On December 2nd, 2025, STON.fi, the leading decentralized exchange and foundational DeFi protocol on The Open Network (TON), activated its decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), marking the first full DAO within the TON ecosystem. This move grants users direct control over the protocol's evolution through governance votes.
The DAO leverages the native STON token, where staking STON yields ARKENSTON—a non-transferable token representing voting power. Over 5.6 million users can now submit proposals, participate in discussions, and vote on future developments, with voting influence weighted by the amount and duration of STON staked.
Prior to launch, the community tested the DAO for four weeks, submitting more than 115 proposals ranging from minor UX tweaks to major strategic ideas. Slavik Baranov, CEO of STON.fi Dev, stated, "For us, decentralization isn’t a slogan — it’s the point. Now, the same people who use the protocol every day can guide where it goes next."
STON.fi has processed over 29.8 million operations and $6.6 billion in total swap volume, dominating TON's DeFi activity. Backed by investors including CoinFund, Ribbit Capital, and TON Ventures, the DAO aims to set high standards for decentralized governance, complementing existing infrastructure like the Omniston liquidity protocol.
