Transitioning from Benchmark Launchpad to The Press
The Press is now LIVE: https://thepress.benchmarkprotocol.finance
Add MARK to your MetaMask wallet: 0x67c597624B17b16fb77959217360B7cD18284253
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As the Fair Launch via the Launchpad comes to an end, we must extend a huge thank you to everyone that participated by staking and earning MARK token rewards. By any and all metrics, the Launchpad was a huge success and we achieved our goal of getting the MARK token in the hands of the people, without an IEO or ICO compromising the project’s future and longevity. Over the last 3 and a half weeks, the Launchpad has maintained an average TVL well above $15m USD, with a peak amount of $34m USD, making it one of the largest yield farming fair launches over the last several months in the DeFi space. This was achieved organically through word of mouth and natural interest in our project and the elastic currency space, which we view as a sign of great things to come.
On December 24th, at block 11519083, Launchpad rewards will come to an end as planned. The Launchpad website will remain online indefinitely for everyone to withdraw their LP tokens. You will have until 12/28 at 4:15 PM EST to claim your MARK rewards, otherwise you risk receiving zero MARK rewards. All unclaimed MARK rewards at 12/28, 4:15 PM EST, will be transferred to The Press.
Introducing The Press
This brings us to the second phase of our LP rewards program: The Press. Liquidity Mining is an essential component to Benchmark Protocol during the bootstrap phase. As such, the largest token allocation (27% of total supply) has been appropriated to liquidity mining initiatives that compensate the liquidity providers’ active participation in the Benchmark network. The press will feature core MARK Pairs, starting with MARK-ETH and MARK-USDC on Uniswap. The list of supported pairs will be expanded over the lifetime of the program. The Press will run over a course of 3–7 years, depending on distribution velocity and programs. In order to facilitate this, the MARK per block on The Press will be routinely adjusted based on the supply changes of the MARK token.
Benchmark intends the MARK token to eventually achieve the status of being a stable liquidity utility, with 1 SDR parity. However, during the speculation phase of the Benchmark protocol, market sentiment will dominate the parity objective of the MARK token significantly. In order to achieve the desired parity, the market needs depth. In short, the more liquidity being provided to the MARK-ETH and MARK-USDC pairs, the more difficult it is for the price to move away from equilibrium.
This is where the Benchmark Community comes in, and we will continue to reward users for providing liquidity.
Transition period
During the first 3 weeks of The Press, we will be adjusting the MARK per block manually at 1 week intervals. In total, 5.40% of The Press rewards will be distributed during this 4 week period. The data below is displayed using percentages, as the exact number of distributed tokens depends on the total supply of MARK over time, which will be variable as we begin supply adjustments. The transition period is designed to provide extra rewards and higher APY to early LP’s in The Press.
Non-linear rewards
After the transition period has ended, the Press will distribute a fixed amount of MARK per block. This means that distributed rewards are not subjected to supply adjustments and thus, constantly change in their percentage of total supply. If MARK experiences a series of positive or expansionary supply adjustments, Press rewards will be lower in terms of their ratio to total supply and vice versa. This is also why it is impossible to denote an absolute duration of the Press program (3–7 years).
Example 1:
1 MARK per block
1.000 MARK total supply
0.1% Press rewards of total supply per block
Example 2:
1 MARK per Block
2.000 MARK total supply
0.05% Press rewards of total supply per block
Rebalancing Resistant Rewards
The Press contract keeps track of rewards for liquidity providers by using an internal counter. Benchmark Protocol utilizes this mechanism to make outstanding rewards resistant to supply rebasements. As long as rewards stay in The Press contract, their amount won’t be adjusted by the rebase function.
The user has to decide when they want to withdraw their MARK rewards to make them affected by rebasements. This system is intended to assist the rebase function of MARK and further increase price stability.
To Summarize Key Scenarios:
1) The amount that MARK holders currently in their wallet which is NOT staked in press: affected by supply adjustments
2) MARK tokens pooled in The Press: affected by supply adjustments
3) MARK tokens earned in The Press but NOT yet claimed: NOT impacted by Supply adjustments
Migrating LP tokens from Benchmark Launchpad to The Press
To transition to the press, the first step is to go to Benchmark Launchpad on December 24th to unstake your LP tokens and claim your MARK.
If you were farming with MARK-ETH or MARK-USDC LP tokens on Benchmark Launchpad, all you will need to do is go to The Press (Site to be announced) and stake the same MARK-base LP tokens the same way you did on Benchmark Launchpad to continue farming rewards.
If you were farming with one of the other 18 other external pairs supported on Benchmark Launchpad, in order to participate in The Press, you will need to provide Liquidity in the MARK-ETH or MARK-USDC pools on Uniswap using the MARK tokens you farmed.
First, you will need to obtain enough USDC or ETH to equal the value of your MARK tokens. Next, click one of the links below to add liquidity on Uniswap.
To farm MARK-ETH, click here.
To farm MARK-USDC, click here.
Here, you will be prompted to choose the amount of MARK and ETH/USDC liquidity you wish to provide.
After you select the amount of each token, click “Approve [token name]” and then “Supply”.
When the transaction is complete, you will receive LP tokens that you can use to farm on The Press.
For 80/20 Balancer pools, click the info icon in the top right corner of the pool and you will open the balancer pool page. Click the “Add Liquidity” button in the top right corner and choose an amount of MARK (80%) and USDC or WETH.
After you choose the amounts click “Add Liquidity”, and when the transaction confirms you will receive BAL Pool tokens. Go back to the press, approve the press to spend your BAL Pool Tokens for the appropriate pool, and click the plus button on the pool page to deposit.
About Benchmark Protocol:
Benchmark Protocol is a Supply Elastic Collateral and Hedging Device, Driven by the Volatility Index. The protocol operates as a rules-based utility that dynamically adjusts supply based on the CBOE volatility index (VIX) and deviations from the target metric — equal to 1 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) unit. Employing the SDR creates a larger use case rather than exposure to just one currency; the application of this creates a larger user base and delineated exposure to markets around the world. The DeFi space needs a collateral utility that retains its efficacy and increases inherent, baseline liquidity during periods of high volatility.
Benchmark is built on the Ethereum blockchain. The MARK token is the native asset in the Benchmark network, and provides only the utility value available to it through the Benchmark network. The supply of MARK adjusts by tracking the movement of the CBOE volatility index.
- Learn more by visiting the project website:
