KEANU So Far
An update on the hard merge process
KEANU is the codename for the unprecedented collaborative endeavor between Keep Network and NuCypher to undertake the first decentralized on-chain hard merge.
Some background: Keep and NuCypher have long been aligned in progressing the adoption of threshold cryptography, privacy-preserving technology, and bringing decentralized Bitcoin to Ethereum. Similarly, we share aligned communities: stakers who want to realize a vision for a freedom-preserving world built on cryptography, and developers who refuse to compromise end-user security.
KEANU calls for the combination of the Keep and NuCypher protocols, staking networks, and shared developmental efforts. This is to allow both communities to rally behind a unified network that inherits the best aspects of each original network. Like so many of the most successful decentralized projects, KEANU aligns incentives: rather than continuing to split the market, we think we can achieve significantly more together. Keep and NuCypher combining means more useful services, and more fees for validators.
Over the past month, the KEANU initiative has developed a groundswell of support from both teams, their wider communities, and the blockchain sector in general. Here, we’ll outline the timeline and process of KEANU thus far:
Initial Community Forum Proposals:
A proposal from Keep Network Project Lead Matt Luongo was initially posted on the Keep Governance Forum and the NuCypher DAO forum for community review. In general, reactions and engagement from both communities were incredibly supportive. Codename KEANU was coined.
https://forum.keep.network/t/proposal-keep-and-nucypher-hard-merge/74
Quickly, the proposal proliferated to the court of public opinion — Crypto Twitter. The general consensus was excitement about the initial proposal. KEANU was then picked up for coverage by crypto media outlets.
https://twitter.com/NuCypher/status/1368948125277118471
https://twitter.com/mhluongo/status/1368963503663513606
https://www.coindesk.com/keanu-explained-nucypher-keep-merger-ethereum
A few days later, Keep published a blog post with more specifics about the hard merge proposal to prepare everyone for an upcoming vote.
https://blog.keep.network/decentralized-collaboration-between-keep-and-nucypher-3501983953af
Community Calls to Discuss:
The Keep community set up a community wide call to discuss the hard merge in more detail. Some of the NuCypher team and community joined us. The discussion was very productive, and the community was eager to learn more. Subsequently, the NuCypher team set up a second community-wide call. This time, the Keep team and community joined as guests.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxZp5dV7QXk
Keep Vote Structure:
After initial community discussion, we began to think as a collective about what the vote structure for the proposal would need to look like to ensure an equitable vote. The community decided to Keep the focus on active capital and our previously elected representative democracy or multisig.
The initial proposal was from Ben Longstaff on Discord:
https://discordapp.com/channels/590951101600235531/797644186790789181/821745054322130974
A key aspect of the voting process is that the merging community wanted to make sure that a supermajority or 2/3 of staking vote power would be required for a YES vote before being passed to our multisig for ratification. That’s why we decided to set up a second snapshot this time with all token holders if there was not a 2/3 supermajority.
Our community member Evandro Saturnino wrote a blog describing the entire vote process:
We dropped an official Twitter thread that the community launched the vote.
https://twitter.com/keep_project/status/1374154340647137281
Starting with a general YES or No vote
The community decided to start with a general yes or no vote for a number of reasons. Firstly, to conduct the vote in a reasonable timeline, to provide needed clarity to both communities on whether KEANU had enough votes to pass, and to give our communities time to work together on final implementation details.
Snapshots in Both Communities:
The snapshots in both communities were highly effective, and highlighted an abundance of support from both the Keep Staker and Nu Staker communities. Furthermore, the Keep Community Multisig ratified the staker decision meaning the proposal passed all stages outlined in the initial vote structure for Keep governance.
Keep Staker Snapshot
https://snapshot.org/#/keepstakers.eth/proposal/QmeipWg3SsSaz3NHqavKKiJ8SfPcAZTfozDSY1wZw9kfLo
Nu Staker Snapshot
https://snapshot.org/#/nudao.eth/proposal/QmUKAZ91oPCpe3GNLZj95v3X3z4ekYztrKk63ADC9GJ7Dt
Next Steps:
Since the initial proposal passed — both communities will begin working together to iron out the final implementation details. We will start bridging the communities with mutual community calls to discuss in more detail.
Once an implementation plan with which both communities are happy, we will undertake another round of snapshots to pass the structure. We expect it to include a new DAO, a new staking contract and possible a new token for staking emissions.
Although nothing is confirmed, Project KEANU is moving rapidly towards implementation. While we’re thrilled with the remarkable synergies that the technology of Keep Network and NuCypher will enjoy together, even more exciting is the incredibly progressive communities engaging with the projects, equal parts unified and decentralized.
Want to get involved? Join us on Discord at chat.keep.network.
