The official launch is complete.
The Vela Exchange platform has successfully showcased the stability and security of its underlying infrastructure and other critical parts of the foundation. Thousands of orders created by thousands of traders have battle-tested trading, staking, referrals, and multitudes of other core functionality.
So what’s next?
Our core contributors are always thinking about how we can build value into the ecosystem in methodical, data-driven ways. We also value conversations with traders to help drive improvements to our ecosystem — something that has been part of our DNA since day 1.
This article has in-depth context on our protocol philosophies, how they translate into the future of Vela Exchange, and details surrounding our Roadmap.
But first, some learnings.
After conversations with our closest community members, partners, and advisory board, two important points came up that we felt were important to share.
Takeaways From Official Launch
Building for the future of DeFi and crypto is the #1 priority
It’s important to look at the dynamic environment as a whole and not lose sight of the big picture.
DeFi has shifted dramatically since just 2021. Advanced infrastructure and L2s have enabled on-chain activities we could only have dreamed of in the past. Some of the largest protocols have fallen, while new players have come to dominate certain sectors.
At Vela Exchange, we need to do our best to build not only the best place to trade perpetual products but also to be a platform traders call their HQ. The place where you can manage your trading journey and portfolio at a fundamental level, while also navigating into the leveraged trading world.
This means we may spend time building sophisticated plumbing and less ‘sexy’ features in order to prepare for the future. Staying ahead of the curve is a continuous marathon, and we need the right people and mindset to accomplish greater things.
Incentives will be revisited at a fundamental level for the current economy and future
Ah, our favorite subject. Incentives.
The airdrop brought in a fair bit of controversy, and there was a lot of internal and external dialogue to dissect the best learnings from the airdrop event.
Hyper VLP also brought in some valuable learnings.
The outcomes of our discussions have some crucial impact on how things go moving forward:
Regarding airdrops, having an airdrop with a live token is a juggling act, and adds a challenge that we prefer to avoid so we can focus on the product. We are removing the launch airdrop for the sake of ecosystem health. For now, the beta airdrop will be the last airdrop until further notice.
Hyper VLP did great in some aspects, but some important learnings / details need to be communicated.
Regarding Hyper VLP Beta/Legacy:
- To reduce emissions but also reward Hyper VLP beta participants who reminted $VLP, we will be increasing the factor to 1.12 (10% of the factor change had we used the old beta calculation method — 2x our originally planned factor update)
- Going forward, the factor will increase according to the beta formula when Hyper VLP minters redeem and leave the program
- Any remaining $VELA will be dedicated to future liquidity programs and proposals will be shared with the community for discussion
Hyper VLP 2.0 brought in over $7m in liquidity, it did not reach the stars like we hoped. The main issue was the 12-month vesting period of Hyper VLP along with the distribution of esVELA. This will be reviewed in-depth to make sure future liquidity incentives balance long-term and short-term value for participants.
We also reviewed the wider tokenomics and fee flow to make sure $VLP and $VELA holders were receiving maximum value. A widely discussed topic was shifting more fees allocated towards buybacks to USDC rewards instead. This will give the token additional utility, even before other feature integrations happen.
Tokenomics will likely receive a significant overhaul in Q4 of 2023, with smaller initiatives executed throughout the rest of 2023 and into 2024.
The Roadmap
As for the roadmap, we are committed to balancing hard, detailed roadmap items with a bit of mystery (what’s DeFi without surprises?).
Short Term Deliverables
A few concrete items that will be coming before end of August (some sooner than others):
- Kickoff for USDC rewards and $VELA buybacks
- The start of remaining refunds for beta traders
These items are a top priority for the protocol, and exact dates will be communicated for USDC rewards and any remaining refunds will be announced no later than the end of July.
In terms of exciting upcoming events and major features, we have many items to cover.
Trading Bot Invasion
Building integrations into the largest providers of trading bots has always been a challenge for DEXs, but our crew has been hard at work collaborating with some of the largest creators of bots in the centralized and decentralized space to make sure we support a key aspect of the trading economy.
Our API docs have already been updated with details to support bot builders, and within the next two months, we will have several major builders integrated fully into Vela to streamline your trading journeys.
*Beep Boop*!
The Great Trading War
Our first post-launch trading contest will be an absolute war to obtain dominance and a piece of the lost loot discovered on a mysterious alien construction floating out in sector X96–024.
The builders have spent a considerable amount of time making sure the experience is one of the best, and that the infrastructure translates into…trading leagues!
Of course, our learnings about incentives will apply in a major way to the first of many competitions.
Trading Leagues
A unique system is being created to create a season by season competitive ecosystem that will challenge the best of the best to win their share of the vast resources discovered beyond sector X96–024.
Smaller traders and their ships will be rewarded as well, with several categories to support fledgling space cowboys as well as the major trading corporations. Let the games begin.
Vela Flagship Upgrade
Some may think of this as a version 1.5 of the Vela flagship, but we think of it as a necessary dock run to make sure our armaments are ready for the unknown challenges of space travel.
A few things the research team is exploring:
- New 1-click deposit features that go beyond multi-chain
- Support for spot trading
- Fee structure enhancements
- VLP updates to support vault strategy builders
- Bot trading marketplace for vendors
Referral Program 2.0
The current referral program has seen extensive use, but we want to remain on the cutting edge amongst our competitors.
Updates being reviewed:
- Rewards for referees (right now, only referrals get a % of fees)
- Adding tiers based on volume of referral activity
- Revamped interfaces to better manage referrals and track activity
Changes will be shared ahead of time, with changes targeted for early Q4.
The Forge Event
There is plenty of anticipation around the NFT collection created to support our launch. These NFTs will be used exclusively to create a Vela Navigator — a PFP NFT that represents your character and its Vela journey into the unknown.
Here are the confirmed details:
- A minimum of 1 NFT from at least 2 collections to forge a Vela Navigator
- Having the max of 4 NFTs from 4 collections unlocks the highest potential to craft a rare Navigator with strong stats
- Stats will impact referral rewards, staking benefits, and trading discounts
- Timelines indicate a Q4 or early Q1 2024 release
This is a huge community event, and we intend on pulling some of the best talent to make sure the visuals and utility are timeless.
Token Utility Enhancements
As mentioned in the learnings around incentives, the core contributors are diving heavily into the entire Vela economy to improve all aspects of value for participants.
This includes a look at elements of the economy, including fee distribution and types of rewards offered for liquidity provisioning, trading, and staking.
This is an in-depth exercise, and we fully intend on including the wider community in the discussions.
OTC Onboarding
Trading peer-to-peer is a core capability that is still lacking strong support in the DeFi ecosystem. The core contributors of Vela Exchange have built multi-chain solutions in the past, and we are exploring ways to leverage that experience to build an industry-leading OTC capability to support an underserved market.
This may roll out in phases, and multi-chain expansion for the OTC product line is not out of the question.
New Frontiers
Exploration into the cosmos means discovering exciting undiscovered star systems, civilizations, and friends.
We have started probing the unknown territories, and have exciting research that indicates opportunity. But opportunity does not come without risk, and we want to be sure our crew confirms that the data is intact and uncorrupted before sharing it with the community.
More will be coming soon.
A Reminder
This is just the beginning of a vast journey and we are incredibly proud to have set the foundation with the right contributors and community.
Each of you is an essential part of what is built and what will be created in the future.
To the stars!
Vela Contributors
