SIP-212: Add commodity synths on Optimism

Author
StatusApproved
TypeGovernance
NetworkOptimism
ImplementorTBD
ReleaseTBD
ProposalLoading status...
Created2022-02-22

Simple Summary

Add commodity synths (silver, gold) on Optimism.

Overview

This SIP will add individual synths for silver and gold on Optimism. This SIP proposes to name these synths sSILVER, and sGOLD. This SIP will also make silver, gold shortable on Optimism.

Motivation

Listing commodity synths on Optimism will benefit the Synthetix "ecosystem" by adding a new asset category alongside crypto synths. The ecosystem partners (eg. Lyra and Kwenta) can strengthen their value proposition and drive additional volume through the Synthetix protocol.

Rationale

The need for commodity synths was expressed clearly by various community members in the Synthetix discord channel #new-synth-additions. Adding commodities makes sense given their "safe haven" nature and popularity among traders during market turmoil.

Commodity synths were phased out during the Wezen release https://sips.synthetix.io/sips/sip-169/) on L1 with the intent to re-add these synths later on Optimism. Front running risks and high trading fees were important reasons for phasing out commodity synths on Ethereum mainnet; however these issues have been mitigated sufficiently on Optimism.

Depth and volume The market depth and volume for silver (eg. XAG) and gold (eg. XAU) reasonably pose no risk with regards to price manipulation given the market's size.

Specification

The synths (sGOLD, sSILVER) will be implemented using Chainlink OCR aggregators on Optimism.

The synths will be made shortable via the CollateralShort contract by calling CollateralManager.addShortableSynths.

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.