What happened to Buoy?
Thank you to everyone for your patience during this incredibly stressful moment. We have been doing everything we can over the last 12 or so hours to try and bypass the error we ran into.
What the hell happened?
This is a bit of a strange issue. Our public sale went great, and the contracts on our side are working as expected. The issue arises because of a unique implementation of the “approve” function in COMP’s contract. ERC-20 is a protocol which intends to standardize token functions, so contracts can make functionality which would work with any token, as each of those tokens plays by the same rules. For instance, during our audit, we were recommended to import a standardized ERC-20 format directly from OpenZepplin’s github, as even copy-pasting that same functionality from the github page is considered bad practice. COMP is using a custom implementation. This basically amounts to our contract calling what should be a standard function from a contract, and expecting one result, but getting a totally different one instead.
After talking with a few talented devs, and receiving a (rather unhelpful) email from Hacken confirming that the bug is in fact caused by an interaction problem with COMP, the chances of fixing the bug we ran into looks slim. If the bug cannot be remedied, it is very likely that this ETH will be stuck in the contract forever (i.e. burned).
So, assuming the worst, and that the funds are stuck in the locking contract, what does this mean for Buoy? Is the project dead?
No!
As counterproductive as this whole exercise has been, burning ETH for tokens is one of the original methods of creating proof of value for a token. Is it as tangible a source of value as the fixed liquidity model? No, not at all. But, this is far from something which would kill the token on its own. Since every token which is held (outside of the burned Buoy held by the contract) was created by contributing ETH, the distribution of tokens is extremely fair. And, to be totally objective, creating a token with proof of value and a fair distribution isn’t as easy today as it sounds. But, it seems obvious to say that Buoy, if left in its current state, is less valuable than it would be had everything worked properly.
How do we recover this lost value?
This is what the team is working on right now. Basically, there were some ideas for building some Buoy based platforms down the line, which would give even more utility to the token than it already had. Now, these platforms will be fast tracked so as to serve as the core utility of Buoy. While this represents a rather major shift in tokenomics, this is far from a dead project.
Here is the game-plan as of now: Buoy shifts into a utility token which gives governance over a custom built pool. I was actually planning to start work on something like this further on down the line, it was a bit of a secret, but it looks like the cat forced its way out of the bag. While the custom pool would function on the surface like a standard index fund, it is actually an index fund which can be controlled democratically. Add a new asset, sell an old asset, change weights around to favor whatever the community is bullish on, ect.. All of this would be governed via vote controlled by the Buoy holders themselves.
This utility, combined with the proof of value used to mint the tokens, would provide a very attractive tokenomic structure. Of course, something like this won’t be an overnight project. There are some contracts for customizable pools out there, but nothing quite with the functionality we have planned. We want you to know that although this was totally unexpected, and throws a wrench into the original Buoy model, we have absolutely no plans of abandoning the project. When the platform is released, I will personally put all the remaining development funds in Uniswap, and so if the platform doesn’t win you over, you will have the chance to dump your tokens on me personally.
Of course I will be keeping everyone informed as the project continues. I know a lot of people are understandably upset about this, so please feel free to reach out with comments, concerns, suggestions, ect., either to my email (AlanStacks@protonmail.com) or on telegram (@AlanStacks) and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as I can.
