GnosisDAO approves Gnosis Chain’s move to Ethereum L2

GnosisDAO approved GIP 153 on Aug. 19, authorizing Gnosis Chain to transition from a standalone layer one network into a ZK proven Ethereum Economic Zone rollup.

The final vote recorded 123,158 GNO in favor, 115 GNO against and 151 GNO abstaining across 54 voters, according to a Gnosis Chain announcement. Total participation reached 123,425 GNO, well above the required quorum of 75,000 GNO.

The decision gives Gnosis developers a mandate to begin designing the change. It does not immediately convert the chain into a layer two network. The initial version is scheduled around the end of 2026 or beginning of 2027, subject to the required technology being ready.

Gnosis Chain will replace independent settlement

Gnosis Chain currently operates its own proof of stake consensus system and validator set. Following the transition, the network will publish proofs and settle transactions on Ethereum, relying on Ethereum validators for settlement security.

The existing Gnosis validator set will eventually be retired. The move will also end the staking subsidy paid from the GnosisDAO treasury. The approved proposal says network fees would replace the subsidy as the system’s economic base.

GIP 153 described the current model as difficult to sustain because fee revenue covers only a small part of the chain’s security costs. According to the proposal’s authors, Gnosis issuance dilutes people who do not stake by approximately 2.3% annually, while the DAO also supports infrastructure and liquidity incentives.

Those assessments come from the proposal’s authors and should not be treated as independent financial findings. However, the vote establishes that GNO holders accepted the strategic direction and authorized work on a different security model.

Ethereum Economic Zone targets fragmented liquidity

The Ethereum Economic Zone is a rollup framework developed by Gnosis and ZisK with Ethereum Foundation funding. Its stated aim is to let participating networks access Ethereum contracts and liquidity synchronously, without requiring conventional bridges for every interaction.

As crypto.news previously reported, the framework was introduced to address Ethereum’s fragmented layer two ecosystem. Applications deployed across separate rollups often maintain different liquidity pools, bridges and infrastructure, leaving users to move assets between isolated environments.

Gnosis Chain is expected to become the first production EEZ instance. Under the planned design, a contract on Gnosis could call an Ethereum contract and use its result within one transaction. The proposal says this would provide direct access to Ethereum liquidity venues, assets and infrastructure.

Developers expect the network to retain its applications, balances, account addresses, contract addresses and chain identifier. Users would therefore not migrate to a separate blockchain. RPC endpoints could change, while the treatment of the network’s dollar pegged gas token still requires a final decision.

Initial Gnosis Chain rollup retains trust assumptions

The first EEZ release will not deliver every feature described in the longer term design. Gnosis cofounder and proposal author Friederike Ernst said the initial network will use a centralized sequencer because of technical requirements.

A forced inclusion system, which would allow users to submit transactions through Ethereum when a sequencer censors or stops processing them, will also be absent from the first release.

“In the first version, there will be no forced inclusion, but this will be added asap,” Ernst said during the governance discussion.

The statement is a development commitment rather than an implemented safeguard. No specification, delivery date or proposed delay period for forced transactions has been finalized.

Forced inclusion matters because a centralized sequencer can create a censorship or availability risk. In related coverage, crypto.news explained how sequencers remain centralized control points across much of Ethereum’s rollup ecosystem.

The transition will consequently replace Gnosis Chain’s current validator model with a design that inherits Ethereum settlement while initially retaining central control over transaction ordering. The system’s security characteristics will depend on its proof design, upgrade controls and eventual escape mechanism.

Launch depends on unfinished EEZ technology

The first Gnosis EEZ version targets genesis around the turn of 2026 and 2027. The proposal estimates that this release would provide 80% of the intended synchronous composability functionality while requiring 40% to 50% of the full engineering work.

A complete EEZ specification is expected during 2027, although both schedules remain targets rather than fixed launch dates. Developers must finalize the proving system, fee token design, settlement contracts and operational structure before deployment.

The planned network would maintain two second blocks, compared with Ethereum’s roughly 12 second slots. Only blocks aligned with an Ethereum slot could synchronously interact with mainnet. Gnosis would also need to follow Ethereum during a chain reorganization, meaning its finality would remain bounded by Ethereum’s finality.

GIP 153 requested no DAO funding. Further proposals may still be required if implementation needs treasury resources or changes to specific protocol parameters.

The next verifiable milestones will be the publication of technical specifications, test deployments and a launch plan. Until those arrive, GIP 153 should be understood as approval of Gnosis Chain’s strategic direction, not completion of its Ethereum layer two transition.