Audius Guide: Staking & Delegating AUDIO Tokens

Published in

Figment

6 min readDec 18, 2020

AUDIO is currently trading on Uniswap & Binance. The Audius platform has been stable and the team is prepared to enable staking rewards tomorrow, with the first rewards payouts in one week. Locked tokens can be staked, and the earlier you stake the better. Ready to stake? Skip to this section.

If you have any questions about Audius staking, we have likely answered your questions below.

What is Audius?

Audius is a new streaming platform designed for musicians–they can build a fanbase, share works in progress, and finally share completed tracks with the world. Musicians are using Audius to create, grow, and monetize their work without needing a record label. Audius is built for musicians and fans to enjoy their music together with the highest quality streaming.

Figment will work alongside other node operators to run the Audius network protocol, and to ensure that musicians and fans have a high-quality, uninterrupted music streaming experience.

If you have AUDIO tokens, you can stake them and then delegate your stake to Figment to help back our operations. If you delegate your AUDIO stake, you’ll earn rewards, increasing your AUDIO token holdings and your ownership of the Audius platform.

Why stake your AUDIO tokens with Figment?

EXPERIENCED & TRUSTED

Serving many of Audius’ early investors.

Figment is a venture funded, registered Canadian company, based in Toronto. Canada offers stability, rule of law and clear crypto regulation.

FEATURES & BENEFITS

Figment Prime available for > 2,000,000 $AUDIO. Contact us for more information.

SECURITY & SAFETY

The world’s most advanced physical IDC + multi-cloud staking infrastructure.

You maintain custody of your $AUDIO at all times.

Third-party custody solutions are available through our institutional partners. Contact us for more information.

COMPLIANCE

Protected via industry-leading Delegation Agreement.

Ready to Stake?

If you’re ready to stake, the easiest way to participate is with your Ledger hardware device. If you are using a third-party custody solution or would like an introduction, contact support@figment.io. If you have more questions before staking, we have likely answered your questions below.

Staking & delegation instructions

Figment’s Node Operator ID:

0xc1f351FE81dFAcB3541e59177AC71Ed237BD15D0

With Metamask ready, head to Figment’s Service Operator in the Audius dashboard: https://dashboard.audius.org/services/operator/0xc1f351FE81dFAcB3541e59177AC71Ed237BD15D0
‘Connect Metamask’ in the top-right corner.

3. Click the ‘Delegate’ button.

4. Enter the number of AUDIO tokens to delegate and then follow the prompts to confirm.

Questions? Critical information about staking AUDIO and the Audius Platform

Where can I explore the network and create a Audius wallet?

Metamask software wallet, a Ledger device via Metamask (recommended), and Gnosis Safe multisig are three different ways to stake, delegate, and interact with Audius.

Audius contract address: 0x18aaa7115705e8be94bffebde57af9bfc265b998

Wallet: https://audius.co/dashboard

Explorer: https://dashboard.audius.org

When are staking rewards enabled? When are transfers enabled?

Transfers were enabled when the network launched on Oct 23, 2020. We expect staking rewards to be enabled on December 18, 2020.

What is the name of the asset being staked?

Audius’ native token, AUDIO, is used to stake (to earn fees and rewards), for feature access on the platform, and to participate in on-chain governance.

Which type(s) and what rate of rewards can I expect? Can I stake locked/vesting tokens?

Audius stakers are expected to earn newly-issued AUDIO tokens and platform fees. Stakers will earn at least 7% in yearly rewards, but we expect earnings between 10% and 14%, depending upon how much of the token supply is staked (ie. between 50 and 70% of the supply).

All investor tokens may be staked and delegated. Investor tokens are on a 2-year quarterly unlock schedule with a 6 month cliff.

Do I maintain custody of my AUDIO tokens? Who or what controls my staked AUDIO token?

You will be able to self-custody your AUDIO tokens, ideally using a Ledger hardware wallet. You can use the Audius team’s wallet with (or without) a Ledger device: https://audius.co/dashboard

Figment has partnerships with a number of top-in-class custodians: support@figment.io

The Audius protocol takes control of your AUDIO tokens while you are staking. If you unbond your tokens, this process will take about 7 days before the protocol returns your tokens to you. While your AUDIO are staked, you may participate in on-chain governance by voting on different proposals.

How long does it take to unstake?

From the moment you initiate the unbonding process, it takes 7 days to unstake. During this time you will not earn rewards. When the process is complete, you can freely transfer/trade your AUDIO tokens.

Can my staked AUDIO be slashed (seized or destroyed)?

Yes, a portion of your staked AUDIO can be destroyed via the governance process if it is decided that a node did something malicious. Examples:

tampering with the code for a given version agreed upon in governance with malicious intent (eg. to boost search results for a piece of content)
prolonged downtime (days+) that is not caused by an error in the code
running under-resourced machines below the spec required (eg. less ram, fewer processors than specified) and refusing to rectify

The Audius community controls slashing via governance and is designed only to be used in egregious situations where 1) malicious intent or extreme negligence can be proved and 2) where the issue cannot be resolved off-chain.

Can I lose potential staking rewards?

Yes. Rewards are eligible to be distributed once per week, and an Ethereum transaction is required for stakers claim to rewards. Anyone can do this, and Figment will do this on your behalf. However, if the rewards are not claimed within one week, delegators to this staking provider will miss their rewards for that period.

There are no consequences for node downtime.

What is the rate of new issuance (aka annual “inflation”) for AUDIO? How does the token supply change?

The network will begin with a new issuance rate fixed at 7% of the supply per year, and though this rate is governable, we expect it to stay at 7% until at least November of 2021. Besides slashed tokens being burned, we do not expect the supply to decrease.

How are changes to the Audius network decided upon and executed? ie. How is Audius governed?

Audius uses on-chain governance, and that voting is based on the number of AUDIO tokens staked.

Everything in Audius is governable, including governance parameters themselves. Examples of parameters that may be changed via governance:

Feature Integrations
Royalty Rates
Token Distribution
Fee Pool Allocation
Staking Rewards

The only way that the network can be modified today is via governance or the community multisig override process. Key details about the governance process: