Summary
This proposal suggests enabling GNO staking for users who lock GNO to qualify for Gnosis Pay cashback tiers. Instead of remaining idle in a Safe, these tokens would automatically participate in staking or delegated validation, allowing users to earn staking rewards while maintaining eligibility for card perks. This improves capital efficiency, strengthens Gnosis Chain security, and increases the attractiveness of Gnosis Pay.
Motivation
Gnosis Pay currently requires users to hold or lock GNO to access cashback tiers. These tokens do not generate yield and do not contribute to network security. Allowing locked GNO to be staked solves both issues:
Users earn staking rewards in addition to cashback.
Gnosis Chain benefits from increased staked GNO and stronger validator security.
Gnosis Pay becomes more competitive compared to other crypto cards.
This aligns with Gnosis’ long‑term vision of self‑custody, decentralization, and real on‑chain utility.
Specification
GNO locked for Gnosis Pay cashback tiers is automatically staked or delegated.
Users retain full ownership and eligibility for cashback.
Staking rewards are credited directly to the user’s Safe or used to boost cashback tiers.
Implementation can use native staking, validator delegation, or liquid staking (e.g., sGNO), depending on UX and technical feasibility.
Benefits to users:
Earn staking rewards + cashback simultaneously.
No additional steps or complexity.
Benefits to Gnosis Chain:
Higher staked GNO → stronger network security.
Increased economic alignment between users and the chain.
Benefits to Gnosis Pay:
Stronger value proposition.
Higher user retention and GNO demand.
Conclusion
Allowing GNO locked for Gnosis Pay cashback to be staked creates a more secure, efficient, and attractive ecosystem. It benefits users, validators, and the Gnosis Chain as a whole, while strengthening the long‑term utility of GNO and the competitiveness of Gnosis Pay.
1 Like
This has been discussed many times and rejected for good reasons. Personally, I am also against it.
“Gnosis Chain benefits from increased staked GNO and stronger validator security.”
How exactly does the chain benefit from this? Who validates? If everything is handled by a single validator or validator set, nothing is gained except more centralization.
In addition, staking rewards in GNO are financed entirely from the treasury. Activating GNO staking for GNO Pay users would therefore be purely additional funding from the treasury for Gnosis Pay.
Furthermore, it does not benefit Gnosis Pay in any way if users only come to Gnosis Pay because of the higher rewards. This is mercenary capital that will disappear immediately as soon as the rewards disappear.
Hey, thanks for taking the time to reply — really appreciate it.
I’m still pretty new to the Gnosis ecosystem, so I wasn’t aware that similar proposals had already been discussed or rejected in the past. My intention here was just to open a preliminary reflection and understand whether something like this could make sense from a UX and alignment perspective.
A few clarifications on my side, just to avoid misunderstandings:
I’m not suggesting a single validator or a centralized setup. Delegation could be distributed across the existing validator set or follow the same decentralization rules used by liquid staking solutions. More GNO staked across multiple validators still increases economic security.
No additional treasury spending is required. The idea isn’t to introduce new incentives or emissions, but simply to let GNO that is already locked for Gnosis Pay remain productive instead of idle. The cost for the treasury stays exactly the same.
This isn’t mercenary capital. Gnosis Pay users are already locking GNO for utility (cashback tiers), not for yield. The proposal doesn’t try to attract short‑term speculators — it just improves capital efficiency for existing committed users.
It’s mainly a UX improvement. Right now users must choose between locking GNO for Gnosis Pay or staking it. Allowing both at the same time removes friction without changing tokenomics or incentives.
Happy to keep the discussion open — I’m here to learn how things work and understand the community’s perspective better.