In the last 6 months, the Maxis transitioned to a solid framework where on-chain transactions are traceable, reproducible and follow best practices to ensure utmost security when handling funds. We are seeing various initiatives coming to fruition, such as optimized resource allocation and fast response times and execution of partner requests. September marked the wrap up of many long-lasting work streams and we continue to push the protocol forward on as many fronts as possible while operating in an open and decentralized fashion.
In this iteration of the monthly updates, I want to give a broad summary of the various initiatives and not go into too much detail for every deliverable. Overall, we achieved all our goals we set for Q3 and go full steam ahead for Q4 with v3 on the horizon.
Initiative 1: On-Chain DevOps Hub
Looking back at Q3, we achieved nearly all of our objectives. We were able to execute new chain launches without any hiccups, we supported partners beyond our scope and worked on a novel mandate for MODE which culminated in the Mode Allocation Mandate. In terms of secondary token reward management, we improved our internal processes significantly and also shipped various tools such as the injector payload builder and the rewards dashboard which we will continue to improve. The next iteration of rewards injectors finally got a professional security review and will be rolled out in Q4 2024. In parallel, our new Operations UI will fully integrate with those new contracts. In regards to AURAs Position management, we worked together with @gosuto to build a safe module to automatically handle relocks. We are in the final stages of evaluating that solution.
As expected, we also successfully executed the second ARB rewards program and advised Beethoven-X on how to execute their OP grant and supported key strategic partners like Tokenlogic in pushing GHO liquidity programs on Balancer.
Overall, we managed to deal with the increased workload thanks to our rigorous processes although we still need to find a good balance between “administrative workload” on GitHub and on-chain executions.
Furthermore, we continued to work together with freelancers helping us on various projects such as the fee allocator code base, the operations UI and smart contract reviews. A detailed breakdown for September can be found below
Discretionary Budget Breakdown for September 2024
| Project | Budget spent |
|---|---|
| Operations: Fee Allocator code Base and Refactoring and Documentation | $2’280 |
| Operations: Core pools modeling in bal_tools repository, refactoring of bal_addresses modules | $1’080 |
| Operations Front-end: Github integration, security integrations, Injector viewers | $2’820 |
| Injector V2: audit | $2’587.50 |
| Onboarding Zen Dragon full-time (delta) | $3’500 |
| Infrastructure cost (Miro, Vercel, dRPC) | $340 |
The total discretionary spend for September is $12’607.50. Most of these spendings are attributed to audits and additional personnel costs as Zen Dragon was onboarded as a full-time contributor 3 weeks earlier than anticipated.
Discretionary Budget Q3 Breakdown
Given we have now all cost points for Q3, we can make an overview of the monthly discretionary spend across the quarter:
| Month | Amount |
|---|---|
| June | $7’785 |
| July | $9’390 |
| September | $12’607.50 |
As seen with the monthly spendings, the Maxis have been very conservative with allocating this cost point. Given we carried over an additional $1’800 from Q2 we end up with a total savings amount of $32’017.50, meaning we used less than half of the assigned $60k discretionary budget for Q3. This is reflected in the reduced ask for Q4 2024 to Q1 2025 from $20k a month to $15k a month for freelancers and infrastructure costs. Rest assured that the additional savings will be deducted from the overall budget and I will inform the community on the status accordingly.
As of today, the Maxi Ops Safe holds 430’172 USDC of which 424’500 USDC are assigned to fund operations from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025, meaning that based on the savings estimate from the funding proposal, an additional $5’672 USDC can be deducted in the future.
Overall the discretionary budget gave Maxis needed flexibility to assign additional resources to strategic objectives and through that we could achieve our goals effectively. Therefore, this model worked out well and we will continue to utilize funds where needed with the utmost efficiency.
Initiative 2: Support and execution of Growth Initiatives and Product Launches
The last 3 months have been very busy in terms of product launches: We executed on CoWAMM while also supporting the launch of the new Zen UI as well as revealing Balancer v3’s codebase. We played a crucial role in launching CoWAMM by executing incentive programs with our injector infrastructure and also provided white glove partner support to make sure the launch went smoothly.
Tritium and others also did an excellent job at running the Zen UI beta test that uncovered many bugs that ultimately led to a smooth launch thereafter.
Our commitment to improved partner onboarding experience also resulted in extended partner documentation that covers most aspects of Balancer v2 and our core pool infrastructure.
We were also very closely involved in the design decisions of v3 development and provided crucial feedback to make sure all operational aspects will be easy to utilize and understand. As an example, the v3 fee collection mechanism will be much more streamlined and easier to dissect both on- and off-chain, opening up possibilities for easier automation.
In summary, we made an impact on key strategic fronts and provided expertise to the DAO as the primary partner liaison.
Other Initiatives
Market Makers
Although not all details can be disclosed publicly, we are constantly monitoring Ambers performance and are also working together with exchanges strategically to make sure we improve trading experience where it matters. We hope to share more information on our impact soon.
DAO Treasury Management and Reporting
In September, we introduced a new internal series called “State of the DAO” where we work together with @karpatkey to deliver monthly insights on our treasury and protocol performance. Given that we have also provided protocol performance updates in the past, we have been acting as the primary POC to make sure this work gets executed within the expected framework. We also provided a joint financial performance report for Q2 that will be handled by @karpatkey in the future.
In a separate workstream, we are closely monitoring our treasury performance and advise @karpatkey on how to improve treasury management by assigning idle assets to their portfolio. We are happy to see that we are advancing nicely in that regard and slowly hand over more capital to their management portfolio. During this exercise, we also found various “forgotten” token allocations such as the stkAAVE and COW vesting positions.
Tokenomics and Fee Design
Since the LRT craze various contributors across the ecosystem have started to think of ways to improve our fee model. With the launch of Balancer v3 we have a unique opportunity to learn from the past, in particular the core pool framework, to make healthy adjustments in the future. Discussions are still ongoing but will be shared with the community for open discussion soon.
Conclusion
Looking back at Q3 2024 I see following points as successes and challenges that need to be improved:
Successes
- Continued white glove service to our partners as a distinguishing factor
- Improved operations and clear review processes mitigating misuse of funds
- Streamlining of operations and building of high-impact tooling
Challenges that need to be addressed
- Blocking of partner requests if there persist hick-ups with our reporting pipeline
- Balancer is still too hard to use, be it as a partner or retail investor
- Incentive management can be hard to navigate given the gauge infrastructure on Balancer and Aura
We take the above addressed challenges in particular very seriously. I am personally optimistic that we can make a significant impact with the launch of Balancer v3 and how we approach the interaction with the protocol holistically. Balancer v3 will have vastly improved infrastructure that will make it much easier for us and partners to navigate (incl. our gauge infrastructure).
Although the past few months have been challenging in terms of revenue generation, I want to thank the community for putting their trust into us. In the end we are “Maxis” for a reason: our continued mission is to push the protocol forward as a passionate group of Balancer enthusiasts in good as well as bad times!