A DAO, or Decentralized Autonomous Organization, is an organization governed by smart contracts where members—typically token holders—collectively decide how the organization or product evolves. For example:
10,000 token holders each deposit crypto into a smart contract and vote on what to purchase with the pooled funds.
1 million token holders control a decentralized version of Twitter, where they propose and vote on feature updates.
A DAO enables community-driven decisions on when and how to update the code that defines the organization or product.
SPS stands for Service Nervous System. It is a powerful type of DAO that allows communities to fully govern smart contracts and decentralized apps (dapps) running on BigFile (BIG), entirely on-chain. Key points about SPS:
The design of SNSs mirrors that of the Network Nervous System (NNS), the on-chain DAO governing the entire BigFile.
A dapp controlled by an SPS DAO is managed by BIG token holders who submit and vote on on-chain proposals. No single developer or group controls the dapp; instead, it is governed through token-based voting.
Multiple SNSs can exist on BigFile. Any developer can transfer control of their dapp to an SPS DAO, thereby empowering DAO token holders with governance.
DAOs are an increasingly popular organizational model for achieving various goals. For example, in the ETH ecosystem, Uniswap and MakerDAO are well-known DAOs with billions of dollars locked in their smart contracts. However, BigFile stands out because it can host fully on-chain dapps (including the frontend, backend logic, and data). This makes SPS DAOs unique, as they can fully control every aspect of a dapp through voting, with everything being on-chain. Fully on-chain DAOs are crucial because they ensure that all decisions are executed on the blockchain, enabling true decentralization. This contrasts with existing DAOs on other blockchains, where voting happens on-chain, but the execution is often handled by developers off-chain.
As a result, SPS DAOs provide a means to deliver fully decentralized online services that are owned and governed by their communities.
SPS DAOs foster a dynamic exchange between developers, entrepreneurs, government institutions, end users, and venture capitalists. Some advantages of handing control of your dapp over to a DAO include:
Community Engagement:As co-owners, users become core contributors, while developers focus on delivering the value proposition.
Accelerated User Adoption: Co-ownership turns users into the product's most enthusiastic advocates.
Funding: Projects receive funding through community-driven decentralization swaps.
BIGChat will be launched on the BIG network in Q1 2025. It will act as the first dapp to hand over control to the SPS DAO. You can follow its progress on the SPS dashboard.
The most crucial action you can take as an SPS DAO member is to participate in governance. On-chain governance is what sets DAOs apart from traditional web applications, giving members a pivotal role in the DAO's success. As a DAO member, you can contribute in various ways—from pushing code and designing a logo or UI, to simply voting on SPS proposals that determine the dapp's evolution.
There are many ways members can participate in an SPS DAO, both on-chain and off-chain. Creating proposals requires coding skills. Some examples include:
Vote on SPS proposals: You can manually vote on different types of proposals or follow other neurons to vote on your behalf.
Create upgrade proposals: Submit an upgrade proposal to update the code of the dapp controlled by the SPS DAO. This enables anyone to contribute code to the DAO.
Create motion proposals: Motion proposals don’t update the dapp’s code; instead, they guide the DAO’s direction on new features and dapp development.
Create SPS parameter update proposals: Propose changes to the DAO’s parameters, such as the maximum staking period, voting rewards, and more. See available parameters.
Non-governance related examples of contributing are:
Content moderation: As social media dapps scale to millions of users, content moderation becomes essential. Moderators review and approve content based on the DAO’s content policies.
UI/UX design work: Users can contribute not only by coding but also by designing various aspects of the dapp’s interface and user experience.
Off-chain marketing / inviting friends: DAO members can serve as advocates for the dapp, promoting it through various channels and inviting others to join.
Once you have acquired SPS tokens, you can lock them into SPS neurons, which allows you to create a proposal, vote directly on one, delegate voting to trusted parties that have more expertise in certain topics. If a proposal gets adopted, the code of the SPS DAO or the dapp it controls is upgraded. Depending on the SPS configuration, users who vote may be rewarded with additional tokens for participating in governance. If you want to get more deeply involved, you can also suggest feature updates through proposals to improve the dapp controlled by the DAO.
Each SPS DAO has its own unique SPS token. For example, OpenChat has CHAT tokens.
