Summary

This proposal seeks to cease emissions of $LORDS to Realms NFT holders through the current delegation system at the launch of Eternum Season 1 (S1). $LORDS will instead be earmarked for distribution through seasonal Eternum prize pools for a 12-month period.

Background

BIP-75 sought to end emissions to delegated Realms NFTs as of the 25th January 2025, but was voted down by the DAO due to concerns around market dynamics, governance risk, and the lack of a written plan to distribute rewards through other avenues. This BIP attempts to reach compromise by addressing these concerns while maintaining the core goal of reducing and redirecting emissions.

Currently, Realms NFTs that have been bridged to Starknet and are delegated to vote receive 49 $LORDS per week, streamed per block to the owning wallet and claimable at any time. At the time of writing, this equates to an emissions rate of ~245,000 $LORDS per week or ~12.7 million $LORDS per year. Early whitepaper versions discussed the potential to change or cease staking emissions when Eternum reached mainnet, and BIP-19 states that “the [staking rewards] program will end when the Lordship Protocol is fully operational”. With the Lordship Protocol now active, the successful launch and conclusion of Eternum S0, and plans to launch Eternum S1 in March 2025, the time has come to reconsider emissions and the future of $LORDS in the Realms Autonomous World (RAW).

Important Note: While other forms of distribution to Realms NFTs were considered as part of this BIP, there are some regulatory concerns regarding dividend distributions under the DAO’s status as a not-for-profit limited liability company. This BIP does not limit consideration of other forms of distribution to Realms NFT holders in the future.

Proposal

Cease emissions of $LORDS to Realms NFT holders on the day of launch of Eternum S1 (currently estimated for March 2025). From the date of launch, $LORDS emissions will instead be distributed through seasonal Eternum prize pools according to the following rules:

• 6 million $LORDS tokens from the DAO Treasury will be earmarked for distribution through Eternum prize pools over a period of 12 months from the date of Eternum S1 launch.
• These tokens will be streamed per block (at an equivalent rate to 6 million $LORDS per year) to a ‘prize pool fund’ which will accumulate until the launch date of the next season (S2), at which point the DAO-funded portion of the prize pool for that season is set and accumulation for the following season begins again from zero.
• This cycle will continue for 12 months and is independent of the number of seasons launched in that time.
• The prize pool for Eternum S1 will be determined through a separate BIP.

Reasoning

This BIP marks a transition out of the ‘onboarding’ phase for the RAW. As mentioned in early DAO discussions and BIP-19, passive rewards through staking and delegation are now due to end with the successful mainnet launch of Eternum and the implementation of the Lordship Protocol. As a first step, emissions will be directed towards active participants through Eternum seasonal prize pools to incentivise growth of the flagship game.

This BIP aims to reduce the current inflationary impact of emissions from ~7.5% per year to roughly 3.5% per year. This is expected to slightly ease downward pressure on $LORDS token price to the benefit of the RAW ecosystem.

BIP-75 raised concerns about destabilisation of market dynamics should passive emissions cease immediately. This BIP instead targets the launch of S1 (estimated to be 6-8 weeks from the date of this proposal) for the shift in emissions, with the aim of allowing time for market participants to adjust to the change. This also allows for passive emissions to continue to incentivise holders in the event there are any unexpected delays in the launch.

It was also considered whether this change should be implemented from the end of S1 rather than launch to allow the community to assess the success of the season prior to the proposed emissions change. However, there is a risk that some players may collude to never end the season, allowing passive emissions to continue indefinitely. This is also the reason that this BIP dictates that prize pool totals will be defined at the start of each season, rather than the end, as we do not want players to delay ending the game for a larger prize.

Execution

Pending the approval of this BIP, emissions to delegated Realms NFTs will be ceased on the date of launch of Eternum S1. On the same day, emissions to the seasonal prize pool will begin at a rate of 6 million $LORDS per year and will end after 12 months unless the DAO agrees to a new system via BIP. The number of $LORDS accumulated in the pool on the launch dates of seasons within this 12-month period will define the DAO-funded prize pool for that season, and will begin accumulating again from zero in preparation for the subsequent season. The prize pool for S1 is exempted from this system and will be funded by a separate BIP.

Approval of this BIP will overrule the outcomes of BIP-77 and BIP-79.