PR with Payload
Background
The establishment of the Business Development Service Provider (BDSP) took place in Q1 2024 under BIP-525 , with the intent of forming a dedicated working group focused on business development and growth-oriented activities. Initially, BIP-525 proposed a part-time ‘trial period’ for lipman’s involvement, but lipman quickly assimilated into the team, assuming a full-time role almost immediately and driving impact for the DAO. Additionally, BIP-525 had anticipated json’s phased exit from the Balancer BDSP in Q2, yet it is evident that json contribution in Q2 will continue to add value on a part-time basis.
During Q1, the primary goals for the BDSP included shifting BD responsibilities from json to lipman and integrating lipman into the Balancer ecosystem, encompassing the DAO team and external partner network. Simultaneously, the BDSP was tasked with assessing potential opportunities for chain expansion and pursuing applicable grants. These initial objectives were achieved, and the BDSP targeted much of its focus to protocol expansion and fostering partnerships quickly in the early stages of Q1. This proactive shift not only enhanced the BDSP’s productivity in Q1 but also positioned Balancer for a highly productive quarter in Q2.
A BDSP update as of mid February can be found here. Other highlights in Q1 include (in no particular order):
- The LRT tripool reached $120m in TVL
- Evaluating and negotiating deals with multiple L2s for Balancer expansion: Metis, Scroll, Monad, BNB, Linea, X1, Mode, Injective, Sei, BoB, and more.
- Cultivating strong relationships with key LRT partners such as Renzo, Etherfi, Swell, Kelp, Vector Reserve, and others. These relationships are evident from TVL, ve8020 launches, and by partners telling us they only want to work with Balancer on new chains.
- Developing relationships with key industry players. A few examples include the defi leadership team at Base, Aave for GHO liquidity on Balancer, Trident/Paypal/Paxos for pyUSD, Paradigm, and many others
- Evaluating CCIP with Chainlink and the Maxis for easier partner onboarding
- Kicking off a multi-functional project team to revamp the partner onboarding process with a new UI and self-service features
- Securing 100% of Balancer’s vlAura for the BDSP’s discretionary use.
- Launching a ve8020 pool with Vector Reserve
- Launching LRTs on new chains via Balancer
- Outreach and exploration of opportunities with projects across an array of functions. Some of the many examples include (in no particular order):
- BoB (bitcoin L2)
- Boost
- Conduit.xyz
- Ethena
- Eclipse
- Peapod Finance
- Prisma
- Inverse Finance
- Magpie (LRT)
- AlphaGrowth
- pyUSD
- EstateX
- Restake Finance
- Liquid Collective
- Shadow
- Stakestone
- Milkyway
- Puffer
- And more
Key Objectives for Q2-2024
Lead Contributor: lipman
Support Contributor: json
- Initiate the launch of new chains:
- Finalize the selection of chains for Balancer’s launch.
- Conclude agreements with the chosen chains, including incentive structures, seeding liquidity, co-marketing, etc.
- Collaborate with engineering, Maxis, and marketing teams for the deployment on these new chains.
- Establish a comprehensive partnership network and ecosystem on the new chains, encompassing liquidity providers, yield-bearing assets, lending protocols, etc.
- Complete grant applications and administrative tasks necessary to secure incentives and other advantages from the new chains.
- Enhance presence on existing chains:
- Develop, coordinate, and execute growth initiatives on Layer 2 solutions for existing chains, focusing on Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base networks.
- Expand the yield-bearing thesis initiative.
- Launch new pools for LSTs and LRTs on mainnet.
- Introduce new pools for yield-bearing stablecoins.
- Bring LST/LRT partners to new chains where Balancer is deployed
- Extend the ve8020 governance initiative.
- Explore ve8020 collaborations with pre-token projects, such as LRT projects.
- Promote ve8020 to projects with existing tokens.
- Manage the application, monitoring, and execution of the Optimism grant program.
- Streamline partner onboarding:
- Find ways to reduce friction in partner onboarding processes.
- Iterate on the notion pack, created by Marketing, to highlight the benefits of Balancer and guide new partners through the onboarding process.
- Collaborate with a small project team, including design, marketing, and Maxis, to rethink the partner onboarding process, potentially introducing a self-service UI.
- Evaluate the CCIP with Chainlink and implement it if necessary to streamline the rate provider onboarding process.
- Prepare for v3 launch and seek partnerships:
- Seek integrations and partnerships in anticipation of the v3 launch.
- Collaborate with the Maxis to identify innovative use cases for exploration.
- Reach out to projects to present the v3 opportunity and establish partnerships ahead of the launch.
- Continue ad hoc outreach to projects, exploring new partnerships and opportunities.
Pledge to abide by the DAO’s Code of Conduct: YES
Pledge to abide by the Accountability Guidelines: YES
Adhere to [BIP-372] and the SP standards: YES
Length of Engagement & Budget: 3 months (April 2024 - June 2024)
The biggest adjustment in the BDSP funding proposal is transitioning lipman from a part-time ‘trial basis’ status due to the limited budget originally allocated for Q1 before lipman was involved [BIP-433] to a regular contributor in Q2 with FTE comp. Lipman’s compensation will include a combination of liquid tokens (USDC) and locked BAL to provide upside for the impact the BDSP is making on growth of the protocol. Json will continue to contribute on a limited, part-time basis including supporting lipman as needed.
- Lipman =
- $12,500 USDC per month ($37,500 total for the quarter)
- 2,114 locked BAL per month (6,342 BAL for the quarter)
- ~$10,000 in USD value as of the 30 day TWAP $BAL price of $4.73 as of Mar 11, 2024
- Json = $2,000 USDC per month ($6k total for the quarter)
Impact on the Treasury
The Treasury wallets currently hold ~4.2M BAL. Funding the BDSP for Q2 2024 would cost around 0.15% of the treasury’s BAL holdings, which annualizes to ~0.60% of the treasury’s BAL. The Treasury wallets currently hold ~5.78M in USDC. Funding the USDC portion would cost around 0.25% of the treasury’s USDC, which annualizes to ~1.00%.
Retro Funding of Business Development of Q1 2024
As previously mentioned, the initial Q1 budget of $20k was established before lipman’s involvement, with the intention of accommodating a part-time contributor. However, lipman surpassed this expectation and also significantly contributed to the quarter as an active, full-time participant. Lipman received $15k of the $20k budget during Q1 with json receiving the remaining $5k.
In light of Lipman’s increased involvement and impact during Q1, a request is being made for an additional $17.5k in USDC. This amount, in addition to the $15k provided and a $5k bonus from the Q1 Maxi discretionary budget, is equivalent to the monthly USDC amount being requested for Q2 ($12.5k/mo).
Technical Specifications
The Balancer DAO multisig 0x10A19e7eE7d7F8a52822f6817de8ea18204F2e4f will interact with USDC 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48 by writing transfer passing the BDSP Safe 0xC7E84373FC63A17B5B22EBaF86219141B630cD7a as recipient and amount 61000 USDC as 61000000000.
Tthe Balancer DAO multisig 0x10A19e7eE7d7F8a52822f6817de8ea18204F2e4f will interact with BAL 0xba100000625a3754423978a60c9317c58a424e3D by writing transfer passing the BDSP Safe 0xC7E84373FC63A17B5B22EBaF86219141B630cD7a as recipient and amount 6342 as 6342000000000000000000.