NamadaFlow Weekly Update
Sept 10 - 17, 2025
Validator Discussions
AppHash Errors After Upgrade to v201.0.4
Following the upgrade to v201.0.4, multiple operators experienced persistent AppHash errors. Some had mismatched apphash issues despite restarting and using fresh snapshots. Others had no issues, indicating the error was inconsistent across setups.
Snapshot Sharing & Troubleshooting
To help resolve upgrade issues, several community members offered to provide working snapshots privately via DM or tools like magic-wormhole. Some privacy issues prevented successful DMs, so links were requested publicly.
Retrospective RPGF Proposal Criticism
Multiple validators voiced strong objections to the current RPGF proposal. Criticism centered around unfair allocation, lack of transparency, and perceived favoritism, particularly toward teams hosting Namadillo forks over those building custom UIs or providing extensive infra.
Community Sentiment Around Listing & Recognition
Some operators shared external perceptions of NAM's legitimacy, citing its absence from Binance as a red flag for retail users. This highlighted a gap between technical development and community awareness or market adoption.
Testnet Infrastructure & Access
Heliax opened access to a new suite of testnet infrastructure (RPC, indexers, and explorers) and asked for active users to help test. This follows continued stability improvements and snapshot provisioning.
Borderless Private USDC: Expansion, UX, and Yield Strategies
Private USDC development is accelerating, with usdc.delivery now supporting Polygon, OP, Base, Ethereum, Avalanche, Arbitrum, and Unichain. A new demo interface at usdc-mockup.netlify.app showcases expected user flows. While current flows are deposit-focused, a payments-enabled version is in testnet with shielded-to-transparent and transparent-to-shielded flows between Sepolia ↔ Housefire nearly complete.
Heliax is also introducing “blind deposit” functionality, removing memo-handling complexity and enabling smoother onboarding. Looking ahead, they’re exploring interest-yielding vaults by converting idle shielded USDC to Noble’s USDN and returning it upon payment, allowing users to earn yield without NAM inflation.
Protocol Economics: Fee Capture, Staking Cuts, and PGF
Veil is launching a governance proposal to lower staking inflation to 2.75% and reduce shielded set rewards, shifting focus toward sustainable incentives and ecosystem growth. Gavin shared that fees collected at entrance/exit of the MASP could be routed to buy and burn NAM, potentially supporting price without raising inflation.
PGF updates are also on the way. Luminara plans to propose both RetroPGF and a new ContinuousPGF mechanism to reward contributors consistently. Given the market conditions, this is seen as a prime opportunity to distribute ownership to tenacious builders.
Community Feedback, Referrals, and Fee Flexibility
A lively discussion emerged around enabling referral incentives, frontend-enforced fees, and user-acquisition strategies. Community member @Beyond proposed a 0.4% referral commission, which Gavin acknowledged as feasible through recent fee capture-by-transaction upgrades.
Heliax is also working on allowing frontend applications to specify and collect fees directly, creating space for builder monetization and integration of USD-denominated rewards, though the treasury currently lacks a native USD pool.
Infrastructure, Keychain Bugs, and Security Awareness
Multiple users reported ongoing issues with Namada Keychain losing saved keys and RPC instability during USDC deposit attempts. The team acknowledged these bugs and encouraged users to file GitHub issues. MetaMask UX inconsistencies were noted, especially after usdc.delivery was mistakenly flagged by Google’s phishing detection (now resolved).
There was also discussion around Ethereum finality delays impacting deposit UX. Polygon and Avalanche were noted as faster alternatives, while Noble+CCTP v2 is seen as a future solution to enable <30s roundtrips.
Strategic Narrative: Target Users, Use Cases, and Global Privacy Relevance
The discussion closed with a powerful narrative shift. Gavin emphasized the goal of targeting freelancers, NGOs, and users needing censorship-resistant finance. @Beyond provided real-world context from regions with increasing surveillance, highlighting the value of Zcash, Monero, and Namada as tools for dignity-preserving financial freedom.
There’s also a push to align storytelling with practical use cases, asking: why do freelancers use crypto? Where is stablecoin privacy most needed? Gavin noted the recipe for success was now in place and with Noble’s mainnet upgrade as the last dependency, traction could come as soon as next month.