PIP-45 l Introducing PRL, the MIMO Token Upgrade

Summary: The proposal aims to introduce and deploy PRL, the upgraded version of the MIMO token, the governance token of the Parallel Protocol.

Context: In October 2024 we published a post in the governance forum, with the aim of discussing and exploring a potential upgrade of the MIMO token, the governance token of the Parallel. Following positive feedback from DAO members and a successful internal Proof-of-Concept we decided to develop the MIMO token upgrade.

Introduced in 2021 with the launch of the Parallel protocol, the MIMO token is the governance token that controls the protocol in all its aspects. However, many people confused Mimo Labs, the company that initially developed the Parallel protocol, with the Parallel protocol; partly due to the ticker of the governance token being MIMO. With the primary aim of consolidating the Parallel protocol brand, we propose to migrate the MIMO token to a new governance token.

Rationale:

Motivations: The proposal is motivated by several considerations, especially brand harmonization, in line with the upcoming soft visual rebranding; upgrade tokens capabilities, including permit & an unified secure bridging module; as well as increasing token attractivity in order to revitalize the protocol in correlation with upcoming new tokenomics.

The technical implementation can be found here: https://github.com/parallel-protocol/parallel-prl/tree/main

PRL Token: The new token will be called 'PRL'. It will be natively deployed on Ethereum (with crosschain features, detailed later) and will inherit OpenZeppelin's ERC20 standard and ERC20Permit. It will have a total supply of 1,000,000,000 tokens, fully minted at token deployment (and deposited in the PrincipalMigrationContract). The PRL total supply will be the same as the MIMO total supply, allowing a 1:1 conversion for users. Moreover, the token will be entirely immutable, with the impossibility of minting more tokens or pausing transfers.

Token specifications:

• Name: Parallel Governance Token
• Symbol: PRL
• Native blockchain deployed: Ethereum
• Total Supply: 1,000,000,000
• Decimals: 18
• Permit: Yes
• Pause function: No
• Admin function: No
• Mint function No

PRL Technical Architecture: Technical Architecture:

LayerZero Infrastructure: LayerZero is an immutable, censorship-resistant, and permissionless smart contract protocol that enables anyone to send, verify, and execute arbitrary messages on a supported blockchain. Using smart contracts deployed on each chain, in combination with Decentralized Verifier Networks (DVNs) and Executors, LayerZero enables different blockchains to seamlessly interact with one another. In LayerZero, message verification and execution are separated into two distinct phases, providing developers with more control over their application's security configuration and independent execution.

Decentralized Verifier Networks (DVNs): DVNs verify cross-chain messages. This permissionless role empowers any entity capable of verifying cross-chain data packets to join LayerZero as a DVN. Any native bridge, third-party bridge, middle chain, oracle, or other verification method may be used as a DVN, thereby avoiding vendor lock-in at the security level. As LayerZero has a modular design, application owners can combine DVNs to maximize verification for characteristics like security, cost, speed, or any parameter an application might want. In other words, LayerZero allows applications to configure any number and type of decentralized verifier networks (DVNs) to verify their cross-chain messages.

Permissionless Execution (executors): Any entity can run an Executor, as it is an entirely permissionless role. The Executor ensures the smooth execution of a message on the destination chain by offering gas abstraction to the end-user. Executors do this by quoting end-users on the source chain in the source chain gas token while executing the transaction automatically on the destination chain. Much like applications can select a DVN set, they can also configure their application to choose a certain Executor or group of Executors. Applications also have the ability to build and run their own executor (as they can for DVNs) or operate without an Executor and have end-users manually invoke ‘lzReceive’ via LayerZero Scan.

Bridging Module Specifications:

• OFT Standard:
  • The PRL bridging module is following the Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) Standard created by LayerZero. It means that the bridged PRL will be an OFT on every chain. You can find more information about it here.
• Modular Security Stack:
  • Entirely controlled by the DAO: The bridging module is entirely managed by the DAO. Nobody else can change the parameters chosen by the DAO apart from itself.
  • Decentralized Verifier Networks (DVNs): X of Y of N allows the DAO to designate a quorum of DVNs to check the integrity of a cross-chain message before signing off on a message’s validity. X of Y of N allows the DAO to combine DVNs however they like. For instance, a “1 of 3 of 5” combination of DVNs would include one required DVN and two arbitrary DVNs out of a total of five to verify a message before moving on to execution. This means that if two DVNs outside the required DVN were unresponsive out of five, message flow could continue, greatly aiding liveness and reducing reliance on a single bridge to zero. Let's imagine that one of the required DVNs fails (offline, hacked). In this case, the transactions will be automatically reverted, causing no problems for the protocol. The DAO can then vote to change this DVN for another.
  • Executors: Thanks to the permissionless nature of Executors, even if all automatic executors are down it's still possible for the user to execute the transaction himself by manually invoke 'lzReceive' with transaction data on the destination chain, either using LayerZero Scan or the destination blockchain block explorer.
• Extensible:
  • Let’s say the PRL bridging module is deployed on 3 blockchains, thanks to the bridging infrastructure users will be able to bridge from chain A to chain C, then to chain C to chain B, without having to bridge back to chain A. In other words, the bridging module acts as a mesh network where each blockchain can interact with each other, rather than as a network centralized around a single chain. This increases simplicity, efficiency and reduces the costs associated with bridging.
• Pause/Unpause:
  • To make the protocol more secure in case of a problem, we've added the possibility to pause the PRL ‘burn’ function. This function can be called by emergency guardians as well as by the DAO via a vote. The ‘burn’ function can be deactivated and reactivated via the 'pause' and 'unpause' functions.

Bridging Module Implementation:

• Due to Snapshot Limitations this part of the proposal has been removed. Full proposal can be found on the governance forum.
• TL;DR: Deployment on several chains
  • Ethereum
  • Polygon PoS
  • Arbitrum
  • Optimism
  • Base
  • Sonic

Audits: The PRL codebase, including the migration architecture and the bridging module have been extensively audited by 2 different audit companies:

• Bail Security: report
• Zenith: report

MIMO -> PRL Migration: The total MIMO token supply is 1,000,000,000 tokens. As the PRL token will also have a supply of 1,000,000,000 tokens, we propose a 1:1 migration (1 MIMO -> 1 PRL). This means there will be no new token inflation, and no prejudice to current and future token holders. In order to not penalize any MIMO holders, we built the migration module without the possibility of setting a migration deadline, allowing MIMO token holders to migrate to the PRL token without any deadline. However, the MIMO -> PRL migration will be definitive, and it will be impossible to perform the reverse migration once it has been completed. The DAO will also be able to pause/unpause migration contracts on each chain.

MIMO tokens currently locked as vMIMO on Ethereum & Polygon PoS will be unlocked in order to let holders migrate to the PRL token. Following the multichain[.]org hack in 2023, holders of MIMO tokens on Fantom found themselves unable to bridge their tokens back to Ethereum. Thanks to the crosschain PRL migration architecture, MIMO blocked on Fantom will also be migrated to PRL on any chain, enabling holders to regain full possession of their tokens.

Ethereum Migration Workflow:

Chain A -> Ethereum Migration Workflow:

Chain A -> X Migration Workflow:

Means:

• Human Resources: Multisig signers will need to sign transactions to execute the proposal.
• Treasury Resources: There will be no treasury resources needed to execute the proposal.

Technical implementation:

• Due to Snapshot Limitations this part of the proposal has been removed. Full proposal can be found on the governance forum.

Voting Options:

• For the Token Upgrade
• Against/Rework the proposal
• Abstain

Author(s): Cooper Labs