$CHEQ $DOCK Token Merger Approved: An Alliance for Decentralised Identity Adoption

$Dock $CHEQ Merger Approved
$Dock $CHEQ Merger Approved

We are thrilled to announce that the token merger between cheqd and Dock has been officially approved by both $CHEQ and $DOCK holders. This milestone marks the next phase of our journey together to deliver the most feature-complete software stack for decentralised ID. Both Dock and cheqd will remain separate legal entities, each focusing on their strengths. cheqd will continue to advance payment and trust infrastructure at the network-layer, while Dock will continue focused on issuance, verification, and monetization of verifiable credentials for Identity Solution Providers through their Certs platform. Read more about the alliance here.

With the approval of this token merger, $DOCK tokens will be swapped for $CHEQ tokens at the pre-determined ratio of 18.5178 $DOCK to 1 $CHEQ, with any unclaimed $CHEQ tokens likely to be burned, reinforcing the deflationary mechanics of the cheqd network. Now the merger has been approved, the cheqd and Dock teams are working on the migration, including the process and dates, and will communicate these as they become clear.

Dock’s historical and future transactions will be migrated to the cheqd blockchain. This will enhance functionality and ensure the continuity of all Dock’s current operations within the cheqd network.

Browse our FAQ to learn more about the alliance and token merger.

Majority Approval from cheqd and Dock Communities

The token merger has received overwhelming support from both the cheqd and Dock communities.The governance vote, which lasted for 5 days on the cheqd network and 15 days on the Dock network, resulted in a 53.1% voter turnout  approval from $CHEQ holders and 3.54% voter turnout approval from $DOCK holders, with both achieving 100% in favour of the merge. This strong backing from both communities reflects the shared belief in the potential of this merger to unlock new opportunities for all parties involved and drive the future of decentralised or self-sovereign identity.

What Does the Merger Mean to cheqd $CHEQ?

This merger solidifies cheqd’s position as the home of decentralised identity, underpinning Dock’s Certs platform with cheqd’s privacy-preserving payments and trust registries. Dock’s migration of network traffic to cheqd will significantly boost activity on the network, bringing approximately 300% more traffic to the mainnet and 50% to the testnet. This will accelerate network effects, driving more adoption across industries and use cases, especially as incoming regulations like eIDAS 2.0 are implemented.

This integration is set to increase $CHEQ’s utility, as more identity transactions will occur across our infrastructure, supporting a broader ecosystem of verifiable credentials and increasing token burn.

The integration of cheqd and Dock’s established ecosystems will forge a powerful network of over 100,000 community members and hundreds of active partners.

What Happens Next?

As we move forward, cheqd and Dock will announce the commencement dates for the following key activities:

  • Token Migration: The migration of $DOCK tokens to $CHEQ is expected to begin in the latter half of Q4.
  • Porting Blockchain Transactions: Existing blockchain transactions on the Dock chain will be ported to the cheqd blockchain.

The cheqd and Dock teams will work closely with exchanges to facilitate the token migration, ensuring a seamless transition for all trading activities. Post-migration, Dock will default to using the cheqd network. While Dock will continue to support clients who require alternative chains or ledgerless identity systems, using cheqd by default will provide Dock’s clients with access to the most advanced and secure decentralised ID software stack available.

A Defining Moment for the Decentralised Identity Market

This merger sends a huge signal to the SSI and DID market, marking a defining moment in our mission to build the global trusted data economy. By merging our communities, technologies, and resources, we are poised to accelerate innovation and adoption, driving the growth of verifiable credentials on a global scale.

