
<p>Today, Staking Rewards is pleased to announce the <strong>Value-Added Rating for Verified Providers</strong>.</p>



<p>In addition to the <a href="https://www.stakingrewards.com/journal/sr-rating/">SR Rating</a>, we also determine a Value-Added Rating for Verified Providers. The Value-Added Rating is being developed as part of the <a href="https://www.stakingrewards.com/journal/announcing-the-staking-rewards-verified-provider-program-batch-1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Staking Rewards’ Verification Program</a> for Staking Providers.</p>



<p>The <strong>Value-Added Rating</strong> provides a reference point for the level at which the Staking Provider is contributing to the overall ecosystem and community development. The Value-Added Rating references an aspect that goes beyond the main purpose of contributing to the network security. Thus not being considered for the verification of Staking Providers.</p>



<p>We do like to see <a href="https://www.stakingrewards.com/providers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Providers</a> that <strong>take an active role in the ecosystem development or community</strong>. Thus we provide the Value-Added Rating as an additional reference point when making a staking decision. By choosing a Provider with a higher Value-Added Rating, users are indirectly contributing to the ecosystem and community development beyond contributing to network security.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What goes into the Value-Added Rating?</h2>



<p>The Value-Added Rating consists of Staking Rewards’ assessment of four components. It takes into account Customer Service, Governance Participation, Ecosystem Development and Community Development.</p>



<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="624" height="400" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/4t5bGx8x7SQfaBuDcIbImYRhueSW9M3uKWCwskv0b7ubUbdKfHDh3yDOEyhxwSb_iuiW_b1graRdde1upM-atKTWbDevoKvpDTWVT1UodWq1yQOva6gQ53VXj5F4oLBz_2_eZmOUTDFh7_R_u_iPwOlSCzjcHc5MvMvUKAMynMdwGZgs1zwJIu230OLefA"></p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Customer Service:</h3>



<p>Delegators favor validators that are approachable and make staking with them a seamless experience. An active customer support channel, guidance for users to stake and further assistance helps delegators to stake in a safe and easy way.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Governance Participation:&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Staking Rewards expects active governance participation from it’s <a href="https://www.stakingrewards.com/verified-staking-provider/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Verified Providers</a> with a clear focus on network development. We support strong and reasoned positions on issues and active voting on them. This also means that abstaining is considered as a better way to vote than not voting at all. We are checking how the provider has behaved in this regard in the past. In particular, we examine their participation in governance votes, their submission of governance proposals, and how they gauge delegates&#8217; voting preferences.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Ecosystem Development:&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Offering staking services is still a very new business. For this reason, it is important that it evolves and our providers take an active role in it. We like to see our providers make efforts to make Proof of Stake more compliant, offering staking-related tooling and content, having collaborations with any foundation or protocols and actively participating in testnets.</p>



<ul><li>Protocol Development</li><li>dApp Development</li><li>Open-Source staking Tooling</li><li>Research</li><li>Regulatory efforts</li><li>Testnet participation</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Community Development:&nbsp;</h3>



<ul><li>Active Community Involvement on Social media, Forums, and others</li><li>Meetups/Discussion Rounds</li><li>Marketing Initiatives for the Network</li><li>Content Production</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How do you calculate the Value-Added Rating?</h2>



<p>The rating consists of the above-mentioned categories of Customer Service, Governance Participation, Ecosystem Development and Community Development. For each category, we have identified a set of attributes with predefined weights. Depending on how well the individual attributes are fulfilled, points are awarded. We have drawn up a scorecard with maximum achievable points per attribute. At the end, the points of all categories are added up and the result is the Value-Added Rating.</p>



<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="624" height="341" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/1sJL1NOc2yUoJBwVRb3VoQQ_W8ZhCDi0x02xRjyHnlFnXnIEAqdXygtqYPQoUTmK-owkIga5iuYpkCWLJsGMr62EJge7SLZeAGX9BOt_wWmlGcvjK8fuKtdRVP8tlaGrB1AkmdG5-31VlcV0M5PIXrPg3YHjfmt9vapR1qzoZWQm5l-wyLNVcrEr9DEdDQ"></p>



<p>We have added the Value-Add Services’ section on the Staking Rewards profile of the respective provider.</p>



<p>There you will find a brief summary of what we consider to be the most important value-add services of this provider. For a complete overview of a provider&#8217;s additional services, visit their website or contact them through one of their social media channels.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Conclusion</strong></h2>



<p>Staking Rewards is committed to providing transparent and reliable staking-related data to help Staking Providers, investors, and protocols alike. We are on a mission to increase trust and transparency in the staking industry while fostering decentralization as a core value. Our Value-Added Rating is one part of this passionate mission. Join us on our journey to build a decentralized, open, and transparent financial community for all!</p>


Announcing the Value-Added Rating for Verified Providers