[MRC-102] Validator of last resort

Proposals MRC (Mars Request for Comment)
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Summary

To ensure the Mars Hub app-chain remains secure during the token migration phase of Mars Protocol’s governance to its new home on Neutron DAODAO, the Mars Protocol Foundation is proposing that 50 million MARS tokens be used from the community pool to delegate to a validator of last resort.

Once 6 months of delegation have passed, the 50 million MARS tokens will be undelegated and burned, removing them from the total supply.

Motivation

During the token migration process, it’s possible that without this community pool delegation, the security (staked MARS) of Mars Hub could become low enough that it’s financially feasible to buy MARS tokens from the market, stake them in Mars Hub, and obtain a majority stake position, thereby enabling control of the chain.

Implementation

The Community Pool spend will send 50 million MARS tokens to the Mars Protocol Foundation multisig mars1d4rjwtsj6t3gq49yt6h854txy8cew978s4pkj7 who will custody the MARS tokens and stake them on Mars Hub, delegating to the Larry Engineer validator.

Once 6 months have passed, the multisig will undelegate these tokens, transfer them via IBC to Neutron, transmute them into the new TokenFactory MARS token, and then burn those 50 million MARS tokens, removing them from the total supply.

Copyright

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.

Disclaimers/Disclosures

This proposal is being made by Mars Protocol Foundation, a Cayman Islands foundation company. Mars Protocol Foundation engages in research and development of the Mars Protocol. Mars Protocol Foundation and certain of its service providers and managers own MARS tokens and have financial interests related to this proposal. The aforementioned persons or their affiliates may also have financial interests in complementary or competing projects or ecosystems, entities or tokens, including Neutron/NTRN. These statements are intended to disclose relevant facts and to help identify potential conflicts of interest, and should not be misconstrued as a complete description of all relevant interests or conflicts of interests; nor should they be construed as a recommendation to purchase or acquire any token or security.

This proposal is also subject to and qualified by the Mars Disclaimers/Disclosures. Mars Protocol Foundation may lack access to all relevant facts or may have failed to give appropriate weighting to available facts. Mars Protocol Foundation is not making any representation, warranty or guarantee regarding the accuracy or completeness of the statements herein, and Mars Protocol Foundation shall have no liability in the event of losses or damages ensuing from approval or rejection or other handling of the proposal. Each user and voter should undertake their own research and make their own independent interpretation and analysis of all relevant facts and issues to arrive at their own personal determinations of how to vote on the proposal.

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Interesting idea. I’m in agreement.

So how much would remain in the comm pool after this additional burn? I know there was originally 600M, then 300M was burned, then 85M went to the Mars Foundation, and 60M went to the Neutron Foundation.

So - correct me if I’m wrong - the Mars comm pool will be left with 105M MARS if this prop passes?

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currently ~173.5m in community pool Mintscan

So ~123.5m MARS tokens remaining

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Will there be a redemption method after the 6-month period for Stakers who did not withdraw in time due to inactivity during this relatively quiet period?

While inactive stake does not contribute to the governance of the protocol, I can see this causing issues as stakers are either active but unaware of the governance process, or inactive and returning as Mars becomes more prominent.

Has any other chain shut down so far, apart from Cerberus, which was a total loss rather than migration?

Has the option of taking a snapshot of stakers at the time of the shutdown and then airdropping to the equivalent Neutron addresses been considered? If so, a portion of these tokens could be used to cover this, as they are greater than the current total staked amount and would likely avoid disgruntled returning users.

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This proposal in its current form does not suggest a redemption method or any airdropping in this case of token holders that fail to migrate their tokens within the 6 month window.

A chain snapshot/export will be taken so historical data is kept for record. It would be up to future governance to then accept or deny any further claims to MARS tokens after this suggested 6 month period.

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