The Commons Stack
The Commons Stack builds open-source blockchain infrastructure — including the Augmented Bonding Curve, Conviction Voting, and Hatch — and cultural frameworks for impact-focused communities, DAOs, and Web3 public-goods projects to design sustainable token economies and decentralized governance.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersZug, Switzerland
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What The Commons Stack does
The Commons Stack is a private, for-profit blockchain infrastructure company founded in 2019 and headquartered in Zug, Switzerland (with a Barcelona contact address), operating with 1-10 employees. It builds open-source technical tools and cultural frameworks that enable impact-focused communities and DAOs to design sustainable token economies and decentralized governance systems; the target customer segment is cause-based movements, Web3 communities, and regenerative-finance initiatives addressing collective-action and public-goods funding challenges. The core product, 'The CommonsDAO' (a 'warm DAO'), is composed of a modular technical toolkit: the Augmented Bonding Curve (ABC) for continuous token funding and reduced volatility, co-created with Block Science; Conviction Voting for stake-weighted collective decision-making, co-developed with 1Hive; Hatch for two-phase CommonsDAO launches; Praise (now an independent entity) for peer-to-peer community intelligence; Tokenlog for token-weighted GitHub backlog prioritization; Quadratic Rank Choice Voting (QRCV, in development); and the Commons Simulator, a cadCAD-based edutainment tool. Cultural frameworks are anchored in Elinor Ostrom's 8 principles for governing commons, and the company offers an Economics Co-Design service and a 3-month Commons Incubator program to operationalize deployments.
The business model combines (a) community-led distribution via Discord, Telegram, Twitter, Medium, YouTube, and conferences, with all tools released as open source on GitHub; (b) bespoke quote-based consulting and deployment services, including the Commons Incubator; and (c) token-economy infrastructure in which ABC transaction tributes accrue to each deployed community's common pool (e.g., the TEC common pool received over $300,000 in tributes since its 2021 ABC launch) rather than to Commons Stack itself. The first CommonsDAO pilot, Token Engineering Commons (TEC), launched in 2021 with a $1.5 million hatch fundraise. Revenue is not disclosed, no equity funding rounds are documented, and the only structured non-equity inflow on record is a 2021 Regen EnDAOment grant from Regen Network. The co-founders are Tamara Helenius (Managing Director), Griff Green (Technology Lead), and Jeff Emmett (Research Lead); Trusted Seed and Praise were spun off as independent entities in 2022.
The Commons Stack firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Commons Stack
- Legal name
- Commons Stack
- Website
- https://commonsstack.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- The Commons Stack builds open-source blockchain infrastructure — including the Augmented Bonding Curve, Conviction Voting, and Hatch — and cultural frameworks for impact-focused communities, DAOs, and Web3 public-goods projects to design sustainable token economies and decentralized governance.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Commons Stack industry classification
Industry- Product category
- DAO Governance Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Coordination & Contributor Management (tasks, bounties, roles) (FSAPAHAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Grants, Funding & Budget Allocation Platforms (FSAPAHAE)
Keywords
Where The Commons Stack is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Zug
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
The Commons Stack business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Community Consulting & Deployment Services: Commons Stack provides consultation services to help communities design and deploy CommonsDAOs, including technical toolkit implementation, cultural frameworks integration, and economics co-design. The Commons Incubator program guides projects through launching a CommonsDAO in approximately 3 months.
- Token Economy Infrastructure: The ABC generates continuous funding for communities through entry and exit tributes added to the common pool with every transaction. TEC's common pool received over $300,000 from tributes since its 2021 launch.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
The Commons Stack product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Commons Stack builds open-source technical tools (Augmented Bonding Curve, Conviction Voting, Hatch, Praise, Tokenlog, Commons Simulator) and cultural frameworks for impact communities to deploy self-governing "CommonsDAOs" with sustainable token-based funding. The company also delivers consulting, the Commons Incubator program, and an Economics Co-Design service to guide communities through token economy and governance design.
Product overview
The Commons Stack is a platform that provides cultural frameworks, technical tools, and economic co-design methodologies for impact communities to build decentralized, regenerative, self-governing communities. The core offering is The CommonsDAO ('warm DAO'), which consists of a technical toolkit including the Augmented Bonding Curve (ABC), Conviction Voting, Hatch, Praise, Tokenlog, Quadratic Rank Choice Voting (QRCV), and Commons Simulator. These tools work together to enable continuous funding, collective decision-making, and community intelligence. The platform is complemented by Cultural Frameworks based on Ostrom's 8 principles and an Economics Co-Design service for participatory economic design. The Commons Incubator program accelerates deployment of CommonsDAOs for cause-based movements.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- The CommonsDAO The CommonsDAO ("warm DAO") is Commons Stack's umbrella product — a community-driven organization that combines inclusive cultural practices, polycentric governance, and technical/cultural protocols built around Ostrom's 8 principles. It is designed for impact communities seeking sustainable funding and self-governance through collectively designed token economies.
- Augmented Bonding Curve (ABC) A customized token bonding curve co-created with Block Science that mints and burns tokens on demand according to a predetermined price curve. Includes a trust score allowlist, vesting curves, and entry/exit tributes that feed a common pool treasury, providing continuous funding and reduced token volatility for community economies.
- Commons Incubator
- Cultural Frameworks
- Economics Co-Design
- Commons Simulator
- Conviction Voting
- Hatch
- Praise
- Tokenlog
- Quadratic Rank Choice Voting (QRCV)
- Community Consulting & Deployment Services
Quantifiable outcome
- TEC's token maintained low volatility compared to other small market cap tokens, keeping pace with ETH since 2021 launch
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use The Commons Stack
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
The Commons Stack technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature7 records
The Commons Stack partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and moderate.
