There is so much to appreciate about this proposal. I want to extend my thanks to Areta and Nick for their concise, thoughtful, and eloquent piece of work.
The Treasure Delegate Council (TDC) has been reflecting deeply on token incentive programs. We would like to see the Token Assembly implement a program that is clean, simple and straightforward, as true inspiration often lies in simplicity.
What I Like:
- Initial Allocations: Providing approved apps with an initial allocation upfront sends a strong signal that ZKsync is open for business and ready to support innovation.
- Milestone Payments to Apps: This looks likely to reduce the risk of Sybil attacks since there is no direct incentive flow to end users. Instead, funds can be utilized by the apps for initiatives like gas-less account abstractions, growth marketing, tournaments and prizes as they best see fit to drive growth. Empowering apps to make allocation decisions looks likely to improve the return on capital, as apps know best. However, I’d be interested to know if there will be any restrictions on how apps can use their allocated milestone payments.
Considerations:
- Selection Process: As @Omar mentioned, I’d like to see a structured approach to approval/selection, where apps must meet predefined criteria or thresholds to be eligible. This would help avoid perceptions of politics in the selection process.
- Design Simplicity: How can the program remain sufficiently simple given the diversity of ways apps might trigger “high-engagement transactions”?.
- Gas Rebate: We considered a gas-rebate program as an effective method to divert funds to applications seeing significant volume. However, noting that with such low gas fees the “juice might not be worth the squeeze”
- High-Value Users vs. Transactions: Instead of focusing metrics solely on “high-value transactions,” consider shifting the focus to “high-value users. Apps could be rewarded based on their ability to attract and retain “high value users”, with rewards potentially divided across several tiers based on their degree of activity across the ZKsync ecosystem.
- Incentives for Cross-App Collaboration: Introducing a multiplier reward for users active across multiple applications could encourage cross-pollination and collaboration among apps.
I am excited to see work continue on this initiative and to understand more of the specifics on both app and chain incentives.