SNAPSHOT · 21 Sep, 18:08 UTC
K
Ranked #2

kpk

Treasury manager · formerly karpatkey

A
Overall grade · #2 of 15

Runs DAO treasuries from inside the client’s own Safe, with permissions set through ENS DAO’s on-chain governance — and reports on them in public every month.

Researched by the ChainWatch Daily ratings deskLast checked How we gradeSomething wrong? Tell us

About kpk

kpk was founded in 2020 as karpatkey to manage the GnosisDAO treasury, and took its current name in 2025 after GnosisDAO approved a spin-off. It offers on-chain funds, automated vault strategies and custom treasury management, and lists GnosisDAO, ENS DAO, Aave, Lido, Uniswap and others among its clients. Its best-documented current mandate is the ENS Endowment.

kpk.io

Our verdict

ENS sets its permissions by on-chain vote, it never takes custody, and anyone can read its monthly Endowment reports.
Priya Nair

How each block was graded

A

Mandate

ENS DAO puts kpk’s (then karpatkey’s) permissions over the ENS Endowment to on-chain votes, in proposals that name both sides, and kpk reports on the Endowment every month on ENS’s own forum. kpk also worked on Aave’s treasury under Aave governance proposals; that role appears to have passed to TokenLogic from December 2024.

What we foundSourceChecked
ENS EP 5.14: executable proposal granting karpatkey permissions over the ENS Endowment, put to an on-chain vote on Tally; results posted 31 Aug 2024discuss.ens.domains2026-09-21
Aave governance: karpatkey and TokenLogic proposed as financial service providers for Aave’s treasury (21 Nov 2023)governance.aave.com2026-09-21
Aave governance: karpatkey as GHO growth provider, described as separate from treasury management (Dec 2024)governance.aave.com2026-09-21
A

Money

Management is non-custodial: kpk holds limited permissions inside client-owned Safes through the Zodiac Roles Modifier. Amounts are disclosed, though the two firm-wide figures on its own site measure different things — “$8,000,000,000+” deployed on the homepage and “$300m+” across funds, vaults and mandates on the about page.

What we foundSourceChecked
ENS Endowment under management: $67.7M at 30 Jun 2026discuss.ens.domains2026-09-21
“$300m+ across Funds, Vaults, and treasury mandates” (about page, undated)kpk.io2026-09-21
“$8,000,000,000+” deployed (homepage, shown with a 17 Sep 2026 timestamp)kpk.io2026-09-21
“Strictly limited permissions within client-owned Safes, never taking custody of assets”kpk.io2026-09-21
A

Transparency

For ENS, anyone can read what kpk does: monthly reports on the ENS forum since August 2023, plus half-year reviews. We did not find equivalent public reporting for its other clients.

What we foundSourceChecked
ENS Endowment monthly reports posted on the ENS forum since 9 Aug 2023discuss.ens.domains2026-09-21
H1 2026 public review of the ENS Endowment (14 Aug 2026)discuss.ens.domains2026-09-21

Strengths & weaknesses

What works

  • Its permissions over the ENS Endowment are set by on-chain DAO votes
  • Non-custodial: it acts inside the client’s own Safe, with restricted roles
  • Monthly public reports for the ENS Endowment since 2023

Where it loses grades

  • Two firm-wide size figures on its own site, $8bn+ and $300m+, measure different things and are not labelled clearly
  • Public reporting found for ENS only; most listed clients are named by kpk alone
  • Its Aave treasury role appears to have ended in December 2024, while Aave stays on its client list
Who it suits

A DAO that wants its treasury managed without handing over custody, and is prepared to put the mandate to a vote.

Who it’s not for

A token issuer looking for a market maker; kpk manages treasuries, it does not make markets.

The rest of the dao treasury & liquidity managers ranking

Same three blocks, same rules, same review run — this is what kpk is being compared against.

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