There are several ways to earn a return on your CSPR, including lending them out to custodial providers or through decentralized lending protocols, running your own validator, or delegating your tokens to validators of your choosing.

For the best security and control over your funds, we recommend using a Ledger Hardware Wallet . To delegate your tokens, you should ensure they are stored on your Ledger or the official Casper Signer Extension, and then follow these steps below:

Step 1: Go to CSPR.Live and create an account through the Casper Signer. 

Step 2: Go to the CSPR.live Staking Portal and select a validator. If you are uncertain about how to choose a validator, refer to our FAQ for guidance on selecting a validator.

Step 3: Enter the amount of CSPR you would like to stake, click ‘Next’ and confirm the delegation. Please note that you will need to leave ~ 3 CSPR in your wallet to cover transaction fees.

Step 4: Sign the transaction to complete the process.

Please see here for a more detailed step-by-step tutorial.

Once you have delegated your CSPR, there are things you need to consider going forward. 

• Firstly, keep in mind that rewards are auto-compounded, so you do not need to claim and restake your CSPR. To calculate your expected earnings over your staking period you can use our Casper Staking Calculator.
• It is important to periodically check on the performance of the validator you have selected to ensure they are still performing well and have not unreasonably raised their commission rate. 

It is essential for users to stake their PoS tokens with dependable and highly performant validators, which is why we have rolled out our Staking Rewards Verified Staking Provider (VSP) 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.

Our VSP documentation contains further details about the program, Staking Providers that are part of the VSP will have a blue checkmark displayed next to their names here.

When choosing a validator to delegate to, there are numerous factors to take into account:

Commission Rate: When staking your tokens with a validator, the commission rate represents the percentage of your rewards that the validator will retain for themselves. A high commission rate can result in lower returns for you, while a low commission rate may lead to financial difficulties for the validator in the future. It’s important to note that validators may change their commission rates at any time.

Number of Users: A validator may be more popular or trusted if it has a higher number of delegators than others.

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 clicking on their name in the validator list shown on this page. Validators that are active have a green ‘Active’ tag under their name. 

Network Share: You typically don’t want to choose a validator with the highest network share (Total Staked) or a validator with a low network share. Delegating to the most popular validators increases centralisation risks within the network as those validators will have more say in governance and a larger share of the blocks. A validator with a low network share, might not be profitable and hence increases the risk of them discontinuing their services.

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 Casper validator Dashboard. Our suggestion is to only choose validators with an uptime performance of 99% or higher.

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.

The Staking Rewards on CSPR consist of both block rewards and fees:

Inflation on the Casper Network (Block Rewards): Mainnet launched with ten billion CSPR at Genesis, the target annual supply growth rate is 8%. As a result, ~ 800M CSPR is emitted annually to pay validators. The staking rewards are emitted with every block, however, there is no precise reward per block as the block time is orthogonal to rewards. Instead, the number of rewards is split proportionally among stakes and reduced for failure to participate in the protocol promptly.

Transaction Fees: Each transaction processed by the network comes with transaction fees. The validator that proposes a given block gets the transaction fees for that block.

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.

You’re welcome to use our Casper 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: Presently Casper does not slash if a validator equivocates or misbehaves. If a node equivocates, other validators will ignore its messages, and the node will become inactive. The node will terminate once it detects that it has equivocated.

Unbonding risk: When staking CSPR tokens, there is a lockup period of 14 hours. This means that investors will not be able to sell their tokens immediately, but instead need to wait 14 hours after initiating unbonding before they can be traded again. This is something to keep in mind when deciding to stake, as crypto markets are highly volatile. Consider keeping funds liquid if you do not intend to hold CSPR long-term. 

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 CSPR.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of all the risks related to staking.

CSPR is the native token of the Casper network that is used to carry out the key functions of the platform as detailed below:

Token Utilities

• Staking: Users can temporarily lock up CSPR to contribute to the security of the network. In return for the service, both the nodes and the stakers are rewarded with epoch rewards and fees.
• Gas token: CSPR is used for network fees; each transaction processed by the network requires a small fee to be paid. The validator that proposes a given block gets the transaction fees for that block, these fees are not shared with delegators but go to the validator directly.

There are several ways to earn a return on your CSPR, including lending them out to custodial providers or through decentralized lending protocols, running your own validator, or delegating your tokens to validators of your choosing.

For the best security and control over your funds, we recommend using a Ledger Hardware Wallet . To delegate your tokens, you should ensure they are stored on your Ledger or the official Casper Signer Extension, and then follow these steps below:

Step 1: Go to CSPR.Live and create an account through the Casper Signer. 

Step 2: Go to the CSPR.live Staking Portal and select a validator. If you are uncertain about how to choose a validator, refer to our FAQ for guidance on selecting a validator.

Step 3: Enter the amount of CSPR you would like to stake, click ‘Next’ and confirm the delegation. Please note that you will need to leave ~ 3 CSPR in your wallet to cover transaction fees.

Step 4: Sign the transaction to complete the process.

Please see here for a more detailed step-by-step tutorial.

