Polygon Protocol Governance Call (PPGC) #22

Agenda

Harry Rook opened PPGC #22 with a packed agenda covering several key topics. The meeting was set to discuss:

Bor Release v1.3.4:

• PIP-35: MinGas Increase: Increase minimum gas to 25gwei
• #316: Change default gas price from 30gwei to 25gwei

Heimdall v2

• PIP-43: Replace Tendermint with CometBFT in Heimdall: Currently, Heimdall uses a fork of tendermint (called peppermint). The fork, which has been modified to support Polygon PoS specific needs, is based off version v0.32.7. The refactoring required replaces peppermint with the newer library called cometBFT, which will target version v0.38.x.
• PIP-44: Upgrade Cosmos-sdk in Heimdall: Currently, Heimdall uses a fork of cosmos-sdk, which has been modified to support the specific needs of Polygon PoS, and is based on version v0.37.4. PIP-44 proposes a refactoring that will upgrade such dependency to target version v0.50.x.

Polygon 2.0:

• PIP-42: Polygon 2.0 - Upgrade PoS Staking to Use POL: This proposal calls for upgrading the staking contract for the Polygon PoS network to change from using MATIC as the primary staking token to POL in a method that ensures maximum backward compatibility.
• PIP-19: Update Polygon PoS Native Token to POL: This proposal calls for upgrading the native token of the Polygon PoS network from MATIC to POL in a method that ensures maximum backward compatibility.

Protocol Council Execution:

• *PIP-26: Transition from MATIC to POL Validator Rewards: *This PIP proposes aligning the initial POL Validator Rewards with the original MATIC Validator Rewards Schedule, introduced during the launch of MATIC in 2020, and ending in June 2025. The proposal is to continue, i.e. adhere to the current MATIC reward schedule, and, once it ends (in June 2025), switch to the proposed Polygon 2.0 reward schedule.
• PIP-40: Support for Community Treasury Contracts: The POL Default Emission Manager directs 1% annual compounding emission to the Community Treasury. Initially, funds were safeguarded in a multi-signature wallet following PIP-17. PFP-2 proposes implementing a Community Treasury Board using Governor Bravo contracts to manage fund allocation. This change requires upgrading the Default Emission Manager through the Protocol Council.

Bor Release v1.3.4: PIP-35 MinGas Increase

David Silverman explained the current situation and proposal regarding the minimum gas limit on the network. Most validators currently enforce a 30 gwei minimum gas price through a minimum priority fee. The proposal aims to move this enforcement into the Bor client itself for better uniformity across the network, with a recommendation to decrease the minimum from 30 to 25 gwei. This change is motivated by observations of the base fee hitting zero for extended periods, suggesting the current floor may be filtering out legitimate transactions and use cases. The long-term goal is to eventually remove the floor entirely, allowing for a completely free market gas pricing mechanism. The change will be implemented in Bor release version 1.34 and needs to be reflected in the Aragon client as well.

Heimdall v2 Upgrades

Marcello Ardizzone detailed the significant upgrades planned for the Heimdall client, encompassing PIPs 43 and 44. PIP-43 proposes a complete refactoring of Heimdall to replace the current Tendermint consensus engine with the newer Comet BFT. This upgrade aims to remove technical debt, as Tendermint is now an archived project. The new Comet BFT will bring benefits such as a more flexible execution model, advanced functionalities like improved state sync, and the introduction of "vote extension" to replace side transactions. Complementing this, PIP-44 proposes upgrading the Cosmos SDK in Heimdall from version 0.37 to 0.50, representing four years of development. This upgrade will bring new features, a more robust architecture, and new services such as Protobuf and gRPC Query.

The upgrade process for Heimdall v2 is not backward compatible and will require launching a new Heimdall chain. The process involves stopping the network at a coordinated height, exporting the application database as a JSON file, modifying it for compatibility with the new architecture, and then spinning up Heimdall V2 with a new chain ID. An estimated 6 hours of downtime is expected, during which Bor will need to run independently. This will require some adaptations to the code and tooling mechanisms. Simulations will be conducted on devnet and testnet before the mainnet upgrade. David Silverman added that this upgrade enables features necessary for future developments on the Aglaya network, including consensus proofs and fast finality.

Polygon 2.0 Implementations

David Silverman explained the Polygon 2.0-related changes, specifically PIPs 42 and 19. PIP-42 outlines changes to POS staking, including upgrading the validator share contract and stake manager. This upgrade will convert all MATIC in the stake manager to POL using a migration contract. New staking and unstaking requests will be denominated in POL, but legacy functions will be added for backward compatibility. Importantly, other staking properties like reward rates, unbonding periods, and slashing mechanisms will remain unchanged. 

PIP-19 proposes upgrading the native token of Polygon POS from MATIC to POL. This change won't require modifications to the POS chain itself, but will alter the bridge redemption process on the Ethereum side to provide POL instead of MATIC. Users will be able to deposit either POL or MATIC, but will receive the native token (POL) on the POS side. Any MATIC deposited into the bridge will be instantly converted to POL. This upgrade, combined with the stake migration, is expected to result in about 65% of the MATIC supply being upgraded to POL.

The timeline for implementing PIPs 42 and 19 was tentatively set for after ETH CC in late July for testnet, with a mainnet implementation targeted for August 15th.

Protocol Council Execution

Dhairya Sethi detailed changes to the emission manager, which involve decoupling PIP-41 from PIPs 26 and 40. The default emission manager will be updated to reduce validator rewards emission from 1.52% to 1.5%, and the treasury address will be changed to a community treasury board multi-sig. The back conversion of MATIC to POL (PIP-41) has been pushed to August to align with other upgrades. This proposal has already been submitted to the protocol council for signature.

Conclusion and Additional Points

The meeting concluded with mentions of additional points, including plans to release a meta-PIP to coordinate all changes for the August upgrade, an update that the Manohar upgrade is on hold pending clarity on EIP-7702, and a call for community input on feature requests for the upcoming Polani upgrade.

Blockworks Research View

The Polygon Protocol Governance Call #22 addressed a few critical network upgrades and changes, of which some have been discussed extensively in prior meetings. For the Bor client v1.3.4, the minimum gas price is being reduced from 30 to 25 gwei to prevent filtering out legitimate transactions, with plans to eventually remove the floor entirely. Heimdall v2 upgrades involve replacing the outdated Tendermint with CometBFT and upgrading the Cosmos SDK from v0.37 to v0.50, bringing new features and improved architecture. This non-backward-compatible upgrade will require a new Heimdall chain and an estimated 6 hours of network downtime. Polygon 2.0 changes include transitioning from MATIC to POL as the native token and for staking, affecting both the PoS chain and Ethereum bridge operations. The stake migration and token upgrade are expected to convert about 65% of the MATIC supply to POL. Protocol Council changes involve updating the emission manager to reduce validator rewards emission from 1.52% to 1.5% and changing the treasury address to a community treasury board multi-sig. Implementation timelines are not set in stone, with most major changes targeted for August, including testnet deployment after ETH CC in late July and mainnet implementation around August 15th.