Staking: The Basics

Fetch.ai staking is open to everyone, no matter how many tokens you hold. To take part, you will need:

1. A web browser that supports MetaMask (we recommend Google Chrome)
2. Some FET and some ETH to pay for your transactions
   To see your FET in MetaMask you may need to choose ‘Add Token’ and enter the FET token address 0x1D287CC25dAD7cCaF76a26bc660c5F7C8E2a05BD
3. An understanding of the risks and the process involved

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The FET ERC20 contract address is 0x1D287CC25dAD7cCaF76a26bc660c5F7C8E2a05BD

The original auction contract address (first auction only) is 0x10dB9941E65DA3B7FDB0Cd05B1fd434Cb8B18158

The new contract address (from November 2019) is
0x4f3C38cD3267329f93418F4b106231022cC264c0

The old contract address was used for the first auction. It was superseded November 2019 for the second and subsequent auctions and adds some additional features.

You will never see any other target address in any of the MetaMask transactions, or in your hardware wallet’s confirmation of address. Please check carefully and reject and refuse to authorize any transaction not referring to one of these two addresses.

There are two ways of taking part:

1. Directly in the auction: With this, you bid in the auction directly for validator slots. Whilst not a requirement yet, ultimately, this will be tied to running Fetch.ai network validator nodes. The auction starting price opens at 1,500,000 FET and will gradually fall towards a reserve price of 200,000 FET. You can bid at any time that you have more FET than the current auction price. Depending on the final clearing price, you may get more than one slot.
2. By pledging tokens as part of a pool: By delegating your tokens, you are pledging your FET into a pool, and that pool’s owner will take part in the auction on your behalf. This is risk free: you will get a fixed reward for your delegation.

At this stage, the auction process requires attention and patience. If you are taking part, please read all of the documentation provided. In particular, we encourage you to read the ‘Getting started’ and ‘Auction info’ pages on the staking site before carefully completing each step. It is important to do your own research and it is your responsibility to secure your wallet and the tokens stored within it.

Option 1: Take part in the auction directly

Yields are variable, and depend on the final price of each slot.

1. Decide on your bid value. This will be at least 200,000 FET — there is no upper limit. Please note there is no guarantee that the auction will drop this low if it clears earlier.
2. Wait until the auction is in progress and the ‘Current Price’ falls to your chosen bid value
3. Press the ‘Make a Bid’ button. You then need to complete two steps:
   [1] approve the transfer of tokens to the contract
   [2] place your bid
4. To approve the transfer of tokens to the contract, enter your bid value into the number entry box and check it carefully. It will default to the current price, but you may wish to change it if you are putting more in to get a potentially larger number of slots.
5. Press the ‘Sign authorization transaction’ button. Metamask will pop up. Approve the transaction and authorize your hardware wallet as applicable. This transaction will not move any tokens: it simply approves the decision to move onto the next step. Be patient whilst the transaction completes, this may take some time depending on network congestion. You can check in MetaMask, or copy the transaction ID into a site like etherscan.io to view the progress of the transaction.
6. When the transaction completes, you move to the next step. Double-check that the figure is correct: the figure in the number entry box on this page is what you will actually bid. Press ‘Bid’ and authorize the transaction through MetaMask. Again, this may take some time. You can change gas prices to speed up the process in MetaMask if you desire.
7. That’s it! When both transactions are approved on the Ethereum blockchain, your bid will have been placed and you will be able to see it in the bids table on the staking website.

Option 2: Pledge to a pool

Yields are fixed, depending on the pool you choose to join.

1. Pick a pool in the pool table and press the ‘Participate’ button. The process requires completing two steps:
   [1] approve the transfer of tokens to the contract
   [2] pledging your tokens to the pool
2. For the approval: enter your bid value into the number entry box and check it carefully. It will default to the current price, but you may wish to change it if you are putting more in to get a potentially larger number of slots.
3. Press the ‘Sign authorization transaction’ button. Metamask will pop up. Approve the transaction and authorize your hardware wallet as applicable. This transaction will not move any tokens: it simply approves the decision to move onto the next step. Be patient whilst the transaction completes, this may take some time depending on network congestion. You can check in MetaMask, or copy the transaction ID into a site like etherscan.io to view the progress of the transaction.
4. When the transaction goes through, you will be taken to the next page. Double-check that everything you have entered is correct and then press the ‘Pledge’ button and authorize the transaction through MetaMask. Again, this may take some time. You can change gas prices to speed up the process in MetaMask if you desire.
5. That’s it! When both transactions are approved on the Ethereum blockchain, your pledge will have been placed and you will be able to see it in the pool you pledged your tokens to on the staking website.

If you would like more information, we encourage you to watch our staking video with head of research Jonathan Ward. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us on Telegram, on Twitter or email us at info@fetch.ai. We will be happy to help.