The Metis Ecosystem Development Fund (Metis EDF) is a 4.6 million METIS fund dedicated to bootstrap development, liquidity, activity, and adoption in the Metis ecosystem.
The Metis Ecosystem Development Fund (Metis EDF) is a 4.6 million METIS fund dedicated to accelerating adoption in the Metis ecosystem. The Metis EDF will be used to fund grants for new project deployments, product development for existing dApps, Builder Mining rewards, sequencer mining, and more. The Fund will be created on December 18, 2023, and will begin disbursements after the release of the Metis Decentralized Sequencer in Q1 2024. As we delve into a new period of innovation and growth for the Metis ecosystem, we believe that the launch of the Metis EDF will be a great catalyst for true L2 adoption.
We all know that Ethereum needs to scale, but that doesn’t mean that we need to sacrifice security and decentralization. Metis is committed to solving the Blockchain Trilemma by addressing security, decentralization, and scalability. In Q1 2024, Metis will become the first Optimistic Rollup to decentralize its sequencer, via the launch of the Metis Decentralized Sequencer. This will enhance security and open the door to true community ownership via sequencer mining. Lower costs, Ethereum's highest level of security, and higher scalability – all of this will come to fruition when the Metis Decentralized Sequencer goes live.
As we delve into a new chapter of Metis, the Metis EDF will evolve into a fund largely driven by our brilliant community. Metis token holders will share decision power in terms of how the fund is managed, with the evolving Metis governance program set to enable community decision making on everything from sequencer-related decisions to having a say in how grants are allocated to dApp builders that want to deploy on the Metis network.
We aim to reaffirm our stance and path towards true decentralization through Metis EDF, and believe that in the long term, the fund can grow to be self-sustainable and a public goods funding mechanism to secure the perpetual development of the Metis ecosystem.
The Metis EDF will be used to accelerate the adoption of the Metis ecosystem and its growing stable of decentralized apps. Some of the main ways in which Metis EDF will be used are:
Sequencer mining will be the process in which multiple parties lock tokens via a Proof-of-Stake mechanism, and mining rewards by helping in the block production process. The community will be able to directly participate on Sequencer Mining via Liquid Staking Derivative platforms.
Builder Mining Rewards is the longest-standing funding initiative in the Metis ecosystem, supporting ecosystem dApps each month with up to 4,000 METIS distributed based on transactions generated. Until BMR becomes self-sustainable, Metis EDF will allocate the monthly BMR disbursements.
Existing ecosystem projects that are developing new features and producing more value will be able to apply for Metis EDF funding via the Metis forum.
New dApps deploying on Metis, new native dApps, or dApps existing in a multi-chain environment, will be able to apply for Metis EDF funding in the form of grants via the Metis forum.
New DEXs, AMMs, and trading platforms tend to require initial liquidity for a successful launch. Projects from these verticals deploying on Metis will be able to apply for Metis EDF funding via the Metis forum.
Smart contracts require audits, especially if these smart contracts will hold large quantities of capital. Projects that are deploying new promising features and requiring audits will be able to apply for Metis EDF funding via the Metis forum.
Ecosystem dApps with big product deployments and/or upcoming campaigns which can prove how a liquidity mining campaign would create value for the ecosystem will be able to apply for Metis EDF funding via the Metis forum.
There are numerous sectors in the blockchain economy that will be supported by the Metis EDF. Metis aims to create a complete, composable and exciting ecosystem, and is looking to accelerate growth in multiple sectors, including:
The token distribution for the Metis EDF will be consist of two main allocations, Sequencer Mining and Ecosystem Funding, that will take place over the next 10 years as follows:
Three million METIS tokens from the Metis EDF will be allocated towards Sequencer Mining to ensure the proper functioning and full liveness of the network. The allocation towards Sequencer Mining will drive initial demands for sequencer slots, enhancing decentralization, liquidity depth and participation rate on the network until it becomes self-sustainable through transaction fees generated.
By allocating 65% of the Metis EDF towards sequencer mining, up to 65% of the EDF will be available for the community to mine. There will be a Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSD) platform, incubated by MetisDAO Foundation, which will operate a sequencer node. This will allow users to earn native sequencer yield while holding a liquid version of their staked METIS.
One million six hundred thousand tokens will be allocated towards ecosystem funding. This fund will be used to support a variety of funding initiatives, including Builder Mining Rewards (BMR), protocol deployments, product developments, liquidity at product launches, innovation grants, and more. We want to reaffirm our commitment to builders and make Metis the defacto chain to build decentralized apps.
Metis is decentralized at its core. Just like the Layer 2’s sequencer, we intend to gradually decentralize our governance too. In 2024, Metis will implement a governance framework previously introduced to achieve this goal: the Metis governance blue paper.
Sequencer operations, grant approvals, and core ecosystem decisions will gradually transition to the Metis community.
The Metis EDF is a 4,600,000 METIS ecosystem fund created on December 18th, which will become active and start allocating grants on Q1, right alongside sequencer decentralization.
