Sui Community Spotlight - ft @FullSailFi

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TradePort
@tradeportxyzOct 24, 2025

The Spaces convened the Tradeport team with Full Sail (founders Gluta and Bonnie, plus UberGeek and Trevin) to unpack how Full Sail aims to fix DeFi’s “broken plumbing”: unsustainable DEX tokenomics that spend governance emissions to buy short‑term liquidity. Gluta traced the origin from DeFi summer lessons to a model that ties emissions to crowd‑forecasted volume across liquid vaults, making fees exceed emissions over time. Core mechanics include dynamic fees that adjust to demand, predictive voting via veSALE (locked SALE as utility NFTs), and a focus on three metrics: Return on Emissions (RoE), fee‑to‑TVL, and cost of capital. Trevin highlighted gamified participation and long‑term alignment; UberGeek emphasized community, integrity, and sustainability with a grassroots approach. The teams discussed synergy with Tradeport’s Liquid NFTs to improve liquidity and price discovery for veSALE. Full Sail chose Sui for its object‑oriented design, security, and composability (e.g., Debook). Risk measures include audits, bug bounties, spot‑only trading (no oracles), and a 5% fee‑funded insurance pool. The session closed with a commitment to collaboration and building legitimate, sustainable DeFi.

Tradeport × Full Sail Twitter Spaces Recap

Participants and Roles

  • Lewis (Tradeport host): Moderated the session, framed core problems and drew parallels to Tradeport’s Liquid NFTs.
  • Founder (Full Sail; introduced himself as the “private key founder”): Technical and product lead; spouse and cofounder Bonnie is the “public key founder.” Shared the origin story, technical design, and economics.
  • Bonnie (Full Sail cofounder): Not present; referenced as business-savvy, IP/patents steward.
  • Uber Geek (Full Sail): Community, sustainability, and outreach lead; long-time crypto participant with IT/finance infrastructure background.
  • Trevin (Full Sail): Marketing/content; championed the “gamified DEX” angle and user education.
  • Daniel (Tradeport): Provided context on Liquid NFTs and alignment with Full Sail’s incentive design.
  • Mary (Tradeport): Commented on legitimacy and sustainability in Web3.

Context and Motivation

  • Problem in DeFi: Traditional DEX models rely on inflationary governance token emissions to attract short-term liquidity. This “spend $1 to earn $0.50” mindset (e.g., Aerodrome on Base as referenced) leads to unsustainable tokenomics, value dilution, and liquidity flight once incentives fade.
  • Full Sail’s Mission: Break the boom/bust emissions cycle by building an exchange model that is data-driven, ROI-positive, and sustainably aligned with long-term protocol health.

Origin Story and Founder Background

  • Early Crypto Exposure: First touched crypto circa 2013 while studying computer science and particle physics at Yale; returned to build in earnest around the Ethereum era (2016+).
  • R&D Experience:
    • Built a utility NFT concept (crowdsourced Q&A where the winning answer becomes an NFT)—learned solidity and full-stack development.
    • Built a DeFi protocol on Arbitrum offering leverage without liquidations; strong product traction but governance token failed to accrue value, highlighting the need for rigorous tokenomics and clear value capture.
  • Sui Pivot: Encouraged by a DeFi peer (“AirTXS”), evaluated Sui’s tooling and ecosystem; concluded the “plumbing” (sustainable token-value accrual mechanisms) across DeFi remained broken, not just on Sui, and set out to design a better exchange model.
  • R&D and Design: Spent ~6 months dissecting DeFi primitives, isolating what works/what doesn’t, and engineered a simple yet robust system anchored in prediction markets and disciplined emissions.

Full Sail’s Core Design Principles

  • Return on Emissions (RoE): For every $1 of governance token emitted, how much protocol revenue (fees) is generated in return? Full Sail aims for RoE consistently >100% to ensure the protocol “earns more than it spends.”
  • Fee-to-TVL Ratio: Capital productivity is measured by fees generated relative to total value locked. Target is to maximize productivity and minimize idle capital.
  • Cost of Capital: Calibrated compensation to LPs based on risk-adjusted returns; higher volatility assets should command higher returns, while stable assets have lower required yields.

Mechanics: How Full Sail Works

  • Dynamic Fees:
    • Fees adjust in real-time based on trading demand and available liquidity.
    • During high-demand events (e.g., the recent flash crash), SUI–USD pool fees spiked toward ~1%, significantly increasing LP earnings.
    • In quiet markets, fees undercut average rates to win routes, boosting fee-to-TVL productivity compared with other Sui exchanges.
  • Predictive Voting (Wisdom of Crowds):
    • Token holders forecast future trading volumes/fees per “liquid vault” (starting with AMM liquidity pools but intended to generalize to other vault types).
    • Full Sail aggregates these forecasts—historically within ~5% error over two months—to guide emissions intelligently, sending the right amount of incentives to the right pools.
    • Voters closer to actual outcomes earn more, tightening the incentive loop for accurate predictions.
  • Emissions Governance via veSALE:
    • SALE is the fungible governance token. Locking SALE creates a non-fungible veSALE asset with attributes (lock duration, amount) that determine voting power in the prediction market.
    • veSALE holders direct emissions through forecasts, aligning long-term commitment (up to 4-year locks) with protocol health and sustained value accrual.
    • The team is exploring better liquidity for veSALE positions, including potential collaboration with Tradeport’s Liquid NFTs to wrap utility NFTs (like veSALE) into more liquid, fungible markets for price discovery.

