We’re excited to announce that Early Access for Chainlink Staking v0.1 is now live on Ethereum mainnet!

This initial implementation enables community members who meet at least one of the criteria on the Early Access Eligibility List to stake up to 7,000 LINK in the limited-size v0.1 staking pool. The capped Staking pool will open to General Access in two days on December 8, 2022 at 12PM ET, giving anyone the chance to stake up to an initial limit of 7,000 LINK per address, subject to the initial 25M LINK pool cap and other applicable participation requirements. 

In the initial v0.1 pool, 22.5M LINK is allotted for Community Stakers on a first-come-first-served basis, while 2.5M LINK is allotted and reserved for Node Operator Stakers. Staked LINK and rewards will be locked until the release of Staking v0.2, which is planned for release in approximately 9-12 months. More information about pool expansions beyond 25M LINK will be made available in early 2023. 

Refer to this recent blog on the launch details of Staking v0.1 to learn more about its design and this blog on Staking v0.1 Early Access to learn if your address is eligible to stake before General Access opens. For a step-by-step guide, check out the following tutorial of how to stake your LINK in Chainlink Staking v0.1. 

When participating in Staking v0.1, ensure that the URL in your browser is the correct official Chainlink Staking web page located at https://staking.chain.link. Bookmark this URL and verify that the URL is correct each time the web page is accessed. Third-party web pages for Chainlink Staking should be treated with caution as they may be hosted with malicious intent. The official contract address for Staking v0.1 on the Ethereum mainnet is located at 0x3feB1e09b4bb0E7f0387CeE092a52e85797ab889 where the source code is public and verified.

Staking is a key component of Chainlink Economics 2.0 that enables both community members and node operators to earn rewards for helping increase the cryptoeconomic security of oracle services. By committing LINK tokens in smart contracts to back certain performance guarantees around oracle services, the Chainlink ecosystem can expand to secure greater amounts of value over time. Combined with other key Economics 2.0 programs such as Chainlink Build and Chainlink Scale, the Chainlink ecosystem is entering its next stage of sustainable growth, increased cryptoeconomic security, and entirely new levels of value capture across the network.

Before participating in Chainlink Staking, it is important you as a staker understand the design of the v0.1 beta including the lock-up period, alerting, staking rewards, and other key features. More information can be found in the recent Chainlink Economics 2.0 Staking Protocol and Staking v0.1 Launch Details blog post. Instructions for staking directly at the contract level can be found in IPFS here.

—

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and contains statements about the future, including anticipated programs, products and features, developments, and timelines for the rollout of these new products and features. These statements are only predictions and reflect current beliefs and expectations with respect to future events; they are based on assumptions and are subject to risk, uncertainties, and change at any time. The Staking Interface is provided “as is” without representations, guarantees, or warranties of any kind. There can be no guarantee that any of the contemplated programs, products or features will be implemented as specified or at all nor any assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed in these statements, although we believe them to be based on reasonable assumptions. All statements are valid only as of the date first posted and we may not update this post in response.