The House of Stake is entering its next phase: evolving into NEAR’s Treasury Governance Engine, an independent body responsible for governing the NEAR ecosystem, with a clear focus on economic policy.
To deliver on this mandate, we must build an operational structure capable of both high-quality decision-making and reliable execution.
This includes:
- Thoughtful, token-based governance with robust checks and balances
- Secure, attack-resistant voting mechanisms
- Strong incentive alignment across all stakeholders
- A compliant legal and operational framework protecting tokenholders, ecosystem participants, and external partners
These structures must operate independently from the NEAR Foundation. This post outlines the infrastructure and services required to achieve that independence.
It builds on what has been needed over the past months to establish House of Stake, combined with what will be required in 2026 to govern NEAR’s economic policy, protect stakeholders, and ensure smooth operations.
This outline, together with community input, will form the foundation for an upcoming budget proposal.
Building Operational Foundations
To operate as an independent governance institution, House of Stake must establish core infrastructure across legal, financial, and technical domains.
This includes:
Legal & Compliance
Legal counsel, entity structuring, regulatory advisory, and ongoing compliance support across jurisdictions
Directors & Governance Oversight
Independent directors required to operate the House of Stake Foundation and ensure proper fiduciary oversight
Financial Infrastructure
Fiat and crypto payment rails, accounting systems, reporting, treasury management, and audit capabilities
Security & Technical Infrastructure
Robust security systems and audits as House of Stake takes on a mandate centered on economic policy and treasury governance
Operational Tooling
Software, platforms, and services required to run House of Stake effectively (e.g., documentation systems, multisig wallets, internal coordination tools, governance infrastructure)
These are the foundations required for House of Stake to operate independently, securely, and compliantly.
Proposal Execution
House of Stake governance does not end with decision-making — it must ensure that approved proposals are executed reliably and compliantly.
This requires infrastructure such as:
Legal Frameworks for Execution
Contract templates, legal review, and advisory to enable agreements with external parties
Compliance Processes (KYB/KYC)
Systems and services to verify counterparties and meet regulatory requirements
Execution Infrastructure
Tooling and systems to support the rollout of approved programs, and organize evaluation, reporting and program updates.
For example, initiatives such as the MPC Node Infrastructure program require structured onboarding, AML/KYB verification, and compliant funding flows. Even in decentralized execution, this operational backbone is essential.
The goal is simple: once decisions are made, House of Stake must be able to execute them safely and effectively.
Clarifying Interactions and Separation from NEAR Foundation
A key milestone is establishing clear separation, and structured coordination, between House of Stake and the NEAR Foundation.
This includes:
Structured Handover Processes
Transitioning assets and responsibilities from NEAR Foundation to House of Stake
Fund Flow Design
Defining and securing how funds move:
- From NEAR Foundation to House of Stake
- From House of Stake to ecosystem programs
Governance Guardrails
Establishing controls, approval frameworks, and risk mitigation mechanisms
Reporting & Transparency Standards
Ensuring full visibility into treasury usage and operational spending
The objective is a system that is independent, transparent, and auditable by design.
Information and Transparency
Transparency is fundamental to effective governance.
House of Stake requires infrastructure and tools to enable clear, accessible, and real-time information flows, including:
- Public-facing website and documentation systems
- Governance dashboards and reporting tools
- Data infrastructure to track proposals, votes, and outcomes
- Developer access to governance data (e.g., APIs, data services, LLM integrations)
This ensures House of Stake operates with maximum transparency and accessibility for all stakeholders.
Scope Note
The upcoming budget proposal does not include personnel costs.
- Current teams working on governance, product, and infrastructure remain funded separately
- NEAR Foundation will continue covering existing contracts to ensure uninterrupted development and optimization (e.g., Agora team working on the voting frontend, NF developers for backend and smart contract development)
As a result, no major new hires are planned in the context of independence, except for one key role:
- Operations Manager, focused on operational foundations and proposal execution (more here: Operations Manager at House of Stake)
- We have already started collecting applications. Details on budget allocation and the selection process will be included in the upcoming proposal.
- House of Stake’s focus is to prepare for governing economic policy, not rebuilding teams or duplicating existing structures.
Current Timeline
Community Discussion
We invite the community to discuss this direction in this thread, and in upcoming community calls, check our call calendar to stay up-to-date!
Share feedback, and ask questions!
Budget Proposal
- Active Treasury & Funds Available: April 2026
- Draft Proposal Published: April 2026
- Community Discussion & Iteration: Ongoing
- Voting: April 2026
House of Stake is taking the next step toward becoming a fully independent governance institution. This first budget proposal will focus on infrastructure, legal, and foundational operational costs required for independence.
This post outlines the operational foundation required to make that possible, and sets the stage for the upcoming budget proposal.