NamadaFlow Weekly Update
Jan 21 - 28, 2026
This week marked a turning point for Namada. After months of silence, Anoma Foundation leadership finally engaged directly with the community, triggering a mix of long-awaited clarity, uncomfortable admissions, and renewed tension over trust, accountability, and the project’s future direction.
Adrian’s Official Statement: Heliax Fully Committed to Namada
After a year of silence, Adrian Brink posted his first message declaring that Heliax continues to actively maintain Namada including core software, infrastructure, and Namadillo, calling contrary claims “false information.” He proposed reducing validators to 20-40 paid in USDC instead of inflationary NAM, emphasized that “the time for privacy has never been better,” and committed to attending weekly Validator Circles going forward.
Confession: Upgrade Blocked for 8 Weeks Due to XAN Launch Concerns
Adrian admitted he blocked the v0.201.x upgrade for approximately 8 weeks due to “market related concerns with regards to the launch of XAN,” stating he “stands by that choice.” This confirmation that AF deliberately delayed Namada’s development to protect Anoma’s token launch vindicated community suspicions and revealed a profound conflict of interest where AF sacrificed Namada’s revenue opportunities.
XAN Airdrop to NAM Holders Proposed, Especially Shielded Set
Adrian expressed enthusiasm for giving NAM holders a XAN airdrop, with even more going to NAM in the shielded set. This represents a potential compensation mechanism for NAM holders who suffered while AF prioritized XAN, though questions remain about fairness to those who already sold at losses and whether this adequately addresses the trust violation.
Marketing Dismissal: “Liquidity Does Nothing For You”
Adrian argued that Namada didn’t lack marketing, comparing it to “Polkadot just needs more marketing,” and dismissed liquidity concerns saying “Liquidity is another one of those topics, like marketing. Liquidity in itself does nothing for you and it’s just extorniate what the MMs are charging to washtrade the books.” This stance directly contradicted community experience and intensified perceptions of gaslighting.
“Overengineered PoS” and Cosmos Criticism
Adrian identified Namada’s biggest challenges as:
(1) overengineering PoS and RPGF systems that the market didn’t care about which hurt time-to-market, and
(2) being tied to Cosmos which “cooked itself.” He criticized IBC’s technical choices (Ed25519 vs secp, protobuf vs RLP) that prevented Ethereum interoperability, positioning Namada as needing to pivot away from its Cosmos foundation.
Privacy Association Hurt NAM But Not XAN Due to “Timing”
Adrian explained that privacy association hurt Namada because “no matter how much everyone loves privacy, it’s the one thing that every CEX/MM in the world hates and doesn’t want to touch,” but XAN benefited from “timing” by not being “tightly associated with privacy” during market operations. He defended this saying Anoma only started talking about privacy after XAN market operations were complete.
Namada as AnomaPay Backend, Not Competitor
Adrian positioned Namada and Anoma as complementary rather than competitive, arguing they’re “all one ecosystem” like Ethereum with Optimism and Railgun. He specifically envisions Namada as a better backend for AnomaPay, stating “AnomaPay works well for the EVM world, but it doesn’t work well at all for the sovereign chain world. that’s where Namada shines.”
Apology and “Namada Seemed in Good Hands” Defense
Adrian apologized for his year-long absence, stating “Namada always seemed in good hands and as a result I paid less attention to it. 2025 has been a rough year frankly (I think most of us experienced that). I’m very bullish on 2026 though going forward” He acknowledged communications were “lackluster” since October and promised change.
Community Response: “Feels Like Gaslighting”
Multiple community members expressed feeling gaslit by Adrian’s presentation, with bodski stating “finding above statements and renewed interest from Adrian hard to reconcile with what’s gone on over last 7-8 months. Feels like gaslighting.” Pretoro noted “It feels very much like 2/3 of the founders have been actively working to silence Namada since its launch pretty much.”
Large Holder “di” Demands Accountability Details
A community member “di” revealed holding over 10 million NAM (six-figure USD position now worth a fraction) and demanded specific accountability information: names and roles of who’s responsible for Namada today, exact FTE count working exclusively on Namada with a 90-day plan, and exact MASP holdings with details on viewing/spending key custody and single-point-of-failure guarantees.
45M NAM Shielded Pre-Launch Demands Explanation
Bodski confronted Adrian about 45M NAM (4.5% of total supply) labeled “Future PGF” under AF custody that was shielded on June 18 (day before markets went live), calling it “really bad” and demanding explanation with recipient list and viewing keys. Adrian said he’d “look into it” but made “no immediate promises,” needing to check custody setup.
Cautious Optimism Contingent on Action
Despite the confrontational tone, pretoro expressed “cautiously optimistic after this validator circle (with the remarks made during the circle itself), but it needs to be backed with action. Waiting to see how things develop!” This represents the community’s willingness to give AF another chance if commitments translate into real change.