Roughly 6 weeks ago Conic v2 was deployed. The launch of Conic v2 brought Omnipools back to DeFi, enabling LPs to get diversified exposure to multiple sources of yield via a single LP token. Beyond Conic’s core product of Omnipools, the launch of v2 also brought new features to Conic such as bonding, delegated voting, and platform fees. Over this period since v2 launch, we’ve had the opportunity to monitor Conic v2 in a production environment. This has been an incredibly useful and productive time for us. Not only are we happy to report that everything has been operating as expected, but also that we have been able to devise new innovations for Conic. Given that Conic v2 has successfully solidified itself, we feel that now is the perfect time to share what we’ve been working on and propose a path for Conic going into the future. The new features and upgrades outlined in this post are to be proposed through our governance process.
Governance upgrade
Conic’s governance design has been a critical part of the growth of Conic. By enabling holders to directly control liquidity across Curve, vlCNC bestows a power unlike any other governance token in DeFi. With that being said, one of the downsides of Conic governance is that there’s A LOT to vote on (LFV). For example, Conic currently has 5 Omnipools. This means that every two weeks vlCNC holders need to vote on 5 different LAVs. The Conic governance upgrade changes this by consolidating LAVs (across all Omnipools) to one single vote. This not only makes voting easier, but it also makes vlCNC more powerful.
The new LAVs will be carried out via the following format:
- New LAV is raised according to Conic’s bi-weekly schedule
- All whitelisted Curve pools across all Omnipools are included in the vote
- vlCNC holders can distribute their voting power across any of the whitelisted Curve pools that they like.
- Upon LAV conclusion, votes are broken up per Omnipool and distributed proportionally.
Concentrated Directed Liquidity
Because the new LAV system compiles all whitelisted pools into one vote, vlCNC voting power will adopt an element of scarcity. vlCNC holders will no longer be able to vote for each Omnipool’s LAV without losing voting power. Rather, holders must pick and choose which whitelisted Curve pools to direct liquidity to (distribute their voting power) out of all Omnipools. For example, if you use all your voting power directing liquidity to Curve pools whitelisted in the crvUSD Omnipool, you will not have any voting power to direct liquidity to Curve pools whitelisted in other Omnipools.
This new LAV design makes directing liquidity drastically more capital-efficient. For example, if a protocol wants to direct liquidity to their Curve pool, and that’s the only pool they vote for, their vlCNC voting power is now 5x more effective. This is because, where as before vlCNC voting power was spread between 5 Omnipools, it can now be concentrated to a single pool.
Tokenomics Upgrade
The Conic tokenomics upgrade changes the way that CNC gets emitted to Omnipool LPs. In the current model, CNC Omnipool emissions are globalized. That is, all Omnipool LPs earn CNC rewards at the same rate. The Conic tokenomics upgrade removes this globalized emissions scheme and replaces it with a governance-controlled model. Meaning, vlCNC holders will now be able to both direct liquidity within Omnipools as well as direct CNC emissions to them.
Directing CNC emissions will require no additional governance votes. Rather, it will all be determined by the bi-weekly liquidity allocation vote. During an LAV, when vlCNC holders vote to direct liquidity to specific Curve pools they are simultaneously using their governance power to direct CNC emissions to a specific Omnipool(s). For example, if during a LAV a vlCNC holder used 50% of their voting weight to vote for the ETH+stETH pool (which is whitelisted in the ETH Omnipool) and the other 50% to vote for PYUSD+USDC pool (which is whitelisted in the USDC Omnipool), half of their voting power would go to directing CNC emissions to the ETH Omnipool and the other half to the USDC Omnipool.
LRT Omnipool
As a protocol, Conic is advantageously positioned to participate in the liquid restaking token ecosystem (LRTs). LRTs are a new class of pegged assets that need liquidity on both sides in order to maintain their peg. Conic will aid in the faciliatation of this by supporting a wstETH Omnipool. The wstETH Omnipool will allocate liquidity to a set of whitelisted LRT paired Curve pools. Enabling LPs to farm LRT yields plus points and vlCNC holders to direct liquidity to the LRTs of their choice.
ETH/x Omnipool
As originially stated in the Conic v2 proposal, it was important the launch of Conic v2 takes things gradually to ensure that Conic is as secure as possible. Now that Conic v2 has proven its robustness, its time to let the genie out of the bottle. The Conic ETH/x Omnipool can allocate its liquidity to any Curve pool (as long as it meets basic requirements) that is paired with ETH. For example the ETH/x Omnipool could allocate its liquidity across CRV/ETH, CVX/ETH, YFI/ETH, or even CNC/ETH. Although the ETH/x Omnipool grants exposure to many different assets, the pool is denominated in ETH. Both deposits and withdrawals from the ETH/x Omnipool are always done in ETH.
LOTs (Liquid Omnipool Tokens)
LOTs are an innovative new product that will be home to the Conic ecosystem.
- LOTs are backed by tokens held in a Conic Omnipool and are fully composable ERC-20 tokens.
- LOTs provide major gas savings for LPs by enabling users to farm Conic yield without having to deposit into an Omnipool (swapping for a Liquid Omnipool Token instead).
- LOTs provide a unique yield profile via a pick-and-choose system. Holders must select which tokens they want to earn yield in (CNC, CRV, CVX, ETH or a mix). This system not only provides further gas savings but also enables holders to increase their yield in the asset they want. For example, if a user chooses to earn all their yield in CNC, the other yield tokens earned by the underlying Omnipool will go to the other Liquid Omnipool Token holders who select to earn them.