Weekly Bonzo Bytes 🎙️🐵

The Spaces is an end‑of‑year recap from Bonzo Finance covering mission, milestones, product progress, and a closing Q&A. Hosts reviewed Bonzo’s launch (Oct 28, 2024) to become Hedera’s liquidity layer by bringing decentralized lending to the ecosystem, rapid TVL growth, joining the Hashgraph Online DAO (Jan 7, 2025), adopting verifiable points via HCS20, and surpassing $50M TVL (Jan 29). They detailed a cautious asset rollout, borrowing going live mid‑January, a 2.8M HBAR liquidity incentives grant, and later additions including WETH via LayerZero. Governance and token topics included the Bonzo governance TGE, SaucerSwap v2 liquidity, and Chainlink oracle integration. Product/UX upgrades spanned in‑app updates, transaction history, loan health monitoring, caps, mobile/desktop redesign, and Vaults beta. Sustainability efforts included a revenue‑funded buyback pilot with plans for automated buybacks. Ecosystem work featured HederaCon, Karate Combat sponsorship, HR.Guide, Ledger Live support, and incentive program conclusions. In Q&A, they addressed RE7 risk parameter timing, points season allocations, single‑asset vault strategy behavior, CoinGecko/CMC analytics issues with concentrated liquidity, roadmap focus on governance tooling and a LayerZero bridge, foundation runway transparency, and the 400M total supply rationale.

Bonso Bytes Year-End Spaces: Comprehensive Recap and Analysis

Context and Hosts

• Purpose: An end-of-year recap of Bonzo Finance’s progress, products, and ecosystem activity on Hedera, followed by community Q&A.
• Hosts: Birdie (primary speaker) and Garang (co-host). Additional team mentions: Renly (marketing/social).
• Community participants: Questions from James, Tristan, Crypto King, and Celestial Being.

Mission and Launch

• Mission: Position Bonzo as Hedera’s liquidity layer by introducing robust credit markets (lending/borrowing) and building sustainable DeFi infrastructure.
• Launch: On October 28, 2024, Bonzo Finance Labs contributed to bringing an Aave-based decentralized lending protocol live on Hedera. The protocol saw unusually fast liquidity growth, continuing into early 2025 as the market cycle intensified.

Early DAO Alignment and Standards

• Jan 7, 2025: Bonzo joined the Hashgraph Online DAO to align with open standards and long-term DeFi infrastructure on Hedera.
• Points standard: Implemented HCS20 to deliver verifiable points on-chain rather than via centralized databases.

Growth Metrics and Transparency

• Jan 29, 2025: TVL surpassed $50M, driven by market tailwinds and growth in HBAR-denominated terms.
• Late Jan–Early Feb 2025: Initiated weekly “Scoreboard” updates to maintain transparency on protocol activity, growth metrics, and revenue—all framed within the mission of economic sustainability.

Asset Expansion and Liquidity Support

• Security-first rollout: Initially supply-only due to the “chicken-and-egg” liquidity dynamic; points were used to incentivize deposits.
• Jan 13, 2025: Borrowing went live with a limited set of assets (e.g., Karate, HST). Asset analytics pages launched concurrently, exposing risk parameters and market metrics per token.
• Jan 24, 2025: Secured a 2.8M HBAR liquidity incentive grant for HBAR and USDC markets; deployed to accelerate the supply/borrow flywheel once stability was established.
• Governance/community liquidity: Ran a vote on SaucerSwap to form a V2 pool (HBAR/BONZO context implied).
• Ongoing listings: Added assets including GREL and KBL; listed the BONZO token in May 2025; reached ~13 assets by May.
• Oct 2025: Added Wrapped Ether (WETH) to Hedera via LayerZero’s Stargate bridge. Strategic view: WETH and WBTC will be pivotal assets for Hedera DeFi in 2026.

Token Launch, Oracles, and Governance Presence

• End of Feb 2025: BONZO governance token generation event completed; third-party LP created a SaucerSwap v2 liquidity pool to enable trading.
• Oracles: First live Hedera mainnet protocol to integrate Chainlink price oracles, strengthening market safety and reliability.
• Community presence: Attended HederaCon in Denver (panel alongside Hedera Foundation, HeadStarter, Chainlink); sponsored Karate Combat event to amplify ecosystem visibility.

