Coin columns · Ethereum City (Capital)
Gnosis (GNO): From Prediction Markets to an Ethereum Rollup
Token sale in 2017, rollup switch approved in 2026
Gnosis (GNO) is the token of a project that began in 2015 as a prediction-market platform, now used to stake on Gnosis Chain and to vote in GnosisDAO. In August 2026 GNO holders approved turning Gnosis Chain into a ZK-proven rollup on Ethereum.
1. A prediction-market start on Ethereum
Gnosis was started in 2015 by Martin Köppelmann and Stefan George to build prediction markets, where people trade on the outcome of future events, on Ethereum. The GNO token came from a token sale in April 2017 as an ERC-20 token. It later expanded into wallets, trading and payments.
Safe, the multi-signature wallet, and CoW Protocol, a trading protocol, both came out of Gnosis and became independent DAOs around 2022. On the Crypto Nation map, GNO stands in Ethereum City, because it was first issued on Ethereum. Gnosis Chain runs separately, but GNO itself is a token born on Ethereum.
2. GNO and Gnosis Chain
Gnosis Chain is an Ethereum-compatible blockchain that took its present form in late 2021, when the older xDai chain merged with a proof-of-stake beacon chain. Validators (participants who confirm blocks) lock up GNO, while fees are paid in xDAI, which tracks the dollar. So GNO is not a fee token; it secures the network and carries DAO votes.
GNO holders vote in GnosisDAO on proposals called GIPs (Gnosis Improvement Proposals). Apps include Gnosis Pay, a card service where users keep control of their funds, and Circles, an experiment in community-issued money.
3. Uses and milestones
GNO is used for validator deposits and DAO voting, while the chain hosts payment, community-money and trading apps. Key dates are the token sale in April 2017, the xDai and beacon chain merger in late 2021, and the spin-out of Safe and CoW Protocol around 2022.
In March 2026 Gnosis introduced the ‘Ethereum Economic Zone’ (EEZ), a framework tying rollups closely to Ethereum with ZK proofs. A vote ending on 19 August 2026 passed GIP-153 by a wide margin: Gnosis Chain stops running its own validators, settles on Ethereum, keeps addresses and balances, and keeps xDAI as gas. The first launch is planned for December 2026 to January 2027, the full EEZ for 2027.
4. Things to know
When the separate validator set ends, staked GNO is released and DAO subsidies for locking stop. The developers want to tie GNO’s value to network fees, through revenue sharing or buybacks, but that needs a separate vote and is not settled.
The GIP-153 authors admitted the old model lacked competitiveness, and said fast block creation means some functions will be more centralized at first. Security moves to Ethereum’s validators, but new ZK-proof technology and the schedule carry uncertainty. Gnosis projects are split across separate companies and DAOs, so GNO’s link to them is limited.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.