Dec 30, 2022
StaFi 2022: Year Recap
A Short Summary
Hello StaFinauts! As the year 2022 draws to a close and we approach the new year, it’s a good time to reflect on the past year and all that the StaFi Protocol has accomplished. 2022 has been an extraordinary journey for us, and we are grateful for the support and involvement of our community.
The year 2022 has been challenging due to a number of unexpected events in the cryptocurrency space, including Terra and FTX, which have caused some investors and users to lose confidence in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Despite these difficulties, we remain committed to driving innovation and progress in this space.
Despite these challenges, there have also been a number of significant developments and revolutionary events in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. These include the significant growth of the Ethereum L2 ecosystem and the migration from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, the emergence of modular chains in the Cosmos ecosystem, the widespread adoption of non-fungible tokens, and the increasing popularity of liquid staking. These achievements demonstrate the continued progress and innovation in this industry.
StaFi Protocol has been at the forefront of progress and innovation in the cryptocurrency space. Over the course of 2022, the protocol has achieved a number of significant milestones and has remained active and engaged in the industry.
In 2022, StaFi Protocol underwent significant expansion, transitioning from a single chain to a parallel chain ecosystem that included both the StaFi chain and the StaFiHub chain. Looking ahead, there is potential for further integration into the Avalanche and Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystems in order to better serve liquid staking users and continue driving innovation in the Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSD) industry.
In addition to its other achievements, StaFi Protocol has also made significant progress in building the rToken ecosystem. This included the successful launch of the rDEX, which serves as the liquidity aggregator for all rTokens. This represents an important step in the ongoing development and growth of the rToken ecosystem.
One notable accomplishment of StaFi in 2022 was the establishment of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). This allowed for the governance of StaFi to be decentralized and controlled by the community, rather than being solely in the hands of the StaFi Core Team. This represents an important step in ensuring that the protocol is transparent, accountable, and responsive to the needs of its community.
As we approach the new year, it’s clear that 2023 holds many possibilities and opportunities for StaFi Protocol and its community. While it’s impossible to predict with certainty what the market will bring, we can assure you that our team is committed to building a strong and resilient ecosystem that will thrive in any market conditions. In 2023, we will continue to work on expanding the rToken ecosystem, building upon the progress we have made in 2022. We are excited to see what the future holds and look forward to continuing to work together with our community to drive innovation and success.
Let’s recap the key moments of the StaFi Protocol in 2022.
rToken Ecosystem
1.StaFiHub
1)Mainnet Release
StaFiHub Mainnet Beta launched on August 17 at 1PM UTC.
The launch of the StaFiHub chain was a major milestone for StaFi, marking the expansion of the protocol into a parallel chain ecosystem. The StaFiHub chain offers a scalable and user-friendly interface for the Cosmos SDK chains, making it a valuable addition to the Cosmos ecosystem.
In conjunction with the mainnet release, StaFiHub launched a validator recruitment program, which received 137 applications from the community. This strong response demonstrates the active and engaged nature of the StaFi community, and we are grateful for the support and participation of all those who applied.
2)rATOM, rIRIS and rHUAHUA
Following the mainnet release, StaFiHub launched its Initial Liquidity Grant Program (ILG Program) for rTokens as a way to reward initial liquidity providers, particularly those in the Foundation of Target Project (FOTP) in the Cosmos ecosystem or core community members. The ILG Program was a success, resulting in the launch of three rTokens in September: rATOM, rIRIS, and rHUAHUA.
2. rToken DApp on StaFi Chain
1)rToken App V3 Upgrade
On March 29th, the mainnet saw the release of the rToken App V3 upgrade, which was designed to enhance the user experience and address any problems that had been encountered by the community over the previous months. The rToken app is a key component of StaFi protocol, and we are committed to continuously improving and updating it to ensure that it meets the needs and expectations of our users.
The release of the rToken App marks an important step in this process, and we are confident that it will provide a more seamless and enjoyable experience for all users. We are grateful to the community for their feedback and support, and we look forward to continuing to work together to drive progress and innovation in the rToken ecosystem.
2)rETH V2 Upgrade
On September 26th, we were proud to unveil the latest upgrades to our ETH liquidity staking solution, rETH V2, following the ETH2.0 Merge. This exciting new version of rETH is designed to lower the barrier to entry for both stakers and validators, making it easier than ever for members of the community to get involved and contribute to the success of the protocol.
3. rDEX
1)Incentive Programs
On February 3rd, the StaFi team released the rDEX incentive program, which has allocated 5,000,000 $FIS to liquidity mining reward pools in order to increase the liquidity of rDEX over the long term. This program is an important step in building the rDEX platform and we are excited to see the impact it will have on the ecosystem.
