they’re reimagining money creation and empowering individuals to take control of their financial future.

👉 Read the litepaper here and join the conversation about the future of money!

🦉Updates

🚀 Chiado’s Pectra Hardfork is Coming!

Gnosis Chain is leveling up! We’re thrilled to announce the Pectra Hardfork, a game-changing upgrade set to roll out on the Chiado Testnet (March 6, 2025) and Gnosis Chain Mainnet (early April 2025).

What’s in it for you?
✨ For Users:

• Lower fees, faster transactions, and smarter wallets.
• Native account abstraction: batch transactions, sponsor fees, and more.
• Enhanced security with passkey support.

⚙️ For Validators:

• Higher rewards and auto-compounding.
• Streamlined withdrawals and reduced operational costs.

💻 For Developers:

• Expanded blob capacity for high-performance dApps.
• Smart wallet upgrades and optimized cryptographic operations.

Pectra is packed with 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including EIP-7702 (smart wallets) and EIP-7691 (blob capacity), designed to supercharge scalability, security, and user experience.

🚀Stay tuned for detailed guides, AMAs, and tutorials as we gear up for this transformative upgrade. The future of Gnosis Chain is here—let’s build it together!

🚀 Safe Boost is Live! Earn Rewards on Gnosis Chain

The wait is over—Safe Boost is officially here! From February 6 to August 6, 2025, this six-month rewards program is dishing out 250,000 SAFE tokens to users who actively engage with their Safes on Gnosis Chain.

How it works:

• Earn points for transactions, volume, assets stored, and consistent weekly usage.
• Gnosis Pay users can also earn rewards by spending and managing assets with their linked Safe accounts.

Exclusive partner rewards:

• Beefy Finance: $100 per vault weekly.
• PoolTogether: 10,000 $POOL prize pool.

Learn more with karpatkey's informative blog post.

Ready to boost your Safe activity? Dive in now and join the conversation on Gnosis Discord! 🚀

🚀 GIP-118 Passed: sDAI to sUSDS Bridge Upgrade Approved!

The GnosisDAO community has spoken! GIP-118, proposing the replacement of sDAI with sUSDS in the bridge, has officially passed on Snapshot.

Why the change?
With MakerDAO’s transition to Sky and the introduction of the Sky Savings Rate (SSR), sUSDS now offers a 1.5% higher yield compared to sDAI. This upgrade ensures Gnosis Chain stays competitive and maximizes returns for users.

Key Changes:

• Swap all sDAI in the bridge to sUSDS.
• Add support for depositing USDS alongside DAI.
• Withdrawals on Ethereum will now return USDS instead of DAI.

Benefits:

• Higher yield (SSR currently at 8.75% vs. DSR at 7.25%).
• Alignment with Sky’s ecosystem developments.

Implementation Plan:

1. Testing & Auditing: Complete in ~1 month.
2. Phased Deployment: Roll out in two phases to ensure smooth transitions for users and apps.
3. Router Implementation: Enable deposits in both USDS and DAI.

Risks & Challenges:

• Ensuring no smart contracts rely on DAI withdrawals.
• Managing community consensus and trust in USDS.

What’s Next?
Stay tuned for updates as we move forward with testing, auditing, and deployment. Together, we’re building a more efficient and yield-optimized Gnosis Chain!

👉 Join the discussion and share your thoughts on the GnosisDAO forum! 🚀

🚀 GIP-121 Live on Snapshot: Vote Now on karpatkey DAO Ownership

GnosisDAO is considering a proposal to accept a 7.5% ownership stake in karpatkey DAO, a leading treasury management service incubated by Gnosis. This includes a 5% airdrop allocation of the KPK token, adding to the existing 2.5% from GIP-20.

📅 Voting closes February 28, 2025

Why this matters:

• karpatkey has been a key partner since 2021, managing over $2 billion in assets across 10,000+ transactions with zero losses.
• This proposal strengthens alignment between GnosisDAO and karpatkey, ensuring continued collaboration and innovation.

Key details:

• KPK token will be deployed on Ethereum Mainnet with a 1 billion fixed supply.
• GnosisDAO’s 7.5% stake will be vested over 2 years.
• karpatkey will continue its services under existing agreements (GIP-20, GIP-58, GIP-95).

What’s next?

• If approved, GnosisDAO becomes a major stakeholder in karpatkey DAO, fostering long-term value creation.
• If rejected, GnosisDAO retains its 2.5% stake, and future collaborations remain open.

👉 Cast your vote now and shape the future of GnosisDAO’s partnership with karpatkey! 🚀

🚀 Gnosis Chain Joins the Open Intents Framework!

We’re excited to announce that Gnosis Chain is now part of the Open Intents Framework, a groundbreaking initiative to make cross-chain intents a public good for the entire Ethereum ecosystem.

Why this matters:

• Intents are revolutionizing cross-chain interoperability, enabling seamless asset transfers and interactions across Ethereum’s growing L2 landscape.
• The Open Intents Framework provides modular, open-source tools—like solver implementations, composable smart contracts, and UI templates—to make building intent-based protocols faster and easier.

What’s next for Gnosis Chain?

• Enhanced cross-chain capabilities for users and developers.
• Integration with ERC-7683, the new standard for intent-based transactions, ensuring compatibility and innovation across the ecosystem.

This collaboration aligns with our Gnosis 3.0 vision to bridge blockchain technology with real-world applications, making decentralized finance more accessible and user-friendly.

👉 Explore the Open Intents Framework and join us in building a unified, interoperable Ethereum ecosystem! 🚀

✍️ Gnosis is Hiring!

🦉GnosisDAO

Ecosystem Growth Associate

Freelancer, Full-time · Remote, Germany (Berlin), Gibraltar, Portugal

Head of Prediction Markets

Freelancer, Full-time · Remote

Legal Associate

Freelancer, Full-time · United Kingdom, Remote, Germany (Berlin), Gibraltar

💳 Gnosis Pay

Compliance & Money Laundering Reporting Officer

Permanent employee, Full-time · Portugal

Senior Software Engineer - payments

Freelancer, Full-time · Remote

🔬Gnosis Labs

LLM Engineer

Freelancer, Full-time · Remote

💡 Marketing

Head of Marketing and Communications

Freelancer, Full-time · Remote

🎨 Design

Product Designer (Mid-level)

Freelancer, Full-time · Remote

🏗️ Infrastructure

Core DeveloperFreelancer

Freelancer, Full-time · Remote

🌍 Ecosystem Friends

💼 Monerium | Growth & Community Manager

Monerium is looking for a Growth & Community Manager to drive engagement, expand our reach, and strengthen our presence in the Web3 space. 

👉 Apply here. 📩

🙏 Thank you

To get more involved in the Gnosis ecosystem, explore the links below!
Gnosis Discord
Gnosis on X
Gnosis YouTube
Gnosis Forum
Gnosis Chain Docs
Gnosis Pay
Metri
Circles
Hashi
Gnosis AI