IOST Voter’s Guide 101 | All You Need to Know about IOST Voting (Staking)

*Updated on March 2022

IOST Staking Guide

Content:

1. What is Voting on IOST?
2. What Are the Rewards?
3. How to Vote?
4. I Need an IOST Mainnet Account. What can I do?
5. How to Claim Rewards?
6. How to Switch Votes or Unvote?
7. What is Starlight Node Program?

1. What is Voting (Staking)?

Staking to earn passive income is not a new concept for crypto holders. Voting/staking is an essential mechanism for blockchain systems.

We call staking ‘voting’. You vote for a node you favor and lock your IOST on them. By doing so you support that node / the IOST ecosystem and you’ll get rewarded with some IOST.

By voting from a personal mainnet account, you won’t lose possession of your IOST tokens, they are still locked under your private key. You can even unvote when the node goes offline.

If you unvote, after a lockdown of 3 days, those IOST are returned to your balance and yours to use again. Just make sure to keep this in mind when you want to sell at a certain price point.

Types of Nodes

In our voting mechanism, there are 3 types of nodes: candidate node, partner node, and servi node.

• When an individual or team fills the node application, they become a candidate node.
• When a candidate node receives more than 2.1 million votes and passes the audit, it may become a partner node
• The servi nodes, with at least 10M IOST votes, must start as a partner node, and work on their contributions with IOST to fulfill requirements as servi nodes.

Full details on IOST Nodes can be found here.

2. What are the Rewards?

There are 3 types of rewards within the IOST Voting: Election rewards, Block producing rewards, and Contribution rewards.

For voters yourself, you should look at the Daily Election Rewards Portion and Block Production Rewards, and any additional rewards a node provides.

2.1. Election Rewards

Election rewards are based on the shares of votes. Once a node receives more than 2.1 million votes and officially becomes an IOST Partner Node, it will automatically generate election rewards based on the share of votes on a daily basis and share 50–50 with voters, also automatically.

2.2. Block Producing Rewards

A Servi Node (A.K.A. full node, block producing node) of the IOST Ecosystem, generates:

• Election Rewards on a daily basis to be shared 50:50 with voters
• Block Rewards to be manually claimed by servi nodes themselves, and not shared automatically with their voters

The servi node operators are free to decide which percentage of rewards to share with the users in order to attract votes, which can go from 0% to 100%. Make sure to contact the node operator and ask for the details in order to maximize your voting income!

2.3. Contribution Rewards

Similar to Block Producers rewards, node operators may decide which percentage of rewards to share with the users in order to attract votes, which can go from 0% to 100%. Make sure to contact the node operator and ask for the details in order to maximize your voting income!

2.4. Other Rewards

Some nodes have issued their own tokens on IOST and share a portion of the supply with the voters. These tokens are unrelated to IOST Foundation and we do not bear any responsibility for its development nor usage.

Note: Nodes share rewards with their own voters. If you are not a voter of a certain node, it will not share the rewards with you.

3. How to Vote?

3.1. Voting Rules

• 1 IOST = 1 vote
• One account can vote for multiple nodes and nodes can also vote for themselves
• Tokens that are in votes and/or used to pledge for/purchase resources can’t be used for voting
• Redemption of pledged tokens requires a 3-day freeze period. Rewards generation ceases at the exact moment of redemption.
• To move votes to another node, you have to redeem the pledged tokens first. This means you will have to wait 3 days before voting for another candidate.

3.2. Voting Channels

Users may cast votes from the following popular channels:

• IOSTABC browser
• Mobile Wallets
• Citadel Wallet

Note: These channels are developed by third parties.

IOSTABC browser

1. Install the iWallet extension on Chrome or Chromium-based browser.
2. Once the extension is installed. Click on it, set your password, and click [Import] to import an account. Click here to know how to register a mainnet account.
3. Paste the private key and click [Submit].
4. Now you can proceed to vote for a Servi Node or a partner. Go to https://iostabc.com/producers
5. Browse through the list of nodes, find the one you want to support, and click the button [Vote for it].
6. Enter the amount of IOST you would like to cast and click [Vote].
7. Check the information on the pop-up that opens and if everything is correct click [Confirm].
8. You will see a message saying “Vote Complete”.
9. In the [My Votes] tab, you can check the status of your votes and rewards.

Mobile Wallets

In this guide, we will use the TokenPocket Mobile wallet to show users how to vote through a mobile client. The process is similar to other mobile wallets and you can choose your favorite wallet client here.

1. Click on [Vote] on the main page to head to enter the voting interface. Voters can also check the voting history and accumulated rewards here.
2. Browse through the list of nodes, find the one you want to support, and click the button [Vote].
3. Click [Confirm] and enter your password. Now, wait until the transaction is completed (usually within seconds).

Citadel

Citadel has provided the community with a complete tutorial on how to vote for IOST nodes.

Citadel Staking guide: IOST

4. I need an account! What can I do?

Here’s the 1st step to joining IOST - Create an IOST mainnet account.

New User Guide: How to Register an IOST Mainnet Account

Note: Free account creation services availability is subject to the providers’ funds pool. All IOST accounts have a cost, so when you get one for free, it means someone else is paying on your behalf. If you can’t find any free account provider and need one urgently, consider paying for one.

5. How to Claim Rewards?

5.1. On Citadel

Please refer to the guides linked in the previous section.

5.2. On IOSTABC

1. Head to the IOSTABC site.
2. Log in and click on [Wallet] — [My Votes]
3. Click on [Get All] and then confirm the operation. In a few seconds, you will have the bonus available in your balance.

5.3. On Mobile Wallets

1. Go to the [Votes] interface.
2. At the bottom, click on [Bonus withdraw] and then confirm the operation. In a few seconds, you will have the bonus available in your balance.

6. How to switch votes or unvote?

6.1. On Citadel

Please refer to the guides linked in the previous section.

6.2. On IOSTABC

1. Head to the IOSTABC site.
2. Log in and click on [Wallet] — [My Votes]
3. Click on [Unvote] and then confirm the operation. Now, the 3 days freeze period starts, and tokens will be available in your balance after exactly 72 hours.

6.3. On Mobile Wallets

1. Go to the [Votes] interface.
2. At the bottom, click on [voted] and then switch to [withdraw].
3. Enter the amount of IOST you would like to unvote and then confirm the operation. Now, the 3 days freeze period starts, and tokens will be available in your balance after exactly 72 hours.

7. What is Starlight Node Program?

Introduced in Q3 2020 and implemented in Q4 2020, the latest IOST Node Program version called Starlight aims to encourage more outstanding partners in the growth of the IOST ecosystem and to ensure that their efforts and significant contributions are rewarded accordingly.

In short, this new program takes over the Staking mechanism v3.0 and details can be found here!

Notes:

• Due to the high volume of contributions, we cannot display them all in one article. You can find some of the outstanding reports in the Biweekly Node Showcase series. However, not all the reports will be showcased.
• Reports are intended for internal audit of the progress & development of the Partner Nodes quarterly plans and we have no right to disclose them to third parties on request.

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