We’re excited to announce that Chainlink Staking v0.2 is now live on Ethereum mainnet!

Starting today, November 28, existing v0.1 stakers can migrate their staked LINK and accrued rewards to v0.2 with guaranteed access during the nine-day Priority Migration phase. From December 7 at 12PM ET, LINK token holders who meet predefined eligibility requirements have the opportunity to stake up to 15,000 LINK in a four-day period before General Access. From December 11 at 12PM ET, anyone can stake up to 15,000 LINK, provided that the pool has not yet been filled.

Staking is a core initiative of Chainlink Economics 2.0 that brings a new layer of cryptoeconomic security to the Chainlink Network. Staking enables ecosystem participants, such as node operators and community members, to back the performance of oracle services with staked LINK and earn rewards for helping secure the network.

What’s New in Chainlink Staking v0.2

Chainlink Staking v0.2 takes learnings from the v0.1 release last December and builds upon its foundation by focusing on the following goals: 

• Greater flexibility for Community and Node Operator Stakers via a new unbonding mechanism, while retaining a secure non-custodial design.
• Improved security guarantees for oracle services secured by Chainlink Staking via the slashing of node operator stake.
• Modular architecture to iteratively support future improvements and additions to Chainlink Staking, such as expansion to more services.
• Dynamic rewards mechanism that can seamlessly support new external sources of rewards in the future, such as user fees.

At the launch of Staking v0.2, the capped 45,000,000 LINK pool will consist of a 40,875,000 LINK allotment for community members, with the remainder allocated to Chainlink node operators currently servicing Chainlink Data Feeds. Community Stakers can stake a minimum of 1 LINK and up to a maximum of 15,000 LINK during Early Access and General Access on a per-address basis. Note that entry to v0.2 during these phases is not guaranteed due to the capped pool size. Node Operator Stakers can stake a minimum of 1,000 LINK and up to a maximum of 75,000 LINK.

To learn more about Chainlink Staking v0.2, including its new features and launch phases, refer to this comprehensive overview of the v0.2 upgrade. More information about the Early Access phase of v0.2, including eligibility criteria, can be found in this blog post. Community members can check their eligibility for Early Access today at staking.chain.link/eligibility.

How To Migrate and Stake Your LINK

For a step-by-step tutorial on how to migrate your v0.1 staked LINK to v0.2 or how to stake as a new participant, check out this blog tutorial. The following video tutorials are also available on the official Chainlink YouTube:

• How To Migrate v0.1 Staked LINK to v0.2
• How to Stake LINK in v0.2
• How to Self-Custody Crypto
• How To Connect a Hardware Wallet to MetaMask

When participating in Staking v0.2, ensure that the URL in your browser is the correct official 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 addresses for the launch of Staking v0.2 on Ethereum mainnet are located below, where the source code is public and verified on Etherscan:   

Before participating in Chainlink Staking, it is important that you as a staker understand the design of the v0.2 beta including the unbonding mechanism, ramp-up period, alerting, staking rewards, and other key features. More information can be found in the v0.2 Overview Blog and on the Chainlink Staking FAQ. Instructions for staking directly at the smart contract level can be found on this IPFS-hosted guide.

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Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and contains statements about the future, including anticipated product features, development, and timelines for the rollout of these 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 changes at any time. Eligibility for Early Access does not guarantee your participation in the Chainlink Staking program. Staking eligibility and participation requirements are subject to modification at any time without notice. There can be no 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. These statements may not reflect future developments due to user feedback or later events and we may not update this post in response.