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GnosisDAO has approved GIP-153, giving developers a mandate to transition Gnosis Chain from a standalone Layer 1 into an Ethereum Economic Zone rollup that settles directly on Ethereum.
The vote sets the strategic direction rather than approving a finished technical design or new funding. The first Gnosis EEZ block is targeted for around December 2026 or January 2027, subject to completion of the broader infrastructure.
Gnosis Chain Will Settle on Ethereum With 2-Second Blocks
The plan converts the existing Gnosis Chain rather than launching a replacement network. Users and applications will retain their addresses, balances and contract state, while xDAI remains the gas token.
Gnosis EEZ is designed to produce blocks roughly every two seconds, prove its state every Ethereum block and settle to Ethereum L1. Its main feature is synchronous composability, allowing a Gnosis contract to call an Ethereum contract and use the result inside the same atomic transaction.
The first version will support one-directional Gnosis-to-Ethereum calls and use an interim proving system. Bidirectional composability, nested calls and real-time zero-knowledge proving are targeted during 2027.
At launch, Gnosis Ltd will operate the centralized composer responsible for ordering transactions and building blocks. GIP-153 does not commit to later decentralizing sequencing.
350,000 Staked GNO Will Unlock as Validator Set Retires
Moving settlement security to Ethereum will retire Gnosis Chain’s independent validator set and unlock roughly 350,000 staked GNO, equal to about 27% of circulating supply.
GNO will also lose its current staking role. Gnosis plans to replace treasury-funded staking rewards with value tied to network revenue, with fee sharing and token buybacks among the mechanisms being considered. A later GIP will define the final model.
GIP-153 also proposes repurposing existing bridge validators as the initial operators of the EEZ proof systems.
$105K in Annual Fees Compares With Up to $10M in Operating Costs
The proposal follows an economic review that put Gnosis Chain transaction fees at roughly $105,000 over the previous 12 months. Gnosis estimated annual operating costs at $7 million to $10 million, depending on whether staking rewards are included.
Gnosis argues that Ethereum settlement and synchronous access to mainnet liquidity could reduce the need for separate liquidity incentives, integrations, and infrastructure while shifting network economics toward activity-based revenue.
The EEZ framework is being developed by Gnosis and ZisK with funding support from the Ethereum Foundation. GIP-153 requests no additional treasury funding.
Developers will now complete the technical specification ahead of the targeted year-end genesis. A later governance proposal will define GNO fee economics, while long-term prover appointments will also require a second-stage governance decision.