Bonzo Points Program

• Objective: Broad, community-first distribution of BONZO to protocol users adding liquidity, borrowing, and generally engaging.
• Cadence: Started Oct 2024 and has run in seasons of ~3–4 months:
  • Season 1: Oct–Feb
  • Season 2: Mar
  • Season 3: Jun
  • Season 4: Sep
  • Season 5: Began Dec 9, runs until Mar 9; aligned with Vaults launch to incentivize deposits.
• Allocation: Typically 8M BONZO per season; one extended season allocated 10M. Claims occur post-season; a Season 6 may follow, but no commitment yet.

Product Development and UX Improvements

• Apr: In-app Updates feed to reach users not active on Discord; highlights critical changes and releases.
• May: Live transaction history (supplies, borrows, liquidations) with detailed per-account logs; later extended to Vaults.
• Jun: Loan Health Monitor launched, improving visibility into account-level risk/health.
• Jul: Introduced supply and borrow caps reflecting growth and risk management needs (e.g., volatile or meme assets). Caps follow RE7 guidance; Bonzo is awaiting parameter lifts pending further analysis.
• Aug: Marketing site redesign to bolster trust, especially for users coming from other networks and institutions.
• Sep: Full app redesign for mobile and desktop; clearer visualization of caps, asset-level details; mobile-focused improvements given usage patterns.
• Dec: Vaults launched in beta; feedback loop active; more assets/strategies and UI refinements planned.

Buybacks and Protocol Sustainability

• Framework: To be Hedera’s liquidity layer long-term, Bonzo aims for self-sustaining economics.
• May 2025: Initiated a pilot buyback program using a portion of protocol revenue (~$13,800) to repurchase BONZO.
• Next step: Automate recurring buybacks driven by a defined percentage of revenue—target restart in Q1–Q2 next year (post-Vaults focus).

Ecosystem Presence and Collaborations

• Jul: Featured in a Hedera ecosystem advertisement during Karate Combat (custom Bonzo video with mascot/logo).
• Sep: Collaborated with the Hashgraph DeFi Alliance to launch HR.Guide (hr.guide)—a fast-start Hedera onboarding portal (wallet setup, testnet HBAR, exchanges, bridging, DeFi protocols, NFTs, live data). Usage and sharing have climbed.
• Oct: Ledger Live added BONZO support via HTS integration, improving secure custody routes for Ledger users.
• Nov: Concluded liquidity incentive programs with partners GREL and KBL; Bonzo expressed appreciation for collaboration.

2026 Outlook

• Vaults: Exit beta, expand assets and strategies, and add richer position analytics.
• Lend: Awaiting RE7 risk parameter updates; broader asset support, including LayerZero-enabled assets (e.g., WBTC).
• Governance: Forum and voting tooling to activate token utility and decentralize protocol decision-making.
• Exchange listings: Pursue broader listings for HTS assets. Team referenced “micro courts” completed by ecosystem participants as supportive groundwork for asset accessibility.

Key Dates and Milestones (Chronological)

• Oct 28, 2024 — Aave-style lending protocol contributed by Bonzo Finance Labs goes live on Hedera.
• Jan 7, 2025 — Joined Hashgraph Online DAO; reinforced commitment to open standards.
• Jan 13, 2025 — Borrowing enabled with limited assets; asset analytics pages launched.
• Jan 24, 2025 — Secured 2.8M HBAR liquidity incentives for HBAR/USDC markets.
• Jan 29, 2025 — TVL exceeded $50M.
• Late Jan–Feb 2025 — Weekly Scoreboard updates initiated.
• End Feb 2025 — BONZO TGE; SaucerSwap v2 pool by third-party LP; Chainlink oracles integrated.
• Apr–Sep 2025 — Updates feed, transaction history, Loan Health Monitor, supply/borrow caps, site/app redesigns.
• Jul 2025 — Featured in Hedera ecosystem ad at Karate Combat.
• Sep 2025 — HR.Guide launched with Hashgraph DeFi Alliance.
• Oct 2025 — WETH added via LayerZero; Ledger Live added BONZO support.
• Nov 2025 — Concluded GREL/KBL liquidity incentives.
• Dec 9, 2025 — Points Season 5 began; Vaults launched in beta the prior week.

