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Safe could capture and distribute value by complementing a token-curated registry (TCR) with our proposed Value Alignment Program. A Safe Protocol TCR would be a great way to capture value from module developers purchasing Safe tokens to be listed on the registry, but comes with 2 risks if it were standalone:
Bribery & gamification: The TCR may not curate the most useful or secure modules if it were merely surfacing the highest bidders
Restricting / adding frictions to access: Purchasing Safe tokens to be part of the registry would require capital (restricting early-stage projects) and some due diligence (increasing friction), which may encourage module developers to:
Bypass the Safe Protocol TCR to go direct to customers, or
Build their module on top of other smart account protocols entirely.
If we believe we can generate a high volume of Safe token purchases from module developers, a TCR may still be used to automate module developers’ access to the registry (as Adam suggested here). However, it should possess disclaimer attestations akin to “sponsored” ads on Google. Rather than pure token curation, we believe that curation should be weighted more towards other attestations instead.
A catch-all attestation could be “VAP acceptance”, or simply “Curated Module”, which accounts for:
The module’s security (from Safe’s audit or formal verification from other auditors)
The module’s future revenue/token model, and how it benefits the Safe ecosystem
The team’s background & ability to execute
… and more
In addition to modules, other candidates for VAP acceptance may include other applications built on top of Safe, including DAO tools (e.g. Coinshift, Parcel, Utopia) and smart wallet applications (e.g. Castle, Brahma).
The existing Grants Committee could first serve as the initial selection committee for this (ensuring that at least one member audits smart account modules well) if capacity permits. If not, 1 or 2 members may be added.
I have drafted a comprehensive overview to brainstorm on how to align incentives and coordination between stakeholders.
Taking inspiration from coordination mechanisims prevalent in other crypto projects, business models of open source, business models of SaaS, state/countries governance, etc.
I suggest it’s worthwhile to explore the following mechanisms for the Safe {Core} protocol - Google Doc
Please feel free to connect and message if there is any need. Contact details are mentioned in the doc.
I believe that an incentivised curation mechanism is an optimal approach for value alignment within the marketplace, as well as for the capture of value by $SAFE, and ecosystem participants.
The mechanisms and the design of the ecosystem can be seen in this document.
This simultenously achieves:
marketplace curation
ability for module creators to garner interest without high barriers to entry (encourages innovation)
the creation of a new role in the ecosystem, that of a ‘curator’ who has incentives to curate well and use sound judgement
At the start of the Token-transfer period - create a Gnosis Auction or Balancer LBP where a portion of the 50M SAFE controlled by the DAO treasury will be auctioned to the open market. The amount of SAFE tokens offered should be estimated based on the projected interest and the ability of Safe to attract sufficient counter-assets (most likely a stablecoin such as USDC) to create A. An initial Protocol Owned Liquidity Pool and B. Have x (1-3 years) of initial stablecoin runway for DAO operations.
1B. Given the relationship with Balancer (their integration with CowSwap, Karpatkay, and Gnosis) - I think it makes the most sense to create a liquidity pool here with about 20-40% of the Stablecoins from the Auction (either a 50-50 or 80-20 pool). The pool will help create initial liquidity for the SAFE token and grant the DAO potential revenue from the (trading) fees.
In looking for ways to align long-term Safe holders, I believe a version of the MA (maturity adjusted) model operated by for example Beethoven is a good way to reward long-term holders with additional influence (and potential rewards). The MA model operates like a reverse VE model (Voting Escrow) where influence will be granted over time, and stakeholders can unlock it at any point. If the input token is a Liquidity Pool token, we can allow Safe stakers to contribute to and benefit from Safe liquidity while gaining additional influence as they continue to lock for a longer time. With the ability to unlock quickly - ma token can potentially be leveraged as collateral in additional apps (in the future), opening up more use-cases and productivity for long-term SAFE contributors.
The Safe front-end and protocol can grant additional rewards (and potentially receive) from integrations. I would propose exploring
Mutual incentives with large integrations - where based on the Protocol usage, Safe and Project Token (if applicable) would be swapped to increase the depth of the collaboration and mutual benefits of it.
Provide the ability for large Safe stakers to become more visible and drive more traffic to their specific Modules / Solutions.
Have Safe stakers influence budgets and programs related to Safe protocol innovations they deem critical - allowing them to progress their product/tech by tapping into a Safe provided innovation budget.
Request 2: Examples of projects
AURA and VitaDAO would be good examples of the flow from Auction → Protocol Owned Liquidity and Treasury.
Beets.fi has a working model for ma, from which a variation can be made.
There aren’t a lot of examples of this - Aragon was working on a Hyperstructure strategy in this direction, in addition, early grant programs of Layers 1 have some similarities with this approach.
The Safe Protocol looks to be a core public good infrastructure for web3 that aligns token utility with ecosystem interest. Safe token mechanisms can:
Incentivize productive participation of key stakeholders within the Safe ecosystem (or select against adverse behaviors)
Provide a gateway for users to access the utility present within the Safe economy.
Ultimately, the token mechanisms should have these above properties whilst also linking the growth and utility of the Safe Ecosystem to SAFE value accrual.
There may be many interpretations of exactly what can grant the Safe Token utility, but one interpretation could be through facilitating and enabling access to a marketplace centered on composable smart account security, across accounts, registries, modules (and the relevant stakeholder/maintainer groups) as well as end retail users.
Once the SAFE DAO has agreed upon a list of desired mechanisms we believe further work should be completed in the parameterization of these mechanisms (ex reward emissions, slashing), coupled with modeling to support the macroeconomic thesis that these token mechanisms couple value accrual with token utility, in alignment with SafeDAO’s wider constitutional mandate.