HSP-002, HSP-003: next steps

House of Stake Governance
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Hi folks,

Our first Decision proposals, HSP-002 and HSP-003, passed a few days ago. They both passed the quorum (which is set quite low for now), and achieved a majority of support. I want to provide a quick update on what happens next, especially since this is the first time proposals have been approved. You can find the Final versions of the proposals, as passed, here:

The proposals process is currently outlined in two places, HSP-001 and the draft constitution. The process I describe here is informed by these two documents in their current form (with the understanding that they are continuing to evolve). Note that I’m also in the process of clearly documenting this process here.

Immediately following a successful vote, the security council has the opportunity to weigh in and veto a proposal on the grounds of security concerns. The security council is aware of these proposals and has not chosen to veto them as of now.

The director of the HoS Foundation also has an opportunity to intervene if they feel that the proposal violates Cayman law, or the HoS Foundation’s core charter/purpose.

The next step after this is implementation. This process is beginning now, but since it’s the first time we’ve done this, there will probably be a few hiccups. One such hiccup is the fact that the HoS Foundation, which is responsible for implementing the proposals and funding them, still hasn’t received its initial endowment from the NDC trust (you can track progress by following this issue). In the interim, NEAR Foundation has kindly offered to extend loans to cover the implementation of these proposals. We’re in the process of performing this transfer (see this issue), which should hopefully occur later this week.

Once the funds are in place, we’ll move on to implementation. The two proposals specify different implementation plans:

  • HSP-002 specifies a mid-quarter check (which should occur ASAP, given that it’s already mid-quarter), an evaluation at the end of the quarter, and distribution of incentives to follow within two weeks of the end of the quarter (i.e., the first two weeks of January).
  • HSP-003 specifies that some of the implementation details are outside the scope of the initial proposal, and will require another proposal. It requires progress reports at the end of each month, delivered in cooperation and consultation with Gauntlet, as well as a final report at the end of the quarter.

Gauntlet designed a rewards distribution mechanism, and Agora implemented it. You can find it on Github: GitHub - voteagora/near-merkle-claim. The code has been successfully audited, and is in the process of being integrated into the HoS frontend. I’ll continue to work with Gauntlet and Agora on the outstanding deliverables here:

  • mid-quarter check for HSP-002
  • first monthly report for HSP-003
  • full product integration of the rewards system
  • design of the rewards campaigns, and followup proposal to fully specify this
  • finalizing inbound loan transfer from NF to fund these
  • other reports as mentioned above

More updates soon. Let me know if anything is unclear here.

Lane

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House of Stake Updates: Transparency Thread
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Great to hear that the first approved proposals are on their ways to be implemented despite some hurdles to be addressed!

In the future, those concerns and interventions are to be raised at least after their “sensing” proposals are passed, so that they won’t be issues after the deciding proposals pass!

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This makes sense assuming the proposals don’t change at all between Sensing and Decision, which isn’t guaranteed. Also, it’s not the case that all Decision proposals have to be Sensing proposals first!

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Another quick update here:

  • Agora is finalizing the audit report from Valhalla, should have everything signed off for today.
  • Agora to prepare a task for the Security Council to review and approve it
  • In parallel, we can start testing the CSV → Merkle Tree → App process on the dev chains
  • Agora will follow up with Gauntlet as soon as the audit is closed off to begin
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That’s true while the change between them should be as minimal as possible.

We’d argue that there should be some rules to be applied. Confusing for authors to decide which proposal needs “sensing” or not.

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In my mind, a Sensing proposal is a purely convenience mechanism that proposal authors can use if they want, but they’re not at all required to use this.

The right place to discuss this is probably here: Revise proposal and voting process documentation by lrettig · Pull Request #22 · houseofstake/houseofstake.org · GitHub

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7

Hi folks, here’s another update on where things stand on implementation of these two proposals.

HSP-002 (small validator incentives)

The proposal refers to:

  • Eligibility list published after “project launch”
  • “Mid-Quarter Check” with “Informal progress assessment”

It refers only to HoS Foundation as the owner of these. I need to discuss ownership and execution here with @AK_HoG; we’ll revert here with more info soon.

HSP-003 (veNEAR rewards)

Agora received some audit feedback on the claim contracts, which they’re in the process of incorporating and fixing. Once this is done, we’ll wait for the all clear on the audit and the final audit report.

Once this is all done, we’ll begin testing in staging, which will require security council review and approval.

Note that the US Thanksgiving holiday may slow things down a bit this week.

Additional outstanding deliverables:

  • first monthly report for HSP-003 (Gauntlet)
  • full product integration of the rewards system (Agora) - in progress as described above
  • design of the rewards campaigns, and followup proposal to fully specify this (HoS + Gauntlet)

Regarding this outstanding item:

  • finalizing inbound loan transfer from NF to fund these

This is blocking on HoS Foundation Fireblocks vault setup · Issue #9 · houseofstake/pm · GitHub, which should be done soon.

