$IDLE incentives distribution update 4

The following is an extract of the proposal posted on the Idle governance forum.

Author

Treasury League

Background

• $IDLE token
• Governance Mining program - Jun 2022
• $IDLE incentives distribution update 1 - Aug 2022
• $IDLE incentives distribution update 2 - Jan 2023
• $IDLE incentives distribution update 3 - Apr 2023

Summary

A proposal to discuss the extension of the $IDLE incentivization, aka the Liquidity Mining, program on Best Yield vaults.

Rationale

For a comprehensive analysis of the Liquidity Mining program, please refer to the previous forum post "$IDLE incentives distribution update 3".

In April 2023, the Idle DAO decided to extend the Liquidity Mining program for three months at 250 IDLE/day for the Best Yield vaults

2. Continue the Liquidity Mining program for 3 months and update the distribution rate

Another option is to extend for another 3 months program but adjust its distribution rate.

• From 500 to 250 IDLE/day for the next 3 months

The IDLE needed to fund this extension can be taken from the Ecosystem fund.

This emission rate would affect minimally the rewards return for the BY strategy (+0.1% at current prices).

The last wave of the IDLE incentivization campaign should have ended around mid-August*. Leagues noted instead that the effective distribution rate was lower than the expected one and that there are still some IDLE funds available, ~76k, that can further extend the duration of the Liquidity Mining program.

Proposals

We will list three options as the next steps for the IDLE incentive program:

1. Continue the LM program for 6 months at 250 IDLE/day

The Best Yield vaults have been incentivised through the Liquidity Mining program with different distribution rates (3205 → 2215 → 1000 → 500 → 250 IDLE/Day). One option is to continue at the last distribution rate set.

• 250 IDLE/day for the next 6 months

At this distribution rate, the 76k IDLE would guarantee around 10 months of rewards distribution. Idle Leagues, anyway, suggest extending the program for 6 months and deciding later if to stop the campaign or continue until funds end.

The IDLE tokens needed to fund this extension are already present, hence there isn't a need to move any funds from the DAO treasury. From a business perspective

Extending the incentivization length of the LM program can be strategically smart to retain the current liquidity (mainly sitting in the DAI, USDC and USDT BY markets). Even more, now that the Best Yield and the Yield Tranches strategies can work synergetically.

2. Continue the LM program for 5 months at 500 IDLE/day

Alternatively, the DAO can decide to continue the liquidity mining program and also adjust the distribution rate. For example, the idleRate could be set back to 500 IDLE/day.

• From 250 to 500 IDLE/day for the next 5 months

Such an increase would decrease the program length and increase the selling pressure on the governance token. No IDLE funds will remain after this five-month extension.

The IDLE tokens needed to fund this extension are already present, hence there isn't a need to move any funds from the DAO treasury.

3. Pause the Liquidity Mining distribution

One last option is to pause the Liquidity Mining program, aka set the idleRate at zero, and use the tokens elsewhere.

• From 250 to 0 IDLE/day

From a DAO treasury perspective, this proposal, if approved, would impact minimally the selling pressure on IDLE and instead impact the integrators working on top of Idle.

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* For a matter of clarity, $IDLE incentives distribution happens on a per-block basis, hence some amount and calendar rounding has been applied.