HOPR Staking FAQs
UPDATE: This article has been updated on January 25th 2023
As we move into Season 6 of the HOPR Staking program, we wanted to provide a refresher on how the program works and how it’s evolving. The information in this article supersedes the previous info on the staking program.
To get started with staking, visit stake.hoprnet.org, connect your wallet and follow the instructions.
Changes from Season 5
In the transition from Season 5 to Season 6, we’ve continued to make changes that reflect the program’s evolution towards the end state, where the program is turned off entirely and all rewards come from running a HOPR node with HOPR tokens staked in the node itself.
To this end, Season 6 continues to prioritise rewards for node runners, and minimise rewards for passive participants.
The important top level parameters are:
- Base rate reduced from 2.5% to 1.25%
- Boost cap increased to 250,000
- Season 3 NFTs no longer provide a staking boost (but are still counted for waitlist priority, so hold on to them in your staking address!)
In addition, a new class of rewards will be added during Season 6: Network Rewards. These will be sent directly to participating addresses as staked xHOPR, and can be redeemed at the end of the season.
The season will run from 2pm CET on January 26th to 2pm CEST on April 26th.
Network Rewards
Starting with Season 6, node runners will be receiving additional HOPR tokens based on their node performance. These tokens will be sent directly to staking addresses as staked xHOPR tokens. So there will be no more waiting for NFTs, and rewards will be more granular.
How Will It Work?
Rewards will be issued in two week cycles. Every two weeks, we’ll announce a particular node metric or set of metrics that we’re measuring, and at the end of the period a budget of HOPR tokens will be divided between registered node addresses based on node performance.
For example, if we were measuring uptime, we would sum up all the pings for the period and divide the reward budget proportionally between nodes based on their ping count.
Who Can Earn Network Rewards?
Network rewards will be available to all HOPR node runners with a registered Community rank Network Registry NFT. To be eligible for a Network Registry NFT, stake at least 2,000 HOPR tokens in our staking program and join the waitlist here (1,000 if your node will be on an AVADO or DAppNode).
You can learn more about the Network Registry and Waitlist in our docs.
Can I See My Rewards?
Once the Network Rewards are launched, you will be able to see your expected rewards on both network.hoprnet.org and the updated stake.hoprnet.org
stake.hoprnet.org will also show you the cumulative network rewards you have received since the start of Season 6.
How Will I Receive My Rewards?
Rewards will be sent directly to your HOPR staking address as staked xHOPR. These will start accruing wxHOPR rewards immediately inaccordance with the rules of the standard staking program.
Staking Basics
Stake xHOPR tokens on Gnosis Chain to earn rewards. There’s a base rate of 1.25% APR, but this can be boosted by collecting HOPR Boost NFTs. Boost NFTs are cumulative, so the sky’s the limit. Earn Boost NFTs by participating in HOPR activities such as DAO experiments, testing, promotions and more.
Rewards are paid every block, and can be claimed as soon as you earn them. But your stake is locked until the staking season ends. Claimed rewards can be unwrapped and restaked for cumulative yields, but these restaked rewards will also be locked.
Rewards for the staking program are provided by the HOPR Association. Occasionally some extra rewards are allocated by the DAO, but in general community funds are not used for the program.
Staking Address
The address you use to send tokens and NFTs to the staking contract will be your staking address throughout the entire program. You’ll use it to connect to the staking UI, claim rewards, and any NFT boosts will have to be sent from this same address. Make sure it’s an address you have full control of and which can interact with our various contracts and widgets. A MetaMask wallet is ideal. Do NOT send tokens from a centralized exchange like AscendEX direct to the smart contract.
Gnosis Chain, xHOPR and wxHOPR
The HOPR staking program lives on Gnosis Chain, to ensure minimal fees when staking, claiming, and interacting with HOPR boost NFTs.
To learn more about xHOPR and wxHOPR, click here.
Although the staking program primarily lives on Gnosis Chain, we plan to run events and testing on other partner chains as part of our mission to serve the entire crypto ecosystem. Do not try and stake tokens other than xHOPR, and do not send tokens to the smart contract address on any chain other than Gnosis Chain.
Staking Seasons
Staking proceeds in Seasons. Each Season has a start time and end time.