Why This Model Breaks the Old Cycle

  • Data-Driven Emissions: Instead of arbitrary or politically driven emissions (e.g., blanket incentives or airdrops with weak RoE), Full Sail uses forecasted volume to set emissions precisely.
  • Persistent Value Capture: More fees than emissions over time means token value is supported by fundamentals rather than external subsidies.
  • Decentralization that Improves Profitability: Wisdom-of-crowds forecasting is not just philosophical—it’s a practical edge that can outperform centralized allocation.

Products and Roadmap

  • Current Focus: AMM DEX on Sui with dynamic fees, predictive emissions, and veSALE governance.
  • Generalization of Liquid Vaults: Expand predictive emissions to other vault types (e.g., on-chain order books like D’Book, additional Sui-native primitives).
  • Cross-Network Vision: Manage and route emissions to liquid vaults across networks using a standardized framework, scaling “predictive emissions” beyond Sui.

Community, Brand, and Growth Strategy (Uber Geek & Trevin)

  • Values: Community, Integrity, Sustainability.
  • Community-First Approach:
    • Building brand similar to early grassroots successes (e.g., Shiba Inu), prioritizing believers and organic advocacy over paid KOL campaigns.
    • Telegram group for volunteers/supporters; focus on long-term brand and personal growth for community members.
  • Marketing and Onboarding:
    • Trevin highlighted simplifying DeFi education; monthly impressions near 300k (up from ~250k).
    • “Gamified DEX” narrative: lock SALE to veSALE, participate in predictions (~200 tries), earn more APR; long-term alignment trumps short-term farming.
    • Enhanced accessibility on Sui (social logins via Gmail/Facebook/Twitch), with an eye toward onboarding gamers who intuitively understand currencies and game economies.

Tradeport Alignment: Liquid NFTs

  • Problem in Traditional NFTs: Creators depended on royalties tied to buy/sell activity; core holders rarely trade, limiting creator revenue and ecosystem liquidity.
  • Liquid NFTs: Convert NFTs into fungible tokens to enable liquidity provision and fee generation in AMMs, broadening access (fractional participation), and aligning creator and market incentives.
  • Synergy with Full Sail:
    • Both aim for sustainable, incentive-aligned markets.
    • Potential collaboration to create liquid markets for utility NFTs like veSALE, improving price discovery and secondary liquidity while preserving governance attributes.

Why Sui?

  • Object-Oriented Model: Moving from account-based (EVM) to object-oriented (Sui) is akin to the C → C++ shift—better design primitives and developer experience.
  • Security: Reduced attack surface vs. EVM; rigorous integration testing overhead is lower in Sui.
  • Composability: Rich stack (e.g., Nautilus wallet, fully on-chain order book D’Book) enables novel constructions—wrapping vaults, predictive emissions across primitives, and deep integrations (e.g., Tradeport).
  • Builder Experience: “DeFi Legos” feeling—rapid prototyping of complex, composable products.

Risk Management and Security Posture

  • No Oracles: Spot exchange design avoids oracle-related exploits and flash loan oracle manipulations.
  • Audits and Incentives: Multiple audits, bug bounty programs, and continuous hardening.
  • Insurance Fund: ~5% of trading fees allocated to an insurance fund to protect user funds against smart contract risks.
  • Transparency on Risks: Clear communication of smart contract and market risks; biggest priority is user fund safety.

Audience Q&A Highlight

  • Question: How does Full Sail handle situations where liquidity value drops severely (e.g., market downturn during 4-year locks)?
  • Answer:
    • Risk Distribution: LPs bear asset volatility; the protocol itself avoids leverage or oracle dependencies that amplify systemic risk.
    • Defensive Architecture: Spot-only design, audits, bug bounties, and an insurance fund mitigate protocol risk.
    • Governance Alignment: Long-term locks (veSALE) align incentives; emissions are tuned based on real volume forecasts to avoid waste and maintain healthier pools.

Key Takeaways

  • Full Sail targets the core DeFi “plumbing”: emissions must generate more revenue than they cost.
  • Dynamic fees + predictive emissions + veSALE governance create a tighter, more efficient feedback loop than legacy DEX models.
  • Early results show predictions within ~5% error, materially improving emissions allocation.
  • Sui’s technical stack and security properties are instrumental in Full Sail’s design.
  • Community-first growth and potential integration with Tradeport’s Liquid NFTs expand liquidity and accessibility for both utility and creative assets.

Notable Quotes

  • “How would you guys have these multi-billion dollar DEXes that are spending a dollar to earn 50 cents? We need to take our industry more seriously.” — Full Sail Founder
  • “We want to cut out the middleman; make it decentralized, driven by code, and legitimate growth.” — Uber Geek
  • “This is the first gamified DEX where long-term alignment beats short-term plays.” — Trevin
  • “Liquid NFTs align creators and markets by enabling liquidity and fee generation beyond buy/sell royalties.” — Daniel

What’s Next

  • Broader vault support beyond AMM pools, including order-book integrations.
  • Exploration of liquid markets for veSALE via Tradeport’s Liquid NFTs to enhance price discovery and user optionality.
  • Continued refinement of predictive models and emissions calibration to keep RoE > 100%.
  • Ongoing community-building under a sustainability-first ethos.