Intro
Hello everyone
Our Gnosis Chain Staking User Experience Survey, which lasted about a month, has ended, and we are happy to share the results with our community after analyzing the feedback we collected.
The Gnosis Chain staking survey provides valuable insights into the experiences, perceptions, and behaviors of its staking community. The survey results paint a picture of a committed, technically adept community that believes in the long-term potential of Gnosis Chain. The balance between those motivated by financial returns and those driven by the project’s vision suggests a healthy ecosystem.
Key strengths appear to be the low barrier to entry for staking, the project’s alignment with Ethereum, and the broader Gnosis ecosystem. Areas for improvement include documentation, user experience, and tools for managing staking operations.
The interest in Gnosis Pay and other ecosystem projects indicates potential avenues for growth and increased engagement. However, the concerns about competition, particularly from Layer 2 solutions, suggest a need for clear communication about Gnosis Chain’s unique value proposition.
You can access the presentation where we reviewed the answers to the questions we asked and added our comments here.
Raw data can be found here.
Users Segmentation
We can broadly segment users into:
a) Highly engaged, technically proficient long-term stakers/node operators
b) Newer, less technically confident stakers/node operators
c) Financially motivated stakers
d) Ideologically motivated stakers/node operators (focused on decentralization and security)
Highlighted Numbers
- Most respondents (62%) have been staking on Gnosis Chain for over a year, with 38% staking for 2+ years.
- The majority (76%) are node operators or solo stakers, with others being liquid stakers or validator service providers.
- 84% of respondents run nodes at home on their own hardware. Linux is the dominant operating system (86%), and Dappnode is the most popular staking software (76%).
- Easy and low are the keywords. The ease of setup was frequently cited as a significant advantage of Gnosis Chain staking. The low entry barrier seems to be a key differentiator for Gnosis Chain, making it accessible to a wider range of participants.
- One unexpected result is the relatively high satisfaction among validator who reported technical challenges. This could indicate a resilient and committed validator base.
- 54% of respondents plan to increase their stake in the next 12 months.
- The high level of enthusiasm for Gnosis-incubated projects is a strong positive signal. There’s significant interest in Gnosis 3.0 vision and projects like Gnosis Pay, Gnosis VPN and Circles.
Detailed Key Findings
- User Experience and Satisfaction:
- There’s a strong positive correlation between staking duration and overall satisfaction.
- Stakers who have been staking for longer periods (1-2 years or 2+ years) generally report higher satisfaction levels.
- Despite technical challenges, many users report high satisfaction, indicating a resilient and committed user base.
- Technical Aspects:
- Technical expertise significantly influences hardware/software choices and overall experience.
- Users with higher technical proficiency tend to use more diverse hardware solutions and report fewer challenges in the setup process.
- Common technical challenges include understanding the staking process, keeping up with updates, and managing hardware/network issues.
- Community Engagement:
- There’s a strong correlation between community engagement and awareness of key initiatives like Gnosis 3.0.
- More engaged community members tend to have a more positive experience and are more likely to participate in other Gnosis ecosystem projects.
- Regular participants in community events are more likely to bring in new stakers, driving organic growth.
- Discord appears to be the primary hub for community interaction, followed closely by Twitter. This multi-channel approach allows for diverse forms of engagement.
- Documentation and Support:
- Clear documentation plays a crucial role in user onboarding and ongoing support.
- Users who find the documentation comprehensive report an easier setup process. The predominantly positive shift in perception is a strong endorsement of the staking experience.
- There’s room for improvement in documentation, particularly for less technically inclined users.
- Overall, communication is rated positively, with 75% of respondents rating it 7 or above.
- Scores 9-10: about 35%
- Scores 7-8: about 40%
- Scores 5-6: about 20%
- Scores 1-4: about 5%
- Ecosystem Involvement:
- Participation in the broader Gnosis ecosystem (e.g., using Gnosis Pay) correlates with higher overall satisfaction. There’s significant interest in participating in the broader Gnosis Chain ecosystem, which is positive for the network’s growth and diversification.
- Users with larger stakes tend to be more active in the community and more likely to use additional Gnosis products.
- Motivations and Long-term Commitment:
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Users citing “Desire to Contribute to Network Security” and “Gnosis’s Vision” as primary motivations are more likely to plan on increasing their stake.
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Financial returns are a key motivator, but the high percentage of those motivated by contributing to network security and believing in Gnosis’s vision suggests a committed and ideologically aligned community.
- Potential Financial Returns: about 60%
- Desire to Contribute to Network Security: about 55%
- Gnosis’s Vision: about 50%
- Community and Ecosystem: about 40%
- Other factors: about 15%
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Understanding and belief in Gnosis’s vision correlate with higher stake amounts and long-term commitment.
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Many stakeholders see Layer 2 solutions as the main competition, likely due to their similar focus on scalability and lower transaction costs. The mention of “no direct competitor” by some suggests a belief in Gnosis Chain’s unique value proposition.
- Challenges:
- The technical aspects of staking are challenging for many, external factors like internet connectivity and regulatory concerns also play a significant role.
- Understanding the staking process
- Keeping up with updates and changes
- Internet connection and bandwidth issues
- Tax and regulation concerns
- Hardware issues
- UX and Technical Barriers
- Decentralization and Security:
- Users who view Gnosis as highly decentralized express stronger trust in the network.
- Perception of network security correlates with stake amount, with those valuing security more tending to stake higher amounts.
- Areas for Improvement:
- Onboarding processes for less technical users need enhancement.
- Tools for managing multiple validators could be improved.
- There’s a desire for better analytics and reporting tools among users.
The survey reveals a committed and generally satisfied user base for Gnosis Chain staking. However, there are clear areas for improvement, particularly in user experience, documentation, and communication. The correlation between technical proficiency and satisfaction suggests that lowering the technical barrier could significantly improve user retention and attraction.
It is great to see such strong interest in our vision and ecosystem projects at Gnosis. It really shows we’ve got a great opportunity to drive network growth by tapping into all this enthusiasm. We’ve been looking closely at the feedback, and we see some key areas where we can make big improvements. We need to make things easier to use, and boost adoption of the network.
The good news is, people already love some things about us - like how easy it is to get started and how well we work with Ethereum. By focusing on those improvements while keeping what’s working, we believe we can hold onto our current validators and bring in lots of new users and developers too.
It’s an exciting time for Gnosis Chain!
Feel free to contact us and share your questions, opinions and suggestions!