Adv. Staking Rewards Transition

Panther Improvement Proposals (PIPs)
1

Hello all,

As many of you may know, the Advanced Staking program has not been distributing rewards in some time, as the duration of the previously voted-for programs has expired. With the launch of Panther V1.0 approaching, we are proposing to implement V0.5 code changes to ensure that future staking rewards transition seamlessly into Panther V1.0. This upgrade will also align with V1’s functionality as a Zone-run protocol.

We’d like to hear your thoughts on this potential upgrade; many thanks in advance.

2

I fully agree that this needs to be done. Let’s proceed with haste.

3

I agree and look forward to the continuation of the staking! Would definitely be a good motivation for hodling ZKP post V1! If there is an option to stake ZKP during the canary phase that would also be a welcome update for those who haven’t been able to stake yet!

4

I agree with this! this should be done.

5

Why asking? Is there any side effect I am not seeing? The earlier the stake and the roll out the better I think

6

It might be useful to clarify a few points on this topic to be able to make some informed decisions on whether we need Adv. Staking or any form of Staking ( as a separate/standalone tool) at all ?
When Panther is live, Liquidity requirements in Shielded pool will be top priority for the protocol to be able to actively accomodate more users, more transactions and more of Defi. And so you’d expect holders of ZKP to be actually depositing ZKP in MASP and earn rewards on the duration aspect of the reward calculation logic ( sort of staking).
Rewards calculation R :=
C1+
С2 * (spent_UTXO_weighted_amount * period_in_secs_UTXO_remained_shielded) / denominator

  • C4 * deposit_weighted_amount / denominator

This rewards calculation enables better rewards than Staking alone since it includes the C1 and C4 components which is not part of general staking.
The DAO will decide parameters like C1 ( fixed PRP on every transaction) and the general weights of each tokens in the MASP. The weights can be updated periodically as the relative price of tokens changes ( like every 3 months for example) but the DAO will have the ability to incentivize rewards for certain token more than others if they so wish to keeping in mind that it still is in an acceptable and practical range that users will economically be ready to do that.
Also, in general holding assets in MASP will unlock a lot of possibilities and access to liquidity at any given time.
What is not available in MASP as compared to Adv Staking:

  1. In the first version, there is no locking and so there is no duration based APR’s as a feature. the rewards works exactly as the formula dictates and ofcourse users will earn more rewards for keeping ZKP longer in MASP.
  2. Allow voting for staking will not be available since MASP does not have a way to ( or does not produce any proofs) to identify Stakers and the amount one holds in MASP. This means that DAO Voting will continue to work for all the holders of ZKP and users essentially will have to withdraw their ZKP to their wallet, vote on the proposal and deposit back their ZKP in MASP. this is a painful exercise and some proposal on changing this must be put in place in the near future. however, this is still better as compared to a) managing a different Staking solution and getting the tokens locked b) no access to defi/liquidity.

with that said, the proposal should be basically to make v0.5/Adv Staking cease its operation and allow for distribution of ZKP rewards ( from staking of principal amount) and the accrued PRP converted to ZKP ( from the expected ZKP rewards in the MASP for the time duration until this proposal is put) both to the users in this PIP.

7

I fully agree that a seperate staking would not be needed anymore since users would earn PRP’s purely for holding their ZKP in the MASP.

On the topic of point 2 however that can become troublesome since once a vote is put live users cannot simply unstake to participate in the vote since their tokens would not be valid for that snapshot.

Using the example of another DEFI project, they have maintained governance staking which allows those stakers to vote, while also providing other incentive based options for users who do not wish to stake ( in that scenario staking runs perpetually and stakers can unstake after a 7 days cooldown, rewards can be claimed at any time ) - Project referenced is moonwell.fi on base.

I fully support the intent to cease the previous staking program and to allow for rewards and accrued PRP’s to be distributed.

Another option related to tokens deposited into the MASP would be some sort of on chain placeholder token which could be issued for example a ztoken on chain as proof of deposit, which could be used for DAO votes. ( Example taken again from moonwell.fi where assets deposited into ‘other markets in the protocol’ result in the user being issued with an mwASSET token.

There is the obvious privacy concern - which should not be an issue since the deposit itself into the MASP is also visible on chain. Rewards earned inside the masp however in this scenario would not be eligeable without taking it out and depositing it again - so there is that complication.

8

I am with Saif and Toxic to cease Advanced staking and distribute the remaining ZKP. Let’s put this to vote asap!

9

good suggestions from Toxic. Making anything is a change so if we have to make a change ( which is an effort) ; we shall look at what would that be, in summary there are two possibilities of solution

  1. Create a new token as a proof of ZKP deposits in MASP’s and use that proof token eligible to vote on Snapshot. The number of proof tokens could be same or quadratic depending on how we want to implement it and if privacy needs to be accounted for.
  2. Create a private voting solution ( which will be a new version as it requires changes to MASP) so voting in essence can happen within MASP ( or onchain - which btw also enhances the security of the offchain voting) or MASP produces some proof that can be used offchain on application like Snapshot where Panther PIP’s are currently voted.

However, assuming this would take few months after Panther Foundation takes over, in the current scenario, PIP’s must be announced in advanced so Voters will have some time to unstake from MASP and be available to vote.

