Less than one month in, Treasure has already gone through several big changes. Users are able to fractionalize their treasures, farm MAGIC, and earn rare legion cards.
The MAGIC farm has been a success thus far. 60% of MAGIC was locked in the single-sided staking pool. More than 40% of n NFT’s were locked in the farm, as well as 10% of Loot. Liquidity remained strong even after we implemented the single-sided pool incentives. The percent of MAGIC in the MAGIC-ETH UNI pool remained between 13% and 27% for the duration of the farm.
Over the next two weeks, the project will immediately transition from the MAGIC farm to v1 roll-out on Arbitrum. The roll-out will feature a native marketplace, an ongoing MAGIC mine, and new legion creation. A detailed short-term roadmap, including plans for minimizing volatility during the transition, can be found here.
Most importantly, v1 will feature a full launch of the Treasure economy. Until now, treasures and MAGIC have been only connected through farming. In v1, the two resources will begin operating in sync with one another. The equilibrium process will begin in a genesis event we call The Awakening.
Previously, we had discussed the overarching relationship between MAGIC and treasures. MAGIC is required to “turn on” treasures and make them productive. Treasures produce the instruments needed for mining MAGIC.
The genesis phase of the project will establish the basic incentive equilibrium between the two resources. The incentive structure will be tested and refined during genesis to ensure the long-term viability of the project. This equilibrium will form the cornerstone for each subsequent building block of the economy.
Everything in the Treasure ecosystem revolves around veMAGIC (vested MAGIC). Users can stake their MAGIC on mines and time-lock it, thereby converting their MAGIC into veMAGIC. Vested MAGIC cannot be traded or transferred until the user’s selected time period has expired.
veMAGIC powers the Treasure economy. If more than 20% of circulating MAGIC has been converted into veMAGIC, then treasures “power on” and start producing consumables. MAGIC mines also begin emitting MAGIC above the 20% threshold.
If veMAGIC drops below 20% of the circulating MAGIC supply, then treasures lose their productivity. MAGIC mines stop emitting any new MAGIC. Equilibrium must be regained for these processes to restart.
MAGIC holders and treasure owners are pursuing very different things, but they are bound by the same core objective: increase the staking rate for MAGIC.
Over time, the economy will expand greatly, and the connections between MAGIC and treasures will broaden. But their core relationship will continue to revolve around this very simple mechanism.
This incentive structure creates a flywheel effect when things are working well and helps contain the damage when things are working poorly. In other words, the protocol is reflexively “powering up” or “powering down” to constantly regain this equilibrium. Let’s explore each loop specifically.
More than 20% of MAGIC is converted into veMAGIC. Treasures activate and begin producing consumables. MAGIC mines open at 50% capacity, and new MAGIC is being emitted.
To capitalize on this momentum, the protocol starts powering up.
Increased MAGIC emissions during power upgrades are subject to their own vesting schedules. (We will be experimenting with these schedules during genesis before scaling up further).
The percent of veMAGIC staking drops below 20%. The protocol immediately powers down to control the damage. Treasures lose their productivity and turn off. MAGIC emissions stop completely.
Powering down accomplishes two goals. First, it prevents new MAGIC from suddenly hitting the market and accelerating the price cascade. Second, treasure owners are inherently motivated to step in as MAGIC buyers and help veMAGIC return to equilibrium.
Most protocols are unable to recover from their farmed token ending up in the hands of mercenary “farm-dumpers” who crash the price below peg and walk away from the wreckage. There are no built-in buyers at this point.
The dual incentive structure between MAGIC and treasures ensures that MAGIC retains demand even after the buy-side from one group becomes completely exhausted.
After the farm, one-third of planned MAGIC emissions will have occurred. “Planned emissions” here means that veMAGIC maintains the equilibrium point, and the protocol never initiates powering up or powering down.
In reality, the protocol will probably fluctuate between power levels frequently, which means it’s only possible to describe the max supply as an estimated range. We will be able to describe the max supply range after the initial farming period ends on the 6th. (MAGIC is currently being farmed on a reward-per-token basis rather than a fixed pool reward.)
The primary objective of the genesis phase is to calibrate the equilibrium between MAGIC and treasures. As such, the full functionality of treasures and other parts of the ecosystem will be withheld until the ecosystem proves itself stable and prepared for additional stressors. Miscalculating emissions of consumables and other items at this stage would prove fatal to the ecosystem’s long-term potential.
At launch, treasure owners will be able to stake their treasures on mines to earn their share of MAGIC emissions. The greater the rarity of the treasure, the more weight the treasure has in the pool. We will be rapidly building out and testing smaller functionalities of treasures during the initial “powering up” phases of the protocol. This will allow us to observe how treasure productivity functions so that this process can be decentralized later and used by other builders.
Previously, we had discussed Proof of Work mining for MAGIC. The act of mining MAGIC will be become progressively more difficult and time-intensive as time goes on. In the genesis phase, mining MAGIC will only require owning a legion and staking veMAGIC on a mine. Soon, we will incorporate basic treasure use and begin developing a framework for more rigorous forms of labor needed to acquire MAGIC. This phased roll-out will allow treasure functionality and MAGIC mining to ramp up in unison.