Community Q&A Highlights

• RE7 lead times and ecosystem-wide risk (James)

  • Birdie acknowledged missed lead-time guidance and apologized. He explained RE7’s role spans multiple protocols, and risk is shared across the ecosystem. Quality benchmarks (e.g., WETH analysis and memos) guide expectations. Tentative timeline for broader updates: January. Commitment to transparent updates remains.

• Points per season (Tristan)

  • Standard allocation: 8M BONZO per season; one extended season at 10M. Subject to change, but no expectation to exceed historical norms.

• Single-asset Vault strategy (Crypto King)

  • In concentrated liquidity pools (e.g., USDC paired with HBAR), single-asset strategies aim to “protect inventory” of the deposited token while optimizing yield. As prices move, token ratios shift; strategies rebalance regularly to maintain primary-asset bias and earnings. Historical ratio charts per vault provide transparency.

• CoinMarketCap listing

  • Bonzo wants a CMC listing, but current CoinGecko/CMC ingestion of SaucerSwap v2 concentrated liquidity pools produces inaccurate price/volume. Bonzo is coordinating with CMC, Hedera Foundation, Hedera Core Engineering, and SaucerSwap to resolve issues first (starting with CoinGecko), then proceed to CMC to avoid paying for broken analytics. Concentrated pools were an intentional choice, also well-supported by Vaults.

• Product refinement vs. new products (Celestial Being)

  • Near-term priority: refine existing products—deploy RE7 parameter updates, improve Vault UI data and QoL, fix bugs.
  • New product work: DAO governance tooling (forum + voting) and integrated LayerZero bridging (“Bonzo Bridge”) inside the app. Halborn previously audited LayerZero OFT contracts for Hedera; integration will enable assets like WETH and WBTC.

• Treasury runway and transparency (Celestial Being)

  • Structure: Bonzo Finance Foundation (a DAO wrapper) holds treasury to fund risk services (RE7), development (Bonzo Finance Labs), and future contributors.
  • Runway: No concerns communicated; team seeks more transparency subject to the Foundation director’s policy.
  • Director: Same director as the Hedera Foundation; explicitly not Shane Higdon nor Jordan (names raised by the community). Director is Cayman-based.

• BONZO total supply rationale (Celestial Being)

  • BONZO has a 400M total supply (vs. the common 1B). Birdie deferred to the Foundation for the exact rationale; emphasized that divisibility (e.g., 8 decimals) makes absolute supply largely aesthetic except for price-display preferences. Focus is on health, distribution, and utility rather than arbitrary norms.

Notable Themes and Takeaways

• Security-first progression: Cautious asset onboarding, borrow caps, Chainlink integration, and RE7-guided risk.
• Community-first distribution: Multi-season Points program rewarding real usage; targeted liquidity incentives.
• Institutional readiness: Site/app redesigns, Ledger Live support, oracle adoption, attention to data-quality in listings.
• Unified product umbrella: Lend and Vaults integrated under one governance token to compound utility; potential future hooks between products.
• Sustainability focus: Revenue-driven buybacks moving toward automation.
• Ecosystem stewardship: HR.Guide co-creation, mainstream event visibility, and a holistic view of risk across interconnected protocols.

Open Items and Near-Term Expectations

• RE7 risk parameter updates: Targeting January; potential adjustments to caps and asset additions.
• Vaults: Exit beta with expanded strategies/assets; enhance UI metrics and stability.
• Automated buybacks: Implement revenue-percentage mechanism; planned restart in Q1–Q2.
• Analytics pipeline: Resolve SaucerSwap v2 data ingestion issues at CoinGecko and then CoinMarketCap; proceed with BONZO CMC listing once accurate.
• Governance tooling: Launch forum and voting to activate decentralized control.
• Bridge integration: Surface LayerZero bridging in-app (“Bonzo Bridge”) to onboard assets like WETH and WBTC seamlessly.