Elrond— eGLD Staking

Elrond — The journey continues — eGLD Staking/Delegation

27nd of March 2021 — a date which will soon become of a great importance for us all, participants to the Elrond journey, by defining a new step towards evolution and development, once the phase 3 of the project is launched, phase which involves, among others, the increase of the number of nodes from 2169 to 3200, creating in this manner great opportunities for us all.

Note: The staking agency delegations will start on 27nd of March however, please keep in mind that, the first rewards will be received on 5th of April.

For a better understanding of phase 3 and what it triggers, please see below some details that I find useful:

Ø What is a node?

A node represents a server which runs an Elrond Network software, having as final goal the security of the network and the validation of the transactions. It is necessary to have 2500 eGLD to run a node.

Ø What does it mean being validator?

The validators, based on deep technical knowledge, are in charge with running the Elrond nodes, for their services and contribution being rewarded by the network with a reward of 24% (*starting with 5th of April 2021)

Ø What does it mean being delegator?

The delegators are the ones who are delegating their coins to the network through a smart contract generated by the validators. Same as the validators, the delegators are receiving as well a reward (similar to interest principle).

Ø What is a staking agency?

A staking agency represents an official validator, accredited by Elrond, which runs multiple nodes on the network. The agencies have the right to generate smart contracts through which, the ones owning eGLD coins, can delegate them in order to benefit by a reward from the network and, in the same time, to contribute to the development of the network and its improvement. I would like to highlight the fact that no staking agency will be able to withdraw or move the coins from the smart contract addresses, the integrity of the coins and their security being guaranteed.

Ø Which is the minimum amount needed for delegating?

Currently, the minimum amount needed is 10 eGLD however, there are some ongoing discussions for it to be decreased to 1 eGLD by 22nd of March. Independent of the delegated amount, in this moment, the reward is equal (%).

Ø Waiting list in phase 3

The option of waiting list will disappear from 3rd of May; the ones who will not get to delegate on Elrond wallet will have the possibility to choose for delegation a staking agency. Subsequently, the interest offered by Elrond will gradually decrease to encourage in this manner the decentralization and delegation through staking agencies.

Ø Staking agencies — Selection criteria

Following the discussions had on the matter and the questions raised, the primary selection factor seems to be the financial one, perceived — in a wrongly manner I would say — as lowest commission fees of the agencies. Personally, I consider that there are many more details of a greater importance that should be taken into consideration when choosing your staking agency, such as:

• Technical support: a good to have detail, but also a must have one, as it would guide your steps for delegating and with any other question which might appear;
• Transparency: a clear and transparent approach regarding the servers, the number of nodes, commissions;
• Technical equipment: the nodes must be run on servers of high performance and great speed;
• Back-up servers: to cover all the nodes, not just a percentage of them, ensuring 100% security;
• Website: official and user friendly;
• Investments: focused on investments in tools to develop and simplify in the near future the delegation, to facilitate the automatically re-investment of the reward, to create personalized, adapted APR based on the delegation time and amount; As an example, Staking agency has developed a tool to support the delegators in having an user friendly, accessible at any time monitoring and to facilitate different actions regarding the delegation:

• Contribution in the community: to be part of the community and to understand its needs, interested and focused on contributing to the development and stabilization of the network, but also on maintaining a transparent and tight contact with everyone from the community;

Ø Delegating to staking agency — Reward/ Interest

Ø APR — calculation method based on agency’s commission fee

Ø How can one withdraw the eGLD from delegation?

Even if you will choose to delegate to a staking agency, the coins can be withdrawn at any time, without any constraint with the mentions that, from the moment of the withdraw until the coins are received in your wallet it will take 10 days, safety measure in order not to affect the functionality of the network.

Ø Can one partially withdraw from delegation?

Yes, it will be possible, partial amount from the total delegated can be withdrawn.

Ø Reward recurrence

The reward will be received on a daily basis, based on the following formula: APR 20% (per year) / 365 (days) = 0.0547% (per day).

Further and exciting details about Staking Agency can be found on the official website https://staking.agency and on the Telegram group https://t.me/StakingAgency . The commission fee of our agency is of 15% which means a 20% APR which will be received by the delegator.