2)rDEX Mainnet
On March 1st, rDEX was launched on the mainnet with a variety of features, including the ability to trade rTokens against the $FIS token, continuous liquidity, reduced slippage, and asymmetrical deposits. The launch of rDEX on the mainnet allows StaFi to consolidate all liquidity that is dispersed across various public chains, such as Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon, onto one platform: rDEX.
3)rTokens/FIS Pool on V1
With the launch of #rDEX on the mainnet, we listed eight trading pools, including rETH/FIS, rFIS/FIS, rATOM/FIS, rBNB/FIS, rDOT/FIS, rSOL/FIS, rMATIC/FIS, and rKSM/FIS. On March 3rd, the total value locked (TVL) in these eight pools exceeded $1 million, reaching a total of $1,298,230.25.
4)V2 Release
On September 2nd, rDEX V2 went live on StaFiHub, featuring support for the rATOM/ATOM trading pair as an initial pool. On rDEX V2, users have the ability to trade rTokens against base tokens, such as the ability to trade rATOM against ATOMs.
5)rATOM/rIRIS/rHUAHUA Listing on V2
After the release of rDEX V2 on the mainnet, we listed three additional trading pools in September: rATOM/ATOM, rIRIS/IRIS, and rHUAHUA/HUAHUA. These pools were added one by one in the month of September.
6)FIS/ATOM Pool
To facilitate the trading of ICS-20 $FIS within the Cosmos ecosystem and provide StaFiHub users with access to ICS-20 $FIS, rDEX V2 (on the StaFiHub chain) listed the $FIS/$ATOM trading pool on December 14th. This new trading pool allows for a more seamless trading experience for ICS-20 $FIS within the Cosmos ecosystem, and provides StaFiHub users with a convenient way to access this asset.
4. Third Party Integrations
In 2022, StaFi Protocol continued to expand third-party integrations for rToken users, focusing on three key scenarios:
1)DEXes such as WhiteWhale and Sifchain.
2)Lending protocols such as Umee and Comdex.
3)Wallets such as Keplr and Citadel.
There are additional integrations still being discussed, thus, we will continue to expand the range of user scenarios for rToken users in the coming year. These integrations provide rToken users with more options and flexibility when it comes to using and interacting with their assets.
Statistics
As of the end of 2022, StaFi Protocol had issued 10 rTokens with a total value locked (TVL) of over $26 million. These rTokens include:
1)1 rToken (rETH) issued on Ethereum,
2)6 rTokens (including rFIS, rBNB, rSOL, rMATIC, rDOT, and rKSM) issued on the StaFi chain, and
3)3 rTokens (including rATOM, rIRIS, and rHUAHUA) issued on the StaFiHub chain.
As of writing, StaFi Protocol has generated $175,913 in protocol fees, attracted 3,439 original validators, and acquired 1,104 unique users, with numbers continuing to grow.
In addition to these rToken statistics, we have also seen a significant increase in the TVL of rDEX, from zero to over $2 million. We believe this is just the beginning, and we plan to continue building up the liquidity pool of rDEX to make it the main decentralized exchange for trading all liquid staking derivatives in 2023.
DAO Governance
Since its inception, StaFi has been dedicated to designing and building the StaFi DAO. In recognition of the community’s role in the growth and success of the StaFi Protocol, we have allocated a significant amount of resources towards the development of the DAO governance system in 2022.
To ensure that the community has full ownership of the StaFi Protocol, the core team has focused on two key areas:
1.The Warriors Team
In order to directly involve the community in the daily operations of StaFi Protocol, we have invited highly capable and loyal community members to join the Warriors team, which includes moderators, ambassadors, and rangers. These individuals are responsible for helping to build and grow the StaFi Protocol, and they currently handle all marketing, social media management, business development, and product testing efforts. The core team is primarily focused on technical development.
2.On-chain Governance
To facilitate on-chain governance of the StaFi chain and StaFiHub chain, we have established two governance forums. All community campaigns, grants, and technical development decisions must be raised and discussed on these forums before they are implemented. At present, on-chain voting is not yet enabled due to the three different token standards of $FIS. The core team is working on designing the voting rules and implementing the necessary technical developments to enable on-chain voting, which we expect to be available in early 2023.
$FIS Tokenomics
The tokenomics of $FIS is a crucial component of the StaFi Protocol’s ecosystem. As of the time of writing, the total supply of $FIS tokens is 124,757,105.18, with a circulating supply of 87,400,000.00.
