UMA Gas Rebate Program Update
2024 ended with remarkable growth for UMA's optimistic oracle, marked by a 5x increase in proposals, alongside a 3x increase in voter participation. While this expansion demonstrates the increasing adoption of the oracle, it has also highlighted the need to ensure our gas rebate program remains sustainable and aligned with its core purpose of incentivizing sustainable voters to increase UMA’s economic security and voter decentralization.
Current Situation
Risk Labs currently rebates all gas fees spent on voting (commit and reveal DVM transactions) in ETH. Since July 2024, the monthly rebate expenses have surged by over 5x.
While increased participation is positive, our analysis reveals some concerning patterns.
This pattern suggests some of these addresses may be testing UMA or speculatively airdrop farming rather than genuinely participating in securing the oracle, making the current system unsustainable.
Changes to the Gas Rebate Program
Starting February 1, 2025, gas rebates will be available only to wallets staking 500 or more UMA tokens.
We recognize this change may affect community members who are genuinely interested in securing the oracle but cannot stake 500 UMA tokens. For these members, we encourage participation in UMA's Verification Program.
The verification program:
Requires no capital investment
Allows you to earn $UMA by verifying proposal validity
Helps secure the oracle without incurring gas costs
Provides a steady stream of rewards for meaningful participation
Timeline and Next Steps
Current rebate structure covers transactions until January 31, 2025
New minimum staking requirement comes into effect on February 1, 2025
Documentation will be updated to reflect these changes
We remain committed to maintaining a robust and sustainable oracle infrastructure. These changes will help ensure that the gas rebate program effectively supports meaningful participation in the decentralized oracle.
For questions or concerns, please join the discussion in our Discord channel.