Together, we are leading the charge into a new era where secure, self-sovereign identity becomes the industry standard. This is just the beginning—stay tuned for more as we shape the future of decentralised identity.

cheqd and Dock Form Alliance to Accelerate Global Adoption of Decentralised ID

Summary

We are thrilled to announce that cheqd and Dock are joining forces, in partnership, to deliver the most feature-complete software stack for decentralised ID. Together, cheqd will supercharge Certs, Dock’s already powerful Decentralized ID platform, with our ground-breaking utilities adding to their own, such as privacy preserving payments (for credentials) and  trust registries. This alliance amplifies the strengths of both platforms, creating an alliance that is truly greater than the sum of its parts and perfectly timed to ride the wave of incoming regulation, such as eIDAS 2.0 across the world.

We see this as a huge signal to the market that cheqd is the home for decentralised ID / SSI / credentials. Especially as Dock was the only other public network working on privacy preserving credential payments which will now also be available atop the cheqd network.

Dock will migrate their existing and future network traffic to the cheqd networks (mainnet and testnet) to complement that from cheqd’s existing partners, helping accelerate the network effects cheqd has focused on from inception. Based on historic usage patterns, which will grow as a result of incoming regulation such as eIDAS 2.0, Dock will bring roughly 300% more traffic on mainnet and 50% more traffic on testnet with much greater volumes expected through Dock’s substantial and growing opportunity pipeline.

Dock’s customers include Aliva, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Classter, Gravity, BurstIQ and several other major ID verification companies with many more to come.

This will accelerate the network effects necessary to establish the global trusted data economy. Furthermore, Dock’s open-source software will complement cheqd’s existing suite from its partner network (including; Veramo, Credo, Walt.id community, etc.), ensuring cheqd has the widest adoption.

Working together, cheqd and Dock will focus on our areas of expertise:

  • cheqd will continue to lead at the network layer, focusing on payment infrastructure, trust registries and more.
  • Dock will focus their development efforts on extending the Dock Certs suite and facilitating client engagements, increasing conversion of their opportunities and hence, increasing cheqd network traffic

Beyond an alliance which will help both organisations accelerate, we will also be bringing two communities together who firmly believe in the vision of decentralised ID, establishing a group we believe is stronger together.

As part of the merger, the $DOCK token will be converted to $CHEQ equivalent to the existing $DOCK holdings and based upon the swap ratio defined in the Merger Tokenomics section. Together, the new community will potentially achieve 10 exchanges combining CEXs and DEXs, ~92k wallets, ~98k followers on twitter, ~47k on CoinMarketCap, ~20k followers on CoinGecko and ~9k on Discord.

What does this mean to the cheqd Network ($CHEQ)?

The merger between cheqd and Dock brings compelling advantages to the cheqd network and $CHEQ token holders. Central to these benefits is cheqd’s tokenomics.

On the cheqd network, presently every identity transaction executed results in the burning of $CHEQ tokens, creating a deflationary mechanism. In the coming months, this mechanism will widen from only identity transactions to any transaction using an Ethereum EIP 1559 style burn. Furthermore, a generic burn transaction will be implemented so that $CHEQ which has been minted in excess, e.g. has not been claimed as part of the migration, is burnt.

The integration with Dock will drive a surge in identity transactions across the network as mentioned above, ~300% on mainnet based on historic volumes with further growth expected across their pipeline. This increased activity supports the network’s growth as well as amplifies the token burn effect. As the adoption of verifiable credentials expands and more use cases are developed, the demand for $CHEQ tokens will rise.

Merger Tokenomics

Following successful governance votes on both networks to merge the networks according to the swap ratio below, which has been determined by a 15 day historical average of the closing prices for both the $CHEQ and $DOCK tokens, as recorded on the day before this announcement with data sourced from CoinGecko, efforts will be begun by both teams to facilitate a successful merger, including communicating with various stakeholders such as validators, exchanges,  etc,. and establishing processes and tooling to facilitate the swap.

  • 18.5178 $DOCK to 1 $CHEQ
  • Leading to a maximum of 52.8m newly minted CHEQ (note that unclaimed $CHEQ will likely be burnt)

We will be looking at the cheqd network parameters, such as inflation and goal_bonded, at the point of mint after vote approval.

