What is this about?

The discussion revolves around a grant application submitted by Moses for the Synapse Protocol project¹. The grant request is for 2,000,000 ARB, which Synapse will match fully and continue to provide liquidity mining rewards on Arbitrum¹. The grant aims to achieve two primary objectives: slippage-free bridging and support for Arbitrum partners¹. The funds will be used to improve Arbitrum’s user experience, support projects and users bridging to Arbitrum, and encourage new investment into the Arbitrum ecosystem¹.

How is the community reacting?

The community's reaction to the proposal is mixed. Some members, such as Konyalu42, Db_DefiEdge, IZUMi_Finance, and ITUblockchain, expressed support for the proposal, acknowledging Synapse's significant role in the Arbitrum ecosystem and the potential benefits of the proposal^2,10,25,26. However, others like Meyaf320219 and Flindy criticized the proposal, arguing that subsidizing bridging does not bring more innovation to the ecosystem and that incentives should be used on protocols offering unique apps^5,9. Matt_StableLab and Bobbay asked for more clarity on the grant breakdown and the value of loyalty in the grant breakdown^4,14.

Why this is positive?

The proposal is positive as it aims to improve the user experience on Arbitrum by lowering costs and incentivizing users to bring their assets in from other chains¹. It also plans to support projects and users bridging to Arbitrum, including partner tokens and new tokens launching on Arbitrum¹. The grant is expected to bring $3B net new dollars into the ecosystem and anticipates Arbitrum to dominate Synapse TVL and reach 70%¹.

Why this is negative?

The negative aspect of the proposal is the concern raised by some community members about the size of the grant. They argue that subsidizing bridging does not bring more innovation to the ecosystem and that incentives should be used on protocols offering unique apps^5,9. There are also concerns about the grant size, suggesting that it could be lowered to better align with available funding and other initiatives within the Arbitrum ecosystem²¹.