In 2022, StaFi worked diligently to establish strong utility and liquidity for $FIS tokens. A notable accomplishment in this regard was the listing of $FIS (ERC-20) on Coinbase and Kraken on June 13th and 15th, respectively. These listings provide additional liquidity and exposure for $FIS, and help to increase its overall utility and value within the ecosystem.
Currently, major centralized exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase support the trading of $FIS, and it is also possible to trade this token on decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and rDEX.
In addition to increasing liquidity for $FIS, we have also enhanced its utility by using it as the utility token of the StaFiHub chain, rather than introducing a new token. Additionally, rDEX V1 utilized $FIS as the base token for each trading pool on the StaFi chain.
Our team is currently in the process of designing on-chain voting rules for the StaFi protocol, which will grant $FIS a governance utility. This will allow $FIS to play a more active role in the governance of the StaFi Protocol and increase its overall utility and value within the ecosystem.
Uncompleted Tasks and 2023 Outlook
Although StaFi made great progress in its products and ecosystems in 2022, there are still some important things StaFi did not fully fulfilled which will be focused on in 2023:
1.Rebranding StaFi Protocol
In 2022, the core team of the StaFi Protocol discovered that the protocol had evolved into a unique Layer 1 protocol with parallel chains, offering scalable liquid staking solutions for a wide range of proof-of-stake (PoS) assets.
As a result, the team is undergoing a rebranding effort to better reflect this new vision and mission. The rebranding work is expected to be completed in early 2023, and will help to more effectively communicate the unique value and capabilities of the StaFi Protocol to stakeholders and users.
2.DAO Building
The on-chain vote for $FIS holders has not yet been enabled, as the most widely adopted $FIS token is in ERC-20 format, which is not native to the StaFi chain. The team is working on a solution to this issue, and plans to have a voting product in place for $FIS holders (regardless of whether they hold ERC-20, StaFi chain native, or ICS-20 $FIS tokens) by early 2023. This will allow $FIS holders to participate in the governance of the StaFi Protocol and have a greater say in the decision-making processes within the ecosystem.
3.StaFiHub Expansion
The core team expected to quickly and effectively expand rTokens solution in Cosmos Eco by leveraging StaFiHub, but the results are not satisfactory. Now only IRISnet and Chihuahua are integrating with StaFiHub, and other bigger projects are not willing to provide the initial liquidity support when they have other free choices.
Therefore, we need to rethink our BD strategy and position in Cosmos Eco in 2023. Glad we already have a new third-way integration strategy which will be tested in 2023. In this new strategy, we will create a win-win-win situation both for the target project, StaFiHub and also the rToken user scenario party.
4.rDEX Adoption
The expansion of the rTokens solution within the Cosmos ecosystem has not progressed as quickly and effectively as anticipated, with only IRISnet and Chihuahua currently integrating with StaFiHub. Larger projects have been unwilling to provide initial liquidity support due to the availability of alternative options.
As a result, it will be necessary to reassess our business development strategy and positioning within the Cosmos ecosystem in 2023. We are fortunate to have developed a new third-way integration strategy that we plan to test in the coming year. This strategy aims to create a mutually beneficial situation for the target project, StaFiHub, and the rToken users. By doing so, we hope to more effectively expand the reach and impact of the rTokens solution within the Cosmos ecosystem.
5.rToken User Scenarios
StaFi has created two main use cases for rTokens: integration with decentralized exchanges (DEXes) and lending protocols. In terms of DEXes, StaFi has secured a number of third-party integrations with platforms such as Uniswap, Pancake, and Quickswap. Additionally, StaFi has developed its own DEX, rDEX, to meet the liquidity needs of rToken holders.
However, rTokens have yet to be integrated with major lending protocols like Aave, despite the integration of Liqee. This is a significant gap in the rToken ecosystem that StaFi will continue to address by pitching the benefits of supporting leveraged staking and flash loans with rTokens to lending protocols.
It is important to recognize that no project is perfect and there will always be room for improvement. Instead of dwelling on past mistakes, it is more productive to focus on the future and work to make things right. StaFi is still a young project with a great deal of potential, and we look forward to building a meaningful and successful protocol together in 2023.
About StaFi
StaFi is the first DeFi protocol unlocking liquidity of staked assets. Users can stake PoS tokens through StaFi and receive rTokens in return, which are available for trading, while still earning staking rewards. rToken is a synthetic staking derivative issued by StaFi to users when users stake PoS tokens through StaFi rToken App . rTokens are anchored to the PoS tokens staked by users and the corresponding staking rewards. rTokens can be transferred and traded at any time.