Close to the migration, at a date which will be communicated well in advance to the communities, additional $CHEQ will be minted according to the defined swap ratio, below. This process follows that executed by $ASI ($FET, $AGIX & $OCEAN) and $GAME ($CRE & $SLG) and ensures that the value of both networks is reflected in the future Fully Diluted Value of the combined networks.

As above, a burn transaction type will be deployed to the network in the coming months so that any excess $CHEQ, i.e. has not been claimed as part of the migration, will be burnt.

What Happens Next

The two companies—cheqd and Dock—will remain separate legal entities, with all technological projects and roadmaps staying firmly on course. Each will continue to focus on their unique strengths: cheqd will concentrate on advancing its credential and payment infrastructure, while Dock will maintain its commitment to verifiable credentials issuance, verification and monetization for Identity Solutions Providers. This token merger enables the creation of a larger, more robust decentralised ID network, positioning both companies to accelerate growth and innovation at an even faster pace.

Near-Term

  • Governance Vote: The token merger is subject to approval from $DOCK token & $CHEQ  holders. The Dock team will announce their Governance vote details soon. The cheqd team will follow on the same on Wed 11 September 2024.
  • Token Migration Process: We will collaborate with the Dock team to establish a secure way for $DOCK token holders to migrate their tokens to $CHEQ.
  • The cheqd Governance Process: The voting period  on the cheqd network is currently 5 days. Votes can be submitted in two places, directly on Omniflix proposals section, or on Commonwealth proposals section.
  • Exchange Coordination: The cheqd and Dock team will work closely with exchanges to manage the token migration process, ensuring a seamless transition for all trading activities.

Medium-Term

  • Token Migration: The migration of $DOCK tokens to $CHEQ is expected to commence in the latter half of Q4. Closer to the beginning of the migration at a date which will be communicated post governance vote, additional, $CHEQ will be minted according to the ratio defined in the section above.
  • On-Chain Asset Transfer: All on-chain assets will be transferred from the Dock blockchain to the cheqd blockchain, ensuring that all assets are preserved and integrated into the new network.
  • Porting Blockchain Transactions: All existing blockchain transactions on the Dock chain will be ported to the cheqd chain, guaranteeing continuity and providing enhanced functionality for all ongoing Dock operations.

Long-Term

  • Primarily use of the cheqd Network: Post-migration, Dock will default to using the cheqd network, though we will still support clients who request to use an alternative chain, multiple blockchains, or ledgerless identity systems. We believe defaulting to the cheqd chain will ensure that Dock continues to operate within the most advanced and secure decentralised ID ecosystem.

The Dock Team

We have known Dock’s team as acquaintances for a number of years now through events like Internet Identity Workshop (IIW) and others, and hold them in very high regard. Further, myself and Ankur have known James Monaghan (Board member) since our Accenture days, as we worked directly with Richard Esplin (Product Lead) when he worked at Evernym and we were establishing cheqd (then called verim). 

We have recently gotten to know the wider Dock team, specifically Nick and Elina, their CEO and COO respectively, whilst working through this and sincerely and hopefully look forward to working closely with them.

As part of this, we have to do a shout-out to Alex Tweeddale from our team who was instrumental in this coming together in the first place, by being the well-respected SSI social butterfly he is.

Conclusion

This token merger is a monumental leap forward. By merging the $DOCK token with $CHEQ, we are unlocking unprecedented opportunities for both communities, positioning you at the cutting edge of decentralised identity innovation.

Our current intention is the proposal will start its voting process on Wed 11 September 2024. Join the conversation on Commonwealth right now and let us know what your thoughts are.

As a $CHEQ holder you’re part of a growing ecosystem that is set to lead the industry. 

cheqd and Dock will shape a world where secure, verifiable credentials are the norm, and your involvement is key to making this vision a reality. The journey ahead is filled with potential, and we are thrilled to have you with us as we pave the way for the next era of digital identity.