[PCP] Seamless Protocol (Legacy Lend/Borrow Platform) - Rewards Refresh #6

TL;DR Summary

Platform reward emissions are ending on December 20th (in 11 days). Proposing an extension of the platform reward budget by drawing down on the SEAM in the short governor timelock and Guardian and claiming more SEAM from the master emissions vesting smart contract.

Proposal for platforms rewards are:

  • Continue rewards? YES
  • Schedule? Extend the schedule to align to a quarterly cadence, this aligns lend/borrow platform rewards schedules and refreshes to align with ongoing discussions on expanding token emissions categories and taking a quarterly cadence across all categories (see this proposal for more details) - this means rewards would start on 12/20/24 and go until 3/31/2025 - to now align with a quarterly schedule. Community re-examination and discussion to occur once a month or as-needed, as reward schedules can be updated/modified by Community Guardian (as of [SIP-7] execution).
  • Reward type? Utilize primarily esSEAM (with a small SEAM budget that will default to esSEAM if not utilized)
  • Amount? 3,000,000 * (1/4) = 750,000 + 125,000 = 825,000 SEAM tokens. The current suggestion is to pre-emptively implement the increased budget described in the current outstanding (to be voted on soon) token emissions proposal found here, which budgets 3M SEAM tokens per year, or 750k SEAM tokens per quarter. Additionally, the 1 month of additional emissions from December to January would follow the previous emission schedule (500,000 per two months, for 2 weeks this would be ~125,000 SEAM tokens). This SEAM would be sourced from the Guardian (which has custodied SEAM for this specific reason) and the short governor timelock to be utilized as a three month budget across all existing/to-be-launched markets on Seamless Protocol during this time period

Context & Motivation

Please reference the wider token emissions discussion here for additional context. The TLDR is:

The DAO’s strategic priority is to accelerate growth during an anticipated period of heightened crypto momentum. The motivation for this proposal stems from:

  1. Market Opportunity: With bullish sentiment due to macroeconomic trends, now is an opportune moment to position Seamless Protocol for capturing increased TVL and user activity.
  2. Product Expansion: The addition of new markets, new ILMs, and new products requires competitive incentives to drive adoption.
  3. Sustainable Growth: With ~55% of token supply held by the DAO and budgeted for rewards, turning up emissions in the early years, the DAO can maximize market presence while building a long-term framework for emissions decay and sustainability over time. The current market environment offers a rare “stars-aligning” chance to capitalize on increased activity and user interest in Base. By ramping up emissions in the near term, Seamless can amplify its total value locked (TVL), attract new users, and strengthen its competitive position as the go-to lending/borrowing platform on Base. This approach will allow the protocol to regain mindshare and establish itself as a top choice for users and liquidity providers as Base continues its growth trajectory. In the medium to longer term this should translate to increased fee generation and rewards via tokenomics.

As per before, rewards schedules will be based on recommendations from ecosystem partners/contributors, and this represents a maximum ~3.5 month budget (it is possible less rewards are emitted during this time, and a “surplus” is run).

Specifications/Technicals

Under this proposal, the rewards pool for markets on Seamless Protocol will gain an additional 825,000 SEAM budget to be deployed over three and a half months (from 12/20/24 to 3/31/25). This SEAM will be sourced from the short governor timelock (and in a corresponding move, the short governor timelock will claim some of the DAO vested SEAM back into the wallet). Per the previously executed SIPs, reward schedules continued to be set by the Guardian Multisig. SEAM would be loaded into the esSEAM and SEAM reward smart contracts of the legacy lend/borrow platform to provide both SEAM and esSEAM rewards.

Technical specifications/payload will be presented as soon as possible if the discussion period ends with a positive support.

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Given the tight timeframe on this decision with the ongoing snapshot that is live to approve [GP-7], instead, I suggest the rewards schedule is simply extended for a period of 4 to 11 days (to 12/24/24 or 1/1/25) by the surplus in the Guardian (that was earmarked for rewards emissions), which allows this discussion to extend another week or so.

