GM, this is your Daily Bolt briefing.
In today’s edition, we’re going to be giving you a rundown on Mantle Network. With content from our Notes and Insights products, we’ll go over:
What Mantle Network is & who is behind it
Why its gaining traction from DeFi experts
The catalysts behind the MNT token
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1/ Mantle - A Modular Approach to Mass Adoption
A Promising Venture: Mantle is an optimistic Layer 2 network on Ethereum built on the OP stack and backed by BitDAO. BitDAO holds the title of the largest treasury in DeFi, worth:
~$300M in stablecoins.
~$500M in $BTC and $ETH.
~$1.75B in the DAOs native token, $BIT.
Strong Community & Strategic Partnerships: BitDAO governance and Mantle’s core product will be unified. This combined with accelerated $BIT vesting schedules are catalysts for Mantle. This will spur the growth of the Mantle ecosystem with a $200M development fund.
Token Migration and Simplified Tokenomics: The $BIT token is planned to be migrated to a new $MNT Mantle token sometime in June. This will create a unified brand and better convey the purpose of the token.
BitDAO & Mantle Treasury
The Mantle blockchain and BitDAO are closely intertwined. To understand the bullish case for Mantle, investors should have a solid understanding of the investor and DAO backing behind it. Mantle is an upcoming optimistic Layer 2 network on Ethereum based on the OP stack. The project is strategically aligned with BitDAO and the $BIT token, which will be migrated to the $MNT token.
BitDAO was originally established in 2021 as an open platform for ideas and experimentation. Because DAOs can sometimes be bureaucratic and slow, BitDAO used a subDAO model to delegate initiatives. It utilizes its large Treasury to fund things that have goals aligned with the DAO. So far, the DAO has supported a variety of initiatives and pilot programs, including:
the initial and ongoing Bybit Contribution
Venture investments
Broad mandate ecosystem initiatives
Core product development led by Mantle
various other ad hoc projects.
BitDAO currently has the largest treasury in DeFi with almost $300M in stablecoins, ~$500M in $BTC and $ETH, and $1.75B in its own token.
The Mantle Core team put forward a proposal to establish a $200M fund aimed at promoting ecosystem growth. Half of that amount of capital would come from BitDAO’s treasury with the other half coming from strategic investors.
To this day, Bybit has contributed more than $600M USDC/USDT and 177k ETH to the BitDAO treasury. This is more than enough to support the development of BitDAO’s initiatives. Most notably, this includes the Mantle EcoFund, which entails $100M in funding coming from BitDAO’s treasury. Going forward, Bybit will still remain an important sponsor and partner.
Mantle Ecosystem
$MNT will play a central role in the Mantle ecosystem. It will be used as the gas and staking token for the Mantle Network. The token will implement a tokenized governance system to support builders and leverage the BitDAO treasury through contributions, and partnerships. Currently, the BitDAO treasury and governance live on the Ethereum mainnet. Because of this, the conversion to $MNT will also happen on Ethereum L1. Bridges will be used to get tokens over to the Mantle network. The team plans to implement a lock and mint model for those bridging to L2. This ensures that $MNT balances on both L1 and L2 match.
Multiple significant and established projects are in the process of, have hinted at, or have expanded to Mantle including Pendle, Pyth, Rarible, Timeswap, and more.
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Armstrong says that Coinbase has shared its internal framework for determining
2/ Mantle Twitter Space - Mantle on the Move
Preview: Arjun Kalsy hosts Jordi Alexander to discuss Mantle Mainnet, token migration, and more! Click here to listen to the full episode (70 mins).
Read our Note (6 mins) and save 64 mins.
Here are some key takeaways:
Mantle is a technology stack for scaling Ethereum, and EVM-compatible.
Jordi Alexander (Guest) - Chief Alchemist at Mantle, CIO at Selini Capital.
Jordi recognizes the hype and recognition their Mantle project is receiving, with top-tier partners starting to integrate LayerZero. He highlights the potential partnerships and the focus on creating the best combination of ecosystem partners and applications.
Arjun agrees and mentions the unique, modular blockchain stack they're bringing to the market and the growing confidence in their tech stack. He highlights the lowering transaction costs on their chain. Arjun talks about the Mantle ecosystem, and its transparency, which he believes is creating trust in the community.
Arjun says the launch of the MNT token on all exchanges, which users can use for transactions on the network. He highlights the Mantle ecosystem and the multiple functions of the MNT token, with plans to expand its utility.
CryptoRao asks what makes Mantle different from other layer 2 chains like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Polygon. Arjun explains that Mantle offers a modular design that continuously improves its blockchain architecture and provides data availability. On the ecosystem side, Mantle has a pool of liquidity within a DAO, a partner exchange, and a large community. Jordi highlights that Mantle's ecosystem advantage is what makes them unique in the market.
Arjun says that the Mantle team has been keeping an eye on all addresses interacting with different smart contracts on Mantle, and promises that the community members who helped test out the testnet will be part of the incentive programs.
Arjun says that while Mantle and Bybit are closely related, it's not guaranteed that every project will be listed on Bybit. However, if a team is able to generate traction on their dApps and solution, Mantle can help expedite things. Jordi adds that good projects will naturally get listed without needing to coordinate with Bybit.
Cryptolat voices his disappointment over the lack of incentives and asks for a confirmation of when they would be rolled out. Arjun says that they have plans for the community, but he does not want to pre-empt the official communication. Jordi advises patience, pointing out that other platforms have taken a long time to roll out incentive programs too.