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HSP-003 (veNEAR rewards)

Below is an in-progress update of the veNEAR holder campaign efforts from Agora and Gauntlet.

Agora

  • Multi-campaign merkle-based reward-claim contracts are done and audited.

  • A Multi-campain reward & claim admin app, for managing the operational side of claims, has been built and is being tested by key stakeholders.

  • Enhancements to the gov.houseofstake site to enable claims are ready to deploy, pending testing and sign-off from internal teams for feedback.

  • Agora is supporting testing and on standby to facilitate the Security Council deploying contracts to production, supporting configuration of the claims, and fix any bugs as they are found.

Gauntlet

  • Staging contracts and test campaigns have been deployed.

  • Claim functionality testing is complete.

Next Steps:

  • Testing funding operations and secure deployment of contracts to production.

Another update will be posted next week, confirming the first rewards deployment details to veNEAR holder rewards.

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Thanks @jefag! From my end:

  • I’ve just begun the process of reviewing the code and the technical implementation details. One detail to be worked out is ownership of the claims contract itself. It should probably be deployed by the security council, but it’s unclear that ongoing maintenance/operations of the rewards campaigns should also be run by/block on the security council. The smart contract wasn’t written to make this sort of delegation easy; one solution I’m considering is spinning up a new SputnikDAO contract and setting it as the owner to give Gauntlet and the security council joint control. This would allow Gauntlet to manage the campaigns.
  • Next step here is to have the security council test everything end to end, on mainnet, in staging, including deploying, funding the contract, and processing claims.
  • I’m also working with NF Finance to complete the grant funding that will cover the first campaigns. This should happen in the next 24-48 hours.
  • In parallel, we’re in touch with the marketing team about how best to announce this and communicate it to all stakeholders.
  • We tentatively plan to go live next week, as @jefag mentioned, barring any last minute, unforeseen issues.

We’ll keep the updates coming here as they become available. Don’t hesitate to reply with questions.

Lane

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10

Happy weekend everyone. Quick update here:

  • security council end to end testing (in staging) is basically complete. You can see the status and latest work here: Enhance documentation for NEAR rewards governance by lrettig · Pull Request #9 · houseofstake/hos-ops · GitHub
  • copy, website updates, etc. for the release are also basically done.
  • grant funding from NF Finance landed in the HoS vault and is ready to go.
  • we have some lingering questions for legal around this marketing copy, which we’re currently blocking on.
  • we’re coordinating closely with Gauntlet and Agora and intend to ship this first thing next week.

L

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veNEAR Rewards** are now Live!

New to House of Stake and veNEAR? Visit our Introduction and FAQ page here.

Disclaimer: **Rewards and any annualized equivalents are variable, not guaranteed, and may change based on program parameters and participation. Locking may reduce liquidity.

Today, December 19, 2025, the House of Stake (HoS) is excited to announce the first season of veNEAR Holder Rewards.

This marks the beginning of the first veNEAR rewards period: rewards are now accumulating on all NEAR (or relevant deposited LSTs) locked. veNEAR holders will be able to claim their first rewards in two weeks (Jan 2). A claims page will be available (insert when).

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When?

This campaign officially kicks off on Dec 19, 2025, counting for NEAR previously locked and moving forward for the next 3 months.

What?

On November 13, 2025, the HoS voted to implement veNEAR Holder Rewards (HSP-003) to drive increased participation in the initialization phase of the House of Stake.

Reward allocations are calculated based on the total NEAR locked in HoS. Based on current parameters and subject to participation, annualized equivalents may reach approximately ~7.5% for the first month of the campaign. After 1 month, Gauntlet will reassess the effectiveness of the spend and determine a new rewards rate.

For full context and details on the HoS, please visit the homepage and the original proposal.

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How?

Rewards will be distributed on a biweekly basis and will be claimable from the main HoS governance interface. The campaign will be live for three months. These rewards, when claimed, will be sent to the lockup contract, and from there can either be withdrawn to an external wallet or added to the existing position.

Rewards do not continuously compound and are calculated only from locked NEAR (NEAR that is producing veNEAR). Rewards for each campaign period are calculated based on the total NEAR locked at the beginning of each period and distributed before the next one begins.

Who?

Help get the word out! House of Stake is designed to be a leading forum for NEAR stakeholders to participate in governance and coordinated decision-making. veNEAR supports and rewards meaningful participation in shaping the protocol’s future. Your participation helps accelerate adoption and strengthens these community-driven processes.

Next Steps:

  • Users can lock and stake now!
  • Gauntlet will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the campaign and suggest changes as needed to ensure the campaign is optimized appropriately. Updates will be posted monthly to ensure the community is aware of any changes.
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Interesting read, I’d like to know, Has the HOS created a form of “intent” to guide proposers on where the ecosystem is heading, so proposals created will fall inline with the intensions of the ecosystem, also looking through the forum, I noticed alot of this critical information gets lost and would require significant effort to search and find, if recent governance discussions can be pinned to the tags that would help significantly in making readers get up-to date information. Amazing work so far

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