September marks one year since the launch of the Gnosis Pay Rewards programme under GIP-110. In that time, the number of users has rocketed, spend growth has accelerated, and 10,000 GNO has been distributed. By all accounts, the programme has performed as intended.

Though the mechanism of the programme — hold GNO, spend with Gnosis Pay, receive weekly GNO rewards — is extremely simple, behind the scenes sit a host of operational and technical complexities that needed to be solved.

In this article, we breakdown those complexities and explain kpk’s role in delivering a smooth cashback-like experience. By working to make rewards instant, predictable and scalable, we believe Gnosis Pay now has a seamless solution for reward distribution, and an experience that its users love.

The number of transactions on Gnosis Pay has skyrocketed since the rewards programme was proposed in July 2024. Source: pfedan Dune Dashboard (https://dune.com/queries/3496057/5878590).

The Problem Of Simplicity

At the outset, the solution for Gnosis Pay rewards was deceptively straightforward:

• each week, the account of every Gnosis Pay user must be inspected for GNO deposits to identify participation;
• the spend data of those qualifying must be gathered and accumulated;
• a reward rate was applied relating to the quantity of GNO held; and
• together these components calculate an amount of rewards to pay.

With that said, the actual process extends beyond the bounds of onchain math, requiring a complex database, applications to listen for live blockchain events, a process of real-time verification, and a reliable interface to make this data available. As the program spread to thousands of users, the variety of different positions and rewards made the process increasingly-difficult.

The programme was soon rewarding thousands of users across many different profiles, each with their own challenges. Source: blaze Dune Dashboard (https://dune.com/queries/4084337/6877493)

The problem is that simplicity in outcome often requires far greater complexity in the process underneath.

Building A System

Early on, our instinct was to rely on external providers that could assist with indexing relevant actions. However, finding services to meet each of the many stages of our process, or which could interoperate easily with one another, proved to be challenging. It soon became clear that the solution would need to be a custom implementation.

The backbone of our system became a custom blockchain indexer and RESTful API service. The indexer monitors Gnosis Chain in real time, processing transactions as they happen. It tracks contract addresses critical to the programme: the Gnosis Pay Spend address, the Reward Distribution Safe, the GNO token, and the OG NFT contracts that offer boosted rewards.

One of the most sophisticated components of the system is Safe address resolution. When a new Safe interacts with Gnosis Pay, the system must verify quickly and reliably to ascertain if it’s a Gnosis Pay Safe or otherwise. We adopted a two-step approach: a database check for known addresses and for new ones; an onchain validation sequence then confirms the deployment’s bytecode, validates the structure and includes the account in our system.

The API that sits on top of this indexer provides real-time data. Endpoints serve everything from current week rewards to historical snapshots, ensuring the system’s operators from kpk and Gnosis Pay can see exactly how rewards are calculated. The SDK, meanwhile, houses the core reward logic, which evaluates reward amounts based on the weekly rolling GNO thresholds and eligible volume calculations. Without compromising on rigorous validation, this structured system design allows the rewards process to evolve as the programme changes.

Our distribution mechanism was designed to be heavily automated. Every Thursday, the indexed transaction data from our database is processed to produce reward payloads for execution. After some manual scrutiny and reviewed, the designated Safe then executes the various payouts after scrutiny from dedicated signers.

Exceptional User Experience

For the everyday Gnosis Pay user, the experience is refreshingly simple: simply hold GNO, spend on your card and earn rewards. There are no buttons to press, no claims to make, no confusing interfaces to navigate.

The programme illustrates a truth we encounter often in decentralised finance: the more intuitive the product, the more intricate the systems sitting behind it.

We see the impact of this exceptional user experience on user growth. The below chart contrasts new and repeat users participating in the programme each week, pointing to the steady accumulation of new users.

Adoption grew at a surprisingly steady pace of between 50-150 new users per week, with most returning throughout the programme. Source: blaze Dune Dashboard (https://dune.com/queries/4084455/6877602).

Beyond the consistent growth experienced throughout the period, we can also see a sustained increase in new users over time, growing from around 50 per week at its lowest to around 150 per week in recent months. That’s real momentum.

Looking Ahead

With the completion of its first year, the Gnosis Pay Rewards programme has already proven its value. It has driven significant adoption of Gnosis Pay, created additional utility for GNO holders, and set a new standard for how rewards can be automated in DeFi.

As we look ahead, the foundation is now in place to support further iterations and innovations. Whether the GnosisDAO community decides on new reward types, expanded eligibility, or deeper integrations with the Gnosis Pay ecosystem, our systems are ready to facilitate their plans.

We look forward to the next chapter for Gnosis Pay rewards.