SLURP-64 | Renewal and Extension of the Network Aligned Individual Liaison (NAIL) Role

[Tokenized2027]

Summary

This proposal seeks Council approval to extend the tenure of the current Network Aligned Individual Liaison (NAIL) for a two-year term, under the same terms as the current arrangement. The role has run continuously since SLURP-23 and through the extension in SLURP-49.

Rationale, Role & Responsibilities

I’ll preface with acknowledging we are currently in a bear market which is less active and it is clear that participation is thinner too, yet I believe bear markets are when moats are built

or lost. The protocols that lead the next cycle are the ones that kept operating, kept partnerships warm, and kept shipping integrations while others went quiet.

The mission has not changed: keep stLINK and wstLINK the best Chainlink LST, now and also be prepared when competition arrives. A liquid staking token defends its lead through a track record of security, composability, liquidity, and distribution, being usable across DeFi, deep enough to move size, and reachable where users are, including exchanges. This term I have been working on steering for those qualities, whether it’s tweaking existing frameworks we’ve built or pushing new collaborations to move the protocol forward. The role is the operational and business-development backbone of the DAO. Day to day, that means:

DeFi business development: primary point of contact for protocol partners, exchanges, and curators, building the integration pipeline for stLINK.

DAO operations: proposing and executing multisig transactions, managing the DeFi incentive programs and the treasury budget, and handling payments alongside H&T.

Governance: authoring the large majority of SLURPs, running Council elections, and tracking approved proposals through to delivery. I also believe we should keep track of the entire ecosystem and NOPs, connecting LinkPool contributors to the SDL side and keeping NOPs up to date.

Communications and community: owning socials (X, LinkedIn, campaigns,blog posts), maintaining docs.stake.link, and supporting the community users and holders, keeping it connected across Telegram, Slack(internal), and Discord.

Since the previous extension I’ve authored dozens of proposals that I believe advance the protocol, and it should continue with the help of the community and council members. I also keep many ongoing conversations alongside Joe (@AsymmetricVision) running with DeFi protocols, exchanges, and curators. Most live in private channels and do not surface until they convert, and this kind of work rarely closes in a single quarter, but we remain focused on the bigger picture and the standards we’ve set up. I work to be as open as I can about what the role is doing, including leaning on the community Council seats, who have direct access to the team and to me and relay to the wider community. The governance record above is part of the same picture: much of the work is visible in the proposals themselves.

A quick note on the bear market, because it is easy to look at the charts and assume we have stalled - LINK is down about 68 percent since SLURP-49 closed in August 2025, so anything priced in dollars looks like decline. Measured in tokens, here is where we actually are.LINK staked is up 41%, from 4.93 million to 6.96 million. That is two million more LINK into the protocol during the worst stretch of the cycle. wstLINK in circulation is up 55 percent, SDL locked in reSDL is up 8%. On the DeFi side, two things were built from zero this term. The Morpho LINK Vault now holds about $2.8 million, and the wstLINK/LINK credit market carries about $2.4 million borrowed at 84 percent utilization, which means it is being used and not just deployed. I am not claiming credit for all of it, staking demand has many drivers and most of them are not me. But the protocol kept moving.

Conclusion

I’ve been an active member of the DAO and I believe my passion for this role and my belief in the Chainlink product puts me in the right place to deliver as best as possible. The protocols that lead the next cycle will be the ones that used this one to keep building. I intend for stake.link to be one of them, and for stLINK/wstLINK to be the Chainlink LST that competition is measured against. I would like to keep doing the work that gets us there

[Michael]

I would be happy to see Tokenized in for another round. As I worked with him basically daily for almost the whole 18 months i was community rep, I realized he is the right person for the job. The DAO is lucky we have gotten someone in the NAILs spot with skin in the game and has grown with the protocol. Even though I’m not a vote i am just here to bless this post i guess because if its not on the forum no one knows.

[SDL_Appreciator]

Tokenized is active on many fronts. His role as community liaison has been fulfilled as I understand it to be performed.
He communicates with the community and the team. He advances the token, the community, and fosters development and brainstorming through his role. I believe that he is excited about the project and his role in it. I believe this because I have seen him do each of these, especially with him taking an active role in brainstorming. I don’t think this happens without conviction, and that is what fuels development during bear markets. I believe that he has the desire and ability to continue contributing to the community and this project.

[hboss]

Hi Tokenized,

Thank you for putting yourself forward once again for the NAIL position.

Echoing Michael’s post and the overall sentiment expressed by the community, I intend to vote Yes on this SLURP.

I believe you are the strongest candidate for this role. You already have extensive experience within the Chainlink ecosystem, giving you a deep understanding of both the technical landscape and the relationships that matter.

You have consistently demonstrated that you are engaged, proactive, and genuinely committed to stake.link’s success. Your activity and willingness to contribute have not gone unnoticed, and I believe the community recognizes that.

One community member raised concerns on Telegram about the proposed two year commitment, but beyond that, I have not seen any meaningful opposition. Personally, I believe the timeframe is appropriate. Building meaningful partnerships, expanding adoption, and executing long term initiatives requires continuity. Institutional adoption, in particular, moves at a much slower pace, and having stability in this role is an advantage rather than a drawback.

My DMs are always open to anyone in the community who would like to discuss this further.

Best regards,

[Ari]

Hey dear DAO,

When SLURP-49 came up last yeare visibility and a clearer picture of what the NAIL role was actually delivering. I still believe those feedback loops matter because a DAO works best when people understand where energy is being directed and I’m happy to have the opportunity to help amplify it.

That said, one year later, the picture is much clearer.

The protocol has kept moving through a quiet market and overall ecosystem. Governance continued advancing, the operational load was carried, the DeFi foundations became more concrete, and the NAIL role has matured from a simple liaison position into an important layer between contributors, users, partners and wider community.

Business development is often invisible until it suddenly isn’t. Integrations that look obvious once announced are usually the result of months of conversations, follow-ups, internal coordination and doors that went nowhere. That kind of work benefits from continuity.

24 months is a meaningful commitment, but so is the ambition: making stLINK and wstLINK the standard against which future Chainlink LSTs are measured. Achieving that will require someone who understands both the protocol and the ecosystem, has built the necessary relationships, and is willing to take real ownership of the work

Tokenized has shown conviction, skin in the game and a willingness to carry responsibility during a difficult part of the cycle. Those are exactly the qualities we should value in someone helping build the protocol’s future.

Bull markets reveal what was built while nobody was watching.

I’m happy to support this 2 year renewal. Keep building, keep connecting the dots, and let’s make sure stake.link enters the next cycle not simply having survived the quiet period, but having used it to become impossible to ignore.

Send it @Tokenized2027