The Elrond Genesis Staking Guide & FAQs

Beniamin Mincu

Published in

Elrond Network

10 min readMay 12, 2020

Quick summary:

The process is available at https://genesis.elrond.com
You need a Metamask wallet with the ERD tokens & gas for fees
Create an Elrond wallet at https://wallet.elrond.com
Follow the website instructions
Be a hero in the Elrond Genesis story

The Elrond bootstrapping process will automatically convert ERC20 ERD tokens into Mainnet tokens via the Genesis Staking smart contract. A bit like using Internet Explorer to download Chrome, but without interrupting the ongoing downloads, if you will. We covered the rationale, timeline & goals in our article series, which you can review here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

This particular article contains the detailed guide with all necessary steps to successfully stake on Elrond. Let’s begin.

Step 1 — Have Metamask installed

To get started, you will need a Metamask wallet with ERC20 ERD tokens and a bit of ETH to pay for the transaction fees. You can watch this video guide about creating a Metamask wallet and withdrawing ERC20 ERD from Binance.

How to create a Metamask account & How to withdraw from Binance

Step 2 —Create an Elrond Wallet

You will need an Elrond wallet address to indicate where the mainnet $ERD stake & rewards will be available for you to claim. Create a wallet at wallet.elrond.com. You can watch our video guide.

https://wallet.elrond.com

Once you’ve logged into your new wallet, the erd1… address is visible on top of the page and can be copied by clicking the two-rectangles button.

Step 3a — Staking as a Delegator

Delegators are ERD holders who help secure the network by delegating stake to other node operators. They will initially delegate to the Elrond foundational nodes and earn 25% APR before the Genesis, and 29% APR once the Elrond Mainnet is live.

You will log into the Metamask wallet where your ERD tokens are. Make sure you select “Fast” for transactions, to make sure they go through in a reasonable time.

Then, go to https://genesis.elrond.com and click on “Connect with Metamask”. Then, click Delegate

Please follow the displayed instructions: provide the amount of ERD you want to stake, and the erd1… ERD mainnet address. Now check everything is right, submit the transaction & confirm it with Metamask.

Here you will be asked to sign the transaction again with Metamask, and to confirm. Please do so, and then your transaction will be sent. You can repeat the process to stake additional ERD from the same address. You will see your transactions in the Delegation dashboard.

You can also choose to Unstake a certain amount or all of your ERD. Be aware that rewards are only collected at mainnet, and you will receive no rewards for unstaking before. There is no unbonding period before mainnet, so your transaction will be processed with no delay from the process.

Awesome, you should have successfully delegated!

Step 3b — Staking as a Validator

Validators are participants in Battle of Nodes who apply to operate a node for the mainnet launch. They will be part of the Elrond network infrastructure and will help mint the Genesis block, earning 25% APR before Genesis and 36% APR afterwards.

Validators will log into the Metamask wallet, with the Ethereum address they used in the Mainnet Validators Whitelisting form. Then they will go to https://genesis.elrond.com and click on “Connect with Metamask”. The “Staking” process will be available in the lower part of the page. Please scroll down and click “Add Nodes”.

Based on the number of nodes you submitted, you will see a number of nodes you can add. Select the number of nodes — please remember you need 2.5mn ERD in your Metamask wallet for each one. Then add the erd1… Elrond Mainnet address for the rewards.

Then add your BLS keys from validatorKey.pem files — generate new ones special for mainnet use.

Follow the on-screen instructions and send the transaction. Your nodes will appear as “Pending” — which is the correct status for now.

You can decide to remove some of them by clicking Unstake.

Note that If you added nodes to the whitelist but do not see yours available, it means they still need to be processed — adding them from the Whitelist into the Genesis Staking process is processed manually on a case by case basis.

Thank you for your amazing support, see you on the other side!

FAQ

Q1: What is the Mainnet rewards address and why is it important?
Your rewards address is the ERD address you will use to receive the rewards and the staked or delegated ERD once the Mainnet is launched. It is the address that will hold your native ERD tokens once minted at Genesis. As a safety measure, be sure to check that the address for the Elrond blockchain always starts with erd1.

Example of and ERD address that can be used for rewards address is this: erd14sy7elr5fh8hrlxm4srv4xr3z86jxcxfn33zwf433uu

Important note: If you lose access to the private key associated with this address, you will NOT be able to access your delegated or staked funds once the Mainnet is live. Please backup your private key and your seed words in one or two safe locations. These 24 seed words (also called seed phrase or secret words) are the keys to your address. Never share your secret phrase or private key with anyone.

Q2: Can I change my reward address after I delegate?
Once a reward address is submitted, it cannot be changed. However, if you need to change the rewards address, withdraw all the delegated ERD, move them to a new ETH address, and restart the delegation process from this new ETH address. Thus you can choose a different rewards address. Notice that if you choose to withdraw a part or the entire amount it will reset your staking starting date from which the 25% APR pre-Mainnet rewards are calculated.

Q3: What are the rewards and how are they calculated?
Delegators get 25% APR until Genesis, and 29% once Mainnet is live. Validators get 25% APR until genesis and 36% once Mainnet is live.

