Wave Overview
The Balancer Grants program was established in August 2021 after a community discussion before evolving into a Service Provider beginning Wave 5 which we have continued on to now reach Wave 14. This Wave will run from October through to the end of December 2024 with 50k BAL available for new grantees (approved via BIP-705/snapshot). With a decreased budget, grants will be aimed at smaller projects and integrations, with larger requests being moved to the forum.
This wave has seen the completion of the v3 Hookathon (more below) and will include a retrospective report on the grants program to date with the intention of determining the way forward in 2025.
Grant Achievements
After receiving 30 applications, we have not approved a grant this month. We have seen the quality of application drop off somewhat and are working towards ways to improve those we receive. We have also updated our RFPs to help teams propose interesting and valuable projects with known areas of focus.
Balancer v3 Hookathon
One of the most exciting initiatives Balancer Grants has funded is a virtual Hookathon which has now finished on DoraHack.io. We extended the competition by 2 weeks which closed on Oct 20 and announced the winners Nov 31st during the Balancer office hours on Discord. We were blown away with the number and quality of submissions, those passing minimum criteria have been added to hooks.balancer.fi. The hookathon was a unique opportunity to experiment with the Balancer v3 hook infrastructure, collaborate with Balancer’s core developer team, build new and innovative liquidity features around existing AMMs, and win a share of a $17k prize pool. The winners are:
- 1st Prize — $7k USD in BAL VolatilityLoyaltyHook by @DilawariVagish https://dorahacks.io/buidl/17772 Boosts activity in Balancer pools, rewarding long-term holders with fee discounts and stabilizing swaps by raising fees in volatile periods. Well-documented, clean code, UI and demo
- 2nd Prize — $5k USD in BAL Prediction Market Hook by @shift0x0 https://dorahacks.io/buidl/17576/ This hook enables any registered Balancer pool to host prediction markets, letting users speculate on future price movements. Innovative concept with solid code, README and potential value.
- 3rd Prize — $3k USD in BAL MEV Tax Hook by @gerrrrrrrrrg https://dorahacks.io/buidl/17711 Lets Balancer pools capture their own MEV, charging a dynamic fee based on tx priority. Simple, effective, solid tests, vault interaction, clear demo. Great execution of a valuable concept
- Runner-Up — $1k USD in BAL Dynamic Fees and Reinvesting Hook by @protofire https://dorahacks.io/buidl/17706 A 2 in 1! Stabilizes liquidity pools with dynamic swap fees and rewards long-term liquidity providers with extra earnings. Great dual-feature design with clear presentation
- Wild Card — $1k USD in BAL Volatility Fee Hook by @touchey_phoenix https://dorahacks.io/buidl/16865 Dynamically adjusts pool swap fees with market volatility. Shoutout to the dev for outstanding engagement throughout the hookathon. Hope you and other builders keep getting involved!
- DoraHacks Hookathon Winners
This was an impressive turnout and we hope to repeat the success of this in future hackathons, ideally including some in-person workshops to foster even more collaboration. We will take learnings from this event to make the next one even better.
Grantee Updates — Building
The program is proud to present our grantees and their updates in alphabetic order:
- Opal Finance | Wave 11
Still on track for MS3 (integration of Gyroscope Concentrated Liquidity pools including Audit) to be delivered in December and the airdrop phase 1 distribution is ongoing. A good part of it has been claimed already.
Opal airdrop checker Opal enabling community, governors and users to track their airdrop allocation
- QuantAMM — Protocol | Wave 12
Code has been pushed for MS1 for the conversion of QuantAMM to Balacer v3. This include the strategy runner (update weight runner conversion and any strategy (“rule”) class changes as well as the new root QuantAMM base pool) and the new uplift hook. MS2 (Development of vault admin/creation and non linear execution hooks) is nearing completion with the grant in its entirety matching the pending launch of Balancer v3.
- QuantAMM — Pool Simulator | Wave 13
The pool simulator has been reviewed with the Balancer team with launch planned shortly. Watch this space!
- Xave Finance — Porting FX pools v3 | Wave 13
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Omega Parameter Implementation Complete: We’ve successfully finalized the Omega parameter implementation, moving from the research and planning phase we discussed last month to full completion. This marks a significant achievement in enhancing our FXPool’s fee structure and optimization capabilities within the Beta region.
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Enhanced Testing Framework: We’ve expanded our testing protocols significantly, covering both:
- Comprehensive testing suite for the newly implemented Omega parameter
- Extended test coverage across the entire system to ensure robust integration
- Audit Partner Secured: Following our previous discussions with potential auditors, we’re pleased to announce we’ve selected our audit partner. The audit is scheduled for completion in the first half of December.
Yet to be announced:
In addition to these, we have one grantee working on adding new functionality to the V3 codebase that will be shared once complete. You’ll have to wait until this feature is live before we can share more details. Stay tuned!
Grants Program Expenses
About Balancer Grants
The BAL Grant program is one way Balancer DAO promotes the development of the Balancer Protocol and Ecosystem.
The BAL Grant program provides support and funding ($1K — $100K) to projects committed to supporting Balancer Protocol in achieving its mission to become the number one source for Decentralized exchange trades. This program is a good fit for individuals and groups that want to run a project that builds technology or resources on the Balancer Protocol.
We have a community powered Tools Hub and RFPs but we will always be open to new and unique ideas of how to improve and expand on Balancer’s flexible tech.