What is Flare?

Flare is an EVM smart contract platform with two enshrined data acquisition protocols. Flare Time Series Oracle (FTSO) provides real-time pricing data for up to 1000 different assets and Flare Data Connector (FDC) which bridges information from deterministic web3 and web2 data sources in a decentralized manner. Both oracles provide core interoperability building blocks for securely connecting multiple independent blockchain and non-blockchain based ecosystems providing efficient information and value bridges between them.

Project background

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to invite teams and projects with existing knowledge of cross-chain interoperability and economic protocol design to present a proposal for a liquid staking & restaking protocol that enables, initially, XRP holders to stake both their XRP directly on XRPL and bridged XRP on Flare (FXRP) to secure various 3rd party services (oracles, layer 2’s, bridges, oracles, etc.). The service must then plan to be rolled out to other non smart contract networks such as Bitcoin and Doge and their bridged Flare counterparts (FBTC & FDOGE). The whole system should run and settle in a fully permissionless way on the Flare Network and be able to secure a wide range of different protocols running on other networks connected to Flare with resolution for deterministic slashing being provided via FDC.

Project requirements and scope

The proposal submission will only be required to detail specifics with regards to the first deployment which targets XRP and XRPL. 

• Design, build and operate a liquid staking system on Flare that secures 3rd party applications (oracles, L2s, DVNs, etc.) on other networks using slashing based on FDC for a broad set of project use cases and slashable predefined events that allows easy extensibility to generic events and is not limited to just a few violations.
• Design and build an information bridge utilizing FDC for bringing information about slashable events to Flare (the hub of the protocol).
• Design and build a permissionless approach to slash tokens directly on the XRPL according to the smart contract resolution on Flare. We expect the implementation to go over multiple iterations, each one successively improving the performance and security aspects. Multisig is appropriate for an MVP but is not deemed sufficiently secure for the final version. We envision that a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE)-based security mechanism might offer the best balance.
• Design and build full tokenomics for the staking token: bonding/unbonding periods, premiums, slashing parameters, initial distribution, incentivization and fee structure, together with a proposal for the secondary market.
• Design and build the governance structure for the whole protocol that will take care of protocol, parameter changes and upgrades.
• Design and build a resolution mechanism for slashing “soft” violations that cannot be defined deterministically up front but inevitably arise during the operation of 3rd party protocols (black swan events, unresponsiveness of external protocols, etc.).
• Present and run a long-term business plan for the whole liquid restaking solution:
  • Incentivization of different participants.
  • Incentivization and acquisition of protocols that will build upon and use the staking solution.
  • Marketing, user acquisition, long-range stability of solution.
  • Upgrades to the protocol (inclusion of other base tokens, generalizations, etc.)
  • Provide KPIs and metrics for crucial stages of the business side of protocol development.
  • Provide examples where the team has successfully executed a project in a similar domain.

Bid and Proposal Deadline

The RFP deadline is 15th January 2025. Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the Flare Foundation will be reaching out to applicants submitting before the deadline to gather additional information and give feedback on how to improve the proposal.

The expected deadline for the built product is the end of Q2 2025, with partial POC available before that.

Budget

The RFP will be funded with a grant of 500,000 USD, valued at the date of the grant,  payable in FLR by Flare co-founder Hugo Philion against agreed milestones. Additional grants may be offered by the Flare Foundation and other entities interested in the success of the project for specific milestones and products that arise as part of the build.

Flare specific support

Flare Foundation will provide active support with Flare related technologies and protocols to allow easier onboarding of said technologies and modifications where they might prove useful to further development. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Close support during the design and development phase.
• Infrastructure support regarding Flare and other services, where available.
• Support during researching a secure way to slash tokens on the underlying chain and active involvement during iterations.
• Support for TEE-based slashing models. Both from the development perspective and close integration directly into Flare Network and help with provisioning the infrastructure, maintaining and securing its operation during development and initial stages. 
• Support in developing and modifying FDC attestation types required to support information bridging.
• Support in developing FDC connectivity to multiple sources (non-EVM chains, custom attestations, etc.).
• Help and support by partnering with other projects and highly regarded research groups, focusing on similar solutions when possible.
• Help and support potential investors, stake providers & 3rd party services which may use the stake as security.
• Help and support with exchanges where applicable.

Evaluation Criteria

We are looking for a sustainable, long-term solution. The proposed solution is required to be permissionless and have strong security guarantees. Possible shortfalls need to be identified and sufficiently addressed. Successive iterations that fill the requirements and provide increased security guarantees are acceptable. Secondly, sustainability, tokenomics model and project governance together with a long-term vision of the project in the whole blockchain ecosystem with analysis of possible impacts.

The proposal must include a detailed section on go-to-market.

Important Dates:

• Proposal Deadline: January 15, 2025
• Expected Product Deadline: End of Q2 2025
  

For those interested in applying, please submit your proposal here.