This would allow:

  1. The outcome of GP-7 to be known
  2. Align the next rewards refresh with about 1/1/2025 or a 1Q2021 start, aligning the protocol’s reward calendar to a more known timeline

Since the guardian surplus already exists and is in the mandate of the guardians, unless there are large objections, I suggest this as the path forward to allow for greater discussion on the increased budget proposal found in the proposal above, and for the proposal above to be rescoped as Jan 1st - Mar 31st execution (decisioning can now be made across the next 2 weeks).

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I support this extension as well to allow the community to continue to discuss GP-7.

I would advocate for this PCP Rewards Refresh 6 to extend until 1/1/25.

Recently [GP-7] went to a snapshot vote and has reached quorum.

Subsequent onchain votes will be needed in reference to GP 7 regarding the DAO approving rewards consistent with the proposal. A brief extension of Rewards Refresh 6 will be a good bridge as those other GP 7 onchain votes kick off.

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Support . I believe that we need to extend rewards through the holiday before the bigger GP 7 rewards kick off.

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I think this proposal makes a lot of sense for driving short-term growth, especially with the current market momentum. It’s a great opportunity to capture more TVL and user activity while the market is bullish.

One point - we should be careful about the long-term effects of ramping up rewards too much. If emissions aren’t tapered down strategically, there’s a risk of inflationary pressure on the token over time.

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Support the extension through holidays, and given timelines around governance processes I think we can immediately start discussions around the budgeting for Jan1st start.

I agree, think we should extend a little bit before the GP7 actually kicks off.

Thanks for all the input - given the positive sentiment, the Guardian will go ahead and execute on the extension of rewards until 1/1/2025 (January 1st 2025), in order to align future rewards schedules on a quarterly basis (Jan 1st, Apr 1st, July 1st, Oct 1st).

The extension will be announced to the community via discord and other channels soon.

In the meantime, given GP-7’s snapshot looks like it will pass, I suggest we revert back to the original Reward Refresh #6.

GP-7 appears to have less than 24 hours remaining in the voting, I suggest that I can re-post the proposal, updated to reflect the new dates and amounts from GP-7 and perhaps we can continue the discussion period.

Though I imagine if the community has approved the wider budget, this proposal becomes more redundant and instead it may be best to move it to an on-chain vote to ensure users are aligned between snapshot and and on-chain vote directly.

Reposting an updated version of the original proposal:

TL;DR Summary

Once the reward extension is executed, platform reward emissions will be ending on January 1st, 2025. Proposing a continuation of the lend/borrow platform reward budget by drawing down on the SEAM in the short governor timelock and Guardian and claiming more SEAM from the master emissions vesting smart contract.

Proposal for platforms rewards are:

  • Continue rewards? YES
  • Schedule? Extend the schedule to align to a quarterly cadence, this aligns lend/borrow platform rewards schedules and refreshes to align with ongoing discussions on expanding token emissions categories and taking a quarterly cadence across all categories (see this proposal for more details) - this means rewards would start on 1/1/2025 and go until 4/1/2025 - to now align with a quarterly schedule. Community re-examination and discussion to occur once a month or as-needed, as reward schedules can be updated/modified by Community Guardian (as of [SIP-7] execution).
  • Reward type? Utilize primarily esSEAM (with a small SEAM budget that will default to esSEAM if not utilized)
  • Amount? Per [GP-7], 3M SEAM tokens are given as an annual budget to the lend/borrow platform. This means at a quarterly cadence there are 3,000,000 * (1/4) = 750,000 SEAM tokens budgeted. This SEAM would be sourced from the short governor timelock to be utilized as a three month budget across all existing/to-be-launched markets on Seamless Protocol’s legacy lend/borrow platform during this time period.