- Season 1: July 20th 2021 to Jan 17th 2022
- Season 2: Jan 17th 2022 to April 26th 2022
- Season 3: April 26th 2022 to July 26th 2022
- Season 4: July 26th 2022 to October 26th 2022
- Season 5: October 26th 2022 to January 26th 2023
- Season 6: January 26th 2023 to April 26th 2023
All seasons begin and end at 2pm CET or CEST!
Base Rate
The base rate is the base APR which staked tokens earn before applying APR boosts from HOPR Boost NFTs. All staked HOPR tokens are eligible for this APR, even if you have more than the boost cap (see below).
The base rate for Season 6 is 1.25%.
HOPR Boost NFTs
The core of the HOPR staking program is our Boost NFTs. These are a way for us to reward active and engaged community members by boosting their stake.
You can earn NFTs from HOPR events such as testing, the HOPR DAO experiments, games and promotions, and partnerships with other projects to bring new users to HOPR.
NFT boosts stack, meaning those who participate consistently and engage across the whole HOPR ecosystem will be able to boost their rewards well above the base of 1.25%.
NFTs can be exchanged and traded, but there are some constraints on how and when NFTs can be earned and redeemed.
Each NFT has four important parameters:
- Type: Each NFT has a type, which reflects the event for which the NFT was issued. You can only stake NFT of each type. If you earn and lock two NFTs of the same type, the contract will ignore all except the one with the highest rank.
- Rank: Each NFT has one of four possible ranks: bronze, silver, gold and diamond. Higher ranks confer higher boost APRs and require higher levels of participation. If you lock an NFT of a lower rank, it’s still worth earning a higher ranked one: the staking contract will automatically switch to counting the higher ranked NFT when you lock it.
- Boost Amount: This is the amount by which locking the NFT will increase your APR. This is cumulative across all eligible locked NFTs, and is added to the base rate of 1.25%. There is no limit to the total APR.
- Season: The season in which the NFT was issued. To encourage ongoing participation, NFTs are removed from the staking program on a rolling basis. Each season, only NFTs from the current and previous two seasons are valid.
Boost Cap
The boost cap is the limit on how many HOPR tokens are eligible to be boosted by your NFTs. For Season 6 the boost cap has been changed to 250,000 tokens. Any tokens staked above the cap will only be eligible for the base APR of 1.25%.
Example 1: You have 120,000 HOPR tokens and locked Boost NFTs with a cumulative 30% boost. All 120,000 HOPR tokens are eligible for a boosted APR of 31.25% (30% from boosts plus the 1.25% base APR).
Example 2: You have 1m HOPR tokens and locked Boost NFTs with a cumulative 25% boost. 250,000 HOPR tokens are eligible for a boosted APR of 26.25% (25% from boosts plus the 10% base APR). The remaining 150,000 tokens earn an APR of 1.25%.
Multi-Accounts
Since the Boost Cap is 250,000 HOPR tokens, it’s obvious to wonder about the possibility of having multiple staking addresses. The short answer is this is fine and indeed encouraged. However, there are some things to bear in mind:
First, because each staking address is treated separately by the smart contract, each address needs its own set of HOPR Boost NFTs to achieve the same boosted APR.
For the Network rewards, each address will need its own network registry NFT and waitlist application. Each waitlist application will be assessed separately, i.e., each address requires its own NFTs, minimum stake balance and hardware node (if applicable).
HOPR Boost NFTs can be transferred and traded, but in many instances it will not be possible for the same person to earn duplicate NFTs, especially in higher ranks.
For example, voting in HOPR DAO experiments usually earns a bronze NFT, and every address which votes is eligible. However, higher ranked DAO NFTs rely on forum participation, and eligibility is strictly on a one person, one account basis. We have checks in place to prevent Sybils in such instances.
The general rule of thumb is that when multi-accounting is useful (e.g., testing) or at least not harmful (e.g., certain parts of the DAO) it’s fine to participate from every address you control. In most other instances, you will only be able to earn one of each type of NFT. In situations where you legitimately earn multiple ranks of the same type of NFT, it’s fine to split them between multiple staking accounts.
That’s all there is to it. We’re looking forward to a whole new season of testing, growth, and rewards. Check back on the Hop on Board to see what the journey has in store!
Rik Krieger,
HOPR Co-Founder
Website: https://www.hoprnet.org
Testnet: https://network.hoprnet.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hoprnet
Telegram: https://t.me/hoprnet
Discord: https://discord.gg/dEAWC4G
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hoprnet
Forum: https://forum.hoprnet.org
Github: https://github.com/hoprnet
