[Crypto projects](https://revain.org/projects/) › Gnosis Chain

# Gnosis Chain (GNO): how it works, supply and reviews

## In short

- **Status**: Live: Gnosis Chain (formerly xDai Chain) is an operating EVM network; docs, forum and the gnosis.io chain page are maintained on 31 October 2026.
- **Type**: EVM-based network, one of Ethereum's first sidechains
- **Fee token**: Fees are paid in xDai, a stablecoin
- **Risks and caveats**: Validators acting together froze and moved an attacker's funds in 2025; Gnosis says validators can still act in concert and aims to make censorship impossible.
- **Checked**: 31 October 2026

## Key facts

- **Ticker**: GNO
- **Status**: Live: Gnosis Chain (formerly xDai Chain) is an operating EVM network; docs, forum and the gnosis.io chain page are maintained on 31 October 2026.
- **Official site**: [gnosis.io/chain](https://www.gnosis.io/chain)

Key facts checked on 31 October 2026 against official sources.

## What is Gnosis Chain

Gnosis Chain is a community-owned, EVM-compatible network secured by proof-of-stake validators who stake GNO. Transaction fees are paid in xDai, a stablecoin minted when DAI is bridged from Ethereum. It was called xDai Chain until GIP-16 (2021) and merged with the Gnosis Beacon Chain in December 2022.

## Network and consensus

| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | EVM-based network, one of Ethereum's first sidechains |
| Consensus | Proof of stake on the Gnosis Beacon Chain since the Merge of 8 December 2022 (previously proof of authority) |
| Block time | Five-second blocks |
| Chain ID | 100 |
| Smart contracts | EVM-compatible; building dApps is similar to other EVM chains |

## Supply and issuance

| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Fee token | Fees are paid in xDai, a stablecoin |
| Issuance | xDai is minted by bridge validators when DAI is sent to the xDai bridge |
| Staking token | GNO |
| Fee distribution | Fees go only to the validator that sealed the block |

## What GNO is used for

- xDai: transaction fees (gas)
- GNO: validator staking on the Gnosis Beacon Chain
- GNO: governance in GnosisDAO

## Who develops and governs Gnosis Chain

- **Governance**: DAO governance open to anyone
- **Validators**: Over 200,000 validators (docs about page)
- **Formerly**: xDai Chain; renamed Gnosis Chain under GIP-16, with the STAKE and GNO tokens merged

## History

| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 11 January 2019 | The xDai network activates the Constantinople hard fork at block 1,604,400 (earliest dated hard fork in the docs). |
| 8 November 2021 | GIP-16 proposes merging the xDai and Gnosis communities and renaming the chain Gnosis Chain. |
| 8 December 2022 | The Merge: the Gnosis execution layer (formerly xDai) merges with the Gnosis Beacon Chain, moving to proof of stake. |
| 22 December 2025 | A validator-adopted hard fork transfers frozen funds from the Balancer exploit to a DAO-controlled Safe. |

## Security and audits

- Bug bounty with Immunefi: up to USD 2,000,000 for critical smart contract findings.
- The security-audit page lists audits such as the Stake Beacon Chain audit by ChainSecurity (1 October 2021) and bridge audits by ChainSecurity and Quantstamp.
- In November 2025 bridge governors temporarily halted bridge activity and validators adopted a soft fork to freeze funds taken in the Balancer exploit.

## Security incidents

| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 3 November 2025 | Exploit: An attacker exploited a vulnerability in Balancer V2 Composable Stable Pools (Balancer-managed contracts), draining about $120–128 million across chains, including about $9.4 million on Gnosis Chain. Bridge governors temporarily halted bridge activity and over 50% of validators adopted a soft fork that froze the attacker's balances. Funds returned: A hard fork on 22 December 2025 moved the recoverable funds to a DAO-controlled Safe; Gnosis says all exploiter-controlled funds on Gnosis Chain that could be recovered were secured and opened a claim process for affected users. | [forum.gnosis.io](https://forum.gnosis.io/t/balancer-hack-claim-process/12149) |

## Official GNO contracts

| Network | Contract address |
|---|---|
| Ethereum | [0x6810e776880c02933d47db1b9fc05908e5386b96](https://etherscan.io/token/0x6810e776880c02933d47db1b9fc05908e5386b96) |
| Gnosis Chain | [0x9C58BAcC331c9aa871AFD802DB6379a98e80CEdb](https://gnosisscan.io/token/0x9C58BAcC331c9aa871AFD802DB6379a98e80CEdb) |

GNO token contracts from the Gnosis docs; xDai is the native fee currency and has no token contract on Gnosis Chain.

## Risks and caveats

- Validators acting together froze and moved an attacker's funds in 2025; Gnosis says validators can still act in concert and aims to make censorship impossible.
- xDai is minted by bridge validators against DAI locked on Ethereum, so it depends on the xDai bridge.
- Nodes that did not upgrade for the December 2025 hard fork were to be penalized.

## Official links

- Website: [www.gnosis.io/chain](https://www.gnosis.io/chain)
- Docs: [docs.gnosischain.com](https://docs.gnosischain.com/)
- Block explorer: [gnosisscan.io](https://gnosisscan.io)
- Governance forum: [forum.gnosis.io](https://forum.gnosis.io/)
- Source code: [github.com/gnosischain](https://github.com/gnosischain)

## Questions and answers

**What is Gnosis Chain?**

A community-owned, EVM-compatible proof-of-stake network where fees are paid in the xDai stablecoin and validators stake GNO.

**Is xDai the same as Gnosis Chain?**

Yes. The xDai chain was renamed Gnosis Chain under GIP-16 (2021); xDai remains the name of its fee token.

**When did Gnosis Chain move to proof of stake?**

The Merge with the Gnosis Beacon Chain completed on 8 December 2022, replacing proof of authority.

**Was Gnosis Chain hacked?**

In November 2025 the Balancer V2 exploit drained about $9.4 million from Balancer contracts on Gnosis Chain; validators froze the funds and a 22 December 2025 hard fork moved them to a DAO-controlled Safe.

## Sources

- [Gnosis — Gnosis Chain](https://www.gnosis.io/chain)
- [Gnosis Chain Docs — About](https://docs.gnosischain.com/about)
- [Gnosis Chain Docs — Mainnet](https://docs.gnosischain.com/about/networks/mainnet)
- [Gnosis Chain Docs — The Merge](https://docs.gnosischain.com/about/specs/hard-forks/merge)
- [Gnosis Chain Docs — Security audits](https://docs.gnosischain.com/about/specs/security-audit)
- [Gnosis Chain Docs — GNO token](https://docs.gnosischain.com/about/tokens/gno)
- [Gnosis Chain Docs — xDai token](https://docs.gnosischain.com/about/tokens/xdai)
- [Gnosis Chain Docs — Bug bounty](https://docs.gnosischain.com/about/specs/bug-bounty)
- [Gnosis Chain Docs — Hard fork 1604400](https://docs.gnosischain.com/about/specs/hard-forks/1604400)
- [Gnosis Forum — GIP-16](https://forum.gnosis.io/t/gip-16-gnosis-chain-xdai-gnosis-merge/1904)
- [Gnosis Forum — Balancer hack: Update](https://forum.gnosis.io/t/balancer-hack-update/11759)
- [Gnosis Forum — Balancer hack: hard fork](https://forum.gnosis.io/t/balancer-hack-hard-fork/11884)
- [Gnosis Forum — Balancer hack: claim process](https://forum.gnosis.io/t/balancer-hack-claim-process/12149)

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Page updated: 2026-11-01

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Source: https://revain.org/projects/gnosis-chain/