Every epoch, rollups compete for VIP rewards by offering bribes to Cabal. And why wouldn’t they? Cabal has risen to governance domination on Initia, with 40% of the voting power coming through our incentive layer.
But there’s something keeping The Cabal on edge. Almost every rollup waits until the very last day, hour, or even seconds of an epoch before they place their bribes.
The VIP Hunger Games
Rollups are acting opportunistic. They want to see what others do before they commit. That’s fair… but it causes a big problem.
Issue for Depositors
● Current bribe yield stays artificially suppressed for most of the epoch. It stays in the low single-digits, then shoots up to high double-digits on the last day.
● Even though The Cabal knows that yields will climb until they reach equilibrium, this suppression creates doubt. People ask “Are bribes happening?” and worry about the system.
Issue for Rollups
● The last minutes turn into a rushed bidding war. If a team is not watching closely or forgets, they can miss the bribe window completely.
Most recently, this happened to MilkyWay, which would’ve pushed bribe yields past 60% in Epoch 7.
So we came up with a solution.
Introducing: Bribe Decay
Starting next epoch (August 14), we're rolling a new system that rewards early bribers and smooths out yield volatility.
The "Bribe Decay" mechanism works in two phases:
● Grace Period: For the first 7 days of the epoch, bribes retain their full power.
● Decay Period: From day 8 to 14, the power of new bribes drops by 5% for every day.
Importantly. this mechanism only applies to bribe power, which is the influence your bribe has when Cabal allocates votes to rollups. It does not reduce the yield that depositors earn.
For example, if you deposit a $1,000 USDC bribe…
Day Deposited | Penalty | Bribe Power | Yield to Depositors |
|---|---|---|---|
1–7 | 0% | $1,000 | $1,000 |
8 | 5% | $950 | $1,000 |
9 | 10% | $900 | $1,000 |
10 | 15% | $850 | $1,000 |
11 | 20% | $800 | $1,000 |
12 | 25% | $750 | $1,000 |
13 | 30% | $700 | $1,000 |
14 | 35% | $650 | $1,000 |
Note that VIP Epochs last 14 days, so the maximum penalty is 35%.
The New Bribe Meta
Bribe Decay changes the way both users and rollups should think about each epoch. It keeps yields more stable, rewards early movers, and gives everyone a clearer picture of the market well before the final day.
Improvement for Users
● See steadier bribe yields from the start of the epoch
● Avoid the uncertainty and questions that come with slow early yields
Improvement for Rollups
● Gain more influence by bribing earlier
● Reduce the risk of missing the bribe window entirely
● Give the market more time to respond to your incentives
If you plan to bribe, doing it early now gives you the most out of your spend and lets you set the tone for the rest of the epoch. Waiting is still an option, but you will be working with less influence.
We expect Bribe Decay to turn the last-minute scramble into a steady, competitive market that works better for everyone in the Initia ecosystem.
Follow Cabal
● X (@CabalVIP)
● Discord (discord.gg/thecabal)
● Docs (thecabal.xyz/docs)
