Smoothly Protocol

Public Good Projects Discussion
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Project Name:

Smoothly Protocol

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Project Description:

Smoothly is a tool that gives solo stakers on Ethereum the ability to pool together their execution layer rewards (tips + MEV) from block proposals. Centralized exchanges and large operators have been doing this for their stakers since the merge, leaving solo stakers at a disadvantage. Our goal is to incentivize solo staking, not only by giving them access to a smoothing pool, but by creating initiatives, like SLIDE, whereby community donations increase rewards for subscribers. Our protocol consists of two smart contracts and a decentralized oracle network. The pool fee (1.5%) is split equally between all oracle operators to cover gas costs associated with their on chain votes. The Smoothly team takes no additional fee.

Classification as a Public Good

Smoothly was designed to be sustainable for oracle operators, but ongoing operational expences have relied on grants.

  • Transparent Fees: The 1.5% fee is distributed equally among oracle operators to cover the essential costs associated with on-chain votes. The Smoothly team does not take any additional fee.
  • Incentives for Decentralization: At its heart, Smoothly seeks to contribute to Ethereum’s decentralization by incentivizing solo staking.
  • Transparent and Open Source: The Smoothly codebase is completely open-source under Apache-2.0 and collaborative development is encouraged.
  • A Solution for Now: We acknowledge that the future may introduce protocol-level MEV burn or smoothing mechanisms. Smoothly is designed to bridge the current gap, ensuring solo stakers don’t fall behind until permanent solutions are adopted.

Main Project Funding Sources:

Smoothly has been sustainably funded through:

  • A Small Grant from the Ethereum Foundation’s Ecosystem Support Program.
  • Grants from notable community members such as EthStaker and Sassal.eth.
  • Revenue from quadratic funding rounds (Gitcoin, CLR)
  • Bootstrap funding from myself.

We’re committed to keeping this grassroots, with no VC funds or plans for a token, ensuring our focus remains on supporting solo stakers and Ethereum’s decentralization.

Team Information:

Kody Sale (me): Engineer by trade, but my crypto journey started in 2014 while volunteering my GPU to the distributed computing project Folding@Home, which aimed to develop therapeutics for Alzheimer’s through protein folding simulations. Their distributed nature led me to the Bitcoin whitepaper, then later, Ethereum. In 2021, I began my home staking journey thanks to educators, and now supporters of Smoothly, EthStaker and Anthony Sassano. This “open arms” approach really resonated with me and led me to adopt many of the same core principals while building Smoothly.

Noah Figueras: Smart contract and full stack developer. Brings a passion for Ethereum and open-source software.

Social Credibility:

Smoothly’s first commit was in September 2022, and just launched on Mainnet Ethereum January 23, 2024. As of writing there are 51 validators subcribed to the pool. We have OG community members and organizations running nodes in our decentralized oracle network, including:

You can find more info through our site, documentation, github, and socials, all linked below. Reach out to me on telegram with any questions: Telegram: Contact @kodysale

Website: Smoothly.Money
Documentation: docs.smoothly.money
Farcaster: Kodys.eth
Discord: Smoothly Server
Github: Repos
Youtube: Smoothing Pool Discussion

Why Your Project is Important:

Solo stakers are vital for Ethereums decentralization, yet the incentives favor staking with an LST or centralized exchange. Smoothly aims to flip this by juicing the pool with donations and aligning the incentives for solo stakers!

How will the funds be allocated:

50% will go directly to the pool to reward subscribed solo stakers!

50% will be used to fund ongoing development of Smoothly. More specifically, research into an updated version to make use of EIP4788 which could remove the need for the oracle network entirely.

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Thanks for sharing this info! I’m curious about the project and if there’s a need for exit velocity in order for the project to work? Is Smoothly’s success at all determined by having a certain amount of validators, or does it work well for users regardless of that number?

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Hey James!

The probability of receiving the ‘average’ MEV return seems to plateau around 300 validators. Obviously, the larger the pool, the more likely it is that any one validator will hit a lottery block, but a larger pool means that the reward is spread out among more subscribers. For validators, it’s more likely that you’ll receive larger monthly ETH rewards if you meet the following criteria:

  • Your validators don’t compose the majority of the pool
  • You don’t plan on validating indefinitely

Ken Smith did the best analysis I’ve seen on the benefits of joining a pool. Check it out HERE. But, some validators love playing the lottery as well!

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Our biggest donations to date came in during the Dencun fork! Smoothly was lucky enough to be chosen by ethstaker to receive the funds from the Dencun commemerative POAP! All funds from these donations are going directly to the pool to support solo stakers! During our last reward cycle, subscribed solo stakers received 8x their expected return! Check out our updated Dune dashboard below!

https://dune.com/0xRob/smoothly