Summary
This proposal seeks approval to elevate the total OC-investment allocated toward the upcoming v10 Trading Contest from $300,000 to $500,000, increasing the prize pool from $200,000 to $400,000, while maintaining the existing $100,000 marketing allocation.
The contest will run for four weeks starting the week of October 20th, exclusively on Arbitrum and Solana, and will feature two reward categories — PnL and volume — both designed to reward sustainable trader behavior aligned with v10’s funding-fee model.
This expanded allocation reflects the rapidly evolving competitive landscape for PerpDEX incentives and the strategic need to attract, retain, and re-engage traders through a campaign large enough to stand out amid industry-wide reward programs exceeding $50M in monthly distributions.
Importantly, it also significantly increases the likelihood of securing a $150k+ milestone-based co-funding grant from a key partner, amplifying the overall impact and return on this initiative.
Market Context & Rationale
Since the original $300k OC-pull proposal was approved, the competitive environment for Perp DEXs has changed significantly. Incentive programs across the sector have scaled to levels previously unseen.
Across Q4 2025, incentive programs have reached unprecedented scale, with multiple venues committing hundreds of millions of dollars in trader rewards; a level of activity that redefines what it takes to attract and retain traders in the current market cycle.
As of September 26, 2025 (based on contemporaneous token valuations):
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Aster has allocated over $8B in future trader rewards, with Season 2 alone exceeding $600M in active incentives.
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Hyperliquid distributed approximately $13.6B in points during its 12-month program (~$1B/month), and now continues with HYPE-based trading discounts and integrator-led competitions (e.g. Dexari’s $1M event).
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Lighter operates an ongoing points program valued at roughly $400M over 12 months (~$33M/month).
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Avantis is distributing $45M+ in its current season (~$7M/month).
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Other protocols, including Drift, Jupiter, Apex, Edge, and others — maintain multi-million-dollar incentive programs extending well into 2026.
Against this backdrop, a $200,000 prize pool, while meaningful within gTrade’s historical context, is no longer competitive enough to capture attention or trading volume at scale.
Elevating the pool to $400,000 allows gTrade to compete credibly among top-tier venues, aligning visibility with the protocol’s product maturity and long-term ambitions.
In short: the market has scaled up and so must we.
Community Sentiment (temperature check)
Following open discussions in the community channels, a Telegram poll was conducted to gauge sentiment around expanding the contest’s prize pool through an additional OC-pull.
This strong support confirms community alignment with a more aggressive stance to seize market opportunity and trader mindshare.
Reward Categories
For the sake of transparency, the below is to provide more context on how the budget will be allocated:
Two reward categories will run concurrently, designed to balance short-term excitement with sustainable behavior aligned to the v10 model.
1. Volume-Based Rewards (50%)
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Rewards traders proportionally based on their trading volume.
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Incorporates time-weighted multipliers to favor longer position holds (e.g. >1d).
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Encourages consistent trading activity and reinforces liquidity and fee generation.
This category directly addresses gTrade’s current skew toward short-term scalping on core pairs where over 55% of trades are held less than one hour, while only ~9.5% exceed 24 hours.
2. PnL-Based Rewards (50%)
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Rewards traders with the highest absolute profit.
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Reinforces the “performance-driven” aspect of gTrade’s competitive edge.
Why Prioritize Time-Weighted Volume
The v10 funding-fee model thrives on diverse, longer-term open interest rather than short-lived scalps.
Current trading behavior, however, remains heavily tilted toward sub-hour trades.
By weighting volume rewards toward longer-duration positions, we can:
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Attract more directional and positional traders.
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Improve funding efficiency.
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Create more stable, recurring volume flows.
In effect, this contest isn’t just about rewarding volume, it’s about reshaping trading behavior in a way that compounds over time. All while the platform maintains its differentiators for scalpers who are inherently incentivized through the PnL-pool.
ROI Considerations
In a limited view, each $100,000 of OC-funded incentives requires roughly $295 million in **(extra) trading volume throughout the 4-week campaign to reach breakeven. That assumes:
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Fee rate: 0.06%
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Share to $GNS via BB&B: 56.5%
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Effective return per $1 volume = 0.0006 × 0.565 = 0.000339
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$100,000 / 0.000339 = $295M volume
Thus, for a $400k prize pool, the breakeven point is approximately $1.18B in extra cumulative trading volume throughout the entire contest. This aligns with gTrade’s historic trading peaks and realistic targets under a well-marketed, four-week campaign.
Non-Linear Returns & Strategic Upside
Reward programs are inherently non-linear: doubling incentives does not simply double engagement; it compounds it. The impact typically follows a bell curve, where larger incentive pools generate exponentially higher participation and visibility up to a certain point, after which returns begin to taper.
We strongly believe that, given gTrade’s current positioning and the targeted structure of the volume rewards, this contest sits firmly within the high-impact zone of that curve.
In other words, increasing the prize pool to $400k is expected to deliver outsized returns relative to cost, driving stronger trader engagement and meaningful new inflows without reaching diminishing returns.
A $400k campaign:
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Expands reach to new high-volume traders and integrator partners.
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Creates stronger social visibility and credibility among DeFi traders.
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Provides a natural on-ramp for upcoming retention mechanics (staked GNS discounts, loyalty rewards, etc.).
In short, this expansion strategically positions the contest where the marginal impact per dollar spent is expected to remain high, igniting a growth flywheel built on trader activity and token alignment.
External Funding
A larger prize pool would also play a pivotal role beyond trader acquisition as it directly strengthens gTrade’s position in securing a $150k+ milestone-based grant from a key ecosystem partner. This opportunity is contingent on demonstrating sufficient campaign scale and engagement to validate the effectiveness of v10’s model. Approving this proposal not only enhances trader visibility and retention it also amplifies the total impact of the campaign by potentially doubling the additional capital available through co-funding.
Simply put, without elevating the prize pool, the odds of unlocking this external $150k+ funding are lower.
Marketing Allocation (Unchanged)
The $100k marketing budget remains as originally approved:
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$65k: MarketAcross partnership (PR, KOL activation, media coverage)
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$35k: Direct trader-focused spend (retainers, ads, etc.)
This ensures visibility and amplification across trading communities, while maintaining efficient spend relative to prize distribution.
Conclusion
Expanding the OC-pull to $500,000 and increasing the prize pool to $400,000 represents a measured, high-potential investment in growth.
The proposed expansion:
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Keeps gTrade competitive in the current market landscape.
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Encourages behavioral shifts that improve long-term sustainability.
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Leverages v10’s improved mechanics to showcase scalability.
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Increases the likelihood of co-funded external grants.
The community has voiced support, the market demands it, and the protocol is ready.
Voting Options
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FOR — Approve the additional $200,000 OC-pull to elevate the prize pool to $400,000 and total allocation to $500,000. -
AGAINST — Keep the current $300,000 allocation unchanged.