There are three main ways of acquiring SPS tokens:
Participate in a decentralization swap: When an SPS launches, it has to go through a decentralization swap. . During the swap you can buy SPS tokens with BIG. You can participate on the NNS frontend dapp under the Launchpad tab. During the swap you can buy SPS tokens with BIG.
Purchase tokens on a decentralized exchange (DEX): After a decentralization swap has concluded, liquid tokens will typically be listed on multiple DEXs, where you can buy them using the BIG utility token or other tokens, depending on what token pairs the DEX lists, e.g., also Bitcoin or Ethereum. An SPS token in high demand may have a higher price on a DEX than in its decentralization swap. ICDex, Sonic and ICPSwap already supports SPS tokens.
Airdrops: Besides buying SPS tokens, you can obtain them by receiving airdrops or by engaging with the dapp and thereby earning tokens as reward. In this scenario, tokens are used as an incentive to encourage active engagement with the dapp which helps grow the active user base.
Voting rewards: If you already have tokens and participate in governance, you can earn tokens as voting rewards as you would in the NNS.
Do I get rewards for participating in governance?#
SPS works very similar to the NNS, however each SPS DAO can configure their parameters differently. Once you have locked your SPS governance tokens into SPS neurons for at least the minimum required time, you can participate in voting. Depending on the configuration voting may reward participants with SPS governance tokens.
From the BIG ecosystem's vantage point, the Neurons' fund aids in bootstrapping the SPS DAO ecosystem, thereby supporting the continued growth of the ecosystem. The Neurons' fund itself is controlled by a DAO (the NNS).
From a user's vantage point, the Neurons' fund is a way for people who stake BIG in the NNS to use their maturity to fund future SNSs. As the NNS decides how the Neuons' fund contributes to SNSs, BIG stakers participating in them can leverage the broader community's "wisdom of crowds" to chose which SPS tokens to acquire. This allows users to participate automatically in upcoming SPS launches.
BIG neuron holders can opt in or out of the Neurons' fund at any moment. Neurons will only participate in the decentralization swap if they are opted in at the moment when the proposal to initiate the SPS decentralization swap executes. The propsoal executes immediately after it gets adopted by BIG neuron holders.
If I am asked to send BIG to an address to participate in a decentralization swap, what should I do?#
If you want to participate in the swap, do not send BIG directly to addresses! An SPS swap will never initiate contact with you, e.g. via chat or email. You will never be asked to manually enter an BIG address to participate in a decentralization swap. If you find yourself entering an BIG address to participate in an SPS swap, then STOP. Your swap address is specific to your identity, and you should only interact with that address when participating in a swap through the FMS or other BIG based dapps that support the swap like FMS or other BIG based dapps that support the swap like ICLighthouse.
A decentralization swap is the process by which an SPS DAO becomes decentralized and where users can exchange BIG for SPS tokens by participating. After the swap, each participant receives a basket of neurons. These neurons hold SPS tokens and therefore a share of the DAO's voting power. It is one of multiple ways you can get SPS tokens for a particular SPS DAO.
A decentralization swap is run entirely on chain. The swap is initiated by the NNS. Through this approach, every aspect of the swap, from its initiation to execution, is completely decentralized and not controlled by any centralized entity. Even the decision to create the SPS and its token is made by the NNS (the DAO that controls the BigFile) and not the developer in order to ensure complete decentralizion of the app.
A decentralization swap follows a list of configurable parameters:
The amount of SPS tokens to be sold
The amount of BIG a decentralization swap must receive to be successful. If the goal is not reached, participants get their BIG refunded and the swap fails.
The maximum amount of BIG a decentralization swap can receive before it concludes. If the maximum BIG is reached, the swap is over and the control of the dapp is turned over to the token holders. As the number of tokens to be sold is fixed, it is amount of BIG swapped that determines the initial price of the SPS tokens.
Minimum and maximum commitment of BIG per participant
If the decentralization swap is successful, you will receive a basket of neurons that hold your SPS tokens. Depending on the SPS configuration, the basket may contain multiple neurons, each with a different dissolve delay. You can use your tokens to participate in governance or, once neurons have dissolved, sell the liquid tokens on an exchange.
