As we bid farewell to an eventful year, it’s time to reflect on the incredible journey of Persistence and set our sights on the promising path ahead in 2024. The year 2023 was full of notable achievements, strategic partnerships, and significant developments. From the rollout of dApps on Persistence—pSTAKE Finance and Dexter—to key governance proposals like XPRT inflation halving, significant chain upgrades like v8 Pacaya and v9 Katmai, and the introduction of new high-performance asset classes on the chain—Stablecoins (USDC & USDT) and DYDX, to the formation of strategic alliances with Cosmos Hub and Astroport on Neutron —the collective efforts have laid the foundation for the widespread adoption of Persistence’s LSTfi Ecosystem.
Buckle up for a quick journey through the key milestones of 2023 and catch a glimpse of the exciting prospects awaiting us in the coming year.
On-chain Traction
- pSTAKE’s TVU (Total Value Unlocked) crossed $7M on the Persistence core-1 with the launches of ATOM liquid staking (stkATOM) and OSMO liquid staking (stkOSMO) and the support for the Liquid Staking Module (LSM) to convert native staked ATOM into liquid staked stkATOM instantly.
- stkATOM is now deeply integrated into the Cosmos DeFi landscape with protocols like Dexter, Osmosis, Astroport, Umee, Nolus, Shade Protocol, and Crescent.
- Dexter launched on the chain and has surpassed ~$1.8M liquidity and $5M+ volume generated by bootstrapping liquidity for XPRT, ATOM, stkATOM, PSTAKE, USDC, USDT, and DYDX along with novel initiatives such as the stkATOM Tradooor Rebate Program.
- On-chain Persistence accounts reached an ATH of 41,719 unique addresses.
- Persistence currently boasts 44 peers and 100+ IBC channels with an average 30D IBC volume of ~$13M.
Robust LSTfi Infrastructure
- New validators, including Ledger by Chorus One, Informal, Stake&Relax, DoubleTop, The Rollup, Luganodes, Node Validator VN, Genesis Labs, Kitkat, Notional, Atlassian, RockawayX, DoubleTop started validating on the Persistence core-1 chain, adding infrastructure support and further decentralizing the chain.
- Ledger Live integrated native $XPRT support for transferring and staking XPRT through Persistence accounts on Ledger.
- The Persistence core-1 chain went live on the Babylon Testnet, intending to adopt BTC security and other potential applications of BTC staking on Persistence in the future.
- New IBC tokens like USDC, USDT, and DYDX entered the Persistence Ecosystem on Dexter with future applications like liquid staking for DYDX by pSTAKE.
- Observatory released a Persistence dashboard to track the network score, validator scores, Nakamoto coefficient, and more. With a Validator Nakamoto coefficient 9, Persistence is among Cosmos’ top 3 most decentralized chains.
- Pulsar Finance integrated pSTAKE and Dexter into its platform, enhancing user experience by allowing users to track their LST and LP positions on Persistence.
- Persistence partnered with Axelar to use their General Message Passing (GMP) solution to connect with any other EVM chain. This enables Dexter to support cross-chain swaps with the Squid Router in the future.
- The v8 Pacaya upgrade enabled the Persistence Core-1 to be one of the most advanced chains in Cosmos for LSTs. Here’s how.
- Liquid Staking Module (LSM) went live on the Persistence chain, which supports a unique use-case of staked XPRT coin-type migration from 750 to 118.
- The v9 Katmai upgrade enabled Liquid Staking Module (LSM) support for pSTAKE as soon as it went live on the Cosmos Hub. Currently, over 72,000 staked ATOM have already been liquid staked on pSTAKE using LSM.
- Proposed collaboration with CryptoCrew for guaranteed Relayer SLAs for ICA and IBC relayers for the ecosystem.
Power of XPRT Governance
XPRT governance saw a significant leap in 2023, marked by the active participation of XPRT holders and stakers in over 25 key proposals and initiatives, marking a ~300% increase from 2022.
In addition to multiple software upgrades, the key community-led initiatives such as the launches of pSTAKE and Dexter, XPRT inflation reduction, Liquidity Bootstrapping Incentives, deployment of the Persistence Community Owned Liquidity, and Dexter’s decision to align with Persistence by choosing not to launch its token, have collectively demonstrated the robustness and effectiveness of XPRT governance. The community’s engagement and commitment to shaping the future of Persistence through these initiatives highlight the strength and vitality of XPRT governance.
