MIP-25: Mantle Economics Committee, and ETH Staking Strategies

This proposal is authored by Cateatpeanut and the Mantle core contributor team.

1 Background

Treasury management, specifically related to LSD and ETH Staking proposals, has generated significant discussion. While Mantle Governance is responsible for approving the macro strategy, it is recommended to establish an authorized sub-governance body to handle minor details and time-sensitive decisions. Mantle Governance retains the ability to modify or revoke these authorizations based on performance.

We propose the establishment of a specialized sub-governance body called the Mantle Economics Committee. This committee will operate under the direction of Mantle Governance, within the scope of approved strategies and allowances. Its primary responsibility will be to evaluate and make decisions regarding the allocation of Mantle Treasury assets in a risk-averse and conservative manner. The committee will function solely as a decision-making body and will not hold or custody treasury assets. By structuring it as a special-purpose committee, our aim is to enable efficient and informed decision-making, facilitate commercial negotiations, and maintain strong checks and balances among existing Mantle entities.

2 Proposal

By voting “Yes”, you endorse the following terms:

1. Authorize the establishment of Mantle Economics Committee as a sub-governance body of Mantle Governance, as per the terms below. The committee shall solely focus on decision-making and shall not hold any Mantle Treasury assets.

2. Authorize the Mantle LSD and Lido ETH staking strategies, with a combined allowance of up to 200k ETH, and Lido ETH staking strategies up to an individual allowance of 40k ETH. The committee may engage in commercial negotiations and decide on the timing and size of strategy entry and exits.

3. Other LSD projects' ETH staking strategies will be assessed and proposed to Mantle Governance for approval in the future.

3 Terms

3.1 Responsibilities

The Economics Committee shall have the following key responsibilities:

1. Periodically review strategies and make recommendations to Mantle Governance to modify the Approved Strategies and Approved Allowances lists. Any such modifications require a proposal to Mantle Governance and a subsequent vote.

2. Make decisions on entries into and exits from the Approved Strategies within the Approved Allowances. From the perspective of Mantle Treasury, the Economics Committee shall soley act as a decision-making body and shall not hold or custody any Mantle Treasury assets.

3. Evaluate strategies from the perspectives of Mantle product synergy, technical risks, commercial risks, and economic risks with a strong preference for strategies hosted on top-tier and battle-tested onchain applications.

4. Negotiate commercial terms for strategies, prioritizing principal protection mechanisms (e.g. insurance, bonding, collateral), lower fees, and flexible commitment durations.

5. Take any other actions or decisions for the purpose of any decisions or proposals that have been approved by Mantle Governance, with a focus on risk management and principal protection of Mantle Treasury assets.

3.2 Approved Strategies and Allowances

The Approved Strategies and Allowances are limited to the following:

1. ETH Staking, LSD

Max Allowance:

• 200k ETH (combined)
• 40k ETH for stETH / wstETH specifically (including LP components)

Specific Positions:

• To be interpreted in the context of the Mantle LSD forum post and Lido forum post.

• Lido stETH and/or wstETH.

• Mantle LSD mntETH.

• Direct staking with Tier-1 node operators for Mantle LSD (during ramp-up phase).

• Construction of (w)stETH-ETH and mntETH-ETH LP pairs on Ethereum L1 and Mantle L2 DEXes.

3.3 Internal Governance

The Economics Committee shall adopt a highly conservative approach to risk, and must abide by the following rules, which can only be modified through Mantle Governance:

1. The Economics Committee is a sub-governance body of Mantle Governance, and its membership, internal governance rules, and authorized scope of strategies and allowances can be modified by Mantle Governance at any time.

2. Expansion of Strategies and Allowances shall require authorization by Mantle Governance.

3. Strategy entries / deployment increase: Requires majority approval from committee members, with a minimum of 3 approvals.

4. Strategy exits / deployment reduction: Can be triggered by any 2 committee members.

Note: the above rule set is intentionally designed to prioritize a cautious approach for strategy entries while allowing for quicker strategy exits.

3.4 Membership

Initial Membership:

1. The initial membership of the Economics Committee shall consist of:

• One member representing Mantle Governance, for policy interpretation and administrative support (Cateatpeanut).

• Two members from the Mantle community and advisors with a background in trading or asset management (Jordi @gametheorizing and one member yet to be announced).

• Two representatives from Mantle product Core Contributor teams (Mantle Network or Mantle LSD).

Changes to Membership:

2. Changes to the membership of the Economics Committee shall require either:

• A majority decision by the existing Economics Committee members, with notification on the Mantle forum.

• Direction from Mantle Governance.