MINt Conversion Routes, Boosted Yield Farming & More
TLDR; In this article, we explain the fundamentals of the revamped MINt Conversion mechanics. For every 4MINt you want to convert, you need to Provide Liquidity in one of different Pairs with value equal to 1 MIN and the equivalent ADA, and lock MINt and LP Tokens for a set number of days. During that lock time, you will earn Boosted Farming rewards (but cannot harvest them until the lock period is over) and the longer you lock the position, the larger the yield farming boost you will get. The 3 Durations or Routes are 45, 90 or 135 days and regardless of the duration chosen, after day 45, the MINt conversion will start and the MINt you deposited to convert will vest for 45 more days. After conversion, 1 MINt becomes 1 MIN.
5 months ago, we published this article that served as an explanation of how the MINt Conversion process would work. The MINt token was distributed during our FISO and is a token that can be converted to MIN by utilizing the DEX. The MINt Conversion process is one of the topics we get most asked about, not only because the concept behind MINt is very unique and was pioneered by Minswap, but also because the MINt mechanics are complex and, to most users, they are not intuitive. Bearing this in mind, we have tried to adapt and simplify the process as much as we could. Here is all you need to know to convert your MINt starting April 16th!
Before converting MINt
Essentially, to convert your MINt tokens, you will first have to Provide Liquidity on the DEX. Once you have provided Liquidity, you receive LP Tokens in exchange, which represent your share of the pool based on the assets you deposited.
Now, you might ask yourself: “Okay, but how much liquidity do I need to provide to convert X amount of MINt?”. In our previous article, we mentioned that for every liquidity pair through which the conversion can be done, there is a ratio of MINt tokens to LP Tokens. However, we have decided to pivot from this complex model to a “MIN centric MINt conversion mechanism”.
The basic premise is that to convert MINt tokens, what matters is a MINt to MIN ratio in your locked position. So, there will be a conversion ratio of MINt to MIN (e.g. for every 4 MINt you want to convert, you need 1 MIN and the equivalent ADA in the LP Tokens), and this ratio will apply in the same way for every pair (e.g. MIN/ADA but also ADA/MELD, etc.) where you want to do the conversion. Thus, you will be able to convert the same amount of MINt in any pair on the DEX that allows MINt conversion. After the conversion is done, each 1 MINt converts to 1 MIN.
To conceptualize it better, here are 2 examples:
- Example 1, MINt conversion in the MIN/ADA Pair: you have 10,000 MINt you want to convert, and have provided 2,500 MIN and the equivalent ADA (let’s say e.g. 1 MIN = 0.20 ADA, so 500 ADA), thus obtaining MIN/ADA LP Tokens. The MINt conversion ratio is 4 MINt per every 1 MIN. Since you have 2,500 MIN and the equivalent MIN supplied in the form of ADA in the LP Tokens, you can convert all 10,000 MINt, as 2,500 MIN in the LP Token multiplied by 4 would equal 10,000 which is the amount of MINt you had.
- Example 2, MINt conversion in a non-MIN/ADA Pair: you have 10,000 MINt you want to convert and 2000 MELD and the equivalent ADA in LP Tokens. Let’s say, hypothetically, 2 MELD = 1 MIN. This means, with 2000 MELD, there is an equivalent of 2000 / 2 = 1,000 MIN, which means you can convert 1000 * 4 MINt, meaning 4,000 MINt tokens.
If this sounds daunting, don’t you worry! The Minswap DEX UI will offer a designated calculator and MINt conversion interface, where you will be able to input how much MINt you want to convert, and it will show how much of both assets (e.g MELD and ADA, MIN and ADA, etc.) is needed in order to convert all of the MINt. We recommend you to supply a bit more than the shown amount to account for slippage when Providing Liquidity. If you supply more LP Tokens than the MINt can boost, those LP Tokens will be earning normal MIN rewards. There is an Appendix below where we explain with examples in more detail.
In essence, there are 2 variables to take into account when converting MINt:
- The MINt to MIN ratio: which will start being 4 MINt to 1 MIN, meaning for every 4 MINt, 1 MIN (and the equivalent ADA) needs to be Provided in Liquidity for conversion.
- Given the price of MIN related to the other assets supported for MINt conversion will vary constantly, the MIN price related to the price of other tokens matters as well. Therefore, while the MINt to MIN ratio is constant, the ratios to convert in certain pairs vary constantly for conversion of MIN in non-MIN pairs. So, for converting MINt in non-MIN pairs, the rate used will be real-time, based on the price of MIN related to the price of the other assets at the time at which users start the MINt conversion.
Converting MINt
Once you have seen on the calculator UI how much Liquidity you need to Provide in the pair where you desire to go about MINt conversion, you will take those LP tokens along with the MINt tokens you want to convert, and stake them all on the MINt UI. If you currently have LP Tokens in a Farm and want to use them for MINt conversion, you will need to temporarily unstake them, to go through the MINt conversion process as the LP Tokens will be staked in a separate Contract with the MINt, the “MINt Staking Contract”.
