Tldr; We are working on finding a growth partner for Siren. We are also interested in incubating something new via the Siren DAO. The input of the DAO is necessary to proceed.
The state of Siren
As always, we start with a thank you to the Siren community. The Siren project has been an ongoing endeavor, and with the public beta launch in July, Siren realized the vision for the project that was originally set forth: creating a permissionless venue for options trading.
Since July, Siren has generated ~$50M in options trading volume across BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, ARB, and AVAX options markets. Siren has proved the efficiency of the RFQ model and has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from users on the UI of the platform.
So far, the liquidity on the platform has been provided by the Siren DAO. The Siren platform takes the other side of trades and manages the risk on the book according to methods set by the Siren team. In order to scale Siren, we’re looking for external partners to programmatically price and manage the risk.
Finding a partner has been challenging, but our expectation is that, as options volumes shift into DeFi over time, market makers will become more interested in participating in Siren’s RFQ system. We are continuing to actively search for growth partners for Siren, and in the meantime, the team is committed to operating the platform using its existing liquidity, as usual.
During the past few months, the Siren team has been considering the possibility of creating a new product supported by the Siren DAO. This new potential avenue is adjacent to Siren and has the potential to be compatible with Siren in the future. We began workshopping the idea for this new project at Token 2049 in Singapore in September and have since received a positive reception from many investors and advisors.
A new avenue for exploration
The vision for the new product is to create a retail-oriented perps platform with strong community features under a new brand. So far, major perps platforms have been attracting users via short-lived rewards programs. We see a longer-term opportunity in building a strong community-first brand in the perps space, one that combines a best-in-class trading platform with SocialFi and gamification features that increase user retention beyond simple economic incentives.
Rather than building a perps DEX from scratch, we are considering whitelabeling an existing perps platform in order to launch a full-featured product with deep liquidity in weeks instead of years. A whitelabel collaboration would also allow the team to focus on creating community and gamification features that will set the platform apart from competition. So far, we have discussed potential whitelabeling opportunities with Vertex and Orderly, and if the DAO approves this proposal, we are confident we can negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement with one or more whitelabel partners.
We have explored various potential ecosystem homes and think that Berachain is the best ecosystem to fit the ethos of the new community and offer support that matches the new initiative. Berachain Proof-of-Liquidity (POL) system aligns with the goals and values of a community-centric perps platform.
To date, we have not spent any Siren DAO funds on development of a new product that we would not have otherwise spent on the regular ongoing upkeep of Siren. Going forward, we need the mandate of the Siren DAO to make a new product a reality.
Going forward, together
Our objective is for the Siren DAO members to participate in future upside from this new potential product, and in the event that it one day launches a token, a portion of those new tokens will end up in the hands of Siren token holders. We have discussed with investors and advisors about any potential legal structures, and their recommendation was to first work on the new product, let natural mutual benefits develop, and build traction before delving into those particulars.
The most important points we want to convey are: should the new product succeed, the Siren community will also benefit; and that we are still supporting and working on Siren.
On a personal note, SeaFi and I have devoted the last four years of our lives to Siren, and we owe so much to the Siren community for your support and belief in us and our team. We raised funds for Siren from our friends, our personal communities, and VCs with our personal reputations on the line. Along the way, we gathered a passionate options trading community that has championed us at every turn.
Our intention is to continue to do everything we can to find the right growth partner for Siren and make sure that, in whatever we do next, benefits will accrue to the Siren DAO. We think the best case for the Siren DAO is for you all to be exposed to potential future upside from this new product, and we hope you vote to support this potential new endeavor.
Voting for this proposal will commence on Friday and continue for five days. Thank you, as always, for your support of the Siren DAO and for us as a team.
Tishana