Why:

3.75bn $ERD are staked for 1.500 nodes
1.5bn ERD — 7.5% of our max supply of 20bn $ERD — is issued in the first year as rewards
10% of the rewards — 10% x 1.5bn = 150mn $ERD — go to the Protocol Treasury, for sustainable funding of the Elrond network
1.35bn $ERD will be distributed to 1.500 nodes over 1 year
1.35bn/3.75bn = 0.36 -> 36% Validator APR
Delegators get 29% — the 7% difference is a service fee for the node operations

Q4: Does the Genesis Staking smart contract have an unbonding period?
No, you can withdraw from the Genesis staking contract without a time penalty, up until the “Validation” phase. That’s when we stop the Genesis staking and prepare the Genesis minting. Withdrawals are stopped at that point.

Q5: Can I withdraw only a part of my stake?
Yes, delegators can choose to withdraw a part of their stakes. Validators can only withdraw full nodes. You will not receive rewards for the amounts you unstake before the Mainnet launch.

Q6: Can I stake more than once using the same Ethereum address?
Yes, the previous limitation in the Prestaking contract was due to the complex rewards system. The Genesis staking has a flat reward system and thus no limitation.

Q7: What happens to my $ERD after I stake?
The ERC20 $ERD tokens will leave your Metamask wallet and be deposited in the Genesis Staking Smart Contract.

Q8: How do I redeem my stake & rewards?
Your stake and accumulated rewards will be minted and transferred to your Elrond address, on the mainnet. You will be able to access them using the private information — .json file or secret passphrase — that you created with the Elrond wallet.

Q9: Should I send ERD to the smart contract address directly?
No, the genesis staking process is complex and only works from genesis.elrond.com. Sending ERD directly to the Smart Contract address will result in you losing the tokens.

Q10: Can I stake using a Ledger?
Yes, Open your Ledger -> Go to Ethereum app -> Settings -> Select Contract Data -> Select Yes. Then connect Ledger to Metamask

Q11: What is the deadline for staking in the Genesis Smart Contract?
We did not set a fixed date yet. We expect the process to take a few weeks, pending Battle of Nodes progress. We will announce the end date with 7 days in advance.

Q12: https://wallet.elrond.com is running on the testnet. Will the wallet I generate on the testnet work on the mainnet as well?
Yes, the private & public key pairs you generate when creating a wallet will work with Elrond cryptography in the same way, regardless if it is mainnet or testnet.

Q13: How do I become a Genesis validator?
Genesis Validator — is a node that will be a Validator on the Elrond mainnet at the Genesis block. We’ve started the BonWards testnet multiple times, so you know what that means: if the update comes and your node is in the “nodesSetup.json”

Steps to becoming a Genesis Validator:

Whitelist form: put the number N of nodes you want to run at Genesis & the Ethereum address you will be doing that from
Genesis Staking: stake N * 2.500.000 ERD from the Ethereum address in the Whitelist form
Participate in the next Battle of Nodes incentivized testnet event

How to increase your chances:

you were in the previous two Battle of Nodes events and scored above average
you stayed with us in BoNwards, the un-incentivized testnet that is running now
you are Elrond in the true culture sense: willing to put in the work and help others

What if I stake and get rejected?

You can withdraw your Validator stake and follow the Delegator process instead
No rewards calculated for this period — think twice about your chance of being selected, considering the above criteria

Q14: What if I apply for 2 nodes and only 1 gets approved? What if the delegation cap is filled and I am left out?
We will try to get as many individual operators in as possible. Not everyone will get the exact number of nodes they want from day 1. There are not enough slots. We will more likely reduce 15 nodes to 10 nodes for one person, rather than 2 nodes to 1 node, as far as whitelisting goes.

Also there will be more opportunities to add more nodes. We will decentralize in Phase 2 of the bootstrapping process. Elrond nodes will be decommissioned and new community nodes will be able to step in.

The delegation cap is created based on numbers we ran vs the Prestaking figures. We estimate there will be enough time & availability for all. We are also discussing options for the situation where there will be more staked in Genesis vs Prestaking. That’s a great problem to have.

Q15: Why is there a delegation cap?
Total overall delegation capped at 2.512.500.000 $ERD:

Reasoning is 1.005 Elrond foundational nodes x 2.5 Million $ERD / node = 2.512.500.000 $ERD

Elrond will act briefly as a staking-as-a-service provider at the launch of the Mainnet. In the next 3–6 months after the launch, the Elrond foundational validators will gradually decrease, until the majority of the network is community run.

Q16: I unstaked on Monday 11 May, my ERD arrives on Monday 18 May. What if the delegation cap is filled by then?
The amount of ERD stake / node has been calculated based on information collected in the prestaking phase. Our estimations indicate the available delegation cap should suffice the current demand. We have a number of scenarios for the situation where demand exceeds the cap, which we will communicate if needed.

Q17: How do I add the ERC20 ERD token to my Metamask wallet?

Click on “Add Token” and then “Custom Token.