What is Gnosis (GNO)?
Gnosis (GNO) is the utility and governance token of the Gnosis Chain ecosystem. It’s a combination of the networks – xDAI and GnosisDAO – that were merged in 2021. Gnosis functions as a decentralized finance (DeFi) service provider.
The Gnosis ecosystem offers layer 2 scalability solutions for the Ethereum blockchain. The platform hosts a decentralized exchange (DEX), a swap, and a prediction market. It functions as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), using the GNO token as its voting tool. The Gnosis price index can be seen in the chart above.
Who Developed Gnosis?
Gnosis was founded by Martin Köppelmann and Stefan George. Both Köppelmann and George are entrepreneurs and systems engineers. Köppelmann was also the developer behind the Bitcoin prediction market Fairlay, while George has worked with building decentralized apps (dApps).
The Gnosis project was launched in early 2015. Initially, Gnosis was created to provide prediction markets in the crypto space. However, after the launch of Ethereum, developers refocused their efforts on improving the new network’s scalability and functionality.
Two years after the launch of Ethereum, the ERC-20 token for the Gnosis crypto platform, GNO, was created. It was first sold during the initial coin offering (ICO) in April. At the time, the GNO price balanced around $90.
Gnosis is a highly volatile asset. Since its inception, it has experienced very frequent market fluctuations with several significant peaks. The Gnosis price exceeded $100 several days post-launch and remained this way, until fall 2017, when it fell as low as $60. In early 2018, the asset saw one of its most significant peaks, going over $400 in January.
Starting mid-2018 and up until January 2021, Gnosis experienced some of its most significant lows. Throughout this period, the GNO value fell well below what it was during its launch. It hit the bottom in March 2020, when Gnosis was down to $7.05.
This was followed by a volatile yet progressive recovery. Throughout 2021, the GNO price remained consistently above the $100 threshold and hit its peak for the year in November, when it exceeded $1,000 for the first time.
What Are the Features and Uses of Gnosis?
The maximum supply of Gnosis tokens is 10 million. In April 2022, the network’s DAO voted to reduce the total supply of GNO coins down to 3 million. The vote passed in favor of the proposal. Due to this, the asset is considered deflationary. This means that as supply grows shorter, the Gnosis price is expected to rise.
Gnosis offers DeFi solutions for Ethereum that enable trading and reinforce digital asset security. Developers can build their own projects and receive support from the Gnosis Ecosystem Fund (GECO).
As an asset that supports Ethereum’s infrastructure, Gnosis has generally been susceptible to the market trends set by ETH. While the GNO price is not directly dependent on Ethereum, it has followed similar fluctuations.
There are three key DeFi products and services offered by the Gnosis crypto ecosystem:
- Gnosis Conditional Tokens Framework
- Gnosis Protocol
- Gnosis Safe
The Gnosis Conditional Tokens Framework can be considered to be the platform’s primary product. It’s used to enable decentralized prediction markets. The framework employs conditional tokens – a type of asset that uses if/then conditional logic to function.
The Gnosis Protocol is the network’s decentralized exchange (DEX). It offers ring trading, where all order settlements share the same liquidity, regardless of the token pair. According to the protocol’s documentation, such a method of trading is efficient in prediction markets as it reduces the traders’ workload.
The Gnosis Safe is an Ethereum storage solution. It provides a secure way to manage Ethereum-based digital assets. It offers a full-service package, including a multi-signature, DeFi integrations, and off-chain transactions. Both fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can be stored on the Gnosis Safe.
Gnosis has served as the incubator platform for the projects that help enhance the network functionality, including the services listed above. They not only improve the quality of services provided by Gnosis but provide overall support for the network’s infrastructure.
Gnosis runs on a decentralized governance model known as GnosisDAO within the ecosystem. Any GNO token holder can participate in the voting process. The decentralized autonomous organization is a crucial part of determining the roadmap of the project and making decisions regarding the development and tokenomics.