Once you have delegated your CSPR, there are things you need to consider going forward. 

• Firstly, keep in mind that rewards are auto-compounded, so you do not need to claim and restake your CSPR. To calculate your expected earnings over your staking period you can use our Casper Staking Calculator.
• It is important to periodically check on the performance of the validator you have selected to ensure they are still performing well and have not unreasonably raised their commission rate. 

It is essential for users to stake their PoS tokens with dependable and highly performant validators, which is why we have rolled out our Staking Rewards Verified Staking Provider (VSP) 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.

Our VSP documentation contains further details about the program, Staking Providers that are part of the VSP will have a blue checkmark displayed next to their names here.

When choosing a validator to delegate to, there are numerous factors to take into account:

Commission Rate: When staking your tokens with a validator, the commission rate represents the percentage of your rewards that the validator will retain for themselves. A high commission rate can result in lower returns for you, while a low commission rate may lead to financial difficulties for the validator in the future. It’s important to note that validators may change their commission rates at any time.

Number of Users: A validator may be more popular or trusted if it has a higher number of delegators than others.

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 clicking on their name in the validator list shown on this page. Validators that are active have a green ‘Active’ tag under their name. 

Network Share: You typically don’t want to choose a validator with the highest network share (Total Staked) or a validator with a low network share. Delegating to the most popular validators increases centralisation risks within the network as those validators will have more say in governance and a larger share of the blocks. A validator with a low network share, might not be profitable and hence increases the risk of them discontinuing their services.

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 Casper validator Dashboard. Our suggestion is to only choose validators with an uptime performance of 99% or higher.

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.

The Staking Rewards on CSPR consist of both block rewards and fees:

Inflation on the Casper Network (Block Rewards): Mainnet launched with ten billion CSPR at Genesis, the target annual supply growth rate is 8%. As a result, ~ 800M CSPR is emitted annually to pay validators. The staking rewards are emitted with every block, however, there is no precise reward per block as the block time is orthogonal to rewards. Instead, the number of rewards is split proportionally among stakes and reduced for failure to participate in the protocol promptly.

Transaction Fees: Each transaction processed by the network comes with transaction fees. The validator that proposes a given block gets the transaction fees for that block.

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.

You’re welcome to use our Casper 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: Presently Casper does not slash if a validator equivocates or misbehaves. If a node equivocates, other validators will ignore its messages, and the node will become inactive. The node will terminate once it detects that it has equivocated.

Unbonding risk: When staking CSPR tokens, there is a lockup period of 14 hours. This means that investors will not be able to sell their tokens immediately, but instead need to wait 14 hours after initiating unbonding before they can be traded again. This is something to keep in mind when deciding to stake, as crypto markets are highly volatile. Consider keeping funds liquid if you do not intend to hold CSPR long-term. 

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 CSPR.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of all the risks related to staking.

CSPR is the native token of the Casper network that is used to carry out the key functions of the platform as detailed below:

Token Utilities

• Staking: Users can temporarily lock up CSPR to contribute to the security of the network. In return for the service, both the nodes and the stakers are rewarded with epoch rewards and fees.
• Gas token: CSPR is used for network fees; each transaction processed by the network requires a small fee to be paid. The validator that proposes a given block gets the transaction fees for that block, these fees are not shared with delegators but go to the validator directly.

Casper network uses a consensus protocol called Highway to ensure the network’s safety and liveness. Highway is a Byzantine Fault Tolerant protocol that requires a partially synchronous network. 

On Casper network, validators are chosen through an on-chain auction contract. These validators, who must stake CSPR tokens, are responsible for running the network. The top 100 bidders are selected every era to act as validators in the next era. The more tokens a validator stakes, the greater their weight in reaching consensus. The protocol is designed to be flexible and could theoretically be used with a different model, such as a private network.

The network functions so long as the number of faulty or dishonest nodes does not exceed one-third of the total number of nodes. When more than two-thirds of the nodes are honest, the system can achieve stronger finality guarantees. As the protocol continues, the block’s fault tolerance increases, approaching 100% if all validators are honest.

CSPR is an inflationary token with a targeted annual inflation rate of 8%. The network was launched with an initial total supply of 10B tokens and distributed as follows:

Initial token distribution

The Initial token distribution of CSPR is as follows:

• 16% is allocated to the Coinlist public token sale
• 16% is allocated to Developer incentives
• 14.3% is allocated to Casper Non-Profit Association
• 19.5% is allocated to Validator sale R1
• 10.3% is allocated to Validator sale R2
• 10% is allocated to CasperLabs Holdings AG
• 8% is allocated to the Casper team
• 6% is allocated to advisors

Funding Rounds:

• $900K was raised in the Equity Founders Round in October 2018
• $14.5M was raised in the equity Series A in July 2019
• $14M was raised in the private validator token sale (Round 1) on September 2020, with an average price of $0.01.
• $11.9M was raised in the private validator token sale (Round 2) on January 2021, with an average price of $0.015
• $33.5M was raised in the token sale on Coinlist on March 2021