UWP 02: ankrETH [Ankr Staked ETH]

Summary

This uWP is for the whitelisting of the Ankr Staked ETH (ankrETH) token into the unshETH Index. It includes relevant information on the ankrETH token, proposed parameters for Index weight, and a discussion of the benefits of the unshETH Protocol.

Abstract

Ankr is the leading Web3 infrastructure company. It has a set of different products for building, earning, gaming, and more — all on blockchain. Ankr allows users to easily stake 5+ tokens on a secure, decentralized network and to earn rewards on tokens without needing technical knowledge - among other services.

Ankr’s Liquid Staking products are among the most trusted in the industry. These portable Liquid Staking tokens, such as ankrMATIC, ankrETH, and more, can be utilized on additional DeFi platforms to earn further rewards or instantly swap them for other assets.

Ankr proposes the inclusion of its Ethereum Liquid Staking token, ankrETH, into the unshETH Index.

Motivation Statement

ankrETH is a tokenized representation of staked Ethereum (ETH) that brings several significant benefits to ETH holders. The key advantages of ankrETH:

Liquidity and Flexibility: ankrETH allows ETH holders to stake their assets and earn staking rewards while maintaining liquidity. By tokenizing staked ETH, ankrETH enables users to freely trade, transfer, or utilize their staked assets within the Ethereum ecosystem, unlocking liquidity and flexibility.

Non-Custodial Solution: ankrETH operates as a non-custodial solution, meaning users retain full control over their staked ETH. This reduces reliance on third-party custodians and enhances security by eliminating the need to trust external entities with the custody of assets.

Earnings Potential: By staking ETH through ankrETH, users can earn staking rewards in the form of additional ankrETH tokens. These rewards accrue continuously, allowing participants to grow their ETH holdings over time. ankrETH is currently the liquid staking provider with the biggest yield due to Node optimization and MEV distribution.

Simplicity and Accessibility: ankrETH simplifies the staking process, making it accessible to a wider range of users. Participants can easily convert their ETH into ankrETH tokens and benefit from staking rewards without the need for technical expertise or complex setup procedures.

DeFi Integration: ankrETH seamlessly integrates with the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, opening up a world of possibilities. Users can utilize ankrETH as collateral in lending platforms, participate in yield farming, or engage in other DeFi protocols to maximize their earnings potential.

Regulatory Compliance: ankrETH operates within the bounds of regulatory compliance, ensuring transparency and adhering to legal requirements. This commitment to compliance provides users with a secure and regulated environment for their staked assets.

Interoperability: ankrETH is compatible with various Ethereum-based platforms and applications. Users can interact with ankrETH seamlessly across different services, enhancing its usability and expanding the range of possibilities for utilizing staked ETH. On top of this, ankrETH is on many other chains like Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain, Fantom, Polygon and Arbitrum with the help of our native Bridge.

Community Governance: ankrETH incorporates a governance model that allows holders of ankrETH tokens to actively participate in decision-making processes. This community-driven approach ensures that stakeholders have a voice and can contribute to the development and direction of the ankrETH ecosystem.

In summary, ankrETH offers ETH holders a range of benefits, including liquidity, flexibility, non-custodial control, earning potential, DeFi integration, regulatory compliance, interoperability, and community governance. These advantages make ankrETH an attractive option for those seeking to stake their ETH while enjoying the benefits of liquidity and participation in the broader Ethereum ecosystem.

The Ankr team believes that a collaboration with unshETH will bring more utility to ankrETH holders, via increased yield opportunities and greater liquidity available on-chain, and supports the inclusion of ankrETH via the whitelisting process.

Benefit to the unshETH Protocol

Integrating ankrETH as a whitelisted asset within the unshETH Index offers several key benefits.

Risk Mitigation: By accepting ankrETH as collateral, unshETH can further diversify the unshETH Token holders’ risk exposure.

Expanded User Base: Integrating ankrETH will attract a broader user base unshETH. ETH holders who have staked their assets using ankrETH would now be stakeholders in the unshETH Protocol and incentivized to participate in various DeFi activities related to unshETH including minting, trading, and more. This inclusivity drives adoption and participation, contributing to the growth and sustainability of the unshETH project.

Risk and Liquidity Characteristics

Ankr was quick to enable withdrawals following the Shapella fork. Ankr Staking worked with Cubist to implement additional security infrastructure for ETH withdrawals that went into effect as soon as unstaking became available. Cubist has deployed several security upgrades to ensure Ankr has all bases covered when it comes to providing users with a safe process for unstaking and withdrawing ETH back to their wallet of choice. These upgrades include:

An extremely robust security backend to safeguard validator keys

Security features to enhance deposit and withdrawal protections

On-chain–verifiable deposit and withdrawal flows that let users see exactly what will happen before they stake

With the deployment of withdrawals we believe ankrETH to be one of the safest and lowest risk Liquid Staking protocols for users.

AnkrETH/ETH liquidity is available on:

Ethereum Mainnet: Uniswap, Curve, Pancakeswap v2, Sushiswap

Liquidity figures and other data can be found here:

CoinGecko: https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/ankr-staked-eth CoinMarketCap: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ankreth/

Links

Website: https://www.ankr.com/

Documentation: https://www.ankr.com/docs/staking/overview/

Github Page: https://github.com/Ankr-network

Audit: https://www.ankr.com/docs/staking-extra/audit-reports/

Bug Bounty: https://immunefi.com/bounty/ankr/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ankr https://twitter.com/ankrstaking

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ankrofficial/

Telegram: @ankrnetwork

Initial Target Weight

We propose an initial Target Weight of 10%. At the current unshETH TVL this would equate to $4,000,000 of ankrETH, which is 3.5% of the market cap of ankrETH. This is a very reasonable ratio that we feel will be well received by the community.

Maximum Weight

We propose a Maximum Weight of 14% (140% of the Target Weight)

Incentives for vdUSH Stakers

Ankr proposes to commit 1-2% of the value of the targeted TVL to incentives over the span of 6 months. These incentives will be split at our discretion between incentives for vdUSH lockers as part of the upcoming bribe market for alterations to Index parameters - specifically weighting - and incentives for unshETH depositors. This amounts to ~$10,000 per month. We see this as an investment in both developing deep ankrETH liquidity on-chain and in an emergent and exciting new DeFi use case for our users.

Other Notes

The Ankr team is committed to ongoing collaboration and growth initiatives with the unshETH Protocol and community. We are very eager to see the continued growth and expansion of the unshETH Protocol and to collaborate on integrations going forward.

By submitting this proposal, we hope to demonstrate the value that our liquid staking protocol can bring to the unshETH Index and the Ethereum Liquid Staking DeFi ecosystem as a whole. We look forward to working with the unshETH DAO community to advance the mission of decentralization and contribute to a more secure and resilient network.

For: Approve this UWP and empower the unshETH Core Team to undertake the necessary changes to the unshETH Protocol parameters.

Against: Do not approve this UWP. No changes made.