It is essential for users to stake their PoS tokens with a dependable and highly performant validator, which is why we rolled out our Verified Provider Program in June 2022. Through this program, we thoroughly scrutinize potential validators, evaluating factors such as security measures, their on-chain reliability, their provider setup, and value-added services for the whole ecosystem.

You can find more information about the providers that have been verified in VPP Batch 1 and Batch 2. Validators that are part of the VPP will have a blue checkmark displayed next to their names on our website.If you want to know which validators on Stargaze are part of the VPP, simply go to the validator page on Minstcan and click on a validator’s name. If that validator is a verified provider, it will have the Staking Rewards logo shown under ‘Additional information’.

There are many metrics to consider when selecting a validator to delegate to:

Commission Rates: When staking your tokens with a validator, the commission rate represents the percentage of your rewards that the validator will retain for themselves. Validators on Stargaze charge a 5% commission on staking rewards.

Number of Users: A large number of delegators may signal a positive reputation for a validator.

Validators Self-Staked balance: Validators with significant amounts of self-staked tokens may have a greater motivation to maintain their operations, as they have more at risk than those with lower self-staked balances. However, it’s important to keep in mind that this metric has some limitations, as validators can choose to delegate their own tokens to another validator, which is done to enhance the security of their funds.

Current Status: You can see whether the validator is currently active or not by checking the validator list shown on this page. Validators that are active have a green dot under them. Or you can see whether the validator is currently active or not by filtering “Active” on the Mintscan page. You should make sure the valdiator is currently active when delegating your tokens.

Voting Power: When selecting a validator to delegate to, it’s generally advisable to avoid choosing one with the highest or lowest voting power. Delegating to the most popular validators can increase the risk of centralization within the network as they will have more influence in governance and a greater share of blocks. On the other hand, choosing a validator with a low voting power may be less profitable and increases the risk of them ceasing their operations. Finding the balance and choosing a validator with a moderate network share could be the best approach to keep the balance in decentralization and profitability.

Performance: To ensure the best results, it’s important to select a validator with high uptime performance. You can view a validator’s performance on the Mintscan page. Our suggestion is to only choose validators with an uptime performance of 99% or higher and a track record of not being slashed.

Value Add to the Ecosystem: Another way to assess the long-term vision of validators is to check if they offer additional services to their delegators, such as tax reporting tools, explorers, etc. This can be a useful filter when comparing different providers.

Native staking rewards for STARS are composed of:

Block Rewards: 35% of block rewards is distributed to nearly 100 validators that were selected to join mainnet, while the remaining block rewards are distributed to NFT incentives (45%), developer funds (15%), and community pool (Stargaze DAO) (5%). See more about block rewards under the tokenomics section below.

Protocol Fees: 50% of protocol fees are collected and distributed to stakers, which includes collection creation fee (3,000 STARS), minting fees (10%), trading fees on Stargaze Marketplace (2%), and Names fee (66%). 

It’s important to keep in mind that the total annual rewards are divided among all active stakers. As the number of staked tokens increases, the reward rate decreases.

Furthermore, there are governance proposals that could adjust some of the on-chain parameters, which could also change the APR if they are approved. You’re welcome to use our Staking Calculator to get a better understanding of how these factors can impact your rewards.

We strive to make staking as safe and transparent as possible, however, it’s important to consider factors that may influence whether a particular staking option is appropriate for you.

• Slashing risk: When delegating to a validator, there is a risk of being partially slashed if the validator misbehaves. This can happen when there is double signing, which can result in a slashing of a portion of the staked tokens. 
• Unbonding risk: When staking STARS tokens, there is a lockup period of 14 days. This means that investors will not be able to sell their tokens immediately, but instead need to wait 14 days for the tokens to unbond before they can be traded again. This is something to keep in mind when deciding to stake, as the crypto markets are highly volatile.Consider keeping funds liquid if you do not intend to hold STARS long-term. 
• Dropping out of the active set: The risk of a validator getting slashed or dropping out of the top 100 could result in a loss of rewards. It is important to check frequently on the status of the validator to ensure it is active, not jailed and hasn’t raised the commission fees.
• Protocol security risks: There is an inherent risk that the protocol could contain unknown bugs, this risk applies not only to staking but also the investment in STARS.

This list is not exhaustive and other risks may apply.

STARS is the native token of Stargaze and it can be used for network fees, minting NFTs, governance voting, and staking to secure the network.