- Block SciencecoreCo-created the Augmented Bonding Curve (ABC) with Block Science. Block Science provides the mathematical and engineering expertise for token bonding curve implementations. Michael Zargham, Founder and CEO of Blockscience, is an advisor to Commons Stack.
- Token Engineering Commons (TEC)coreTEC is the first CommonsDAO pilot launched by the token engineering community and Commons Stack in 2021 with a $1.5 million hatch. Commons Stack provides the technical tools and frameworks for TEC's governance and token economy.
- 1HivecoreCollaborated on the development of Conviction Voting. 1Hive maintains the conviction-voting-app open source repository. Commons Stack tools are deployed within the 1Hive ecosystem.
- Trusted SeedcoreEstablished as an independent legal entity in Switzerland in 2020. Trusted Seed provides value-aligned individuals invested in long-term community sustainability, functioning as a trusted seed for CommonsDAO deployments.
- General MagicmajorOpen source Praise was first developed among Commons Stack, TEC and Giveth, and is now being further developed by General Magic. Also maintains Tokenlog V1 and V2.
- cadCADmajorCollaborated on the Commons Simulator, an edutainment tool that uses cadCAD simulation to teach communities about regenerative CommonsDAOs.
- AragonmajorCommons Stack deploys CommonsDAOs on Aragon infrastructure. The Hatch smart contract forms an Aragon DAO.
- GivethmajorCo-developed the Praise system for community intelligence and token distribution. Giveth's experience with reward systems informed Commons Stack's approach.
- TE AcademymajorAngela Kreitenweis, Founder and CEO of TE Academy, has participated in and praised the hands-on Token Engineering Commons build, demonstrating collaborative learning in the ecosystem.
- Crypto Commons AssociationmoderateCollaborates on research and development in the crypto commons ecosystem. Publishes content about bonding curves and Commons Market Makers.
- MetagovmoderateAcademic research partner exploring governance mechanisms and collective decision-making in decentralized systems.
- Inverter NetworkmoderateEcosystem partner in the Web3 governance space.
- Prime DAOmoderateCollaborates on decentralized governance and token engineering initiatives.
- ReFi DAOmoderatePartnered in 2023 on the ReFi Local Node Prize, supporting regeneration-focused initiatives.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
The Commons Stack competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Gitcoin: Gitcoin runs quadratic-grant funding rounds for public goods and is the largest incumbent in the Web3 public-goods funding space that Commons Stack and TEC target. It addresses the same funding-sustainability problem at much greater scale.
Direct peers
- DAOstack: DAOstack provides a modular DAO framework including holographic consensus and Alchemy — a governance-tooling platform directly comparable to Commons Stack's CommonsDAO offering.
- Tally: Tally is a DAO governance dashboard and on-chain voting platform. It competes for the same DAO-governance workflow that Commons Stack addresses with Conviction Voting and Tokenlog.
- Aragon: Aragon is a leading DAO infrastructure platform on which Commons Stack deploys CommonsDAOs. Both target the same customer (DAOs) with governance and treasury tooling, making Aragon the most direct comparable.
- Prime DAO: PrimeDAO builds token-engineering and governance tools for decentralized organizations. As a partner in Commons Stack's ecosystem, it shares overlap in governance and token-economy design for DAOs.
- 1Hive: 1Hive is a commons-based DAO community that co-developed Conviction Voting with Commons Stack. It deploys overlapping governance and bonding-curve primitives for community currencies and is a direct functional peer.
- Giveth: Giveth is a donation and reward-distribution platform that co-developed the Praise system with Commons Stack. It serves the same impact-community and public-goods funding niche.
- Colony: Colony is a DAO framework for decentralized collaboration and reputation-based work. It competes with Commons Stack's governance, contributor-management, and task-prioritization tooling (Praise, Tokenlog).
- Snapshot: Snapshot is the de facto off-chain governance and voting platform for DAOs. It overlaps with Commons Stack's Conviction Voting and Tokenlog as tooling for collective decision-making by token holders.
Emerging players
- MolochDAO: MolochDAO is the original Ethereum public-goods DAO framework and a precursor to many governance primitives. It overlaps conceptually with Commons Stack's commons-governance research and is an early-stage but foundational peer.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
The Commons Stack social profiles
Digital presenceThe Commons Stack financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Commons Stack leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
The Commons Stack funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Commons Stack M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Commons Stack
What does The Commons Stack do?
Commons Stack builds open-source technical tools (Augmented Bonding Curve, Conviction Voting, Hatch, Praise, Tokenlog, Commons Simulator) and cultural frameworks for impact communities to deploy self-governing "CommonsDAOs" with sustainable token-based funding. The company also delivers consulting, the Commons Incubator program, and an Economics Co-Design service to guide communities through token economy and governance design.
Is The Commons Stack a public or private company?
The Commons Stack is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was The Commons Stack founded?
The Commons Stack was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is The Commons Stack based?
The Commons Stack is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does The Commons Stack make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Community Consulting & Deployment Services are the primary driver. The others are token Economy Infrastructure.
Who are The Commons Stack's main competitors?
Gitcoin is listed as a broad incumbent. Direct peers are DAOstack, Tally, Aragon, Prime DAO, 1Hive, Giveth, Colony and Snapshot. MolochDAO is listed as an emerging player.
Does The Commons Stack have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Commons Stack.
What industry is The Commons Stack in?
The Commons Stack's product category is DAO Governance Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAPAHAD, Coordination & Contributor Management (tasks, bounties, roles), with a secondary code of FSAPAHAE, Grants, Funding & Budget Allocation Platforms. Its NAICS code is 8139 and its SIC code is 7370.