Author: Deep Tide TechFlow
After a long period of dormancy, the crypto market has recently become lively. In addition to the booming meme and compliance concepts, many infrastructure projects have also seen a wave of increases, and projects that know how to update themselves in a timely manner may be favored by the market during this enthusiastic bull market.
Today, the cross-chain clearing layer protocol Everclear (@EverclearOrg) announced an important upgrade plan: to upgrade NEXT tokens to CLEAR and introduce the innovative vbCLEAR (vote-bound CLEAR) mechanism.
Through our understanding, we found that this is not a simple currency exchange, but rather a key upgrade for Everclear in the competition for cross-chain infrastructure.
Reevaluating the value of the clearing layer from the data
The current cross-chain ecosystem is facing a somewhat awkward situation: the number of public chains has surpassed 250, and the traditional one-to-one liquidity docking model has become difficult to sustain. New public chains often need to invest a lot of resources to establish partnerships with various bridges and market makers, and inefficient liquidity acquisition methods have become a bottleneck for ecological development.
Everclear coordinates global settlement through a centralized clearing layer, achieving 10 times the cost optimization for rebalancing. As Everclear itself states: "Everclear is like UberPool for the liquidity world, making cross-chain transactions bid farewell to the era of high costs through scaled matching and clearing."
During the three-month operation of the testnet, Everclear has shown good data performance: cross-chain transaction fees have dropped to a historic low of 0.011%, nearly 90% lower than traditional cross-chain solutions; the net settlement rate of liquidity reached 50%, meaning that every two cross-chain transactions can achieve one hedge through the clearing layer. Three consecutive months of 3x growth also proves that the clearing layer solution is not a 'pseudo-demand' in the market.
Innovation based on Arbitrum Orbit
From a technical perspective, Everclear chooses to build its clearing layer infrastructure based on Arbitrum Orbit. The Orbit technology stack not only provides high-performance transaction processing capabilities but also ensures seamless compatibility with the Ethereum ecosystem.
In terms of implementation, Everclear's clearing layer design adopts a unique dual-layer structure:
Basic cross-chain layer: Users initiate cross-chain transactions through traditional cross-chain bridges (such as Router protocol, Across, Synapse, etc.)
Clearing optimization layer: Professional solvers (clearing agents) conduct cross-chain clearing through the Everclear protocol, significantly reducing capital costs.
This design allows Everclear to provide more efficient clearing services for cross-chain infrastructure without compromising user experience.
Currency exchange + staking, reimagining the economic model of the clearing layer
In this track, Everclear is not a lone actor; traditional cross-chain bridges such as Stargate and Hop Protocol are continuously optimizing their clearing mechanisms. However, Everclear's differentiated advantage lies in its focus on the clearing layer as a segmented track, achieving extreme efficiency through specialized division of labor. This time, it is also aimed at the growing market trend of cross-chain demand, undergoing a brand upgrade.
Staking voting for rewards with the vbCLEAR mechanism
In addition to exchanging NEXT tokens 1:1 for CLEAR, the core of this upgrade lies in the introduction of the vbCLEAR mechanism. Under the new mechanism, CLEAR token holders can obtain vbCLEAR through staking, thereby participating in ecological governance.
The vbCLEAR mechanism has a complete token economic cycle:
Staking mechanism: CLEAR holders obtain vbCLEAR through staking.
Governance voting: vbCLEAR holders participate in decisions regarding distribution emissions, including voting to guide liquidity incentives (emissions) to specific chains and solvers.
Incentive distribution: Based on the voting results, incentives are allocated to solvers on each chain.
Fee feedback: vbCLEAR holders can receive two types of rewards.
Protocol fees: Dynamic fees paid by solvers and users using the Everclear liquidity clearing system (currently between 0.2-1 basis points based on transaction conditions)
Quarterly incentives: Fixed reward pool, such as 1.75 million CLEAR distributed to vbCLEAR holders in the first quarter.
Season 1 Quarterly Incentive Program
To ensure the rapid launch of the upgraded ecosystem, Everclear has launched the first phase of the quarterly incentive program, Season 1. During the three-month incentive season starting December 6, the project will release a reward pool of 1.75M CLEAR tokens and 70 ETH.
By creating a self-driven positive flywheel: more staking leads to more accurate liquidity allocation, which in turn attracts more trading volume, ultimately benefiting ecosystem participants.
Summary
This upgrade of Everclear is essentially a strategic layout betting on the future. The clearing layer, as a segmented track of cross-chain infrastructure, has long-term value, and Everclear’s innovative attempts have brought more diverse participation methods to this track.
The vbCLEAR mechanism balances governance rights, economic incentives, and market efficiency, providing new ideas for solving cross-chain liquidity dilemmas. The high incentives of Season 1 provide a good entry opportunity, but market participants still need to participate cautiously and pay attention to the actual operational effects after the project upgrade.