10

Sounds good, a transitional phase.
Just hope we don’t get blocked with deposit / Withdraw daily limits of $1000 :slight_smile:

11

This PIP was drafted for this topic but we are not yet ready to proceed - please ignore the dates:
Finalizing the Advanced Staking Program

### Background

The Panther Protocol’s Advanced Staking program, launched as part of Panther’s v0.5 on December 8, 2022, was designed to test key components of the Multi-Asset Shielded Pool (MASP) and reward early adopters with $zZKP and Panther Reward Points (PRPs). With the upcoming launch of Panther’s v1, which is designed to incorporate its own reward mechanisms instead of Advanced Staking, the Advanced Staking program will no longer be relevant. This proposal aims to finalize the Advanced Staking program, ensuring that all stakers receive their accrued rewards and that the program is closed in an orderly and transparent manner.

### Description

This proposal outlines the process to terminate the Advanced Staking program effective July 15, 2025. The key objectives are to:

1. Compute all outstanding PRPs accrued by stakers for their unclaimed $zZKP stakes up to the finalization date (July 15, 2025), using a fixed Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 10%.

2. Compute adequate compensation in $ZKP for rewards accrued in PRPs, as defined in Panther Improvement Proposal #9 (PIP-9).

3. Mint the equivalent amount of $ZKP to compensate for PRPs and allow stakers to withdraw it, along with their unclaimed staked $zZKP, which will be unshielded to $ZKP.

4. Upgrade the Panther DAO’s smart contracts on the Polygon network to a new version that only allows stakers to withdraw their unclaimed $zZKP and the compensation for PRP rewards, ensuring transparency and decentralization. Any $ZKP unclaimed by stakers by July 15, 2026, will become available for the Panther DAO to use in future rewarding programs.

The Advanced Staking program currently rewards stakers with $zZKP (private $ZKP) and PRPs, which are non-transferable points associated with a user’s wallet address. According to PIP-9, the first 2,000 stakers received 2,000 PRPs per stake as “flat” rewards, with additional “unrealized” PRPs accruing based on a community-determined APR of 10% until the launch of v1. Upon finalization, all PRPs (both flat and unrealized) will be calculated up to July 15, 2025, and adequate compensation in $ZKP will be computed. The unclaimed $zZKP rewards will be unshielded to $ZKP and made available for withdrawal alongside the minted $ZKP compensating for PRPs. This ensures stakers receive their full rewards while aligning with the transition to v1, which will not recognize Advanced Staking mechanics.

If this proposal passes, the Panther DAO will upgrade the smart contracts to facilitate withdrawals, ensuring no further $zZKP or PRP rewards accrue after July 15, 2025. The Panther Protocol Space on Snapshot.org will be used to vote on this proposal, requiring a quorum of 2% of the total circulating $ZKP supply, as recently adjusted by PIP-21.

### Summary

This proposal will:

- Terminate the Advanced Staking program on July 15, 2025.

- Calculate all PRPs (flat and unrealized) accrued by stakers for their unclaimed $zZKP stakes up to the finalization date, using a fixed APR of 10%.

- Compute adequate compensation in $ZKP for rewards accrued in PRPs, as per PIP-9.

- Mint $ZKP to compensate for PRP rewards and allow stakers to withdraw it, along with their unclaimed unshielded $zZKP rewards.

- Upgrade smart contracts on the Polygon network to allow only withdrawals of unclaimed $zZKP and $ZKP compensating for PRPs, with unclaimed $ZKP by July 15, 2026, becoming available for future DAO rewarding programs.

### Proposed Actions

The following actions are proposed:

1. **Finalize the Advanced Staking Program**:

  • Set July 15, 2025, 23:59:59 UTC as the official end date for the Advanced Staking program.

  • Cease accrual of $zZKP and PRP rewards after this date.

2. **Compute PRP Rewards**:

  • Calculate all PRPs accrued by stakers for their unclaimed $zZKP stakes up to July 15, 2025, including:

    • Flat PRP rewards (2,000 PRPs per stake for the first 2,000 stakers, as per PIP-9).

    • Unrealized PRP rewards based on a fixed APR of 10%, accrued until the finalization date.

3. **Compute and Mint Rewards**:

  • Compute adequate compensation in $ZKP for all PRPs (flat and unrealized) at the rate of 1 $ZKP per 10 PRPs, as established by PIP-9.

  • Mint the equivalent $ZKP from the total 450M $ZKP allocated for protocol rewards, as specified in Panther’s tokenomics.

4. **Distribute Rewards**:

  • Unshield all unclaimed $zZKP in stakes to $ZKP.

  • Upgrade the Panther DAO’s smart contracts on the Polygon network to a new version that only allows stakers to withdraw their unclaimed $zZKP and the $ZKP compensating for PRP rewards.

  • Ensure withdrawals are available within 7 days of the finalization date (by July 22, 2025).

  • Any $ZKP unclaimed by July 15, 2026, will become available for the Panther DAO to use in future rewarding programs.

5. **Smart Contract and Gas Fee Compensation**:

  • Distribute 6,000 $ZKP to the community member or entity who deploys the upgraded smart contracts on the Polygon network to facilitate the withdrawal process.

  • Distribute $132 USD in $ZKP (calculated at the market rate on July 15, 2025) as gas fee compensation for the community member executing the smart contract transactions.

6. **Update Documentation**:

  • Update the Panther Protocol documentation and staking dashboard to reflect the termination of the Advanced Staking program and the final withdrawal process for rewards.

### References

- Panther Improvement Proposal #9: [https://docs.pantherprotocol.io/dao/governance/proposal-9-launch-advanced-staking-part1\](https://docs.pantherprotocol.io/dao/governance/proposal-9-launch-advanced-staking-part1)

- Panther Protocol Advanced Staking Documentation: [https://docs.pantherprotocol.io](https://docs.pantherprotocol.io)

- Panther Protocol Blog on Advanced Staking: [https://blog.pantherprotocol.io](https://blog.pantherprotocol.io)