Thanks to Tally and the Program Admins for the comprehensive write-up. The transparency on metrics, infra outcomes, and rationale for the pause is appreciated.
Two observations on the Season 1 data that we think warrant follow-up before any Season 2 relaunched.
1. Delegation was heavily concentrated
The review notes the Featured filter “required manual adjustments throughout Season 1” to mitigate concentration risk. The numbers underline why:
| Delegate | Received via Staking Pilot |
|---|---|
| L2Beat | 78.09M ZK |
| SyncSwap | 67.68M ZK |
| Matter Labs | 63.98M ZK |
| Memento | 31.39M ZK |
| Grow the Pie | 16.21M ZK |
| ZKsync LATAM | 14.26M ZK |
| Top 6 total | 271.60M ZK |
Of 173 eligible delegates and 355M ZK staked at peak, roughly 76% of pilot delegation flowed to just 6 addresses. The top 3 alone received ~209.7M ZK, which by itself exceeds the program’s actual net new active delegation of +205M. In other words, removing the top 3 from the pilot would have left net new active delegation roughly flat.
We agree with the proposed automatic hard cap on the Featured filter. Given these numbers, it should be a precondition for any Season 2 relaunch rather than a future exploration item, with the threshold (the “X” referenced in the review) published for public review before launch.
2. Active delegation grew, but proposal participation did not grow with it
The review measures success through growth in active delegated VP (957M → 1.162B, +22%). Applying the same 5-proposal rolling window that the Active Delegate filter uses for its activity criteria, average proposal participation tells a different story:
| Window | Proposals included | Average participation |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-program | TPP-11, TPP-12, TPP-13, ZIP-14, TPP-14 | 957.76M |
| Season 1 | GAP-4, TPP-15, TPP-16, TPP-17, ZIP-15 | 968.77M |
Over the period in which active delegated VP grew +22%, the 5-proposal window average participation grew only +1.1% (+11M ZK). Expressed as a participation rate (votes cast ÷ active delegated VP):
- Pre-program: ~958M / ~958M ≈ ~100%
- End of Season 1: ~969M / 1.162B ≈ ~83%
The new delegated VP captured by the staking pilot is not translating into proportional voting activity. This connects directly to the concentration finding: with ~76% of pilot delegation sitting with six addresses, the new active delegation is sensitive to a small number of delegates skipping votes. The review itself attributes the April 30 active delegation drop to delegates becoming inactive after missing ZIP-15.