Name of Grant
Rocketlend
What is the work being proposed?
Design, develop, audit, and run a decentralised on-chain marketplace for borrowing/lending RPL to be staked on Rocket Pool nodes.
Is there any related work this builds off of?
Not really. Some ideas are similar to Rocket Split.
Will the results of this project be 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?
All free software, licensed using the GPL.
Benefit
The main benefit is towards Rocket Pool: Rocketlend enables more Rocket Pool protocol growth by decoupling RPL staking yield from node operation in a more capital efficient way than currently available.
Rocketlend has a unique competitive advantage compared to other options for achieving the above result, such as borrowing RPL from Aave or Myso Finance. The advantage is capital efficiency. This is possible due to the unique design: Rocketlend does not require borrowers to put up any additional capital to take out their loan. The collateral for the loan is the node operator provided staked ETH (and RPL) that is already being used to run their minipools. Rocketlend thus takes advantage of the unique properties of “borrowing RPL in order to stake it” that are unavailable to generic lending markets where the funds can be used for other purposes.
| Group | Benefits |
|---|---|
| Potential rETH holders | No direct benefit, but indirectly: rETH supply and APR both increase as Rocket Pool grows. |
| rETH holders | Same as for potential rETH holders. |
| Potential NOs | Provides another method to become a NO without RPL exposure, with unique competitive advantages. |
| NOs | Similar to potential NOs, focused on improving their collateralisation ratio or ability to create more minipools. |
| Community | Rocket Pool success is good for the community. Shows Rocket Pool can sustain protocols building on top of it. |
| RPL holders | Provides another method to obtain yield on RPL without running minipools, with unique competitive advantages. |
Which other non-RPL protocols, DAOs, projects, or individuals, would stand to benefit from this grant?
Vrün and other non-custodial staking services may benefit from Rocketlend’s ability to supply RPL to node operators who do not wish to take on RPL exposure.
Work
Who is doing the work?
This is a free software, community-developed project. The principal driver and
developer is ramana.eth. An initial version of the frontend is being developed
by bartLambert.eth. Other contributors can be found in the Rocketlend thread on
the Rocket Pool discord.
What is the background of the person(s) doing the work? What experience do they have with such projects in the past?
Ramana has experience developing smart contracts that compose with the Rocket Pool protocol: Rocket Split (and the bespoke Dolphin marriage contract), and Rocketarb for example.
What is the breakdown of the proposed work, in terms of milestones and/or deadlines?
- Design the Rocketlend protocol. Deliverable: readme/documentation describing the protocol mechanics.
- Implement the Rocketlend protocol. Deliverable: smart contract(s) implementing the design, and an automated test suite exercising the implementation.
- Community review of design and implementation. Deliverable: messages or reports produced by community members and beta testers surfacing any issues with the above items. Deliverable: updated design and implementation incorporating feedback.
- Implement a frontend for interacting with the Rocketlend protocol. Deliverable: code for website that enables discovery about and interaction with Rocketlend for all users.
- Documentation. Deliverable: more in-depth documents (than from item 1) explaining the protocol, how to use it, and how to build (develop) on top of it (e.g. alternative frontends, composing with other on-chain protocols).
- Testnet launch and beta testing. Deliverable: deployment of the protocol (contract) and frontend on testnet (Holešky) and some usage by the community. Deliverable: updated implementation in response to feedback.
- Professional Audit. Deliverable: report from a professional third-party auditing firm on the soundness and security of the protocol implementation. Deliverable: updated implementation incorporating fixes to any issues raised.
- Mainnet launch. Deliverable: deployment of the protocol and frontend on mainnet.
- Advertising. Deliverable: messaging broadcast on various channels encouraging users to try using Rocketlend.
- Support. Deliverable: availability on Discord to support any users of Rocketlend with questions or issues they run in to.
The mainnet launch (item 8) should be delivered shortly (e.g. within weeks) after the Rocket Pool Houston upgrade is launched, modulo any delays due to auditing (item 7) or testing (item 6).
How is the work being tested? Is testing included in the schedule?
There is a contract test suite included in the milestones above (item 2).
A third-party audit by a trustworthy security firm is also included (item 7).
How will the work be maintained after delivery?
ramana.eth intends to maintain (e.g. hosting the frontend, providing support in the Rocket Pool discord) the project, and to update it for future Rocket Pool upgrades, if it sees significant use.
Costs
What is the acceptance criteria?
All milestones up to and including item 8 are delivered to an acceptable degree. The most important is item 8, the mainnet launch.
What is the proposed payment schedule for the grant? How much USD $ and over what period of time is the applicant requesting?
Items 1-6 are estimated to cost $40,000. Item 7 is estimated to cost $40,000. Items 8-10 are estimated to cost $10,000.
Items 1-6 are being priced here at a discount compared to market rates via a donation of time from ramana.eth.
These estimates are subject to change as we receive more information - particularly for item 7 - from third parties.
Ongoing and future costs (e.g. for continued hosting and for protocol upgrades) can be assessed in a future grant application.
Payment is expected shortly after item 8, and in advance of item 7 if the auditor requires it.
Is the applicant requesting RPL or LUSD?
RPL
How will the GMC verify that the work delivered matches the proposed cadence?
The main developer is available on Discord for communication with the GMC at any point.
The project implementation and testing will all be done in public.
What alternatives or options have been considered in order to save costs for the proposed project?
None.
Conflict of Interest
Does the person or persons proposing the grant have any conflicts of interest to disclose? (Please disclose here if you are a member of the GMC or if any member of the GMC would benefit directly financially from the grant).
No. GMC member Waqwaqattack may benefit from the grant to the extent that they contribute to the delivery of the milestones, as would any other members if they decide to participate.
Will the recipient of the grant, or any protocol or project in which the recipient has a vested interest (other than Rocket Pool), benefit financially if the grant is successful?
Yes the recipient will be paid for their time in delivering Rocketlend. There are no other direct financial benefits for vested interests. The recipient, ramana.eth, is also involved with Vrün which may benefit from the existence of Rocketlend as a protocol to direct its users towards if they do not want to take on RPL exposure.