Lava Staking

To earn LAVA staking rewards, you can either run your own validator, operate as an RPC provider, or delegate tokens.

We recommend using a Ledger Hardware Wallet to keep full control over your funds. To delegate your tokens, you should ensure you have LAVA on supported wallets such as Keplr and Leap, and follow the steps below:

Step 1: Navigate to the Lava Network Staking App and connect your wallet.

Step 2: Enter the amount of LAVA you want to stake.

Step 3: Select the Staking Type.

Step 4: Select the Provider Pair. Choose a provider and a validator. Support your decision with validators included in our Staking Rewards Verified Staking Provider (VSP) Program.

Step 5: Finalize the staking process by clicking “Stake LAVA” and confirm the transaction in your wallet.

Staking LAVA using Leap or Keplr dashboard only lets users delegate tokens to validators, missing out on additional providers’ rewards. If you want to enhance your rewards through restaking follow these steps to restake LAVA on the Staking Terminal via a crypto wallet:

Step 1: Restake LAVA by navigating to the Staking Terminal and connecting your wallet with staked LAVA.

Step 2: Manage your delegation, go to your staking positions, and select the ones missing the provider “No Provider Selected”. To earn restaking rewards click “Redelegate”.

Step 3: Input the number of LAVA tokens you want to restake. You can determine a custom input when choosing the Provider Pair.

Step 4: Select a provider, supporting your decision with providers included in our Staking Rewards VSP Program.

Step 5: Restake LAVA, finalize the staking process by clicking “Stake LAVA” and confirm the transaction in your wallet.

Delegated staking offers numerous validators, and selecting the right one can be challenging. Once the provider enters our Staking Rewards Verified Staking Provider (VSP) Program, you will be able to support your decision-making process. Through this program, we thoroughly scrutinize potential workers, evaluating factors such as security measures, their on-chain reliability, their provider setup, and value-added services for the whole ecosystem.

In addition, you can consider other metrics when selecting a validator to delegate to:

Commission: The commission rate is the percentage of your reward that validators keep. A high commission rate reduces your rewards, while a low rate may impact the validator's profitability and long-term viability.

Number of Users: The number of delegators can significantly influence your choice of validator. More delegators typically enhance network security and reliability, reflecting positively on the validator's reputation.

Performance: Select validators with the highest possible uptime, ideally 99% or above, and a consistent track record of avoiding slashing.

Validator Self-Staked Balance: Validators with a high amount of self-staked tokens have more at stake, providing a strong incentive to maintain their services. However, note that validators can delegate to themselves from another wallet to enhance security.

Network Share: Delegating to the most popular validators can increase centralization risks. Conversely, smaller validators may face profitability challenges, potentially leading to service discontinuation. Supporting smaller validators can help decentralize the network, but requires regular monitoring to ensure they remain active.

Choosing providers to delegate your LAVA tokens to, along with restaking and delegating to both validators and providers, involves several considerations to maximize rewards while minimizing risks:

Provider Benchmarking: Consider providers enrolled in the Staking Rewards VSP Program. This program involves a rigorous due diligence process aimed at ensuring transparency and trustworthiness. This program involves a rigorous due diligence process aimed at ensuring transparency and trustworthiness.

Provider Performance: Select providers with high uptime (>=99%) and a proven track record of reliability. This ensures that your tokens are staked with providers who maintain consistent and dependable service.

Number of Services: Evaluate providers based on the variety of RPC nodes they support across multiple chains. Providers offering services on various chains can provide greater versatility and ensure seamless integration across different blockchain ecosystems.

Validator and Provider Staking Balance: Choose providers who have significant self-staked balances. This indicates that they have a vested interest in maintaining their services and are less likely to engage in malicious activities. Similarly, select validators with substantial staked amounts to ensure network security.

Incentive Structures: Consider the commission rates set by providers and validators. Consider the commission rates set by providers and validators. Providers participating in the Incentivized RPC Pools to scale the chain’s RPC infrastructure could share additional rewards with their delegators.

Historical Performance: Research the historical performance of both validators and providers. Providers and validators with a long history of stable and efficient operation are preferable.

Delegating to a validator and delegating to a provider in the Lava Network involves different roles and reward mechanisms:

Primary Function: Validators focus on network security and block validation, while providers focus on delivering RPC services and ensuring data quality.

Reward Sources: Rewards for delegating to validators come from block rewards and transaction fees, whereas rewards for delegating to providers come from subscription fees paid by network consumers.

