[GIP1] - Guardian Validator Program

Author: Guardian Board

Summary

This proposal would initiate a staking program that dedicates 50,000 MATIC as an incentivize for the DAO to reward CGG stakers. The 50k MATIC would come from the Chainguardians' Validator node on Polygon. More info on the node below:

https://staking.polygon.technology/validators/10

Users would need a minimum of 50k CGG and must vote within the period to receive staking rewards.

Motivation

ChainGuardians has a strong focus on collaboration and supporting high-quality projects in the crypto space. As a result, they have provided nodes for multiple networks. These nodes secure, validate and maintain networks, and are rewarded for doing so. CG runs nodes for Avalanche, Elrond, Ethereum and was among the first projects to provide one on the Polygon network. The rewards for these nodes have been untouched up to this point.

The current amount of Polygon rewards accumulated by CG is over 150k MATIC. The first phase of the program begins with selling 50,000 MATIC for CGG and locking it in a DAO fund.

The Guardian Validator Program will have a multipronged effect:

• Buying/Holding for staking will increase market activity.
• Staking CGG secures and stabilizes the ecosystem.
• Polygon rewards used to buy CGG creating positive inflows.
• Locking CGG from Polygon rewards adds to stability and support of the market.
• Rewards provide incentive to current and new users.

The objective of Guardian Validator rewards will differ from the CGC conversion rewards and Community Fund. The Guardian Validator program would help balance other CG reward programs which tend to reward in stables (CGG is sold for stables). It also gives users who receive CGG rewards another option for utility, and aims to increase community engagement by requiring 3 votes per staking period.

Specifications

• The 50,000 Matic will be sold for CGG and locked in a wallet controlled by the DAO. This can be voted on or even burned at a later time. The amount of CGG locked will be matched with CGG from the DAO Treasury. These matched ecosystem funds will be used as the incentive for Guardian Validators through a staking pool. The staking pool will use the same UI and framework as the NFT staking site, avoiding the need to re-develop a system.

• Rewards distribution would be per block for a period of 3 months. No auto-compounding. The staking will take place on the Polygon network and will be located on the Staking section of the ChainGuardian site.

• Guardian Validator pools would be active for 3 months. Users would then need to unstake and a new pool could be deployed. Users must vote on at least 3 proposals to be whitelisted for the next staking period. This would average out to 1 proposal a month. There is also the capability to set the min and max amount a user can stake.

By staking as a Guardian Validator you will help in stabilizing our network and by default secure other networks that CG validates.

To receive Guardian Validator rewards users would be required to stake a minimum of 50k CGG and must participate in 3 DAO votes per staking period (High or Low Impact). If there are less than 3 votes per period a user is still eligible for staking rewards if they participate in all votes for that period.

Notes

• Though CG has decided to put these rewards to use, a portion must go towards node maintenance/dev, admin, smart contract, etc of the Polygon node before hand.
• If this phase shows success after an evaluation of KPIs then further locking of CG node rewards from Polygon and other networks (Elrond, Avalanche, Ethereum) could be used.
• An extended date of 14-30 days after approval of the proposal will give users time to horde some CGG and not miss out on initial rewards.
• Guardian Validator program rewards are not related to the Community Fund rewards or CGC conversion rewards and have no influence over these programs.

Outcomes

This is the official vote to initiate the specifications of this proposal.

1. Voting “Proceed” would initiate the Guardian Validator Program.

2. Voting “Reject” will stop the Guardian Validator Program from being initiated.

Peer Review Links

Continuing the discussion from Using Validator Nodes rewards to create a Guardian Validator Program https://forum.chainguardians.io/t/using-validator-nodes-rewards-to-create-a-guardian-validator-program/79