VIP-6 Public Token Launch

Summary

The aim of this proposal is to enable tradability and make GROW a liquid token through listing on decentralised exchanges. In order to do so, we will be minting new tokens, enabling tradability and establishing a liquidity pool.

Overview

Rationale

The decision to launch GROW to the general public comes from a desire to promote broader adoption, engagement, and utilisation of the ValleyDAO platform and its offerings. As the digital economy continues to grow and evolve, particularly in DeSci, we believe that publicly launching the GROW token can play a significant role in empowering individuals, fostering trust, and enabling participation in the funding of translational research for Climate Synthetic Biology. By making GROW tradeable, we aim to:

1. Democratise Access: Ensure that a wider audience can participate in the value and utility that GROW offers.
2. Fuel Ecosystem Growth: Enable developers, partners, and other stakeholders to integrate with our platform, bringing novel applications and use-cases for the GROW Token.
3. Enhance Liquidity: Provide current and future GROW holders with the flexibility to manage their assets, thereby attracting new contributors and users.

Expectations

1. Price Volatility: As with any new asset entering the open market, there may be initial price volatility. Rest assured, this is a natural consequence of price discovery and varying supply/demand dynamics. We intend to launch GROW at the fair market price of $0.13 USD/GROW which was established during the recent OTC round VIP-5 OTC Raise - Proposal - Discourse (valleydao.bio).
2. Ecosystem Expansion: We anticipate that as GROW becomes tradeable, there will be an influx of third-party applications, services, and platforms that wish to integrate or partner with us including new contributors and voters in our governance process. This is a necessary step in our ongoing commitment to true decentralisation of the organisation and our operations.

Who will it affect?

1. Current Token Holders: Those already in possession of GROW may experience changes in token value, enhanced liquidity, and potential new utilities. As the currency becomes more widely adopted, token holders might find more avenues to use GROW, benefiting from expanded services and integrations.
2. The Wider DeSci Community: As GROW joins the broader crypto market, it contributes to the evolving narrative of DeSci, its role in funding translational research, and its position in the global crypto economy. We believe expanding the DeSci offering will help to consolidate the field as a viable alternative to traditional research funding and translation.

What will it involve?

Bridging GROW to Optimism

Activation of the tradeability function is a very simple process that will be automatically enabled once we bridge GROW to Optimism (L2). Once activated, GROW can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies via a DEX or traded peer-to-peer. Bridging to L2 will also result in lower gas fees for transactions which we anticipate will save the DAO and its contributors significant amounts of money.

Establishment of a Liquidity Pool

Liquidity Pool Details

• Trading Pair: The trading pair for our liquidity pool will be GROW/ETH. This ensures that traders can easily swap between Ethereum, the de-facto platform for decentralised applications and smart contracts, and GROW.

• Platform: The GROW/ETH liquidity pool will be set up on Uniswap v3 due to its higher trading volume than competing platforms like Balancer. This will help to ensure that GROW has the highest possible potential for community growth.

• Liquidity Setup: We will initially seed the pool with ~300k USD in liquidity. The exact numbers are difficult to calculate but we intend to supply 20% of the position in ETH and the remaining 80% in GROW. This will be roughly 60k USD in ETH and 240k USD in GROW. Users may therefore find it easier and cheaper to buy GROW due to there being a greater supply relative to ETH.

• Liquidity Provision: Initial liquidity will come from the ValleyDAO multisig. Community members are invited to participate in the pool once it has launched and may benefit from trading fees for trades conducted through the pool.

As GROW embarks on this new chapter, ensuring its smooth tradeability is our utmost priority. The establishment of a robust liquidity pool is a crucial step in achieving this goal and guaranteeing a favourable trading environment for our users.

Minting of New Tokens

In order to provide sufficient liquidity to the pool, ValleyDAO will need to mint up to 2M new tokens. As we make strides to establish a liquidity pool, it is necessary to ensure there is sufficient volume of GROW to satisfy demand. This not only maintains the integrity of the trading system but also bolsters user confidence and trading efficiency. These tokens will by nature become distributed on the open market, furthering our commitment to true decentralisation of the ValleyDAO ecosystem.