Persistence Liquid Staking Recap, Q3 2023

If Q2 2023 saw traction, expansion, and growth in the Persistence ecosystem, then Q3 2023 was all about ‘Upgrading’ across:

• Core-1 chain capability, security, and utility
• XPRT Tokenomics (inflation reduction)
• Community Involvement
• User Experience on pSTAKE and Dexter
• XPRT liquidity
• User Onboarding

In this quarterly recap, we look back at all the key highlights and milestones for the Persistence Ecosystem in Q3 2023.

Persistence On-chain Traction

Following the footsteps of Q2, on-chain traction continued to increase with the onboarding of new users into the ecosystem, shipping new features on pSTAKE and Dexter, and growing XPRT liquidity.

1. Persistence governance reduced XPRT inflation (new token issuance) by 50% as part of the community-driven tokenomics revamp plan. Current inflation is 15.41% and is on a downward trajectory to reaching the minimum inflation (12.5%).
2. The much anticipated v8 Pacaya, the biggest Persistence core-1 chain upgrade ever, was a huge success and expanded the possibilities of LSTfi on the chain exponentially.
3. v9 Katmai upgrade enabled the Liquid Staking Module (LSM) on pSTAKE that enabled ~$400M+ natively staked ATOM to #SkipTheWaitOnPSTAKE and be converted into liquid staked stkATOM instantly. This resulted in a significant up tick in stkATOM’s adoption and on-chain TVL.
4. XPRT liquidity bootstrapping (XLB) continued with liquidity deepening on Dexter and Osmosis. 
5. The concept of ‘Persistence Community Owned Liquidity PCOL’, a novel way to bootstrap new pools on Dexter through the Persistence Community Pool in an attempt to better align the Persistence Community, diversify the Community Pool, and increase traction with new pools on Dexter, was introduced.

Reduction in XPRT inflation (new token issuance) showcasing the reduction in staking rewards.

Expanding the Persistence Liquid Staking Ecosystem 

1. Layer 3, a leading questing and user onboarding platform in crypto, expanded its support to Cosmos by launching its very first quests in partnership with Persistence. Liquid Staking ATOM with pSTAKE and Swapping tokens on Dexter saw 2,965 new users being onboarded onto the Cosmos app chain for LSTfi, Persistence.
2. Luganodes, a leading institutional blockchain infrastructure service provider with $500M+ staked tokens, joined the Core-1 chain as an XPRT validator.
3. Shipping szn continued on Dexter with significant progress made to be more aligned with the ecosystem
   • Cumualtive Volume surpassed $4M
   • Keplr Mobile added support for the Dexter dApp
   • New PSTAKE/XPRT pool went live with PCOL.
   • The functionality to add XPRT governance support for key protocol aspects like creating new pools and pool reward schedules was submitted to Halborn Security for an audit
   • Halborn Security completed an audit of the Instant LP Unbonding feature that gives Dexter’s LPs a better User Experience while adding a new source for protocol revenue 
   • Work on building Dexter Analytics, a place for important protocol and inidividual LP’s stats, was started in collaboration with Quant Nodes
   • A discussion was initiated  to bring native stablecoins like USDT from Kava and USDC from Noble onto Persistence 
4. stkATOM continued its path to adoption in Cosmos
   • Liquid Staking Module (LSM) support went live. 
   • stkATOM was added as collateral on SILK, a leading, privacy-preserving, decentralized stablecoin by Shade Protocol on Secret Network.
   • stkATOM’s supply cap on Umee, the largest borrowing lending protocol in Cosmos, was increased due to its increased demand as collateral.
   • stkATOM went live as collateral on Nolus, a revolutionary DeFi lease platform enabling efficient under-collateralized loans. 
5. stkBNB continued to increase its presence on BNB Chain LSTfi as it went live as a collateral on Venus Isolated Markets, the biggest borrowing-lending protocol on BNB chain.
6. stkETH sent some waves in the Ethereum Ecosystem
   • stkETH v2’s layer 2 native ETH liquid staking solution was introduced to the world
   • An incentivized testnet called ‘Marvel’ was successfully launched and saw pariticipation from 2200+ users trying out L2 native ETH liquid staking on Arbitrum and Optimsim 
   • Halborn Security completed an audit of stkETH v2’s smart contracts, including cross-chain transfers and L2 minting
   • With work in full swing on implementing unstaking feature (most requested feedback from the Marvel Testnet), stkETH v2 is slated to launch in Q1 2024.
7. Persistence Labs Team attended ATOM Bali, GM Vietnam, and Token 2049..

Persistence XPRT Governance Proposals 

The Core-1 chain saw 6 new on-chain proposals in Q3 2023, resembling community-driven initiatives & growth in chain development. Here is a summary of all proposals with benefits to the Persistence Liquid Staking Ecosystem:

Conclusion

The presence of pSTAKE (LST Issuance), Dexter (LST Liquidity), and native stablecoins (USDC and USDT) puts the Persistence Ecosystem in a league of its own and one step closer in its vision to be app chain for LSTfi. Ultimately, all liquid staking roads in Cosmos lead to / interestect at Persistence. Over the last few quarters, all the building blocks of a well-oiled liquid staking economy: robust chain infrastructure, DeFi lego pieces, reduction in token inflation, and strengthening security have been put in place.

In Q4 2023, besides product development and updating the Persistence Liquid Staking Roadmap, the primary emphasis will be on Distribution. The primary goal this quarter is to broaden our community, welcome new users and extend Persistence’s reach in the LSTfi market. All hands will be on deck to make our solutions more accessible and valuable to an even wider audience, fostering further on chain traction and growth. The core-1 team is really excited to take Persistence into a new era and remains just as committed to achieve even bigger milestones.

About Persistence

Persistence is a cosmos app chain for LSTfi (liquid staking finance) with the issuance of & DeFi for LSTs.

The Persistence core-1 chain hosts pSTAKE Finance–a multi-chain liquid staking protocol for issuing LSTs that allows users to earn staking rewards while participating in DeFi primitives, Dexter–the Interchain DEX for yield-generating assets like LSTs.

Persistence aims to offer a one-stop shop for liquid staking for PoS (Proof-of-Stake) users and enable developers to build innovative applications around LSTs.

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