Fantom Incentive Program, how to apply [deprecated]

March 31 2022 edit
Please note that this program has been replaced by the new 335m Incentive Program with Gitcoin Grants.

DeFi protocols on Fantom are experiencing incredible growth. To help projects build sustainability, we recently announced a 370,000,000 FTM incentive program open to any qualifying DeFi project building on Fantom. Incentives for NFT and gaming projects are in the works.

Please note: The Fantom incentive program is fully programmatic. There is no decision making on the Foundation end. If your project meets the requirements below, you will get the incentives.

The incentive program is independent of the ongoing grants program supporting innovative projects on the network.

Requirements

Protocols are rewarded based on their time-weighted average TVL.

The minimum qualifying TVL will be calculated on an ongoing basis as a function of the FTM price and reward tier. As of now, the reward tiers are:

Tier 1: 500,000 FTM

Tier 2: 900,000 FTM

Tier 3: 2,500,000 FTM

Tier 4: 6,000,000 FTM

To determine if a project qualifies for a reward tier:

Step 1 – Calculate the dollar value of the reward

Reward dollar value = (Current $ price of FTM * FTM Reward for tier)

At the time of writing, FTM is $2.25. Taking the 500,000 FTM tier as an example, the reward dollar value is: ($2.25 * 500,000FTM) = $1,125,000

Step 2 – Calculate minimum required TVL

To calculate the minimum required TVL, multiply the reward dollar value by 20. In other words, the reward dollar value represents 5% of the required total TVL.

So in this case, to qualify for the 500,000 FTM reward, project TVL (time-weighted) must be at least:

($1.125M * 20) = $22,500,000

We ask that projects perform this calculation before applying.

How to apply

1. Confirm that the TVL project is tracked on Defi Llama.
2. Configure a publicly verifiable, preferably multi-sig team wallet address for reward distribution.
3. Calculate reward eligibility against the reward program TVL requirements represented by the formula: (current $ price of FTM * FTM reward amount) * 20 = Min. TVL required in $
4. Submit your project on Fantom Projects.
5. Complete the application form specifying the current TVL and showing the calculation.

Rewards distribution

Once the Foundation has approved an application, a two-month cliff begins.

• Awards are vested monthly over 12 months.
• If the protocol TVL falls below $5M during the vesting period, vesting is paused until minimum TVL is regained.
• If the TVL of a protocol that applied for a lower reward rises above the required average TVL of a higher tier – for example, from the minimum TVL for the 500K FTM reward to qualifying TVL for the 900K FTM reward – that project will receive higher rewards over the remaining vesting period. For TVLs that dip from one tier to a lower tier, the inverse will apply.

Use of rewards

We believe that builders and devs know best how to allocate funds, so there are no restrictions on how awards may be used – whether to build the protocol or even for liquidity mining.

The purpose of this incentive program is to support the Fantom ecosystem. If it is reported that FTM rewards are misused in a way that is negative to the ecosystem, the Fantom Foundation reserves the right to halt rewards to the protocols in question.

Supporting long-term development

Users on DeFi platforms will naturally follow the money and gravitate to protocols offering incentives.

But we took the long-view: we want to give protocols needed resources to create tools and offerings to retain users and stay relevant far into the future.

The rationale behind our incentive program is simple: we want projects to have resources to innovate, retain users, and build TVL. The more users stick, the higher the TVL. The higher the TVL, the higher the rewards.

Have more questions? Please reach out to us at incentives@fantom.foundation.

Updated: November 16, 2021