Context & Motivation

Please reference the wider token emissions discussion here for additional context. The TLDR is:

The DAO’s strategic priority is to accelerate growth during an anticipated period of heightened crypto momentum. The motivation for this proposal stems from:

  1. Market Opportunity: With bullish sentiment due to macroeconomic trends, now is an opportune moment to position Seamless Protocol for capturing increased TVL and user activity.
  2. Product Expansion: The addition of new markets, new ILMs, and new products requires competitive incentives to drive adoption.
  3. Sustainable Growth: With ~55% of token supply held by the DAO and budgeted for rewards, turning up emissions in the early years, the DAO can maximize market presence while building a long-term framework for emissions decay and sustainability over time. The current market environment offers a rare “stars-aligning” chance to capitalize on increased activity and user interest in Base. By ramping up emissions in the near term, Seamless can amplify its total value locked (TVL), attract new users, and strengthen its competitive position as the go-to lending/borrowing platform on Base. This approach will allow the protocol to regain mindshare and establish itself as a top choice for users and liquidity providers as Base continues its growth trajectory. In the medium to longer term this should translate to increased fee generation and rewards via tokenomics.

As per before, rewards schedules will be based on recommendations from ecosystem partners/contributors, and this represents a maximum for the 3 month budget (it is possible less rewards are emitted during this time, and a “surplus” is run).

Specifications/Technicals

Under this proposal, the rewards pool for markets on Seamless Protocol will gain an additional 750,000 SEAM budget to be deployed over three months (from 1/1/2025 to 4/11/25). This SEAM will be sourced from the short governor timelock (and in a corresponding move, the short governor timelock will claim some of the DAO vested SEAM back into the wallet). Per the previously executed SIPs, reward schedules continued to be set by the Guardian Multisig. SEAM would be loaded into the esSEAM and SEAM reward smart contracts of the legacy lend/borrow platform to provide both SEAM and esSEAM rewards.

Technical specifications/payload will be presented as soon as possible if the discussion period ends with a positive support.

Hi there! Could someone please explain what all of this means in layman’s terms?

I hold SEAM, but the technical details are quite overwhelming for me. I would love to see the price increase, but I’m not entirely sure what all of this implies.

Does this indicate more inflation? If so, inflation typically leads to price decreases. However, for the price to rise, we need to attract more holders, which in turn brings more attention and usage to the platform, ultimately increasing the Total Value Locked (TVL).

How does this all relate to TVL?

For context, I’ve been holding since SEAM was priced at $5, and I’m currently down significantly. However, I believe in the project’s potential, especially with Base gaining traction rapidly. It’s crucial to take advantage of this bull run. I hope we can avoid inflating tokens and instead focus on increasing the price, as that seems to be the best way to draw more attention to Seam.

Thanks in advance for your insights!

All for the updates proposed here - including rewards to kickoff on Jan 1 2025 and go live for q1 of 2025 on the lend/borrow platform. The broader GP-7 proposal has proposed a large emissions increase, so this draw down seems reasonable.

Excited for this direction SEAM!

Support!
The worst timing to stop rewarding Legacy Lend/Borrow Platform is now.

I am in full support of this rewards refresh, and support the updated version. The rewards refresh will be key for a successful Q1 2025. This is an opportune time to attract more TVL and excitement, especially when paired with all the new updates in store from Seamless.

Still aligned from my earlier comment and +1 the latest summary view to kick off in the new year. Given tight timing with the holidays - getting this onchain and ready pre Jan 1 gives Seamless strong foundation heading into an exciting 2025

Please note: the extension of rewards to 1/1/2025 has been executed onchain by the Guardian.

However, the original re-posted proposal should be discussed above. If there are enough member 2 DAO members who support a fast track, this can be moved to an onchain vote.

For reference, the newly passed Fast Track process is outlined in [GP-8] here.

There are currently FOUR member level 2 supporters of fast track, so another 2 are needed.

Fully in support of this as an extension is much needed. Well done @richyRNG

I support fast tracking this proposal.

The current atmosphere of crypto is one of growth and that means the opportunity to gain new awareness from users is high. Adding to that the great level of Base specific growth as measured by daily users provides strong justification in my opinion to refresh the rewards and to fast track it in order to take advantage of the rapidly growing pool of new Base participants. This refresh done quickly can keep Seamless top of mind, top TVL and in the tier 1 / blue chip category of Base projects which is a prime place to be as Base adoption grows.

Looks like the fast track quorum has been met, the thread will be updated with the onchain Tally link once the proposal is live.

Support the fast track procedure