Gnosis is pursuing a truly decentralised network, though this is difficult and requires compromises. In an interview with Decrypt, the project’s co-founder Friederike Ernst said.
Since its launch, Ethereum-sidechain has attracted more than 115,000 validators.
\”This is 20% of what Ethereum has,\” Ernst said.
In her view, it is the \”focus on true decentralisation\” that sets Gnosis Chain apart from other blockchain scaling solutions.
\”If you go to platforms such as Solana, Polygon, Avalanche, etc., you will have very few validators. I think it’s very easy to forget the advantages of decentralisation until you need them. And then it will be too late,\” Ernst said.
Gnosis has largely achieved such broad participation thanks to a low entry threshold, says the startup’s chief operating officer. To become a validator, one GNO token must be staked (\~$110 at current prices). By comparison, Ethereum requires 32 ETH (\~$56 500).
However Ernst noted that for developers, building applications on truly decentralised infrastructure becomes much more difficult. Many projects, for this reason, opt for centralised platforms.
In 2020, the cryptocurrency hedge fund Arca deemed Gnosis results unsatisfactory and proposed that the team return the money to investors.
In 2017, the decentralised prediction platform raised $12.5 million in its ICO.