Integrate with Sei Network

Background This governance proposal outlines the integration of Sei Network, a Layer 1 blockchain, with Stargate, a cross-chain and interconnectivity protocol powered by Layer Zero. Sei is a general purpose, open-source Layer 1 blockchain that aims to provide a unique scaling solution to grow the Ethereum Ecosystem alongside other ETH Layer 2 solutions. Sei launched V1 mainnet in August 2023 with full Cosmwasm interoperability and consistently performs at 400ms time-to-finality. Currently, Sei is preparing for V2 mainnet in H1, 2024 which will enable EVM compatibility on the blockchain and even faster performance speeds.

The objective of this proposal is to:

1. Improve user bridging experience on/off Sei for both Stargate and Sei users;
2. Enable Sei to be infrastructurally connected to and share liquidity with other LayerZero supported blockchains and;
3. Unlock interchain liquidity for both Stargate and Sei users via a Stargate Deployment on Sei Network

About Sei Scheduled to be the first highly performant parallelized EVM in production, Sei’s consensus mechanism and client have undergone extensive battle-testing. With ruthless prioritization on speed and performance, Sei currently boasts the fastest time to finality of any decentralized network in the blockchain industry, achieving a speed of 390ms on its current V1 mainnet.

Sei V2 is on target to launch in H1 2024, which will further enhance the speed of Sei via a number of improvements, such as Optimistic Parallelization and Sei DB. The Sei Foundation is also preparing several campaigns and initiatives aimed at supporting new applications launching for Sei V2 mainnet.

On V2 mainnet, developers can leverage all the same applications and tools as on existing EVM chains, without any changes required. This unlocks an entirely new design space for developers in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Reasons for integration How Sei benefits: Unlock access to a Cross-Chain Ecosystem: Sei will gain access to Stargate’s interconnected ecosystem, enabling better collaboration with other blockchain networks, projects, and DApps.

Seamless Cross-Chain Transactions: Sei users will be able to safely conduct cross- chain transactions with ease, enabling an interconnected and user-friendly blockchain experience.

Enhanced Liquidity: This integration will serve to open up opportunities for Sei’s DeFi ecosystem by attracting liquidity providers, traders and users from the broader Stargate ecosystem.

How Stargate benefits: Potential Protocol Leader: By being an early part of Sei’s EVM Compatible V2 mainnet, Stargate will position itself as the premier EVM bridge for the native assets requested for in this Proposal (USDT and USDC), and stands to benefit from core bridging volume from Day 1.

Alignment with Vision: This integration demonstrates Stargate’s ability and commitment towards providing support to EVM compatible chains, and builds on its vision to become the transport protocol at the heart of omnichain DeFi.

Increase User Base: This integration will onboard Sei’s users, developers and projects onto the Stargate ecosystem, further adding diversity to an already vibrant network.

Networking Effect: With more integrations with a multitude of chains, Stargate serves to benefit from strong network effect and an increased economic moat. This will help Stargate continue to attract and retain projects and developers seeking cross-chain interoperability.

Proposal We propose for Stargate to deploy on the Sei Network as a Day 1 partner for V2 EVM compatible mainnet launch. A LayerZero Endpoint is in progress to be deployed in V2 testnet by Jan 2024, and subsequently V2 mainnet by H1, 2024.

To begin, The Sei Foundation proposes for the following Stargate pools/pathways to be enabled upon successful deployment:

• USDT
• USDC

To incentivize the launch, The Sei Foundation is committed to:

1. A 1-year grant of $1m USD in SEI tokens distributed across 12 months from deployment ($500k to USDT pool + $500k to USDC pool respectively) and;
2. A separate $40k USD in SEI tokens to be provided as gas fees reimbursement when users first bridge over to Sei Network.

Further to the above mentioned token grant, Sei Network contributors will also bootstrap liquidity by deploying $10m USD in liquidity across both USDC and USDT pools.

Both USDC and USDT on SEI are native through the cosmos ecosystem. Circle has announced that all USDC that is minted on the Noble chain will be considered native and Tether has announced that all USDT minted on Kava will be considered native.

In addition, The Sei Foundation will also commit to a comprehensive marketing campaign to ensure exponential traction of Stargate’s eventual and successful deployment on Sei V2 mainnet. The marketing campaign will also include educational components on bridging Native Assets, which aims to fuel awareness, adoption and user onboarding.

Execution If approved, Stargate will launch on Day 1 of Sei EVM Compatible V2 mainnet. USDT and USDC pools/pathways are to be enabled upon the successful deployment of Stargate on Sei.

Summary Sei Network is launching EVM compatible V2 mainnet in H1, 2024 and the aim is to invite Stargate to come on board as an early launch partner from Day 1.

We believe that a successful Stargate deployment on Sei Network will be a historic milestone that serves to achieve a win-win scenario for both Stargate users, who will benefit from additional access points for DAO revenue; as well as users of Sei Network, who will benefit from better omni chain infrastructure (i.e. Bridging to/from networks in the ETH ecosystem).

The Sei Foundation invites the Stargate community to unite in this endeavour and support this groundbreaking collaboration within the decentralized finance space. Collectively, we will push the boundaries towards a more interconnected ecosystem and decentralized blockchain future.