Pearl v1.5: Product and Migration Details

Pearl v1.5 will roll out over the next two weeks. The update includes key improvements to the vote escrow contract and rewards claims, which will improve the user experience and allow a better implementation of Caviar, Tangible’s liquid wrapper for vePEARL.

UI and most protocol functionality will remain largely unchanged, however the v1.5 updates are mandatory as we look to strengthen the Pearl flywheel.

While the roll-out should be fairly straightforward for most users, we want to make sure all the info is as clear as possible so that our community can smoothly on-ramp to the updated protocol contracts.

WHAT’S NEW

The current ve contract, forked from Solidly, includes a design flaw that penalizes users who want to merge, transfer or split ve contracts that have outstanding rewards. Combined with the n+2 rewards claim, there’s very little users can do to escape forfeiting rewards when manipulating veNFTs.

Pearl v1.5 solves both of these issues.

Updated Rewards Claim

Pearl v1.5 updates the rewards claim from the current n+2 system to rewards being claimable at the Epoch’s end. Users no longer have to wait until the end of the following Epoch to claim rewards, meaning rewards can be cleared out completely weekly. This has multiple benefits:

• vePEARL voters no longer have to wait a week for their rewards → instant gratification
• vePEARL merging and splitting can now be done without sacrificing any rewards. Previously, if two NFTs had rewards pending (n+2) then the rewards on one would need to be sacrificed to be merged. With rewards claims at the end of the Epoch, this is no longer an issue, simply merge after the claim is made.
• Caviar can now be minted with vePEARL at any time, without forfeiting a week of rewards. And redemptions from Caviar to vePEARL don’t impact pending rewards as they’re claimed immediately at Epoch’s end.

IMPACT: While there will be one week without bribes during the transition from v1 to v1.5 (we don’t want users to have to sacrifice bribes by migrating veNFTs) because of the initial n+2 delay, there won’t actually be week without bribe claims. More on this in the timeline at the end.

Updated Vote Escrow

Pearl is implementing new rules for merge, split and transfer which will improve the user experience with these assets and better formulate them for Caviar liquid wrapping.

ve Merging (Caviar mint)

• UPDATE: Adding call to Voter.poke(tokenId) to ensure the token remaining at the end of a merge has full voting power assigned from the token merged into it
• IMPACT: Caviar can seamlessly integrate new vePEARL voting power and designate that the vote optimizer at any time

ve Splitting (Caviar withdrawal)

• UPDATE: Adding call to Voter.poke(tokenId) to remove assigned votes proportional to new token from the initial token and ensure new token does not have votes assigned
• IMPACT: vePEARL can be withdrawn from Caviar at any time with voting power free to be assigned by the owner

ve Transfer (OpenSea sales)

• UPDATE: Solidly code includes a check on ve vote status. If ve voted, it prevents transfer. We’ve removed this restriction which there appeared to be no good case for.
• IMPACT: Assigned votes will no longer prevent the transfer or sale of vePEARL, bringing new fluidity to the marketplace

TIMELINE

The following are the key dates for users to track during this migration period.

July 20th — 26th:

Last bribing Epoch for Pearl v1 (Users will claim these bribes on Aug. 3rd then migrate vePEARL to v1.5)

July 27th — Aug 2nd:

• Claim Epoch 5 bribes (7/27)
• Last Pearl v1 emissions Epoch
• No new bribes this Epoch so users can claim v1 bribes before migrating

Aug 3rd — Aug 10th:

• v1.5 launches (8/3)
• Claim final v1 bribes for Epoch 6 (8/3)
• Pull liquidity from Pearl v1
• Migrate and restake liquidity in Pearl v1.5
• Migrate vePEARL from v1 to v1.5
• First emissions epoch Pearl v1.5
• First bribing Epoch Pearl v1.5

Aug 11th — onward:

• Claim first V1.5 bribes (8/11)

NOTES:

• While no bribes will post during the Epoch of July 27th — Aug 2nd, because of the initial n+2 delay, users won’t skip a week in bribe claims as that week delay was already incurred during Pearl Epoch 1.
• Pearl will vote during this week with protocol-controlled equity, mirroring emissions allocations from the prior Epoch

MIGRATION

Migrating from Pearl v1 to v1.5 will be simple.

As soon as v1.5 deploys, that will be the primary version that lives at the pearl.exchange URL. Links will be shared and posted in the UI to connect users back to the v1 version.

Both liquidity and vePEARL NFTs will need to be migrated.

• Liquidity migration involves updating USDR and wUSDR to the v3 version before redepositing liquidity into Pearl v1.5. USDR v3 IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE LIQUIDITY ON v1.5.
• vePEARL migration involves a simple NFT swap and updates the vote escrow contracts as noted above, for better compatibility with CAVIAR and n+1 bribe claims

Liquidity Migration:

1. Unstake and remove liquidity from all Pearl v1 pools
2. Migrate USDR and wUSDR v2 to v3 on Tangible
3. Deposit liquidity and stake in Pearl v1.5 to continue earning emissions

vePEARL Migration:

1. vePEARL migration can be initiated from the “lock” section of Pearl
2. Under each vePEARL, users will see a link to “Migrate to v1.5”
3. Click that link and follow the simple steps for migration

USERS MUST CLAIM ALL REWARDS PRIOR TO MIGRATION. ALL UNCLAIMED REWARDS WILL BE LOST FOREVER.

CONCLUSION

While the move from v1 to v1.5 comes so soon after our initial deployment, we believe that these updates are critical to support future protocol growth via a strengthened flywheel. And given the nature of these updates, we’re solving key user experience pain points in the process.

Please stop by Discord if you have any questions on the merge to Pearl 1.5.

Thank you, Divers!