METIS Current State of Affairs

[Elena]

Dear AC and everyone that responded in this thread!
Dear Metisians!

Thank you! Huge thank you for raising your voices, your concerns and showing that you care. I couldn’t have wished a better community

All your questions are very valid and extremely timely.

As you heard from me on the Metis Morning Show ( by VestaDAO) the Metis team had to rethink the strategy and make changes in the execution team and development team to be able to execute this strategy. Since then Metis Network increased its daily transactions more than 5 times in the past 6 month.
https://x.com/ElenaCryptoChic/status/1877361252097274019?t=55Xz0R4HEdqTNMo4bj3Fkw&s=19nce
Sequencers needed to upgrade their memory to handle the increasing load of transactions.
New projects onboard every day to the Metis Network, including the Web2 ones, exactly as we expected back then when we started Metis.

But does it satisfy the needs of our community? Does our community benefit from having many many transactions and many projects on Metis?
Probably not yet, judging from this thread.

We understood it too by now, and we do have plan and strategy to address that. The “SOON” chain team has started executing it step by step and will share this new strategy step by step to the community.

As for the Metis vision, it stays the same. As I was repeating it many time we are working towards creating Web3 Economy where there is no single point of failure and therefore all projects can operate in the very open and honest decentralized manner and people can access and use these projects from any part of the world. This was and is our Metis Vision. Launching Decentralized Sequencers was step towards elimination of Single Point of Failure. We are on the way here, but we do need your input and guidance to make the road to the big vision pleasant and beneficial for the entire community.

Right now we will be collecting the questions and wants from you. Please try to explain clearly on what you are looking for from Metis Network, where do you see yourself in this Web3 Economy. What do you like about Metis (we need to know what to keep), and what you don’t like.

“The Ivory Tower” will hear you out. And will respond to every question.

Andrei already summarized the feedback and questions we got by now and will coordinate the response.

Responses might be coming in chunks from different team members responsible for different parts of the execution, but we will make sure to answer all questions and concerns.

Again, thank you so so much for this proposal and thread!

Yours Elena
DC of People

P.S. I am sorry that I am responding before Kevin and Tom as some of you wanted to hear from them. You will hear from them too, I am sure!

[acthedegen]

Thank you Elena and All the METIS team members that have responded. It is very promising that you are willing to take the criticism and hear us out because I know first hand it is not easy to do. If you need any help or clarification my DM’s are open on telegram.

I see the number of transactions has increased substantially but I would like to point out that those are mostlly gaming transactions not defi transactions which would offer more value to the ecosystem. We have lots of work to do but I am confident we can get it done.

[mariodpc]

Thank you Elena and Andrei as well.

For me specifically, I would love for the community to have updates daily, or weekly, on L2 stage 1 progress. It would bring legitimacy to our L2.

It’s pretty discouraging not seeing our tech be displayed and promoted on sites like L2Beat, which have been anointed, for better or worse, as the database for L2s and their metrics.

We get to Stage 1 and we are sitting comfortably with OP and Arbitrum… with the added bonus of a DSeq.

That’s a narrative that would allow METIS to self promote itself in a major major way.

But we need updates for it! We want to know that this goal is trying to be reached. Maybe a countdown!

Anyways, I really do appreciate you listening to us plebes.

[ale3074]

Thanks for your interest Elena and yes I also see a nice community.

what am i looking for in metis Network?

• I am looking for a secure network, that is cheap and fast. i am looking for a network that is easy to understand to switch between Eth network and Metis network and that improves my web3 experience.

• I wish Metis was more aligned L2 with Ethereum and that Vitalik takes us as a reference model and is the first to praise the model

where do I see myself in the web3 economy?

• I see myself as a user staking my Metis to align personal incentives with network security, playing Metis games, and increasing mass adoption by talking to friends about the beauty of Web 3 and trying out the Metis experience

What do I like about Metis?

• I like the Metis team, the commitment you put in, the ability to transform and understand the community.

