Near Governance Weekly updates
NEAR’s House of Stake readies for soft launch on August 7th
After 16 months of planning, NEAR’s long-awaited House of Stake (HoS) governance system is finally on track to debut on August 7, 2025. HoS is a new permissionless, stake-weighted voting framework designed to replace the one-person-one-vote model of the old Near Digital Collective (NDC). In HoS, NEAR tokenholders lock up NEAR (or liquid staking tokens like stNEAR/liNEAR) into a vote-escrow contract to mint veNEAR. The longer NEAR is locked, the more veNEAR (voting power) it generates. This aligns influence with long-term stake and is intended to boost participation and ecosystem growth. By Q1 2025 NEAR had even announced the first 11 “Endorsed Delegates” to represent holders in governance, and partnered with Agora to build the voting front end.
On August 4th, the HoS core team publicly confirmed that “we’re planning to go live in a week, on August 7.” This soft launch is intended as a system check: most on-chain flows will be live (token locking, delegate profiles, proposal creation, screening-committee review, security-council vetoes, etc.), but initially no proposals will actually be executed. In other words, the first phase is a dry-run of the full governance cycle. A public “Final HoS Launch Tasks” dashboard was also published, and the team says once all checklist items are complete, “we have a green light to launch”. In practice, delegates and tokenholders can lock NEAR for veNEAR, register delegate profiles and statements, and experiment with submitting and voting on proposals – but a switch (e.g. once sufficient veNEAR is locked) will be flipped later to enable real on-chain votes.
Key Soft-Launch Features:
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Token Locking & veNEAR: Holders can lock NEAR (and stNEAR/liNEAR) into the new escrow contract to receive veNEAR. veNEAR voting power grows with lock duration.
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Delegation & Profiles: veNEAR holders assign their voting power to one of the Endorsed Delegates. All delegates have published “statements” outlining their positions.
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Proposal & Voting Flows: Any veNEAR-holder can submit grant, governance or budget proposals. Delegates can vote on them. During the soft launch these votes will not yet bind, serving instead to test the on-chain mechanisms.
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Oversight Bodies: The Screening Committee (initially composed of NEAR Foundation, Near One and Gauntlet seats) will fast-track or reject proposals, and a Security Council retains an emergency veto power, as designed in the HoS framework.
At release time, vote tallies won’t trigger payouts or changes. This simulated phase is meant to stress-test the system and give time to fill any remaining gaps (finalizing policies, documentation, UI tutorials, etc.) before live governance fully commences. The Hos Core team emphasizes transparency: core members will be doing weekly “office hours” and updates on progress.
Community voices: caution and readiness
Many in the NEAR community are excited that HoS is finally launching, but some have urged caution. Critics point out that some governance components are still unfinished or unclear, specifically citing missing documents such as workflow templates, policy guides, and a clear roadmap. Observers note that detailed guides on how to file proposals, vote, and complete KYC/KYB steps (for grant proposals) are still being finalized. Others have highlighted gaps in stakeholder outreach and marketing readiness, suggesting that public education and PR plans should accompany the launch. (A few community members even recommended delaying HoS’s public rollout into September/October to finalize these pieces, though the team decided to proceed with the early August soft launch.)
Despite these concerns, many see the soft-launch approach as prudent. It gives delegates and tokenholders a sandbox to learn the new system before real stakes are on the line. In practice, once the system is tested, the plan is to “flip the switch” and enable real voting.
Delegate compensation and incentives
A hot topic has been how delegates are compensated. By design, HoS allocates an inflationary token budget (0.5% annual NEAR inflation) to fund delegate rewards and grants. One of proposal envisions giving delegates a $1,000 - $3,000 salary (adjusted for local living costs) , performance-based NEAR token bonuses and some benefits like medical insurance, traveling. The draft framework suggests that delegates’ NEAR rewards would vest and be contingent on peer-reviewed performance scores and the incentive pool (roughly 3,000 NEAR per delegate per month) would be distributed proportionally by each delegate’s median peer score (out of 100 across categories like leadership, community engagement, etc.), with a bonus multiplier for top performers. About 70% of each monthly reward would be liquid, with 30% locked and vesting over a year (so it can be staked again). In theory, this model links compensation to real contributions and locked stake.