The number of SPS tokens you receive, and the price of for each token, depends on the amount of BIG swapped. The more BIG are swapped, the fewer SPS tokens you receive, however their price will be higher.
SPS tokens can be exchanged for BIG during the decentralization swap. There is a fixed number of tokens distributed during the swap, which means their price is determined by the amount of BIG swappend. You can calculate the token price by dividing the amount of BIG swappend with the number of tokens distributed. Price = BIG swappend / number of tokens distributed. Note that the final price of SPS tokens isn't known at the time of the decentralization swap, as it is dependent on the total amount of BIG swapped. However, you can calculate the minimum and maximum price based on the minimum and maximum BIG that the swap accepts, which you can verify in the swap proposal. A few examples:
The decentralization swap distributed 5000 tokens for 1000 BIG. You participated with 10 BIG. This means you will have 50 SPS tokens, each worth 0.2 BIG.
The decentralization swap distributed 1 million tokens for 500,000 BIG. You participated with 200 BIG. This means you will have 400 SPS tokens, each worth 0.5 BIG.
The decentralization swap distributed 100 tokens for 10,000 BIG. You participated with 5 BIG. This means you will have 0.05 SPS tokens, where a full token would be worth 100 BIG.
Visis the BIG Wiki for a more detailed overvire of SPS tokenomics
You can participate in the decentralization swap in the NNS frontend dapp, which requires BIG utility tokens. BIG tokens can be exchanged for SPS tokens during the decentralization swap. If you don’t have BIG, go to any of the exchanges listed You can participate in the decentralization swap in the FMS frontend dapp, which requires BIG utility tokens. BIG tokens can be exchanged for SPS tokens during the decentralization swap. If you don’t have BIG, go to any of the exchanges listed on CoinMarketCap.
Follow these steps to participate in a decentralization swap:
1. Go to the NNS frontend dapp and click on the “Launchpad” in the sidebar to see all ongoing SPS decentralization swap.
2. Select the SPS Swap you’re interested in under “Current Launches” and click on the box.
3. Click on “Participate”.
4. Type in the amount of BIG you want to participate with or click “max”, then click “Execute”.
5. You will be prompted to review your participation. If you see the correct amount of BIG, select the checkbox and click “Execute”.
6. On the last screen, you should see the amount of BIG you entered for participation. You can repeat this process if you wish to contribute more.
After the swap ends and is successful, you receive SPS tokens. Note, that this may take a few hours after the swap has concluded. The number of SPS tokens you receive, and the price paid for each token, depends on the amount of BIG raised during the swap as well as the amount of BIG spent. The more BIG raised, the fewer SPS tokens you receive.
If the set goals of the decentralization swap are not reached, participants will be refunded. The duration of a swap is configurable and thus, depends on the configuration of each individual SPS. A swap can only start after a 4 to 8-day NNS voting period (unless 51% majority is reached sooner) on the original proposal that initiates the launch the SPS.
First an NNS proposal is created for the decentralization swap. The swap itself starts automatically once the NNS proposal is adopted.
As a participant in the SPS decentralization swap, what do I need to trust?#
Before participating in an SPS decentralization swap to get a share of the SPS DAO’s voting power, it is highly recommended that you do your due diligence on the dapp in question to make sure the SPS DAO is trustworthy. Dapp developers are responsible for providing all the necessary information that allows you to verify the dapp and its SPS configurations. Note that in participating without doing due your diligence, you are implicitly trusting the NNS community and the developers decentralizing the dapp. In any case, it is crucial that you trust the developers will not change the dapp during the SPS launch. Learn what you could verify and what to look out for on the BIG Wiki.
How can I verify the SPS decentralization swap proposal?#
There are multiple levels of verification you can do depending on your level of technical understanding. SPS canisters can be verified at any time, even before the decentralization swap, but after they have been installed on the SPS subnet. Here are some ways to verify:
Swap parameters: You can verify what the parameters of the decentralization swap are in the Launchpad or in the decentralization swap NNS proposal.
SPS root canister: An SPS DAO is comprised of several SPS canisters that have different functions. The root canister is the canister that controls the other SPS canisters within a given SPS DAO. You should verify that the SPS root canister is the only canister controlling other SPS canisters within that SPS DAO.