• I like Metis for its security, its design, and the fact that it offers bounties for finding serious errors in the code.

• I like Metis because it makes you feel like you’re part of a family and you’re being listened to

What don’t I like about Metis?

• The CEG approval model for new projects in the Metis network needs to be changed. Many have been found to be fraudulent and there has been much misunderstanding as to whether Metis or the team was involved or not.

• I don’t like LP’s formulas that much, and LST. as an average user are too advanced financial formulas that in my opinion push the average consumer away from approaching web3.
  They are complex instruments and, in addition to providing explanations, it is necessary to clearly understand all the risks involved.

• I don’t like the lack of transparency and precision for project launches. everything is justified “to have an advantage in marketing”. you have to be transparent. and also in projects that become part of the Metis system it is necessary to know the people behind it and who works there and not hide behind questions of “Privacy.”
  after all, a project can be equated to a company and knowing who is behind it is also essential to have more elements to invest in it or not.
  one beautiful thing about Metis is that we know who you are because you put your face to it and I am grateful for that.

• I didn’t like so much the many campaigns that were made. They created so much confusion and participating in all of them was impossible. We needed a site to unite all the campaigns or just do one campaign instead of so many.

thanks for listening to me,
Ale

[bronson]

Exactly what he said, couldn’t say it better. Everything is on point. Supporters holding for 2+ years just to get dumped on by projects who is milking metis from the team and don’t create added value. Truth is that OG community members lost their will to support and use metis, other people created their opinion of metis from airdrop, which would be better if there wasn’t any.

[kehmor]

I have lots of thoughts on this so apologies in advance for the wallet of text. I’ll sum up my views under general titles.

1) Governance and Integrity

A “single point of failure” comes in many forms. Robust decentralized tech is part of it. But when one entity controls the entire networks narrative and the success or failure or projects on it that is just as much of a vulnerability.

When Metis initially announced the Gitcoin process from grants I was encouraged. The process itself however left myself (one of the most active participants) and I’m sure many others disillusioned.

The sybil attack on the process, combined with Metis actively congratulating the beneficiaries of it on their social platforms, makes it hard to believe that there wasn’t an insider attempt at manipulation of narrative if not funds.

The Metis foundation choosing to actively decide which projects are deserving of grant money is one thing; trying to act like this was the “will of the people” is another.

A lack of honesty around the process (even if participation was lower than desired) is a massive middle finger to the genuine participants. I have included links from the Metis X account below.

This sort of behaviour is not exclusive to the Gitcoin process either. The same handful of ancient whale accounts make or break every single CVP process; desired projects are given an incredible amount of insider support - including from a range of small wallets that always vote together, and alt wallets from Metis team members.

This makes it incredibly hard to have faith in any kind of stat based bullposting from Metis.

It undermines the network’s integrity.

Examples of Metis “benefiting” from sybil attack:

https://x.com/MetisL2/status/1841889292311814195

https://x.com/MetisL2/status/1841889287035380081

https://x.com/MetisL2/status/1839289379908436157

2) An On-chain Obsession

When I was still a part of VestaDAO we had a very clear proposal.

We were going to make web3 easy.

We hoped to achieve this through providing easy to follow user guides not just for current Metis users, but for every crypto noobie.

Our aim was to make Metis a welcoming and inclusive place; establishing it as a web3 home for new users. The place where they felt safe and included.

Despite running on this platform and being one of the most successful (genuine) projects within the gitcoin process - we were contacted within days of completion and told that Metis was not interested in anything that did not have on-chain transactions. The rest did not matter.

Cobi has adapted well to this, and he is too nice a guy to take these shots himself. But the lesson here is not about one project; its about a damaging philosophy.

Months ago, during the olympics we had Metis Champs. Every single top ranked participant was actively using the VestaDAO guide that made the process user friendly. I received thank you messages for it. We received donations because of it.

Now the guide itself was just a document on a web2 website. It created zero on-chain transactions. It, however, facilitated many transactions (and stopped the event being a total disaster).