Token Utilities

• Staking: STARS token holders can choose to delegate their tokens to validators in order to help secure Stargaze. They can stake STARS through Stargaze website, Keplr wallet, Ping.up website and Cosmostation wallet.
• Liquidity provision: users can be liquidity providers and provide liquidity in pools with STARS on Osmosis, a P2P blockchain used to create liquidity and trade IBC enabled tokens, and bond (i.e. stake) LP tokens. It’s possible to bond LP tokens with a 1-day, a 7-day or 14-day unbonding period. During unbonding period users still earn reduced rewards. 
• Governance: STARS is used to vote on governance proposals on the network. A proposer must deposit a minimum of 1000 STARS to create a signaling proposal on-chain at least 3 days before the on-chain proposa happensl. The on-chain proposal must be created with very clear, specific, and actionable items. There are multiple voting interfaces, with the most popular ones being Keplr wallet and Stargaze website. Proposals are passed with a 50% + 1 majority with a 20% quorum. Upon passage, the vote is recorded on-chain and results in on-chain action. If a user is delegated to a validator and doesn’t vote, he inherits the validator’s vote, but if he votes himself, it overrides his delegated validator’s vote. See more here.
• Gas token: Every transaction on the network incurs a small fee that is paid to the network in the form of STARS.
• Other utilities: STARS are used for creator coin purchases, purchasing NFTs, boosting content on Stargaze by increasing the curation period, and are required for storage payments.

Stargaze is built using the Cosmos SDK and utilizes Tendermint Core as its consensus algorithm. Tendermint Core is a Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus algorithm that requires agreement from 2/3 of active validators for a proposed block to be validated. This agreement is reached through multiple rounds of pre-voting and pre-committing among validators. To mitigate the risk of a single point of failure, the algorithm can tolerate up to 1/3 of validators behaving maliciously or failing. 

The Stargaze network currently has an active set of 130 validators out of a total of 177. To become a validator, it is necessary to have a high level of voting power, which is the sum of self-bonded and delegated STARS, and be among the top 100 validators. You can check the list of Stargaze validators on minstcan and the minimum amount of staked tokens required for a validator to be among the top 100.

Stargaze’s token issuance is reduced by 1/3 every year, starting from the second year. With an initial supply of 1 billion STARS, the token supply is followed by an additional 1 billion STARS issued in the first year. After that, the issuance for the following year is 667 milion STARS, and so on. This geometric sequence will leads to a fixed asymptotic max supply of 4 billions STARS. The token issuance formula is: y = initial supply * (2/3)^t, with t =0 indicating the starting year of the project. 

Besides token inflation, Stargaze introduced a Fair Burn fee structure in March 2022. This means 50% of fees are burned and removed from circulation and the other 50% is distributed to stakers. 

Initial Token Distribution Breakdown 

At launch on October 29, 2021, the genesis supply of 1 billion STARS tokens were distributed as follows:

• 25% or 250 million STARS: Airdrop of 2,453 STARS each to ATOM stakers (5 ATOM minimum staked), OSMO stakers (50 OSMO minimum staked) or liquidity providers, Stargaze validator stakers. Claimable after performing requested actions on the Stargaze network such as voting on governance proposals or staking STARS tokens. Airdrop tokens start decaying 4 months after the launch of the marketplace and will completely decay after 10. Unclaimed tokens will be sent to the Community Pool. Overall, 62.5 million STARS were claimed.
• 21.5% or 215 million STARS: Foundation
• 20% or 200 million STARS: Community Pool
• 2.5% or 25 million STARS: Advisors; 1-year lock-up and after that linear vesting for 12 months
• 10% or 100 million STARS: Founders; 1-year lock-up and after that linear vesting for 12 months
• 16% or 160 million STARS: Seed Investors; 1-year lock-up and after that linear vesting for 6 months
• 5% or 5 million STARS: Validators; 1-year lock-up and after that linear vesting for 12 months

After delegating your STARS tokens, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Keep in mind that rewards are not auto-compounded, so to maximize your returns, you may want to claim and stake your rewards more frequently. However, it’s important to consider that each transaction will incur gas fees, so you may want to use our Staking Calculator to determine the optimal re-staking frequency for your amount of STARS tokens. Alternatively, you can use tools like restake.app to choose a validator that will auto-compound your rewards for you.
• As a participant in the Stargze ecosystem, you will have the opportunity to vote on Governance Proposals directly without voting through a validator. While your contribution and vote are highly valuable to the ecosystem, it won’t affect your rewards.