Rook

Rook is an open settlement protocol that leverages the world’s best algorithmic strategists in order to maximize the value of every transaction for protocols, market makers, and traders alike.

These algorithmic strategists - known as Keepers - are bots that observe Ethereum, and other general purpose blockchains, to facilitate all sorts of transactions, such as arbitrage, liquidations, system upkeep, and auctions. Keepers have quickly become necessary actors in the Ethereum ecosystem as risk off-loaders. The introduction of these actors has created a complex situation, as they were never accounted for in Ethereum’s incentive structure. Currently, Keepers compete with each other in a zero-sum game, and, as a result, Ethereum has transformed into a highly adversarial environment where Keepers and miners fight to claim on-chain profits at the expense of DeFi users and protocols.

Inside the Rook Protocol, however, Keepers no longer compete with each other - instead, they work together to coordinate and capture the on-chain profits efficiently. DeFi users, protocols, and market makers can bring their activity to Rook and gain a portion of the profit as a reward. By using specialized on-chain contracts to hide the profit extracting opportunities, Rook realigns the incentives of network actors to encourage coordination instead of competition. The goal here is to strike the best benefit for all.