Metis needs to realise not every crypto user is a part time solidity dev or financial expert. The vast majority are lost, confused, and welcome guidance and support. Don’t believe me? Spend 15 minutes browsing the r/cryptocurrency sub on reddit.

An example of a project that has nailed this is cookie.fun

They have an identity; AI agent infrastructure.
They provide information (mostly for free) on the entire space.
It’s easy to understand, its clean, it’s inclusive, and it’s visually appealing/easy to share.
It’s fun.

As a result that single token has flown past the mcap of the entire metis network.

3) Indentity.

There simply is none. I covered this earlier so I won’t go into a ton of depth.

Metis needs to decide what it is and stick to it. Not try to force narratives, especially when there seems to be too much beaurocracy to pivot quickly. Memes are over diluted and dying everywhere. If Metis had hard pivoted a year ago when the meme meta was live, maybe something could have been achieved.

4) Confusing AF

Everything on Metis is overly complicated. It makes me think that, by and large, Metis team is comprised of devs only.

When running campaigns designed to engage users (both existing and potential) how about keeping it simply enough that it can be explained in a tweet?

Metis Champs.
Thrive.
Airdrop campaign.

All overly complex.

A focus needs to be placed on:

-Ease of understanding
-“Sharable” assets; make it easy to share.
-If it isn’t going to be super rewarding then make it fun. Encourage quality.

[sv9ts1ck]

calling yourself a metisscam won’t help mate

[Jack]

Hello AC,

Thank you for compiling the list of concerns.
I hope it brings positive results for Metis and benefits those who prompted its creation.

I have been a part of Metis since before the mainnet launch. Back then, Elena regularly hosted updates followed by Q&A sessions. Kevin and Pavel were integral to the team, Jonah actively engaged with larger investors through weekly video calls, and all Metis team members were consistently present and approachable across social media platforms.

---

Metis had an ambitious roadmap that included:

1. Polis: A user-friendly DAC infrastructure.

2. Metis Virtual Machine (MVM): Enhancements like separating computing and storage functions, enabling easy migration of Ethereum dApps, reduced gas fees, and faster withdrawal times compared to other optimistic rollups.

3. Hybrid Rollup: A combination of Optimistic Rollups’ ease of use and ZK Rollups’ security to meet the rising demands of DeFi in Web3.

4. Airdrop Promises: Initial promises of substantial rewards for frequent network users, though later repurposed for bridge hack compensation.

---

Some Concerns:

Roadmap Completion Claims:
The Metis team mentioned that the roadmap was completed in late 2024. However, was it? Several key initiatives appear to have been either delayed or abandoned in favor of outsourcing (e.g., ZKM and GOAT). These shifts suggest potential prioritization of external profit over community interests.
Airdrop was planned at first but canceled.

Waiting eagerly for 2025 roadmap.

---

Elena recently stated:

“New projects onboard every day to the Metis Network, including the Web2 ones, exactly as we expected back then when we started Metis.
But does it satisfy the needs of our community? Does our community benefit from having many many transactions and many projects on Metis?
Probably not yet, judging from this thread.”

Despite these claims, I can hardly identify 10 active projects that remain operational on the Metis Network and generate substantial transactions.

---

Some recomendations from me:

1. I would like to recomment for Metis team to be more professional. You are running a serious business but often treating your customers like they are “idiots” and dont know anything which is frequently not the case. I dont mean personal conversations or any members in particular, I mean how generally Metis presents information/announcements, i.e. eveytime with a little bit of missinformation to trick users into doing something or without giving them a full picture.

2. Jose has left, Kevin and Pavel moved on from Metis hoping to do more at Goat and ZKM, Natalia and Elena are rarely public or vocal about Metis unless it is a planned interview. With key team members no longer with Metis, there is a noticeable lack of visible leadership. We need to find several spokespersons that are well educated about crypto, blockchains, L1s, Ethereum, L2s, DeFi and follow latest crypto news who would be active contributers and talk about Metis everyday at all they can attend Xspaces, Youtube broadcasts, TG and Discord calls organised by various people with large communities. Just join in the conversations and be active and informative there. Start making friends.

