What Is Gnosis?

About Gnosis (GNO)

Previously known as the xDAI Chain, Gnosis Chain is an EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain with a primary focus on decentralization.

Gnosis Chain has a dual-token model: xDAI is used for transaction fees and GNO is used for validator staking. xDAI is a representation of DAI on the Gnosis Chain and it is collateralized 1:1 by DAI on Ethereum. To become a validator on Gnosis Chain, you will need to stake at least 32 mGNO (1 GNO = 32 mGNO). Currently, there are more than 106,000 validators on the Gnosis Chain today and Gnosis Chain aims to be the most decentralized blockchain.

Additionally, GNO holders also participate in the governance of the Gnosis ecosystem by voting on the proposals shared in the Gnosis Forum. You can find live discussions where GNO holders discuss ideas on how to grow the ecosystem, receiving support on deploying various use cases, and contributing to decentralization.

Where did Gnosis (GNO) come from?

Gnosis started in 2015 and launched one of the first dApps on the Ethereum network. Ever since then, they developed many popular projects such as Gnosis Safe, a multi-sig wallet, CoWSwap, a DEX aggregator with MEV protection, Zodiac, the expansion pack for DAOs, and Circle, a UBI-based digital currency, etc.

Martin Köppelmann, is CEO of Gnosis. He was an entrepreneur and opinion leader in the blockchain field for many years. Stefan George, is CTO. He’s also an entrepreneur and developer, whose interest in Bitcoin began in 2013. Dr. Friederike Ernst, is COO. Friederike was as a crypto technologist for a long time. Now she controls operations at Gnosis.

What are the advantages of Gnosis (GNO)?

1. Low Transaction Fees. Gnosis Chain is more accessible due to its low transaction fees. 0.01 xDAI is enough to make 100s of transactions on the Gnosis Chain.
2. Stablecoin Fees. Transaction fees on Gnosis Chain are made using the xDAI stablecoin, pegged 1:1 with the US Dollar. This makes it easy for anyone to understand the fees they’re paying.
3. Validators. At the time of writing, there are over 106,000 validators on the Gnosis Chain.

What are the disadvantages of Gnosis (GNO)?

1. Centralization questions. The project held an ICO in 2017 and raised a total of $12.5 million. During this sale, they sold only 5% of the total token supply. This means that the team still controls 95% of the token supply which could raise some questions on centralization. 
2. Lesser Known. The Gnosis team is proud of its engineering talent and receives strong respect from the developer community. They are lesser known to the rest of the ecosystem. However, this can be solved by various explanations from the team via videos or social media posts. 
3. Progress might become slower. Gnosis has turned over the control of GNO to the GnosisDAO and decisions are made via discussions and forums. Progress might become slower due to the nature of decentralization. However, this also means that more voices will be heard and more ideas will be contributed from their vibrant community.

How to buy Gnosis (GNO)?

If you plan to buy GNO tokens, make sure to visit the SimpleSwap homepage. Follow our instructions to purchase GNO:

1. Choose the currency you want to exchange (e.g. ETH) in the first drop-down list. Enter the amount you would like to swap.
2. Select GNO in the second drop-down list. You will see the estimated amount that you will receive after the exchange.
3. Click the Exchange button.
4. Enter the Recipient's Address. GNO will be sent to this address. Be careful and make sure you use the correct address.
5. Create the exchange.
6. You will see the Ethereum deposit address. You need to transfer the necessary amount of ETH to this address to start the exchange.

SimpleSwap reminds you that this article is provided for informational purposes only and does not provide investment advice. All purchases and cryptocurrency investments are your own responsibility.