However, delegates’ pay has sparked debate. Some argue for even stricter performance criteria or caps. For instance, observers pointed out other DAO experiments (e.g. on Arbitrum) where delegates earned rewards despite low participation. They suggest clauses such as delaying any delegate payments until Q1 2026 to first measure outcomes, or capping pay (e.g. $1,000/month) for delegates without sufficient voting engagement. The idea is to ensure that delegates earn their compensation by actively participating in governance. Others counter that even a guarantee of some compensation is needed to enable delegates to focus on the project and live “a healthy, productive life,” as one recent comment put it. In any case, the final compensation plan is still being refined; the HoS Compensation Committee will make binding decisions on pay levels and any adjustments.
Looking ahead
As August 7 approaches, NEAR’s community is in a holding pattern of eager anticipation. The soft launch of House of Stake will be the first time NEAR’s new governance model is active on mainnet. By most accounts it will include the core features that Gauntlet and the NEAR Foundation have been developing for over a year. After this trial period, the team intends to enable full voting power – likely when enough veNEAR has been minted and entrusted. In the meantime, the community will continue refining policies, building documentation (an FAQ and proposal guide are already being drafted), and recruiting additional expertise for governance roles and support teams.
In sum, HoS represents NEAR’s big bet on a stake-weighted, delegated democracy, aiming to deliver “equitable and sustainable growth” for the protocol. The coming weeks will show whether the system works as intended. If all goes smoothly, the House of Stake could become a showcase of accountable, community-driven governance – or at least a valuable learning exercise on that journey.
What else?
- As governance infrastructure expands, NEAR Foundation is hiring a Head of Governance – House of Stake. This role will lead day-to-day execution of governance ops, support delegates, help coordinate cross-functional teams, and ensure accountability across all layers of the new system. If you have experience in web3 governance, decentralized coordination, and care about community-first decision-making — this is a high-impact opportunity.
- In parallel, the NEAR Foundation OG Bianca has been refining policy frameworks and publishing New documentation to guide community participation.
Q&A: Understanding the Legal Structure of the House of Stake . This detailed FAQ outlines how HoS functions as a legally registered foundation in the Cayman Islands, and explains the roles of Directors, the Security Council, Screening Committee, and endorsed Delegates. It also clarifies community powers, voting mechanisms, and how legal safeguards ensure decentralization with real-world enforceability. - NEAR Foundation has announced the transition from a temporary Screening Committee—formed to support the soft launch of the House of Stake—to a community-elected version. The current committee, which includes members from the Foundation, NEAR One, and Gauntlet, selected the initial 11 endorsed delegates. A formal charter outlining the structure, responsibilities, and election process for the new committee will be published in mid-August. Until then, the existing group will remain active to oversee the transition. Community members are encouraged to nominate themselves or others directly here.
- A proposal has been posted by NDC enforcer for community discussion to transfer all remaining NDC funds. The assets would be moved to the newly established House of Stake (HoS) Foundation, marking the final transition from the old NDC structure.
- In the last article @lane offers a candid, first-hand account of how software foundations—despite their initial value—often become centralizing forces in ecosystems that claim to be decentralized. With massive premined treasuries and brand control, they inevitably become the highest authority in the room.As Lane mentioned: “Projects and people blessed by the foundation get the lion’s share of attention, funding, etc., and everyone else fights over the scraps.” Such foundations can become “a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” publicly promoting decentralization while quietly retaining top-down power. RE: This directly reflects what’s sometimes happening within the NEAR Foundation. If Lane manages to meaningfully shift this dynamic through initiatives like the House of Stake, it would represent a major governance breakthrough for Web3. But that depends on how hungry and resilient the current players are—especially those who’ve grown used to constant NF support—and whether Lane himself can withstand the immense pressure. After the last NDC experiment, the NDC speaker required six months of treatment due to stress. The political and personal toll is real, and what comes next may redefine the future of decentralized governance.
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