I. Summary

This proposal recommends the deprecation of Hermes gauges connected to the Ulysses protocol and a subsequent update to the user interface to transition Ulysses integration into a “Withdraw-Only” state.

Since the initial integration of Ulysses, our platform has shipped and matured the Meta-Bridge, a native cross-chain product designed to support modern token standards and protocol-owned bridging flows. As the broader cross-chain market has evolved, the industry has consolidated around sovereign, native standards (such as LayerZero OFTs and xERC20s) that allow protocols to retain full control over their assets, messaging, and upgrade paths.

Because the Meta-Bridge already fulfills this role natively—and is fully supported by our existing UI and incentives framework, continuing to direct emissions and UI surface area toward Ulysses is no longer the most efficient use of protocol resources.

This proposal formalizes a transition toward the Meta-Bridge and other native-standard integrations, ensuring our incentives, product surface, and capital allocation remain aligned with where the market and our partners are actively building.

II. Motivation & Rationale

The Shift Toward Sovereign Infrastructure

When Ulysses was integrated, the cross-chain landscape was fragmented, and liquidity-layer solutions were necessary to bridge gaps between chains. However, the market has matured. Protocols today prioritize ownership and sovereignty. They are increasingly opting for native cross-chain token standards (like OFTs and xERC20s) that allow them to control their own infrastructure rather than delegating custody and bridging logic to a third-party liquidity protocol like Ulysses.

The Meta-Bridge was built specifically to support this shift, enabling protocols to retain end-to-end control while benefiting from a unified, native user experience.

Market Traction & Resource Allocation

Ulysses has not seen the level of sustained adoption necessary to justify ongoing incentives in the current market environment. This outcome reflects evolving industry preferences rather than any deficiency in the underlying technology.

Continuing to allocate Hermes emissions and gauges to Ulysses pools dilutes incentive efficiency and fragments liquidity. By deprecating these gauges, we can concentrate incentives on Meta-Bridge routes and other native-standard integrations that are already seeing active usage and align more closely with partner demand.

Immutability & User Safety

It is important to clarify that this is a UI and Incentive shift, not a shutdown of the underlying blockchain infrastructure.

• Immutable Contracts: The Ulysses smart contracts are immutable. They cannot be paused, upgraded, or shut down by us or anyone else.
• Funds are Safe: Users will retain the ability to interact with the smart contracts indefinitely.
• UI Transition: Upon the passing of this proposal, the official UI will start a transition to simply remove "Deposit" functionality for Ulysses and hide these pools from the active "Earn" sections as they are removed through governance proposals. The "Withdraw" functionality will remain accessible through the UI to facilitate an easy exit for current liquidity providers.

III. Governance Details

Actions

If passed, this proposal will execute the following:

1. Remove Gauges: Remove gauges for all Ulysses-related pools, stopping all Hermes emissions to these strategies.
2. UI Update: Update the frontend to "Withdraw Only" mode for Ulysses, guiding users to migrate liquidity to newer, standard-aligned pools.

Timeline

This proposal will follow the standard Hermes Gauge approval governance process:

1. Temperature Check (3 days): Open forum discussion and early sentiment gathering.
2. On-Chain Vote (3 days): Formal token-holder vote through the governance module.
3. Execution Queue (2 days): Mandatory delay before execution to allow final review or veto mechanisms.