3. Metis CEG is clearly not working. A well thought through scamming project could pass it easier than a hard working small project/start up.
   Almost no users is voting there now or ever. Almost never any of the team members have voted with their wallets. You expect users to vote when you are not voting yourselves.
   Metis decided to give 15k Metis to Enki just to incentivise Enki token LP for 40 days. Is it not quited stupid? Invstors need exit liquidity? If we dont vote on such decisions beforehand, there is no need to have this burcratic red tape voting at all.

4. Cease support for initiatives like “Meme on Metis” that may dilute the network’s professional reputation. Instead, prioritize onboarding established blue-chip protocols to attract experienced DeFi users.

Bring blue chips and established good reputation protocols like:

• DEX: Uniswap, Pancakeswap, Curve DEX, Balancer, 1inch, etc.
• Liquid Staking: Lido, Stader, Anker, Rocket pool, etc.
• Lending: Compound, Venus, Fraxlend, etc.
• CDP: MakerDAO, crvUSD, Abracadabra, InverseFinance, etc.
• Options: Synquote, Lyra, etc.
• Yield: Pendle, Convex, Aura, Equilibria, etc.
• RWA: Ondo, Solv, Maker
• Leveraged farming: Gearbox, Alpaca, ExtraFinance
• Derivatives: GMX, VertexEdge, ApeX Protocol

There are many more, and these might not the best ones.
Whales that use such protocols often will see that new chain has been added to their favourite protocols. With Metis’ additional incentivisation many would bridge their asstes there to do the same thing and earn more. I would…

6. Many people judge the health of ecosystem by stablecoin market cap. Something needs to be done there. Attracting and supporting stablecoins like USDC and USDT is critical for ecosystem health and should be a strategic priority.
   

   

7. USDC, USDT stablecoins. Bring the real deal.
   Miser pays twice.

8. Encourage Metis-native protocols with dedicated development teams but avoid excessive subsidies or bailout attempts for underperforming projects.
   If community has a chance to be part from the very beginning it could be interesting to many. If Metis community is gonna be exit liquidity - not so much. But unfortunatelly both will happen.

9. Build a community. Most OGs left.
   Metis advocates program was a good idea. It was stopped long time ago. Ask them to do twitter threads, articles, participate in discussions, attend events, speak well about Metis, etc. and give them Metis rewards, cover their fees.
   Make Metis part of DeFi Research / Farming / Members communities or at least have representatives there, e.g.: Taiki Maeda, Drake on Digital, DeFi Dojo, Coin Bureau, etc.
   There must be many discord servers and tg groups with large followings.
   It doesnt have to be Metis team members, could be team members from Metis protcols too.

10. Avoid comparisons or negative commentary on other protocols. Focus on Metis’ unique strengths instead of criticizing competitors like Optimism or Arbitrum.
    No people or protocols are intentionally against metis except for people attacked by metis first or dissapointed Ex Metis holders.

11. People that are in control of Metis, ask yourselves, where do you see Metis in 1 year, in 5 years, in 10 years?
    Write a letter explaining it in details. Think about available skills, archivable tech, realistic budgets. Give it to us to read.

I am sharing these thoughts of mine because I care deeply about Metis and believe addressing some of these points is essential for its success.

[NanoCornflakes]

Personally, I agree with all the problems you have highlighted with the solutions to follow. I’ve been active on Metis for less than a year and within this short time, I’ve been a strong believer, contributor and preacher of the network and projects under it but most recently, I’ve questioned several patterns of affairs:

