Updates on Acorn Protocol, Tigris Protocol, and MARO Blockchain
Acorn Protocol Reorientation
When we launched Acorn Protocol 2.0, we emphasized our commitment to revolutionizing the global labor market and transforming collaborative dynamics. We developed the logic to turn a variety of tasks into easier, simpler tasks, distribute them, and process them in a decentralized way to handle more tasks at a lower cost. Through WorkBox, we have enabled a wide range of users from around the world to collaborate on their own time and effort, and have completed approximately 260 million tasks to date. We have also continued to experiment with datafication and commercialization of labor by integrating with data labeling services to process datasets for training AI models.
Since the surge in AI technology and its related sectors in 2023, there has been a significant impact on various industries. The rise of sophisticated AI agents has the potential to redefine traditional job roles, company structures, and labor markets globally.
In light of these industry shifts, we have been thinking about the potential for scaling the combination of AI agents and humans, and collaboration between AI agents, beyond the organization and collaboration of the human workforce through the Acorn Protocol, and have continued to develop the related infrastructure and commercialization possibilities, including AI agent development and deployment, and multi-agent collaboration.
Looking ahead to 2024, we anticipate these trends will become increasingly prominent, with AI agents becoming integral to diverse industries and workspaces. As such, we will be devoting more resources to this direction, reprioritizing our efforts, and working to identify new opportunities in the midst of these shifts.
Considering the rapid evolution of the labor market and AI collaboration, we recognize the need for fundamental enhancements in organizing and operating the Acorn Protocol's labor force. The Foundation has been continuously examining ways to combine AI agent and human collaboration, and the performance and usage of AI agents in the process of replacing tasks. In addition, we are developing and testing solutions that can provide AI agents for various tasks, and are also exploring commercialization avenues for AI agent deployment across various tasks.
OAK, the governance token of ACN Protocol, has completed development and internal and external testing of its issuance and governance functions. However, considering current market conditions and project status, we believe it's prudent to delay the OAK token launch until the ACN tokens and AI agents' development and utility become clearer, and the overall service resumes.
Tigris Protocol Service Termination Notice
Tigris Protocol was an open-source project developed and released at a time when the concept of DeFi was still unfamiliar, and used the Lockdrop method to create a governance token, the CLAY token. It operated with a variety of features, including reward payments through a proxy voting mechanism, integration with TDEX, and the issuance of a stablecoin. However, after experiencing significant volatility in the token price, the liquidation and stablecoin mechanisms experienced a number of issues, and the Foundation has taken steps to temporarily suspend liquidation to minimize the impact on the protocol and the Maro ecosystem. Given the ongoing issues and operational safety concerns, and in order to efficiently utilize our resources, we have decided to discontinue Tigris Protocol services.
Ahead of the shutdown, accounts that have fallen below the liquidation line within the protocol will be automatically placed into liquidation. The liquidation and dissolution process will be led by the Foundation and will be handled manually to minimize the impact on the entire MARO ecosystem. Users who only used the proxy voting mechanism in the form of MARO will receive their MARO directly back, while other users who held or staked Tigris Protocol-related tokens will be compensated based on the MARO held in the voting pool within Tigris Protocol. During this process, the portion of the Foundation's capital invested in the creation of Tigris Protocol will also be distributed to existing Protocol Ecosystem token holders. However, staked CLAY and stable tokens held by the Foundation will not be included in the reward pool.
Timeline:
February 23, 2024
- Upon the announcement, deposits and withdrawals to and from the staking services of Tigris Protocol and Acorn Protocol will be suspended, and trading of related tokens on TDEX will be suspended.
February 26, 2024:
- Staking rewards will be paid out for the last time for tokens participating in staking.
- Accounts below the liquidation line will be liquidated.
- MARO staked will be returned to the original owners.
- CLAY, CUSD, and CKRW token holders will be informed of the reward announcement and the reward distribution will begin.
Reward Principles:
- Rewards will be based on the MARO used to vote in the Tigris Protocol staking pool.
- All relevant tokens that have not been liquidated will participate in the reward, and all token holders will be rewarded equally, regardless of whether they have staked or not.
- Priority will be given to MARO staking participants and holders of previously issued stablecoins (CUSD, CKRW) and Acorn Staking Service's stablecoin (CUSD). After the stablecoin rewards are completed, the remaining MARO will be distributed to CLAY token holders.
- During this process, CLAY and stablecoins owned and staked by the Foundation will be excluded from the reward distribution.
- Rewards will be distributed based on a snapshot of token holdings and staking status as of February 26, 2024, and we do not recommend moving tokens after 00:00 on the 26th. The Foundation is not responsible for snapshot errors and loss of rewards due to subsequent token movements.
In the future, the Foundation will introduce a new voting mechanism on the MARO blockchain and introduce a more simplified and efficient DeFi solution.
Enhancement of Maro Voting Mechanism
The current voting mechanism on the Maro blockchain is designed to enable users to easily participate and earn rewards through the mobile app. Voting results are quickly applied to adjust the ranking of nodes in the blockchain, which determines which nodes will participate in block creation. This real-time selection, real-time reward mechanism is highly positive in terms of user experience and allows us to engage a large number of holders. At the same time, however, there have been nodes that have abused this system and engaged in abusing the node selection process, which has led to disengagement of regular node operators and compromised their node operation revenue and the rewards of holders who vote for them.
To address this abusing issue, the Foundation is considering introducing a new voting mechanism and is exploring several options. We fully recognize that Maro Blockchain node operators are facing operational challenges due to Maro price volatility, and we plan to make improvements to help more participants run nodes reliably. The new voting mechanism will be designed to positively impact node operators and help maintain and scale the entire ecosystem. We also encourage everyone who has feedback on the voting and reward mechanism to contact us via the official foundation email.
The year 2023 has been a year of experiences. On the project itself, the hard work and preparation we put into the expansion of the Acorn Protocol, the development of our governance token, and the listing on new exchanges were all undermined, canceled, or postponed due to unexpected events. This had a huge impact on the morale of the entire team, as well as the community. Nevertheless, we have to keep moving forward, adapt to a rapidly changing world, and strive not to be left behind. To do this, we need to focus our resources on more important areas, and such focus will allow us to develop a better project and create new value.
The past year has been challenging in many ways, and 2024 certainly won't be any easier. Nevertheless, we will continue to work hard to deliver results.