[ARFC] Launch GHO on Sonic & set ACI as Emissions Manager for Rewards

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title: [ARFC] Launch GHO on Sonic author: @ACI & @TokenLogic created: 2025-03-05

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Summary

This proposal aims to launch GHO on Sonic & set ACI as Emissions Manager for GHO and aGHO.

Motivation

GHO has gone multichain with its expansion to the Arbitrum and Base networks. As Aave continues its growth across new ecosystems, it presents a strategic opportunity to extend GHO’s reach alongside it. Sonic’s DeFi sector is currently thriving, and with Aave set to launch on Sonic in the coming weeks, deploying GHO there would be a natural next step.

Sonic’s current growth is largely driven by the anticipation of its upcoming airdrop, scheduled for June. Users earn points while protocols accumulate gems based on their activity within the ecosystem.

A key part of the early GHO growth strategy on Sonic will be securing liquidity in an Aave Boosted StableSurge Pool on Beethoven, a friendly fork of Balancer v3. This integration enables idle liquidity to be automatically redeployed into Aave to maximize capital efficiency. Additionally, as part of Aave’s collaboration with Balancer, these pools will receive further support, with Beethoven allocating a portion of their “gems” rewards to incentivize GHO liquidity.

Just as with the Base deployment, a well-coordinated strategy is crucial for GHO’s expansion to Sonic. A successful launch will require close collaboration among service providers to build a strong infrastructure, establish appropriate risk parameters, and solidify GHO’s role as a key stablecoin within Sonic’s DeFi ecosystem.

This ARFC vote seeks community consensus to move forward with GHO’s deployment on Sonic, paving the way for its continued multichain growth and deeper integration across emerging ecosystems.

Specification

The proposed deployment of GHO on Sonic will require coordination across several key components:

Service Provider	Responsibility
Aave Labs + BGD + Certora	Deploy CCIP & Aave Protocol Updates
TokenLogic	Deploy Facilitator, GSM & GHO Steward Updates
Chaos Labs + Risk Llama	GSM, CCIP & Aave Protocol Parameters
ACI + TokenLogic	Incentive Program & Distribution
Aave Liquidity Committee	DEX Liquidity
Gho Stewards	Maintain Risk Parameters

ACI multisig address: 0xac140648435d03f784879cd789130F22Ef588Fcd

The final timeline and technical specifications for each component will be determined by the service providers and outlined in subsequent AIPs, pending approval of this ARFC.

Aave Protocol - GHO Reserve Parameters

Updated proposal 2025-03-15 with Chaos feedback

Parameter	Value
Asset	GHO
Market	Sonic
Isolation Mode	No
Borrowable	Yes
Collateral Enabled	No
Supply Cap	2,500,000
Borrow Cap	2,250,000
Debt Ceiling	-
LTV	-
LT	-
Liquidation Bonus	-
Liquidation Protocol Fee	-
Variable Base	0%
Variable Slope1	6.5%
Variable Slope2	50%
Uoptimal	90%
Reserve Factor	10%
Stable Borrowing	Disabled
Flashloanable	Yes
Siloed Borrowing	No
Borrowable in Isolation	No
E-Mode Category	N/A

Ethereum <> Sonic Facilitator

A facilitator will be deployed on Ethereum specifically to support Sonic.

GHO is considered to have entered circulating supply when users exchange USDC.e for GHO via the stataUSDC.e GSM on Sonic.

The initial configuration for the Sonic GhoDirectMinter facilitator as shown below:

Parameter	Value
Mint Cap	10M Units

This is to be implemented by setting the newFacilitatorBucketCapacity to to 10M.

Reference: GhoDirectMinter

CCIP Configuration

To support the launch of GHO on Sonic, the following parameter adjustments are proposed:

Parameter	Value
Bucket Capacity	+15M Units
Rate Limit Capacity	1,000,000 units
Refill Rate	200 GHO/sec

The Bucket increase is additional to the Bucket Capacity at the time to ensure the GSM can be supplied with GHO.

This is expected to support strong initial growth with the DAO and other expected to be moving large amounts of GHO through the bridge.

Reference: GHO Deployment

GSM Configuration

The below provides the initial configuration of the stataUSDC.e GSM to be deployed on Sonic.

Parameter	Value
GHO Bucket Cap	10.00M
USDC Exposure Cap	5.00M
Freeze Lower Bound	$0.990
Freeze Upper Bound	$1.010
Unfreeze Lower Bound	$0.995
Unfreeze Upper Bound	$1.005
Mint GHO Fee	0.00%
Burn GHO Fee	0.00%

With GHO being minted on Ethereum and being transferred to the GSM, the Mint() function on the Ethereum instance of stataGSM is to be replaced by Transfer() functionality. Pre-minted GHO held by the stataGSM on Sonic is to be transferred when USDC is received.

stataUSDC Revenue

A bot, deployed as part of Dolce Vita will periodically claim the revenue to the DAO's treasury.

GHO Stewards

GhoAaveSteward

• updateGhoBorrowCap
• • The update changes up to 100% upwards and downwards
  • Only callable by the GHO Steward
• updateGhoBorrowRate
• • The update changes up to 5.0% (configurable by the DAO) upwards or downwards the following four variables:
    • optimalUsageRatio
    • baseVariableBorrowRate
    • variableRateSlope1
    • variableRateSlope2
  • The initially allowed amount of change for these variables is 5%, but is configurable by the DAO
  • Only callable by the GHO Steward
• updateGhoSupplyCap
• • The update changes up to 100% upwards
  • Only callable by the GHO Steward

GhoGsmSteward

• updateGsmExposureCap
• • The update changes up to 100% upwards
  • Only callable by the GHO Steward
• updateGsmBuySellFees
• • The update changes up to 0.5% upwards or downwards (in both buy and sell individually)
  • Asumes that strategy is FixedFeeStrategy created by FixedFeeStrategyFactory
  • Only callable by the GHO Steward

Budget

Create an Allowance for GHO on Ethereum for a total of 1,000,000 GHO from Sonic instance to support the initial growth of GHO on Sonic.

ALC Ethereum SAFE: 0xA1c93D2687f7014Aaf588c764E3Ce80aF016229b

Acquire GHO and deposit into Sonic instance:

Ethereum aEthUSDT (1.00M)

Disclosure

The ACI & TokenLogic does not receive any payment for this proposal.

Next Steps

1. Gather feedback from the community.
2. If consensus is reached on this ARFC, escalate this proposal to the Snapshot stage.
3. If Snapshot outcome is YAE, escalate this proposal to the AIP stage.

Copyright

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.