TIP-087: 90M T to accelerate tBTC growth, including on Base

Proposals
1

Vote Type

Token holder DAO Snapshot; if approved, then Governor Bravo

DAO-elected Sponsors

@ramaruro1, @MrsNuBooty, @sap

Timeline

  • 3 days for comment / discussion on this proposal
  • Token-holder DAO Snapshot temp check with a 3-day vote period
  • If Snapshot is approved, then the standard 11-day Governor Bravo vote

Context

Several exciting trends have been accelerating DeFi since Threshold launched version 2 of tBTC in early 2023: the continued substantial growth in the number of crypto users globally, institutional involvement in multiple areas of crypto, the explosive growth to $170B of stablecoins, a growing number of protocols supporting almost every conceivable financial application (many of which Threshold partners with), and of course the unprecedented amount of assets and activity occurring on Layer 2s (including the emerging Bitcoin L2 space).

Accelerating tBTC growth on Layer 2 chains

After executing our successful campaign on Arbitrum based on a grant we received from the Arbitrum Foundation, and by which we deployed rewards to liquidity providers, developed a Direct Minting app, integrated tBTC into GMX and about to launch a loyalty program - it’s time to fund an aggressive TVL expansion of tBTC on other L2s.

Base is especially interesting. The Coinbase team is launching their own cbBTC, which we expect will drive a lot of volume and inflow from this major centralized exchange. What at first sounds like competition, it is actually a great opportunity for us since they’ve expressed interest in involving tBTC in the upcoming launch, including a tBTC integration on the Coinbase Wallet and collaborating on liquidity, incentives and marketing activity for the cbBTC/tBTC pair.

We also consider it essential to capitalize on opportunities to expand the use of tBTC in these times of market uncertainty. A lot of recognized protocols, market players and incipient projects are reaching out to us with partnership opportunities and tremendous growth potential. We need to have the flexibility and muscle to be able to act quickly.

The Treasury Guild Committee requests 90M T to identify and execute direct and indirect marketing activities designed to quickly grow tBTC deposits, including but not limited to expanding liquidity provisioning on Base.

The objective is to help DeFi users, communities, and interested institutions frictionlessly adopt tBTC, including by migrating from other Bitcoin wrappers.

Activities will be coordinated between the Treasury Guild and Threshold’s Marketing leads, and the necessary transactions will be executed by the Treasury Guild.

Treasury Guild Committee Discretion

In normal times a proposal like this would include more detail on specific tactics, expected outcomes and measures of success. But these aren’t normal times – we have a unique opportunity to capture substantial market share in a short time by capitalizing on the market trends described above.

Given the authority token holders have entrusted to the Treasury Guild Committee (and supporting contractors) to not only manage our treasury but also Threshold’s protocol owned liquidity, the expansion of the beta staker program, short-term control over tBTC mint & redeem fees, etc., the proposal recommends once again delegating to the committee for this growth effort. The committee will provide periodic updates on its progress, an accounting of funds deployed and return any unspent tokens.

2 Likes
2

Thanks for sponsoring, @ramaruro1, @sap & @MrsNuBooty.

Not only am I in strong support of token holders granting this flexibility, I can say that the entire Treasury Committee is excited for the opportunity – and we look forward to collaborating with Ashley and Mark (@rizzn), who has hit the ground running in the new marketing role. Exciting news and results coming.

2 Likes
3

Strongly agree this is a worthwhile proposal.

Leveraging the cbBTC launch is a major opportunity to bring attention to tBTC as well. They will be making a lot of noise and we should capitalize on it, especially while there’s attention on the BTC defi ecosystem.

3 Likes
4

I agree that we have a unique opportunity right now to grow tBTC TVL and that it has an expiration date. Couple of questions:

  1. How was the amount of 90M T chosen?
  2. Do you have an idea how much of that will be consumed by expansion to Base?

I trust TTG to be transparent with use of funds and return those that aren’t used – perhaps there should be date set for when that would be?

Despite the questions, I do support this TIP.

1 Like
5

Not to be too focussed on ROI but rather to improve our community’s ability to engage with these projects, could the threshold guild provide assurances to develop systems to clearly lay out the field play?

Recognizing that things are exciting and occurring quickly, as per the requested discretion, could we still have some structured system (updated, 1x/week or 1x/2weeks) that provides situational awareness to our community about what conversations are occurring (to the extent that they can be shared publicly), blockers or expected timelines, committed funds (or figures planned for commitment)? Without this is it challenging to know how to contribute (unless we are very tapped into the guild), leverage the connections of our DAO, know where to organize support.

This TIP could help us to establish better signposting as a DAO to improve community participation.

1 Like
6

Temp check Snapshot is live here:

https://snapshot.org/#/threshold.eth/proposal/0xc03a78d4f5e86a06b5b725f7b8ac7fd44707744cbf221769da13e8a1de654b96

7

Hi, @student. Thanks for those suggestions. I’ve been thinking along similar lines, so let me raise this with the Treasury and Marketing committees and then share our consensus.

8

Is the snapshot a temp check or approval?

9

temp check, if approved, it will go to on-chain governor vote

10

Thanks, @shoegazer69.

The intention with the amount was to be able to move quickly when opportunities arise and not miss out on something major based on timing (i.e., the need to go back with an additional funding request).

We haven’t yet discussed % that may be allocated to initiatives related to Base, but we wanted to call it out based on Coinbase’s commitment to their L2 and their interest in working with us.

Regarding a date, it’s not intended to be indefinite. My guess is that by the 6-month mark we’d have outlined usage to date and any upcoming plans, and we’ll both post and monitor for feedback here.

1 Like
11

This proposal passed Snapshot with the following results:
Results:

  • FOR: 717M T - 100%
  • AGAINST: 0 T - 0%
  • ABSTAIN: 0 T - 0%

And it has now been move to Governor for approval.