This committee supports Pool Togethers cycle 8 proposal.
Pool Together is an easy to use protocol with demonstrated PMF, and even though they are native to Mainnet, they are in alignment with Optimism’s values. PoolTogether is a great way to onramp new users into the Optimism ecosystem. The protocol applies to beginners as well as experienced users and provides a secure and accessible entry point to DeFi.
PoolTogether is a global savings account with super powers. It’s a DeFi protocol enabling anyone to deposit and save funds while having the chance to win thousands of dollars in prizes every day. Even if they don’t win, they keep all their money and can withdraw at any time.
This is possible because prizes are made up of the interest that accrues on all deposited funds. Users deposit into the network, yield accrues on all deposits, and that yield is randomly awarded as prizes.
The protocol was built by PoolTogether Inc and is now controlled by the community of POOL token holders.
PoolTogether Inc has previously requested and received 450,000 $OP tokens through the Foundation Partner Fund to be distributed as user incentives for using the PoolTogether protocol. These OP tokens were effectively used to grow PoolTogether to $35 million in deposits and 18,000 unique active depositors. This makes PoolTogether one of the most popular apps on Optimism. Additionally, Optimism has become the main network PoolTogether is used on, with over 70% of all network deposits being on Optimism.
The initial 450,000 $OP distribution happened in three phases, while the third phase is still ongoing until November 15th. You can find a detailed grant update here.
Notably, PoolTogether has exceeded the success benchmarks of Foundation grant which was $25 million in deposits and 10,000+ unique depositors.
380,000 of the user rewards will be distributed over a period of 19 weeks at the rate of 20,000 tokens per week to all Optimism depositors. This represents a 28% reduction in the current $OP distribution rate. The goal of this step is to keep incentivizing the growth momentum on Optimism while tapering off special incentives. 19 additional weeks will reach until March 28th 2023 when distribution can be re-evaluated.
The remaining 170,000 $OP tokens will be used for building on Optimism in two primary ways. The first is to encourage builders to create Optimism specific on-boarding tools and websites to the protocol. The second is to fund yield source integrations with other Optimism yield sources.
PoolTogether has already proven to be one of the most popular apps on Optimism. Currently there are over 18,000 unique depositors and the protocol is #7 for total TVL on Optimism. Since PoolTogether is built on external yield sources, PoolTogether’s growth directly contributes to AAVE’s TVL on Optimism as well as improved liquidity for borrowers.
The protocol is aligned with Optimism’s public goods vision and is uniquely positioned to grow the ecosystem in a sustainable way.
Prize Savings is a global industry with >$100 billion deposited in TradFi products. Prize Savings is also a concept that works a lot better on the blockchain than it does in the fiat world. PoolTogether will be the first breakout consumer DeFi application.