Title: Shut up and take my $RARE
- Author: Kyle Olney, Director of Product @ SuperRare Labs
- Status: Implemented
- Type: Governance
- Implementer: SuperRare Labs
- Sponsor(s): @ntomaino @VanArman
- Link to Temperature Check Poll: Discord
- Created Date: 02/04/22
Summary: Upgrade SuperRare network payment methods to include $RARE, DAI, and USDC
Abstract: With the launch of Spaces, SuperRare’s new “Bazaar” marketplace contract will include native support for arbitrary payment in any token adhering to the ERC-20 standard. This SIP proposes to update the master token registry of acceptable payment instruments on SuperRare network to include our native curation token, as well as two industry-leading stable-coins.
Motivation: Many artists and collectors who received $RARE tokens following the #RAREDrop in August '21 have requested the ability to either i.) accept payment for their artwork in $RARE, or ii.) make payments to acquire artworks using $RARE. Creating more utility for the $RARE token inside the SuperRare ecosystem is clearly in the best interests of the network, and would further support the goal of distributing governance tokens into the hands of a wider number of engaged/contributing community members - including those who have joined as Artists since last summer.
Specification: Utilizing the ERC-20 support functions of the new Spaces/Bazaar marketplace contract, the SuperRare Governance Council will update the payment methods registry to facilitate settlement of trades in $RARE, DAI, USDC, WETH and ETH. While the new smart contract supports this functionality natively, the visual design + front-end updates necessary to support this change in the application interface will need to be prioritized and scheduled by SuperRare Labs following successful passage of this SIP.
Benefits: Accepting payment in $RARE benefits the network in multiple ways by: i.) increasing utility of the $RARE token, ii.) distributing governance tokens to artists who are currently active participants in the network, iii.) allowing artists to be paid in stable-coins which are significantly less volatile than native cryptocurrency assets, iv.) organically diversifying revenue streams that feed into the community treasury, and v.) expanding the potential market reach for SuperRare by allowing holders of non-ETH crypto assets to transact more frictionlessly on the platform.
Drawbacks: The primary drawbacks to accepting $RARE / DAI / USDC are related to the cost of implementation from a design and engineering perspective. Interfaces will need to be redesigned to accommodate multiple payment methods, an increased number of front-end artifacts and APIs will be required, administration and accounting overhead for the community treasury will be marginally increased, and supporting the pricing of artworks in multiple currency instruments at a stable exchange rate may require the integration of an oracle / third-party pricing API which would be chosen at the discretion of SuperRare Labs.
Accepting USDC in particular would introduce counter-party risk, as this token is technically a “permissioned” asset maintained by a centralized, US-regulated counter-party (though it is still arguably among the highest quality non-bearer stable-coins in the industry). DAI on the other hand, is a permissionless stable-coin that carries no counter-party risks beyond the possibility of a normal smart contract exploit being discovered.
Outcomes: Once fully implemented, transactions on SuperRare will be able to be completed using $RARE, DAI, USDC, and WETH in addition to ETH. The community treasury will also begin holding multiple reserve assets on its balance sheet.