Now, the MINt conversion process is not only to convert MINt to MIN, but it also allows for what was coined as “Boosted Yield Farming”, as users that are staking LP tokens with MINt tokens for the conversion receive not only the converted MIN, but also a boost on their Yield Farming rewards for staking the LP tokens. The boost refers to the MIN earned by the LP Tokens that are Yield Farming.
The MINt Staking Contract functions in the following way: LP Tokens and the MINt are “semi-locked”. This “semi-lock” means that LP Tokens and MINt can be retrieved any time, however, you will not receive boosted rewards if you withdraw before the selected lock period. Important to note is that, while those LP Tokens in the MINt Staking Contract are Yield Farming, MIN rewards from it cannot be harvested until either: the LP Token lock period you selected ends (you receive boosted yield farming MIN rewards); or you withdraw the LP Tokens and MINt before the lock period ends (you receive normal non-boosted MIN rewards).
In order to adapt to different use cases, the boost will be related to the period that a user decides to lock the LP Tokens for and will last throughout that entire period. So, when converting MINt tokens on the dedicated UI, a user will have to choose between 3 Options or Routes, each with different boosts. The boosts will depend on the Pair where you are converting the MINt, and the lock period. More information on the exact boosts for each Pair are below in the article, but for illustration purposes we are using 1.3x, 1.7x and 2x for this example.
- Locking LP Tokens for 45 days , will give a boost of 1.3x
- Locking LP Tokens for 90 days, will give a boost of 1.7x
- Locking LP Tokens for 135 days, will give a boost of 2x.
Route 1: Locking LP Tokens for 45 days
If you have chosen the 45 days lock, the following two things can happen:
- You decide to withdraw/unstake the LP Tokens before the lock period ends (so, before the 45 days you selected have gone by). Then, you will receive back your LP Tokens and the MINt (and the MINt conversion will not happen). You will also receive unboosted (normal) MIN rewards for having staked LP Tokens in a Farm during that time that you did.
- You leave your LP Tokens and MINt in the MINt Staking Contract for 45 days as you established when picking Route 1. Then, after the 45 day period has gone by, you can withdraw/unstake your LP Tokens and the boosted MIN rewards for Yield Farming. As the boost is 1.3x, this means you will receive 30% more MIN than anyone staking LP Tokens in that Farm during the same period (45 days) who was not converting MINt. After the 45 days, the MINt deposited in the contract gets burnt, and the same amount of MIN as the MINt that was deposited is minted, and vests for an additional 45 days.
Route 2: Locking LP Tokens for 90 days
If you have chosen the 90 days lock, the following 3 things can happen:
- You decide to withdraw/unstake the LP Tokens and MINt before 45 days. Then, as in the previous example, you will receive your LP Tokens and the MINt back (the conversion will not happen) as well as the unboosted MIN rewards.
- You decide to withdraw/unstake the LP Tokens after 45 days, but before the 90 days you selected. Then, you will receive your LP Tokens and the unboosted MIN. However, the MINt conversion will still take place, and the MIN tokens converting from MINt tokens will start vesting for another 45 days.
- You leave your LP Tokens in the MINt Staking Contract for 90 days as you established when picking Route 2. Then, after the 90 day period has gone by, you can withdraw/unstake your LP Tokens and the boosted MIN rewards for Yield Farming. As the boost is 1.7x, this means you will receive 70% more MIN than anyone staking LP Tokens in that Farm during the same period who was not converting MINt. As in the previous case, the MINt conversion will start after day 45 and the MIN will start vesting linearly for another 45 days, which means after 90 days you can withdraw your fully vested MIN from MINt conversion, the LP Tokens, and the boosted MIN.
Route 3: Locking LP Tokens for 135 days
If you have chosen the 135 days lock, the following can happen:
- You decide to withdraw/unstake the LP Tokens and the MINt before 45 days. Then, as in the previous 2 cases, you will receive your LP Tokens and the MINt back (the conversion will not happen) as well as the unboosted MIN rewards.
- You decide to withdraw/unstake the LP Tokens and the MINt after 45 days, but before the 135 days you selected. Then, you will receive your LP Tokens and the unboosted MIN from Farming. However, the MINt conversion will start taking place, and the MIN tokens converting from MINt tokens will start vesting for another 45 days.
- You leave your LP Tokens and the MINt in the MINt Staking Contract for 135 days, as you established when picking Route 3. Then, after the 135 day period has gone by, you can withdraw/unstake your LP Tokens and the boosted MIN rewards for Yield Farming. As the boost is 2x, this means you will receive 100% more MIN than anyone staking LP Tokens in that Farm who was not converting MIN during the same period. As in the previous cases, the MINt conversion will start after day 45 and the MIN will start vesting linearly for another 45 days. This means, on day 90 after entering the MINt conversion (and 45 days before your lock period is over), you can claim the fully vested MIN from MINt conversion.
