On Monday, Bisq hit the most significant landmark in its 5-year history: it launched v1.0 of its software.

Version 1 is always a big milestone for any software project, but in Bisq’s case it was extra-special: it included the mainnet launch of the Bisq DAO, which fundamentally changes the governance of the Bisq network itself.

Bisq stakeholders (traders and contributors) are now in charge. The Bisq founder role has been dissolved.

The Bisq DAO has been in the works since Bisq was first conceived back in 2014, but it’s been iterated conceptually and technically many times since then to ensure it can achieve truly decentralized management and funding of the Bisq network.

The constraints were not trivial: there could be no centrally-owned wallets, no legal entities, no investors, etc.

Governance is always a tough thing to tackle, especially for a non-protocol project where people are needed to consistently deliver development, support, and other services, but the Bisq DAO seems to offer a promising solution. It offers a system of incentives that pushes all stakeholders to make the project sustainable simply by acting in their own best interest. The resulting dynamic challenges many social, economic, and organizational dynamics in significant ways, which we’ve started to cover in this series.

Early indications are encouraging: 129 trades used BSQ to pay trading fees in the first 24 hours it was live.

Let’s see how activity changes over time. Onward to the first voting cycle!

Monday’s launch event was livestreamed. The event opened with the publishing of the genesis BSQ transaction, there was an overview of Bisq’s history, and v1.0 was launched live on-camera toward the end.

Many people from Bisq’s past and present joined the call live on Zoom and on the YouTube livestream. It was a lively event—feel free to check it out:

That was Monday.

On Friday, Bisq celebrates 3 years in production. Volume trends indicate bitcoin-fiat volume in core markets is stronger than ever, and Monero volumes have hit records recently too.

So it’s been a heck of a week.

But while there’s lots to celebrate from the past, we also realize this is also a celebration of a beginning for the future. There’s lots to do, and success is never guaranteed.

We thank everyone for their support over the past several years, and look forward to an even brighter future.