Community Takes the Wheel as STON.fi Launches TON's First DAO

STON.fi, a leading decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol on The Open Network (TON), has launched its first full decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), marking a pivotal step toward governance transparency and community-driven development in the TON ecosystem [according to the report](https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2025/12/stonfis-first-full-dao-in-ton-ecosystem-is-now-live). The DAO enables over 5.6 million users to stake STON tokens and earn ARKENSTON, non-transferable voting tokens that grant influence proportional to staked amounts and commitment duration. This structure ensures that decisions prioritize long-term stakeholders, aligning incentives across liquidity providers, developers, and users.

The initiative underscores STON.fi's commitment to decentralization, a core tenet since its inception. By transitioning from a developer-led model to community governance, the protocol aims to set a benchmark for responsible growth in TON's DeFi landscape. CEO Slavik Baranov emphasized that the DAO transforms collaboration from an abstract concept into a functional reality, allowing users to directly shape the protocol's evolution [according to the report](https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2025/12/stonfis-first-full-dao-in-ton-ecosystem-is-now-live). A four-week testing phase revealed strong community engagement, with 115 proposals submitted ranging from user experience improvements to strategic innovations. This feedback validated both technical readiness and user enthusiasm.

STON.fi's DAO operates within a rapidly expanding ecosystem. The protocol has processed 29.8 million operations and facilitated over $6.6 billion in total swap volume, [representing a majority of DeFi activity on TON](https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2025/12/stonfis-first-full-dao-in-ton-ecosystem-is-now-live). As the first protocol to implement a full DAO, STON.fi positions itself as a foundational infrastructure provider, akin to a "steering system" for the broader TON DeFi network. This model integrates governance with existing tools like Omniston, a decentralized liquidity aggregation protocol, to create a cohesive framework where ownership and responsibility are shared.

The launch reflects broader trends in blockchain governance, where user participation increasingly shapes project trajectories. STON.fi's approach-prioritizing security, scalability, and accessibility-aligns with TON's mission to support open financial infrastructure. Investors, including CoinFund and Delphi Ventures, have backed the project's vision of democratizing DeFi, which now extends to governance mechanisms [according to the report](https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2025/12/stonfis-first-full-dao-in-ton-ecosystem-is-now-live). While challenges like voter apathy or governance attacks remain inherent to DAOs, STON.fi's focus on long-term staking incentives aims to mitigate these risks by aligning decision-makers with the protocol's sustainability.