Boosts per Farms
MINt conversion and thus Boosted Yield Farming will be enabled on all Pairs with a MIN Farm on the Minswap DEX. Please be mindful that to convert MINt tokens, you do not need to stake the exact amount needed for MINt conversion. You can convert all your MINt and stake more LP Tokens than needed for it in a Farm as well, these extra LP Tokens will be staked in the normal Yield Farming Contract and will earn unboosted rewards (for a clearer example see the Appendix). With that being said, here are the bonuses on Boosted Yield Farming of MIN per lock period:
- MIN-ADA Pair: 1.75x for 45 days lock, 2.1x for 90 days lock, 2.5x for 135 days lock.
- Tiger Farms (PAVIA/ADA, LQ/ADA, MELD/ADA, WMT/ADA, DANA/ADA): 1.35x for 45 days lock, 1.5x for 90 days lock, 1.75x for 135 days lock.
- Any other Pairs with a MIN Farm: 1,15x for 45 days lock, 1.35x for 90 days lock, 1.5x for 135 days lock.
While we do not envision changing these bonuses, please remember that Farm Points do change on a regular basis, and Farms can be added or removed as well. Lastly, please note that MINt Conversion will be possible until April 16th 2023.
Appendix: Example 1
In this Appendix, we will expand on Example 1 and Example 2.
For Example 1, MINt conversion in the MIN/ADA Pair: we established that you have 10,000 MINt you want to convert, and have provided 2,500 MIN and the equivalent ADA (let’s say e.g. 1 MIN = 0.20 ADA, so 500 ADA), thus obtaining MIN/ADA LP Tokens. Let’s say, for illustration purposes, that the number of LP Tokens obtained is 1,000,000 LP Tokens (this number depends on a Formula that you can read about in the Uniswap V2 Whitepaper).
The MINt conversion ratio is 4 MINt per every 1 MIN. Since you have 2,500 MIN and the equivalent MIN supplied in the form of ADA in the LP Tokens, you can convert all 10,000 MINt, as 2,500 MIN in the LP Token times 4 would equal 10,000 which is the amount of MINt you had. This also means that the 10,000 MINt will boost all 1,000,000 MIN/ADA LP Tokens.
Let’s say you selected Route 2 (locking LP Tokens for 90 days):
- On Day 1, you deposit 10,000 MINt and the 1,000,000 MIN/ADA LP Tokens (representing 2,500 MIN and 500 ADA) in the MINt Staking Contract. From that moment on, the 1,000,000 MIN/ADA LP Tokens will start earning boosted MIN rewards, of 2.1x meaning 110% more APR than the base APR, and this MIN can only be harvested at the end of the lock period.
- On Day 45, the 10,000 MINt you deposited will start vesting linearly through the next 45 days. Please stay tuned for more information regarding how you will be able to claim the vesting MIN.
- On Day 90, you can unstake the 1,000,000 LP Tokens, receiving the boosted MIN rewards, and claim the fully vested MIN that converted 1:1 from MINt. If you decide to keep the LP Tokens staked after the boost is over, they will earn normal MIN rewards.
Appendix: Example 2
For Example 2, MINt conversion in a non-MIN/ADA Pair: you have 10,000 MINt you want to convert and 2,000 MELD and the equivalent ADA to that in LP Tokens (let’s say e.g. 1 MELD = 0.10 ADA, so 200 ADA). Lets say, hypothetically, 2 MELD = 1 MIN. This means, with 2,000 MELD, there is an equivalent of 1,000 MIN, which means you can convert 1000 * 4 MINt, meaning a maximum of 4,000 MINt tokens.
Since the 2000 MELD and 200 ADA are not enough to convert 10,000 MINt, you decide to provide more MELD/ADA Liquidity to convert all MINt. In fact, you decide to provide more liquidity than needed to convert all 10,000 MINt, by providing 1,000 ADA and thus 10,000 MELD. If you have 10,000 MELD and given 2 MELD = 1 MIN, this means you can convert 5,000 MIN worth of MINt, or rather 20,000 MINt.
For instance, let’s say providing the 1,000 ADA and 10,000 MELD would give you 10,000,000 MELD/ADA LP Tokens. These 10,000,000 MELD/ADA LP Tokens could convert 20,000 MINt, but since we are converting 10,000 MINt, this means it will be 50% of the LP Tokens provided (meaning 5,000,000) will be locked with 10,000 MINt and get the boosted yield farming. The other 5,000,000 LP Tokens will stay in your wallet and you can stake them in the normal Yield Farming Contract, where you can harvest at any time.
Let’s say you selected Route 3 (locking LP Tokens for 135 days) and your wallet has 1,000 ADA and 10,000 MELD (meaning 10,000,000 MELD/ADA LP Tokens) and 10,000 MINt:
- On Day 1, as you deposit the 10,000 MINt and the UI will take 5,000,000 MELD/ADA LP Tokens, the MINt and 5,000,000 of the LP Tokens go to the MINt Staking Contract (as we explained above, the 10,000 MINt can boost 5,000,000 MELD/ADA LP Tokens). The rest of the LP Tokens will stay in your wallet.
- On Day 45, the 10,000 MINt you deposited will start vesting linearly through the next 45 days.
- On Day 90, you can claim the fully vested MIN that converted 1:1 from MINt.
- On Day 135, you can unstake/unlock the 5,000,000 LP Tokens, receiving the boosted MIN rewards.