Optimization of Brand, Token & Tokenomics — AMA Recap
Some serious changes are being considered for BitDAO and Mantle. But before diving into that, let’s review how things are structured today. BitDAO is one of the world’s largest decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) with a treasury worth nearly $2.5B, entirely governed by the holders of the $BIT token. BitDAO has kickstarted and supported various initiatives in the ecosystem, including Mantle.
A recent proposal, which is now live on the BitDAO Snapshot and open for votes until May 19, 2023, aims to rebrand BitDAO and merge it and what we currently know as Mantle (network) under a single brand: Mantle. The goal is to create a product-centric ecosystem that tells a clear story of what is being worked on.
To help answer common questions around the proposal, Mantle’s Community Manager LBrian held an AMA Twitter Spaces with the team’s Public Liaison Igneus Terrenus. Here’s everything you need to know about the proposal, delivered in small bites.
* Some sentences have been edited for clarity and brevity.
1. What is the purpose of the proposal?
Aligning BitDAOs various ecosystem initiatives under a single Mantle brand will help make the Mantle story more recognizable and distinct. Before, there was the BitDAO ecosystem, treasury, and Mantle Network. While the ecosystem currently doesn’t cause too much confusion or contradicting value propositions, the more it grows, the more you will see this effect. Under the proposed new structure, everything is aligned and easily recognizable through a single token name, ticker symbol, and ecosystem name. By simplifying the story and purpose of the token, the ecosystem and token value become much clearer due to the governance, utility, upcoming products, or a combination of factors.
It is important to note that the proposal ensures that existing rights, governance and token holdings remain intact. This will simply be a rebranding of the ecosystem — a cosmetic change.
2. How does the voting process work?
After a week of initial temperature checks and discussions around the proposal, it has recently moved to Snapshot for a live vote. This voting period will also be open for seven days until May 19, and once the period has passed, the final votes will count.
For the proposal to pass, a quorum of 100M $BIT tokens voting in favor of the change will need to be met. Once that has occurred and the voting period has ended, the result will be executed by the stewards of the DAO and the treasury.
3. How will this be executed?
While the voting process is clear, implementing a new token is much more technical, and thus takes more research and consideration for how it will be executed. There will be thorough audits of all contracts and plans for the implementation. Additionally, the forum post reserved a comment section for future relevant research that could be published for complete transparency. One of the most important aspects that BitDAO and Mantle have been focused on is maintaining a completely transparent communication channel with the community.
4. How will Bybit and BitDAO be related after this?
With Bybit being the world’s third-largest crypto exchange, it has been able to contribute generously to the BitDAO community. Over the past year, over $1 billion has been contributed. And these contributions will continue as part of the recently passed BIP-20, but with a few adjustments. The two major changes are:
- Bybit contributions will be done on a fixed schedule to make $BIT supply more predictable
- Contributions will be retained in the BitDAO treasury instead of being burned
The bottom line is that BitDAO and Mantle have the “unwavering support” of Bybit. From April 20, 2023 to the end of the fixed schedule, Bybit will have contributed an additional 2.7 billion $BIT to the DAO.
5. How will the rebranding and token conversion affect existing partnerships and initiatives?
Everything is going to stay the same with how Mantle supports other projects and initiatives like Game7. They are set up as their own separate entities, and will have the same role in the ecosystem after the rebranding.
6. What will the token conversion process look like?
Token conversion specifics are still being researched, and won’t be finalized without the proposal passing first, but with respect to the general format, a flexible conversion period will be set out to make the process as convenient as possible for the greatest number of holders. There will not be a snapshot or much prep work, and a smooth user experience is the main focus when designing the conversion system. On concerns over $BIT collateralized loans, a flexible conversion period would give people time to wind down those positions. Additionally, working with any lending platforms to find a possible solution for converting those positions to the new token seamlessly is on the table.
7. Will the new token retain the same utilities as $BIT?
Yes, all governance rights and other utilities will remain the same post-conversion. The new token will also take the place of $BIT as Mantle’s native token. And when the mainnet comes online, it will be used for node-staking purposes as well as gas fees. The new token would also serve the same ecosystem growth purposes as $BIT, used to secure partnerships and fund developments. Mantle Network will bring several new utilities when fully launched.
8. What is the roadmap for the proposal?
A concrete timeline will not be established until the proposal voting period has ended. The initial temperature check discussion takes about seven days, and is followed by another seven days for the official voting period. Assuming the proposal passes, a clear timeline can be established once voting is complete and an audit has been conducted.
9. Wen mainnet?
The initial plan for launching around the end of Q2 or early Q3 still stands. And while orchestrating this rebranding will add some extra work, it is unlikely to dramatically alter the timeline for mainnet. Committing to an exact date is difficult with so many moving parts involved, but some time over summer is the current expectation.
10. Why create a new token?
Mantle’s massive growth across different channels, and the excitement it has generated within the BitDAO community are the catalysts for this rebranding proposal. The token conversion will more firmly establish Mantle Network’s central positioning within the BitDAO ecosystem. And with the long-term prosperity of the treasury and token in mind, it makes sense to put the Mantle brand front and center.
Closing Remarks
To cap off the AMA Igneus gave a shout out to the entire community for the unprecedented engagement with this proposal and with Mantle in general. Mantle is still quite early in its undertaking, with so much room to grow in the future. The whole team is truly excited to keep building in public and deliver something special.
Join the Mantle community!
Website: https://mantle.xyz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/0xMantle
Telegram: https://t.me/mantlenetwork
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/0xMantle
Linktree: https://mantle.to/links
