Build liquidity for $ACX on Velodrome

Related Discussions:

Summary:
Currently Across Protocol’s $ACX has little liquidity on Layer 2s, limiting the ability for users on L2s to acquire and hold $ACX. This proposal aims to bootstrap $ACX liquidity on Velodrome and establish a meaningful presence for Across Protocol in the Optimism ecosystem.

Motivation:
Users on Ethereum Layer 2s are currently unable to trade the $ACX with low slippage and have limited options for providing liquidity on L2s.

L2 adoption has gained significant momentum over the past 12 months and is expected to continue as more users flock to ecosystems that inherit Ethereum’s security, while offering cheaper fees and faster transaction times.

As a core cross-chain bridge, Across Protocol stands to grow alongside Layer 2s. Building a strong presence for $ACX on Optimism will give Across Protocol further exposure to the ecosystem and improve the user experience for those looking to buy or provide liquidity for $ACX.

Specification & Implementation:
On Velodrome, $VELO emissions are directed to liquidity pools based on votes by veVELO (vote-escrow VELO) holders. Protocols can use veVELO or voter incentives (bribes) to attract votes and emissions for their liquidity pairs.

Protocols bribing on Velodrome often receive $2-$3 in $VELO for every $1 they deposit. Major DeFi protocols such as Lido and Synthetix leverage Velodrome’s mechanics to maintain deep liquidity on Optimism in a capital-efficient way.

Across will implement a 10 week pilot program using 750k $ACX tokens. The protocol will bribe the ACX/WETH liquidity pool on Velodrome at a rate of 75k $ACX per week. Velodrome also offers to match at least 15% of Across Protocol’s bribes each week with $OP tokens. Once an epoch is completed on Wednesday at 23:59 UTC, VELO emissions will begin to flow to Across Protocols’ LP.

Across will also Protocol Owned Liquidity (POL) to receive $VELO rewards. Across will lock all $VELO farmed as veVELO, allowing it to build a voting position that will direct additional emissions in perpetuity, while generating fee rewards, bribe rebates, and bonuses for locking. Any rewards generated by these locks will be compounded further into veVELO.

Locking veVELO will automatically qualify Across for a Lock Bonus, typically worth 25%-40% of the $VELO locked, paid in OP.

Rationale:
Velodrome is the leading DEX on Optimism with $250M+ TVL. Incentivizing liquidity on Velodrome will naturally boost exposure for Across Protocol, as veVELO voters and Liquidity Providers will find $ACX near the top of the voting and LP pages respectively.

Velodrome will also actively support Across Protocol’s marketing initiatives during the pilot program which means the community will not only benefit from having the option to provide liquidity and trade $ACX but also generate demand towards Across Protocol’s solutions. As Velodrome has the largest active user base of any protocol on Optimism, there is no better place to be capturing attention.

Downsides:
Liquidity incentives on Optimism can represent an additional expense for Across Protocol. However, this expense can be significantly reduced through Velodrome’s bribe-emissions multiplier and any potential VELO rewards and the other incentives described above.

Voting:
Yes - move forward with pilot program
No - do not move forward with program
Abstain - no vote

4 Likes

Spending additional tokens with the ACX price so low and without clear KPIs is not advisable, IMO.

If we were to decide that we need more liquidity on L2 then we should move incentives from the L1 ACX bridge pool to L2, not increase inflation when the price is low.

2 Likes

I believe the suggestion of moving to L2s is a valid one. However, it is important to take into account the potential impact on inflation and the current price of ACX, as previously highlighted. Perhaps it would be more suitable to revisit this proposal once market conditions have improved and the price has recovered.

1 Like

Personally I would like to see this proposal in action, bedrock is just around the corner and it would be interesting to see this in action, facilitating interest for smaller investors like me.

1 Like

It is a great time to move into the layer 2 ecosystem in general. Personally, I am always biased to the Layer 2 Space. I would love to buy $ACX with low fees, which is only agreeable on L2.

I just would like to know what the utility of having the token on the L2 would be? We would not be able to vote with these tokens. Adding them to the Velo Pools would likely have Velodrome being the only use case for $ACX on Optimism.

I own several Governance Tokens on L2 for simply price exposure, rather than voting. If voting could be multi chain, I’d be bullish on this off the rip but I would like to know the pool would be used if we put it on L2.

Definitely need some $ACX on Optimism, Arbitrum & Polygon.

2 Likes

There is already substantial sell pressure on $ACX, making it challenging to increase circulation further without a better understanding of whether the incremental liquidity will improve the supply/demand dynamic. Fostering L2 liquidity may very well expand the pool of buyers as a result of reduced gas costs, offsetting the 75k/week increase in supply, but it honestly just feels a bit like tail wagging the dog until there is actual utility for $ACX on the L2.

2 Likes

It looks like a good proposal, that can bring growth to both projects. Yes… I want to see ACX on layer2!

1 Like