CIP-0090: Onboard USDT0 to Canton — Outcome-Linked SV Weight (Max 10)

CIP: 0090
Layer: Governance / Ecosystem
Title: Onboard USDT0 to Canton — Outcome-Linked SV Weight (Max 10)
Author(s): W Eric Saraniecki
Type: Governance
Status: Approved
Created: 2025-10-28 Approved: 2025-11-24 License: CC0-1.0

Abstract

This CIP proposes awarding up to Weight 10 for onboarding USDT0 (a USD stablecoin issued by the USDT0 issuer) to Canton MainNet, with rewards tied to (i) an MVP go-live, (ii) earlier readiness of MVP (time-based acceleration), (iii) on-chain adoption of MVP, (iv) Native integration go-live, (v) earlier readiness of Native go-live (time-based acceleration), (vi) on-chain adoption of Native USDT0 +1 for completing a production-ready MVP within 180 days. Up to +2 acceleration if MVP readiness occurs as early as Day 60 (linear down to 0 at Day 180). Up to +2 adoption bonus at +0.5 per $1.5B notional transacted through MVP on Canton (cap +2). +1 for completing a production-ready Native integration within 90 days of, the sooner of, LayerZero go-live on Canton, OR 7/14/2026. Up to +2 acceleration if Native integration readiness occurs as early as Day 10 (linear down to 0 at Day 90). Up to +2 adoption bonus at +0.5 per $1.5B notional transacted through Native integration on Canton (cap +2).

Motivation

USDT-class stablecoins are a foundational liquidity leg for market makers, venues, and end users. Native availability on Canton (with private settlement and institutional-grade controls) is expected to:

• Accelerate liquidity, collateral utility, and payment use-cases on Canton.
• Enable institutional flows (custodians, exchanges, OTC) alongside retail access (wallets, DEX).
• Reduce onboarding friction for future assets and DeFi-like protocols that reference a USD unit.

Specification (updated)

#	Milestone	Scope (what must be true)	Target window	Weight (base → max)	Acceptance / Evidence (TWG-verifiable)
D1	USDT0 (Bridged) — MVP Ready (Production)	Bridged, non-native USDT0 live on Canton MainNet with: (a) lock/mint or custodial bridge in production; (b) issuer/bridge ops runbooks, SLOs, observability; (c) programmatic APIs/SDKs; (d) ≥1 venue route tested end-to-end; (e) public docs for integrators.	≤ Day 180 from CIP approval	+1.0	Evidence pack: mainnet contract/asset refs; bridge attestation & custody details; SLO dashboard; runbook; E2E test TXIDs including one venue; docs URL.
D1a	Bridged MVP — Time Acceleration	Earlier MVP readiness (bridged). Linear reward between Day 60 and Day 180.	Day 60 → Day 180	0.0 → +2.0	Formula: Accel_bridged = max(0, min(1, (180 − d) / 120)) × 2.0
D2	Bridged Adoption Bonus	Notional transacted on Canton; exclude wash/loopbacks.	Rolling 12-month window starting D1 acceptance	0.0 → +2.0	+0.5 per $1.5B notional (cap +2.0 ⇒ $6B). Evidence: attestation + TXIDs.
D3	USDT0 (Native) — Ready on Canton	Native USDT0 live with issuer mint/burn keys, controls, APIs, venue flow, docs.	≤ Day 90 after the sooner of: (a) L0 go-live for USDT0↔Canton OR (b) 7/14/2026	+1.0	Evidence: native token refs; key ceremony; E2E TXIDs; docs URL.
D3a	Native — Time Acceleration	Earlier native readiness after L0 go-live; linear Day 10→90.	Day 10 → Day 90 after the sooner of (a) L0 go-live OR (b) 7/14/2026	0.0 → +2.0	Formula: Accel_native = max(0, min(1, (90 − d) / 80)) × 2.0
D4	Native Adoption Bonus	Native USDT0 notional transacted; exclude wash/loopbacks.	Rolling 12-month window starting D3 acceptance	0.0 → +2.0	+0.5 per $1.5B notional (cap +2.0 ⇒ $6B). Evidence: attestation + TXIDs.
Cap	Aggregate Weight Cap	Total maximum across D1, D1a, D2, D3, D3a, D4 is 10.0.	—	—	TWG tracks tranche mints; no weight beyond 10.0. Bridged and native adoption pools are distinct (bridged counts toward D2; native counts toward D4).

Notes

• Count each economic obligation once; exclude internal bookkeeping and rapid self-wash loops.
• Venue route tested = at least one custodian or exchange completed a live deposit/withdrawal flow.
• Significance of 7/14/2026: Expiry of LayerZero integration deliverable per CIP-0065.

Rationale

• Outcome-linked incentives: Rewards tied to delivery and adoption.
• Time-value: Accelerated readiness yields higher ecosystem impact.
• Simple adoption metric: Encourages usage without dictating design.

SV Reward Mechanics:

• An extraBeneficiary PartyID associated with the ‘escrowed’ Super Validator will be setup by the Foundation, or another SV node operator approved to provide SV rewards escrow services, with an SV Weight at the maximum earnable weight.

  • The Applicant is responsible for coordinating the process of setting up the escrowed weights with the GSF and the operator of the SV node.
  • The Applicant is responsible for all costs associated with the operation of the escrow SV
  • The escrow SV will NOT mint rewards on a block by block basis
  • All escrow SV rewards will go to the Unclaimed Rewards pool

• ⅔ of the Super Validator Operators will update their configurations to allow the escrowing SV node to host the full weight to be earned by the given Super Validator

• Applicant is required to present proof of successful completed milestones to the Tokenomics Working Group

  • Applicant is required to present a calculation for number of Canton Coin it should earn for meeting the requirements of the milestone

• If the Tokenomics Working Group agrees the milestone has been met and agrees with the calculation, an announcement will be sent via the Tokenomics-Announce mailing List

  • The GSF will update the extraBeneficiary to an active PartyID controlled by that Super Validator.
  • ⅔ of Super Validator Operators will then assign a portion of the Unclaimed Rewards to be minted by the Applicant’s Validator, based on the calculation approved by the Tokenomics working group.

• If any milestones and associated rewards are not achieved by the deadline

  • Applicant will be notified they have not met a deliverable by the GSF
  • Remaining SV Weight assigned to the extraBeneficiary SV will be removed from the GSF node configuration, and the total SV weight of the GSF SV node will be reduced by the same amount by a vote of the Super Validators.
  • The Tokenomics Working Group will make a recommendation to the SVs on what to do with the Unclaimed Rewards

• Applicant is subject to CIP-0045 : SV Operating Requirements

  • If, at any time, the Applicant has been rewarded SV Weight > 2.5, they are required to operate their SV within 6 months of crossing that Weight. This SV node will join the network with an SV weight of zero (0) and may add weights as the SV completes the milestones listed in this CIP.

Copyright

This CIP is licensed under CC0-1.0: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

Changelog

2025-10-28: Initial draft of the proposal. 2025-11-24: CIP Approved. 2025-11-26: Update CIP to match text in cip-vote.