OpenBlock Labs - Project Update for Arbitrum STIP
December 15, 2023
Overview of Progress
In the last two weeks, OpenBlock Labs has continued to make improvements to the Arbitrum STIP dashboard. We have added more protocol-specific metrics, and created aggregate views to visualize progress across the program. You can monitor our progress on the public dashboard here.
Key Developments
Claims:
- In the last two weeks an additional ~7M ARB tokens have been claimed by protocols, bringing the total STIP claims to ~19M out of ~50M ARB granted. All but 3 of the Round 1 protocols have claimed a portion of their allotted tokens, with the majority claiming ~43% of their grants.
2. The “User Claim Activity” section is the latest addition to the OpenBlock Claims dashboard, aimed at illuminating the reward claiming patterns of users within the Arbitrum ecosystem. Key features include:
- Total ARB Claimed: The cumulative ARB rewards each user has claimed.
- Protocol Engagement: The number of protocols each user engaged with to claim rewards.
- Distribution of Rewards: A breakdown of each user’s claimed rewards across the protocols they’ve used.
- Dominant Protocol Share: The proportion of rewards claimed by a user from their most-engaged protocol.
From the data, we can glean that a small subset of users have claimed a large portion of rewards, with the top user claiming 4.12% of all distributed ARB. Additionally, some users demonstrate broad engagement across the ecosystem, with interactions spanning over a dozen protocols. The “Dominant Protocol Share” metric reveals the concentration of rewards, like the top user’s 47.71% share from MUX, which underscores the significant rewards certain users are garnering from specific protocols.
Flow of Funds:
- We continue to closely observe the flow of funds from the vesting contract, tracking each protocol’s use of funds. A dedicated form for protocols to report their address categories is available here, which aids in pinpointing fund allocation and usage. The community is encouraged to view these details here to confirm the transparency and correctness of the information provided by each protocol. This process is meant to ensure funds are used appropriately and effectively within the STIP program.
- We have updated the Claims dashboard to now track the distribution of ARB tokens through Merkl distributors, enabling visibility into the disbursement of rewards to end-users. This advancement allows stakeholders to trace ARB tokens from the initial vesting contract to the final recipient, ensuring transparency in the reward process. Protocols like Dopex, which utilize Merkl distributors for reward distribution, can now be monitored effectively, providing users and analysts with detailed insights into the allocation and claiming of incentives within the Arbitrum ecosystem.
Efficacy Across Verticals:
- The new “Annualized Fee Growth Relative to Claimed ARB Grant” chart on the OpenBlock dashboard evaluates the efficiency of ARB grants by comparing the annualized growth in protocol fees to the ARB grants claimed. The leading protocols, like Gamma, demonstrate strong fee growth compared to their received grants, indicating a productive use of ARB incentives. This metric, underpinned by a 7-day moving average, provides insights into the effectiveness of grant allocations in promoting protocol growth and sustainability.
DEXs:
- The latest DEX data highlights significant trends in TVL, trading volume, and DAU for Camelot, Balancer, and Trader Joe.
- TVL Growth: Camelot leads with a remarkable 27.58% increase in TVL, while Trader Joe and Balancer also show healthy gains.
- Volume Surge: Trader Joe’s volume has surged by 114.9%, with Camelot also displaying strong growth. Balancer’s volume grew by 32.8%, indicating a robust trading activity across these DEXes.
- DAU Changes: Trader Joe experienced a substantial 97.23% increase in DAUs, suggesting enhanced user engagement. Conversely, Balancer saw a 36.62% decline, signaling a potential area for user retention improvement.
- Volume and DAU metrics, smoothed by a 7-day moving average, paint a clear picture of user preference and protocol performance in the Arbitrum ecosystem.
Lending:
- Silo’s TVL surged by 193.52%, and its borrowed amounts jumped by 264.64%, while Dolomite and Lodestar also saw substantial growth. This uptrend, accentuated by a doubling of Silo’s DAUs, reflects the impact of strategic timing around incentive distribution, as captured by the lending data with a 7-day moving average applied.
Perpetuals:
- GMX, with its already significant market presence, shows a steady 1.57% increase in TVL, while Perennial and Vertex see explosive growths of 293.47% and 134.27%, respectively. Trading volumes are up, with Vertex leading at a 101.85% increase. In DAU metrics, Perennial’s spike by 153.24% contrasts with GMX’s 37.35% rise, which is noteworthy given GMX’s larger user base. Data is presented via a 7-day moving average for clarity.
Notably, MUX has routed $460m volume through GMX v1 & V2 since the start of incentives. Vertex saw significant volume from BTC & ETH perps markets, the two most incentivized pools for VRTX rewards. It should be noted they have both ARB & VRTX rewards running parallel.
Options:
- The options trading sector shows a robust expansion in OpenBlock’s latest data: Dopex has launched its pools just before the incentives started, causing TVL and trading volume to surge; Premia’s DAU has spiked by 326.92%, and Rysk also posts triple-digit growths in both TVL and volume. This trend, moderated by a 7-day moving average, indicates vigorous activity and user engagement in the options market.
Notably Rysk TVL has risen from $1.1m to roughly the vault cap at $2.48m ($2.5m cap). Depositors are earning significant incentives in addition to vault performance.
Overall Growth:
- The Grantee Overview snapshot indicates a robust overall growth across various sectors in the Arbitrum ecosystem. The TVL shows an 18.63% increase to $1.37B, trading volume has surged by 91.14% to $1.42B, and there’s a 15.24% rise in DAU to 15,471. Yield sectors have witnessed the highest growth in TVL at 84.41%, while DEXs lead volume growth with an 89.56% increase. DAU growth is most prominent in the Yield sector at 198.87%. Volume and DAU metrics, averaged over 7 days, reflect significant sector-wide expansion post-incentives.
