[TIP-17] Amendment of TIP-15: Strategic Team Allocation for THORSwap Development

🔗 TIP-017 Ideation and Discussion

THE PROPOSAL

If passed, the 20M $THOR in unallocated Team Vesting will be retained instead of burned as per TIP-15 proposal.

This proposal presents a ranked choice vote, execution will be determined on the top choice as determined by the choice with most voting power support.

Voters can express support for more than one option and specify how much you support each. You may spread your voting power across any number of choices, from one to all. Voting power will be divided between chosen options according to how much weight attributed to each option by increasing or decreasing the voting power fraction.

Summary

This proposal amends the decision outlined in TIP-15 proposal, which mandated the burning of 20M unallocated $THOR tokens from the contributor vesting pool. Instead of removing these tokens permanently from circulation, we propose a strategic allocation that balances:

• The community’s desire for responsible tokenomics.
• The project’s need for sustainable growth and talent acquisition.
• Long-term resilience during volatile market cycles.

We present three options for consideration:

1. Full Retention for Extended Runway
2. Split 50/50 Between Protocol-Owned Liquidity (PoL) and Retained Tokens
3. Full Burn (as per TIP-15)

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Background & Motivation

When TIP-15 was passed, burning tokens was seen as a straightforward way to reduce supply and signal commitment to tokenholders. However, since then:

• THORSwap is now operating independently and requires resources to sustain and expand.
• THORSwap v3 is under development and demands significant engineering and product resources.
• The protocol has transitioned to being 100% revenue-backed, with expansion limited by profit margins.
• The DeFi talent market is highly competitive, and retaining skilled builders requires meaningful incentives.
• Token burns have shown limited impact on price action or long-term value creation.
• Previous cycles have shown profit margins declining up to -80% during bear markets, making sustainable reserves critical.

The 20M $THOR tokens in question represent an opportunity to fund growth responsibly rather than permanently removing strategic optionality.

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⚖️ Options

⚡Option 1: Full Retention for Extended Runway

Burn: 0 $THOR Retain: 20M $THOR for team operations

Rationale: Valued at ~$1M USD equivalent.

• Extends the runway by ~2 years.
• Provides flexibility through volatile markets.
• Enables hiring and retaining talent during downturns.

Implementation:

• Deploy a new $xTHOR vesting contract with a cliff/lock in $uTHOR.
• Maximize alignment with protocol growth via native USDC yield.
• Reduce sell pressure by minimizing emissions and auto-compounding concentration

This option prioritizes sustainability and growth over one-time tokenomics signaling.

💡 Option 2: Split Between PoL and Retained Tokens

Burn: 0 $THOR PoL: 10M $THOR to be used as PoL i.e USDC/cbBTC into a Uniswap v4 concentrated liquidity. Also can use an asymmetrical deposit function. Retain: 10M $THOR for team operations/vesting.

Rationale:

• Creates protocol-owned liquidity, strengthening $THOR’s market depth.
• Extends team runway by ~1 year.
• Reduces dependency and risk from exclusively THORChain LP.
• De-couples THOR from RUNE price correlation
• Provides sticky liquidity as a backstop, supporting trading volume.
• Encourages arbitrage activity, generating volume and fees.

This hybrid approach balances team sustainability with improved liquidity infrastructure.

🔹 Option 3: Full Burn (TIP-15 status quo)

Burn: 20M $THOR Retain: 0 $THOR

Rationale:

• Honors original TIP-15 outcome.
• Increases deflationary pressure.
• No additional runway or liquidity benefit.

This option maximizes symbolic commitment to scarcity but sacrifices strategic flexibility.

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Conclusion

This amendment is not about reversing community will, but about adapting to new realities: THORSwap has matured into a self-sustaining, independent project, and its future hinges on securing resources to ship v3, attract talent, and expand beyond “maintenance mode.”

Option 1 (Full Retention) → Longest runway, maximum growth potential.

Option 2 (Half PoL / Half Retain) → Balanced sustainability + liquidity.

Option 3 (Full Burn) → Maximum deflation, no operational benefit, runway cut, bears need to bid.

We encourage the community to weigh the long-term success of THORSwap against the short-term optics of a token burn, and vote for the path that best equips the project for growth and resilience.