Metis lacks users and active community which explains why majority of projects built on Metis struggle to get 1k active community on Telegram some wouldn’t even dare to open discord. As a community manager on Metis, I’ve watched several growth campaigns for my project fail & result in unnecessary loss of funds. If there are no active users on Metis, there’s no way galax or thrive campaigns are going to bring in traction. Check every campaign Metrix, it’s the same familiar faces & accounts participating.
The hackathons are focused on one side of the planet & to be sincere, what most of them are building aren’t that interesting. Like wtf is your sense of judgement?. This narrowmindedness will continue to deter people’s interest in what’s happening in the network.
Structurally, the so-called executives and staff are almost nonexistent, it took a lot of stress before someone pointed me in the direction of a team member and up till now the Metis lead in my region hasn’t responded to a message, I dropped him some time ago. Whereas I sent the same mail to Elena and got an instant response where she stated that she liked the conversation and suggested I shared to the regional lead as well. Share to a person who obviously isn’t functional, LOL.

Metis has to sit her ass up, let go of the wet blankets within her ranks and embrace working solutions.

[Elena]

Hi @kehmor ,

You asked if there is any single Web2 business that has been onboarded to MetisL2.
The answer is yes, of course. We did what we promised.
This Web2 company for instance is a top in the number of transactions on MetisL2 https://www.growfitter.com/.
This is a fitness company with real people and real transactions of tracking people fitness exercises on-chain.

So, yes. We concur to our vision and are successful in it.

[Elena]

Hi @ale3074

Thank you so much for your responses to my questions. You are the only one so far that provided specific answers. Thank you!

Everyone, please answer my questions that I posed here METIS Current State of Affairs - #21 by Elena. We need to understand and align with your needs. Please be very specific of what you want to get in the end. If you request “a better marketing” please specify a specific end goal of this marketing.

If you are making claims about “fake transactions” please provide the proof. We are very meticulous about our transactions. DApps are receiving BMR rewards for them, so we need your help with discovering any abuse of this program. If you see any bot transactions or fake transactions, please post the proofs.

In the past 6 months Metis team has 2 goals: to onboard sequencers (100% complete) and to get MetisL2 to ATH in transactions (100% complete).

So, please provide the specific answers to my questions, I repeat them again:

What are you looking for from the Metis Network?
Where do you see yourself in this Metis Web3 Economy?
What do you like about Metis?
What you don’t like about Metis?
And I add more, do you hold any Metis?

After you answer these questions so we can set the goals that are consistent with the community here as well as with our vision of Web3 Economy.

[kehmor]

@Elena thats great! If miner rewards are an indication Growfitter accounts for half of all volume on the network.

I think it would be really useful if you could give another dozen or so examples to highlight your success in this area.

[kehmor]

You know you’re contributing literally nothing to this discourse, right?

[daryl]

A few of my own thoughts, these are all personal opinions of course, not representative of anyone except me.

What are you looking for from the Metis Network?

A place where I can contribute my skills and experience to the benefit of others, and be compensated proportionally. A place that aligns with my values, of freedom, accessible opportunity, and merit-based outcomes. I believe progressive decentralization, transparency, accountability, and permissionlessness are essential ingredients on that path.

Where do you see yourself in this Metis Web3 Economy?

Supporting projects and their leaders with governance, strategy, and executive coaching.

What do you like about Metis?

The people are deeply aligned with my values; good vibes are key. There is an openness to learning and growing together that you don’t often find. I think Elena asking these questions is an excellent example. I also think it’s an amazing technical and business achievement to decentralize the sequencers and bring such amazing sequencer operators onboard.

What you don’t like about Metis?

I think like anywhere, there are a ton of things that could be improved, but really what’s most lacking is identity. What does it mean to be a Metisian? What does that say about you, what you value, and why you choose to be a part of this community, beyond earning sweet APY in the latest liquidity pool or getting the latest airdrop? What profile or arquetype is NOT a Metisian, or who we want to attract?

In my humble opinion, earning money is a wonderful attractor of new community members, but ultimately if there’s nothing else here to make the community “sticky”, people leave when the crazy unsustainable rewards dry up. There’s always going to be another chain spinning up the money printer to temporarily attract attention.

And I add more, do you hold any Metis?

I absolutely do! I’ve been accumulating Metis for nearly a year and have never sold!