Retrospective Award Application
Please answer the following questions, entering N/A where appropriate:
=== Retrospective Award ===
Who is the proposed retrospective award recipient?
halzen.eth (0xa2AdFf4401813bC9bdDcA5011C7dCCA6b646055b)
What specific project or work is the retrospective award in recognition of? Please detail what the project or work entailed and the duration over which it took place.
Writing and supporting the OP grant proposal which led to the Rocket Pool DAO receiving a payment of 600,000 OP tokens (the value fluctuates, however at today’s value of $1.70 per OP this amounts to $1,020,000 USD), for the purpose of promoting rETH adoption and liquidity on Optimism L2.
Additionally, throughout the process I solicited feedback from the community, engaged ecosystem partners such as solarcurve from Balancer, and coordinated discussions (relying on the expertise of our brilliant community) which ultimately informed the strategy for Optimism liquidity on L2. My efforts in coordination helped to expedite progress with the proposal and allowed it to be included for consideration in the last voting cycle for Season 1 of OP Governance (before the Optimism DAO was taking an additional 3 week break between grant seasons). These efforts likely supported the success of the proposal and enabled the Rocket Pool DAO to receive the OP tokens and commence the liquidity program sooner than it otherwise would have.
Whilst the proposal was being reviewed, I monitored and responded to essentially all unanswered comments and questions from delegates on the Optimism DAO forum, the Rocket Pool DAO forum, Optimism discord, and Rocket Pool discord. When necessary, I solicited further feedback from the Rocket Pool community and relayed this back to delegates.
The process predominantly occurred across approximately 7 weeks between late June 2022 and early August 2022.
Are the subjects of this award entirely open source ( MIT, GPL, Apache, CC BY license or similar)? If not, which parts will not be, why, and under what license will they be published?
N/A
=== Benefits ===
How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help rETH holders?
My efforts described above supported the Rocket Pool DAO to receive 600,000 OP tokens (or $1,020,000 USD at $1.70), for the purpose of promoting rETH adoption and liquidity on Optimism L2. This allowed the Rocket Pool DAO to commence a liquidity incentives program on Optimism and attract deeper liquidity, allowing smaller holders to acquire rETH on L2 without burdensome gas fees, and facilitating larger rETH trades on Optimism with minimal slippage. The increased liquidity promotes rETH adoption and enables possibilities for further defi integrations across the Optimism ecosystem.
How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help people already running a Rocket Pool node?
A healthy balance between rETH and NO demand is required for Rocket Pool growth and adoption, and the increased rETH demand from the OP incentives has provided increased capacity for new minipools to be created, which will be particularly important following the launch of LEB8’s. Additionally, increased rETH adoption and overall RP growth increases the fundamental value of the RPL token which also benefits existing node operators.
How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help the Rocket Pool community?
The successful grant allowed the Rocket Pool DAO to fund a liquidity incentives program on Optimism, which aligns with community wishes for increased rETH adoption, utility, and defi integrations, in addition to having rETH demand to meet new minipool creation.
How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given how does this help RPL holders?
Increased rETH adoption and overall RP growth increases the fundamental value of the RPL token, in addition to the intangible marketing and awareness benefits associated with having an incentives program and greater presence in the defi landscape (which can also increase interest in the RPL token).
=== Payment ===
How much RPL is the applicant requesting to be awarded to the recipient?
750 RPL, vested over three periods.
=== Conflict of Interest ===
Does the person or persons requesting the retrospective award have any conflicts of interest to disclose? (Please disclose here if you are a member of the GMC or if you have nominated a member of the GMC for this retrospective award).
I am an RPL holder and Rocket Pool community member. I don’t believe I have any conflicts of interest.
Our brilliant community and team provided the knowledge and expertise that guided the liquidity strategy, and also assisted in various ways throughout the process.