Here is a breakdown of the significant on-chain governance proposals from 2023.
| Proposal | What was it about? | How did it benefit the Persistence Ecosystem? |
| 12 | pSTAKE: the issuance of LSTs | pSTAKE launched natively on Persistence with support for stkATOM and stkOSMO live |
| 13, 15, 19, 20 | Dexter: the first DeFi primitive for LSTs | Dexter launched as the liquidity hub on Persistence |
| 16, 23, 35 | Lowering XPRT Inflation | XPRT inflation was reduced, and the inflation halving was brought forward due to slower-than-expected block times. Inflation was also lowered to min 12.5% and max 25%, with more emissions going to the Community Pool. Current inflation is 13.45% and remains on a downward trajectory. |
| 21, 22, 25, 34, 40, 48, 57, 60 | XPRT Liquidity Bootstrapping (XLB) Incentivization | Deep XPRT liquidity was bootstrapped on DEXs like Dexter and Osmosis. |
| 31 | More Efficient Persistence Governance | Reduced Voting Period (from 7 to 5 days) and Max Deposit Period to filter spam proposals and move faster. |
| 37, 54 | Persistence Community Owned Liquidity (PCOL) on Dexter | Persisters bootstrapped the PSTAKE/XPRT, XPRT/USDT and USDC/USDT pool on Dexter from the Community Pool, leading to dApp Traction, Ecosystem Alignment, and Community Buy-in. |
| 42 | v8 Pacaya: the biggest chain upgrade ever | Added 6 new significant modules and upgraded 5 existing ones. – Easy pSTAKE stkToken expansion – Transfer of staked XPRT b/w wallets, 1-click coin type migration and XPRT liquid staking in the future – Enable Dexter’s liquidity to be leveraged by DEX aggregators like TFM, Skip, and Squid – Simplify IBC transfers and easier onboarding of native USDC with Noble – Enable MEV Auctions |
| 43 | v9 Katmai: scaling ATOM liquid staking on pSTAKE | Added support for the Liquid Staking Module (LSM) on pSTAKE, enabling $400M+ staked ATOM to be instantly liquid staked into stkATOM and used in DeFi across Cosmos. |
| 58, 59, and 61 | #XPRTforDexter | Made XPRT the default token of Dexter for governance and traction |
Strategic Ecosystem Alliances
To delve deeper into the dynamics of 2023 concerning adoption, it is evident that the initial months were primarily dedicated to development and adoption efforts. Strategic initiatives took centre stage in the latter half, emphasising alignment with the broader Cosmos ecosystem to drive traction and facilitate growth. This strategic shift has effectively positioned the landscape for the upcoming year.
- Cosmos Hub prop 853: Achieving Alignment with the Hub and AEZ
What began as an idea sparking thoughtful discussion to use ATOM (capital) to align with projects both within and outside the ATOM Economic Zone led to a positive milestone for the Persistence ecosystem. A Liquidity-as-a-Service agreement has been established between pSTAKE and the Cosmos Hub, allocating 600k ATOM as Cosmos Hub Protocol Owned Liquidity and deploying it as stkATOM/ATOM liquidity on Astroport’s outpost on Neutron and Dexter on Persistence. This strategic alliance between Cosmos Hub–Persistence–Neutron made Persistence the first non-ICS chain to become ATOM-aligned. - Strategic Alliance with Astroport to join AstroWars 2.0
Recently, Persistence Labs announced its keen interest in acquiring ASTRO tokens to support ecosystem assets, starting with stkATOM by pSTAKE for AstroWars 2.0. This strategic initiative aims to fortify a closer alignment with the Neutron ecosystem and enhance the deep liquidity of pSTAKE’s LSTs, focusing on stkATOM on Astroport. This has positioned Persistence among the pioneers entering AstroWars 2.0.
Looking Forward to 2024: A Year of Growth and Traction
After recent building and rollout efforts, the path to the adoption of Persistence has never been clearer. With a dedicated focus on amplifying our reach, enhancing the LSTfi user experience, and strategically expanding the ecosystem as we step into 2024, our excitement knows no bounds. Over the past three years, the Persistence Ecosystem has been diligently working towards its vision of becoming a ‘Cosmos app chain for LSTfi,’ with pSTAKE (LST issuance) and Dexter (LST liquidity) serving as the bedrock for this liquid staking economy.
Looking ahead, as our product growth continues to gain momentum with the extension of pSTAKE to assets like DYDX and TIA, the launch of stkXPRT’s new implementation with pSTAKE’s and Dexter’s unique collaboration, the introduction of new features such ‘Instant LP Unbonding’ and ‘Analytics dashboard’, as well as additional pools on Dexter, our focus will shift to raising awareness and gaining traction.
“In the coming months, while our product growth continues its momentum, our focus will pivot towards raising awareness and getting the word out about what the Persistence Ecosystem is and why it stands out. Our commitment to bolstering our marketing, expanding our distribution with creator partnerships, collaborating with research firms, and growing regional communities remains unwavering. We are excited about the journey ahead and the impact we can make in the Cosmos ecosystem and beyond.”
Mikhil Pandey
Alpha for Persisters!
In the exciting year ahead, imagine the transformation of LSTfi on Persistence into a captivating ‘LSTfi super app’ —offering seamless access to all LSTfi features within the Persistence ecosystem and beyond, bridging into the broader Cosmos network through IBC.
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, and 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.
Become a Persister today!
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