It's SAFE to Say Gnosis is a Monopoly

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The Unsung Hero of Crypto
• An Exponential Rise in Usage
• The $SAFE Question
• Speculating on Monetization and Potential Revenue Projections
• Competition
• Conclusion

If you’re involved in crypto, you have come across the term ‘multisig.’

At a very high level, multisigs are smart contract wallets that custody assets. They have embedded logic that broadcasts transactions once they have received sufficient signatures. For example, a multisig may need 2-of-3 keys to sign a transaction before broadcasting it to the blockchain.

For those familiar with traditional corporate governance, this is similar to requiring X number of signatories to approve a company resolution before anything important can be executed. These X-of-N multisig setups serve as a check and balance for managing a pool of assets and can also be used to control smart contracts as owners.

Multisigs have become a critical piece of infrastructure for facilitating trustless collaboration for asset management and smart contract management alike. From bridges, investment DAOs, multi-billion dollar DeFi protocols, and even individuals; multisig wallets are a foundational component that serious projects cannot do without.

Over the past few years, Gnosis’ multisig solution has come to dominate this sector, with the term “multisig” becoming almost synonymous with Gnosis Safe. As of now, Gnosis Safe contracts secure $39.5B worth of crypto assets. With Gnosis Safe confirming the launch and distribution of their token, we think this is an opportune time to analyze this fundamental piece of crypto infra.

The Unsung Hero of Crypto

Gnosis Safe is the heir to the original Gnosis DAO multisig product, and it has become the dominant multisig solution across EVM chains. It’s near-impossible to find DAOs and DeFi protocols that don’t use a Gnosis Safe on some level. For example, most DAOs choose a group of people who control the DAO