Aura

Aura Finance distinguishes itself in the DeFi space by enhancing the Balancer ecosystem, offering a streamlined experience for BAL stakers and liquidity providers. It simplifies staking with tokenized veBAL (auraBAL) and boosts rewards through protocol-owned veBAL and AURA tokens, while easing participation in Balancer's gauge system. The AURA token is central to Aura's governance and incentivization, allowing users to lock tokens for governance rights and influence both Aura's and Balancer's decisions. Governance involves managing the Aura treasury, voting on Balancer proposals, and planning a transition to full on-chain voting

Aura Finance uniquely enhances the Balancer ecosystem by offering a streamlined experience for BAL stakers and liquidity providers. It simplifies the staking process through a tokenized veBAL (auraBAL) and aggregates BAL deposits, boosting rewards through protocol-owned veBAL and additional AURA tokens. Aura also eases liquidity providers' participation in Balancer's gauge system while offering governance rights and incentivization through the AURA token.

Governance in Aura covers internal proposals like setting fee rates, managing the Aura treasury, and voting on Balancer Snapshots and Gauges. Initially, decisions are executed via Snapshot and multisigs, with separate multisigs for protocol proposals and treasury management. As the voter base matures, Aura plans to transition to full on-chain voting, potentially using Governor Bravo for internal governance, Gnosis SafeSnap or a similar solution for treasury management, and custom contracts for Balancer Gauge voting. This shift to on-chain governance is contingent on technical feasibility and security considerations, with some elements potentially deploying on a cost-effective Layer 2 platform.

The AURA token in Aura Finance is central to its governance and incentivization structure. Users can lock their AURA for 16 weeks to gain governance rights in the Aura protocol, influencing its development and the allocation of accrued veBAL. Locked AURA also translates to voting power in Balancer governance. Users can delegate their voting power, either to themselves, a third party, or directly to Aura, enhancing their influence in key decisions. This delegation is crucial for both internal governance, such as voting on Aura protocol changes and treasury management, and external governance like Balancer gauge voting and snapshot proposals.

Aura Finance is a self-bootstrapped project that has initiated its operations with a foundational grant from Balancer. While the project is largely self-funded, this grant played a key role in kickstarting their activities.