I heard a lot of discussions regarding the direction and approaches for the future of Metis from our community, as a co-founder and key stakeholder of the Metis ecosystem, I would like to propose to the community what I’m thinking to move forward.
The History
Thank you, Vitalik, for reminding us that Metis’ positioning as a Layer 2 (L2) solution is geared towards DAOs. My mind drifted back to a cold winter day in 2019 when I took a one-hour train to downtown Toronto and met with Elena at a café in Harbourfront Center. I brought a few pages of paper with ideas I had sketched out to discuss with Elena, and those few pages of ideas eventually became the inception of Metis.
We aim to onboard real value-creating products and businesses onto the most viable blockchain ecosystem—Ethereum. On-chain collaborations are crucial to achieving that vision. We believe that blockchain is not just about DeFi, even though it currently constitutes the largest economic activities in various blockchain ecosystems. I wrote several articles at that time to explain our reasoning Article 1, Article 2.
Peter, another co-founder, articulated our thoughts on on-chain collaborations and DeFi nicely. DeFi serves as the financial market for value circulation, while on-chain collaborations serve as the means to create value. Both need each other to complete the economic cycle. Without either, there would be inefficient price discovery or Ponzi schemes due to the lack of value backing.
In 2019 and 2020, Ethereum’s infrastructure was not as robust as it is today. Transaction speed and fees were major issues preventing businesses from onboarding onto Ethereum, creating a significant roadblock for implementing on-chain collaborations. So, we decided to scale Ethereum as a starting point, leading to the first stage of Metis Layer 2 development over the past three years.
With the infrastructure now in place, Metis Layer 2 has been operating smoothly for two and a half years. We have over 20 DeFi protocols running on Metis Layer 2. Metis is also the first to implement and operate Decentralized Sequencers, sharing network ownership with all community contributors. Sequencer nodes earn mining rewards based on the number of transactions (i.e., block productions), creating a natural and perfect funnel from value creation(transaction volume) to rewards generation. These rewards can then be circulated within the Metis ecosystem’s financial market. Having laid this foundation, it’s time to focus on the upper-layer building.
Driving Transaction Volume
As a general-purpose scaling solution for Ethereum, Metis is EVM equivalent, supporting all types of applications. Among these categories, we need to identify which ones can drive transaction numbers. Based on industry practices, I suggest focusing on the following use cases:
- Meme Coin:
- Community members want to participate in a project fairly and find consensus with other holders. A memecoin that is inclusive, fun, and non-offensive can resonate well across cultural boundaries.
- Games:
- Innovative gaming models are anticipated, not just selling NFTs. PvP games, sports and racing games, puzzle games, social games, and other genres are what we are looking for.
- RWA (Real World Assets):
- Blockchain can connect with the real world, creating value by addressing actual issues in the physical world. Metis can help enhance transparency, improve liquidity, enable fractional ownership, and facilitate more efficient transactions, transforming traditional asset management and trading.
- On-Chain Society:
- Various use cases will emerge, such as on-chain identity, on-chain attestation, on-chain collaborations, Charity and NGOs, and the formation of social groups and cultural clusters.
How to Achieve This
To drive more transaction volume onto Metis, I suggest we should focus on the following tasks:
- Community:
- Bring back all the Metis OG/KOLs and expand our loyalty community members.
- Infrastructure:
- Lower gas costs further by integrating with EigenDA.
- Build the most secure L2 by implementing security measures in Sequencer Nodes, launching Fraud Proof and addressing concerns from L2beat.
- Incubation and Grants:
- Work with incubators like P1X, AllianceDAO, and others to onboard the next unicorn projects.
- Develop new grant rules and systems and redirect the Ecosystem Development Fund to support these directions.
- D-Seq Nodes:
- Create channels for high transaction volume projects to become Sequencer Nodes, ensuring Always-On operation, ownership sharing, and mining rewards.
- Partner Success:
- Implement an Account Manager system to better serve existing projects on Metis, helping them grow, thrive, and innovate to bring more transaction volumes and TVLs.
The Utilities of Metis Token
Metis token is designed to have utility from day one, serving as the gas token on Metis Layer 2. With the launch of Decentralized Sequencers, Metis tokens are used to lock into various sequencer nodes, providing network security. In return, sequencer nodes and LST users gain mining rewards based on the blocks produced by each node.
Since Metis Foundation has directly and indirectly incubated and invested in various projects, I suggest considering Holders Mining. This would allow Metis token holders to mine part of the portfolio projects’ tokens that the Foundation is entitled to due to its incubation or investment efforts. This gives Metis tokens additional utility and rewards long-term loyal holders.
How Can ZKM Boost the Metis Ecosystem?
The community has asked how ZKM can benefit the Metis ecosystem as a whole. ZKM’s mission is to unify fragmented liquidity across different chains via its Entangled Rollup framework and the underlying zkVM. Naturally, ZKM can help drive more liquidity into the Metis ecosystem. ZKM is currently supporting the GOAT Network, a Bitcoin Layer 2 network, which will soon launch. GOAT Network has been committed thousands of BTC into its asset pool. When Metis integrates with the Entangled Rollup framework, a large chunk of Bitcoin assets will flow into the Metis ecosystem for arbitrage or yield opportunities.
Since Metis Foundation incubated ZKM and GOAT Network and holds stakes in the project, the Holders Mining proposal would allow Metis token holders to mine part of the portfolio projects’ tokens, further benefiting the ecosystem.
Please let me know your ideas or comments regarding the direction and approaches, let’s make Metis greater again, altogether!
Kevin Liu
Decentralized Coordinator of Metis Foundation and Cofounder of Metis