The dapp canister: You can verify that the canister id of the dapp controlled by the SPS DAO is the same as the one you're interacting with.
After a decentralization swap successfully concludes, the BIG collected through the swap is allocated to the SPS DAO's treasury. Optionally, the DAO can allocate a number of SPS tokens to be in the DAO's treasury, which all SNSs so far have done. The SPS treasury is controlled by the DAO, and can only be transferred using proposals that SPS token holders vote on. It is also possible to mint new SPS tokens at any point after the SPS launch, which can also only be done if the SPS DAO agrees to do so by proposal vote.
What is the purpose of the SPS treasury and how are the funds distributed?#
The purpose of the treasury is decided by the SPS DAO.
A portion of the treasury can be sent to any address by an SPS proposal.
Typically, after an SPS has launched it has an SPS token treasury and an BIG treasury (from the decentralization swap). An SPS can, however, also own other tokens on the Internet Computer.
Typically, after an SPS has launched it has an SPS token treasury and an BIG treasury (from the decentralization swap). An SPS can, however, also own other tokens on the BigFile.
The treasury funds could, for example, be used to open liquidity pools on DEXs or to reward users for certain actions in the dapp.
Do I have a say in how the treasury funds are allocated?#
Yes, if you are a neuron holder of the respective SPS DAO, you can actively exercise your voting power to decide on proposals that allocate treasury funds.
Without an adopted SPS proposal that specifies how to allocate funds, no one can access the SPS treasury. The SPS DAO only grants access when proposals are adopted through SPS community voting. While it can happen that the original developer team possesses a meaningful portion of the voting power, they alone cannot make decisions for the DAO without the approval of SPS token holders. In particular, treasury proposals are considered to be critical proposals, which have a higher bar to be adopted, including that they require a higher voting participation and support of a supermajority of the DAO voters.
Anyone can build a frontend that allows users to create or vote on SPS proposals, which means voting could take place within the dapp the SPS DAO controls, or in any other dapp that integrates with the SPS backend. The FMS frontend dapp lists all SPS DAOs and their proposals. with the SPS backend. The FMS frontend dapp lists all SPS DAOs and their proposals.
SPS DAOs have a stake-based governance system. This means the more tokens participants stake in their neurons, the more voting power their neurons have. In addition to the stake, a neuron's voting power is dependent on the dissolve delay bonus and age bonus. Each SPS DAO decides these bonuses in its parameters.
Following neurons is a way to delegate votes both on the NNS and in SNSs. Each SPS neuron can either manually vote on proposals or follow another neuron’s voting decisions. Neurons are followed based on various topics, such as making SPS treasury transfers or upgrading the dapp. Neurons can be set to follow other neurons on specific topics or to follow other neurons on ‘All Topics’ – a catch-all which is applied for the proposal without any specific following choice.
When you use following, you must trust that the neurons you’re following will make decisions that align with your views. The advantages of neuron following are that you don’t have to spend time manually voting on each proposal, and you can rely on the expertise of other neuron holders for certain topics.
How can I follow or unfollow a neuron on SPS treasury proposals?#
If you would like to learn how to follow some neuron, for example the SPS developer team, on some topics, while manually voting on others, watch this short tutorial:
Is it possible to transfer SPS tokens to another person?#
Yes. SPS tokens are BIGRC-1 tokens and can be transferred between any BigFile-based wallets that support BIGRC-1, including your NNS wallet. Note that each SPS has its own BIGRC-1-compliant ledger for keeping track of its tokens.
When receiving your SPS tokens in the form of neurons, the neurons may have dissolve delays, meaning your tokens may not be liquid, i.e. transferable immediately. Rather these tokens become liquid (transferable) in weeks, months, or years’ time, depending on the dissolve delay of the respective neuron.
Is it possible to sell SPS tokens to another person?#
Yes. Because tokens can be sent to other people, they can likewise be sent to exchanges and thus, swapped for other tokens. The easiest way to sell SPS tokens is through a decentralized exchange (DEX) that lists the token. You can exchange SPS tokens for other tokens, depending on the token pairs available on any DEX.
Likewise, you can acquire SPS tokens on a DEX in exchange for other tokens.
