Thanks @coffeecrusher for raising this. Good question!
Ques: Why was the broader destination of a “user-owned Internet” removed in favor of a process-oriented statement? Does this change represent a narrowing of our long-term ambition for the HoS, or is the “user-owned Internet” goal now captured elsewhere in the framework?
The original phrasing was:
“Decentralised governance for the user-owned Internet and humanity-enhancing AI.”
The updated wording is:
“Enable decentralized Tokenholder participation and facilitate decision-making in the best interest of the NEAR Ecosystem.”
This isn’t about narrowing ambition. It’s more about making sure House of Stake stays aligned with wherever NEAR’s North Star is at a given time.
Since the first MVV draft went live in November 2025, NEAR’s strategic focus has evolved toward building the Unified Commerce Layer. That’s a normal (and healthy) thing, successful protocols adapt to users, markets, and new opportunities.
Rather than locking HoS into one specific long-term narrative, the updated wording keeps governance flexible and aligned with what’s actually in the ecosystem’s best interest over time.
The broader vision of a user-owned Internet isn’t being dropped, it lives at the ecosystem vision level and is embedded in the mission and values. HoS’s role is to ensure decentralized participation and good decision-making, aligned with what’s best for the NEAR ecosystem.