Anoma launches on Ethereum with governance and token

Anoma launched phase one of its mainnet on Ethereum Monday, activating its native XAN token and on-chain governance system.

The release kicks off proposal submission and a new two-body governance voting structure. Any user can lock XAN to join the “voter body,” while a governance council — a multisig composed of early contributors — can also propose changes, according to Anoma co-founder Adrian Brink.

“Either body can propose an upgrade, which takes at least two weeks to be passed,” Brink told Blockworks. “There’s no special body with superuser rights…The voter body can veto any proposal initiated by the council.”

Real decentralization will hinge on initial distribution and turnout. Without broad float and active delegates, early governance is likely to be insider-led even if the council lacks special powers. Vesting tokens are eligible to vote.

The treasury contract is deployed but not yet activated. Brink said the goal of this early governance phase is to allow the community to “conduct a proper decentralized launch.” Additional system features — including protocol adapters and third-party app support — will come online through governance decisions over time.

Unlike a layer-1 blockchain, Anoma describes itself as an “intent-centric” decentralized operating system. In marketing-speak, it aims “to become Web3’s unified operating system” — running on top of L1s such as Ethereum, Bitcoin and Solana.

Users express their intent — for example, a user could express an intent to swap ETH to USDC with a minimum-received threshold, a deadline, and a slippage cap — which solvers match and fulfill across chains. Execution happens on native settlement layers via “protocol adapters” deployed to each chain.

Those adapters are live on testnets for Ethereum, Optimism, and Arbitrum, but are not yet available on mainnet.

“The protocol adapter has one final audit that needs to be completed,” Brink said. “Then the community can decide to enable it on mainnet.” Once approved, developers will be able to deploy applications that run seamlessly across all connected chains without duplicating code or upgrade processes.

Anoma also recently introduced AnomaPay, a cross-chain stablecoin router designed to convert tokens into a recipient’s preferred currency while preserving user privacy via zero-knowledge proofs. Instead of launching a consumer-facing payments app, AnomaPay is positioned as infrastructure — “connective tissue” that routes stablecoin payments across chains and provides enterprise-grade data protection, according to the launch materials.

Built in partnership with stablecoin issuer Noble, AnomaPay is currently live on devnet and targeting institutional integrations ahead of mainnet deployment. “Apps like AnomaPay can begin launching on mainnet as soon as the protocol adapter is live,” Brink confirmed.

Today, the XAN token supports payments, fee settlement, and governance participation. Brink described the token as “the coordination mechanism for the Anoma community and ecosystem,” and said future use cases could include solver staking, slashing, or service commitments — but emphasized that “the community can choose to add new functionality” as the system evolves.

There is also an airdrop, which has so far received a tepid response.

Anoma plans to expand to Base, Optimism, and Arbitrum next, followed by non-EVM chains like Bitcoin and Solana. Gas abstraction is native, allowing users to pay fees in any supported token without needing the destination chain’s native asset. “There’s no reason not to have gas abstraction now, as we have the technology to make it work,” Brink said.

Key upcoming milestones include publishing contract and governance council details, completing the adapter audit, and initiating the governance vote to unlock mainnet app deployment.

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