Impact on Network: Delegating to validators strengthens the security and integrity of the blockchain while delegating to providers enhances the quality and reliability of the network's RPC services.

Commission Structure: Both validators and providers charge commissions, but the basis for these commissions differs, reflecting the distinct nature of their roles and services provided.

Staking rewards in the Lava Network are generated through several mechanisms:

Subscription Rewards: Consumers purchase subscriptions with LAVA tokens, which are distributed monthly to providers, validators, and delegators based on their contributions and the total compute served. Providers and their delegators receive the majority of these rewards, with a smaller percentage allocated to validators and a community pool.

Incentivized RPC Pools: Chains can boost RPC utilization by depositing their native tokens, which are used to incentivize providers to scale the chain’s RPC infrastructure. The distribution of rewards from these pools follows the same structure as subscription rewards.

Block Rewards: They constitute a fixed percentage of the total LAVA supply and are distributed monthly over four years. These rewards primarily go to validators and their delegators, with a small portion allocated to the community pool.

Provider Drops: They are another source of rewards designed to attract providers during the network's early stages. These drops come from a reserve and are distributed based on paid demand, incentivizing providers to join and offer their services.

Lastly, delegators earn rewards from their staked tokens, minus a commission set by the providers and validators, ensuring a fair distribution of earnings based on service quality and operational contributions.

Lava Network embraces native restaking through a dual-staking module, allowing token holders to earn additional rewards and enhancing network security. Restaking enables delegators to select top providers and earn a portion of the rewards those providers generate. Token holders can delegate their LAVA tokens to a provider's specification to claim a share of the provider's profits. This system allows LAVA delegations to validators to be restaked to providers without extra collateral, earning more rewards but with higher risks. Additionally, when providers stake tokens, an equal amount is restaked to a validator, creating a self-delegation and standard delegation hybrid. Conversely, validators can also stake tokens to a provider.

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.

Provider Performance: If a provider fails to maintain high standards of latency, availability, and data freshness, it can negatively impact the rewards. Poor performance might result in lower Quality of Service (QoS) scores, which directly affects the staking returns.

Decentralization: While decentralization is one of Lava's strengths, it also introduces variability in service quality. Since the network relies on multiple providers, any fluctuations in the reliability of these providers can impact overall service continuity and the staking rewards associated with it.

Economic Fluctuations: Economic fluctuations in token demand and usage pose a risk. As the network grows and the initial provider drops decrease, the dependency on actual paid subscriptions increases. If there is a downturn in network usage or a decrease in subscription purchases, it could lead to reduced staking rewards.

Slashing and Jailing: The slashing and jailing mechanisms designed to maintain high service standards can also pose risks. Providers that fail to meet the required performance standards or engage in malicious behavior can have their staked tokens slashed or be jailed, leading to a loss of staked capital.

Regulatory Risks: Regulatory risks are inherent in the evolving landscape of blockchain technology. Changes in regulations affecting cryptocurrencies and staking activities can impact the legal standing and profitability of staking LAVA tokens, adding an external layer of uncertainty.

Unbonding Risk: When staking LAVA tokens, there is a lockup period of 21 days. This means that investors will not be able to sell their tokens immediately, but instead need to wait 21 days 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.

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

An RPC (Remote Procedure Call) is a protocol that allows a program to request a service or data from a server or another program running on a different computer in a network, effectively enabling communication and data exchange. In the context of blockchain, RPCs are used for interacting with the network, such as fetching account balances, executing transactions, and querying blockchain data.

Lava Network leverages RPC by creating a decentralized, modular access layer that aggregates a network of RPC providers. This ensures reliable and scalable access to blockchain data while optimizing performance through a Quality of Service scoring system. Providers are selected based on their stake, service quality, and specific user needs, ensuring users receive the best possible service for their blockchain interactions.

LAVA tokens serve several essential functions within the network:

Subscription Payments: Consumers purchase subscription plans using LAVA tokens to access a wide range of API specifications via the Lava Protocol. These plans, priced by governance, vary based on the compute units and specifications they provide.

Staking: Validators and providers stake LAVA tokens to secure the network and offer their services. Validators stake to participate in block creation and governance, while providers stake to ensure the integrity of their services and become eligible for accepting delegations and servicing requests.

Restaking: Token holders can delegate and restake their LAVA tokens with validators and providers, enhancing capital efficiency and maximizing token utility.

Governance: Token holders engage in on-chain governance, influencing key decisions such as subscription plan pricing and API specification definitions.

Rewards: Providers, validators, and champions earn rewards in LAVA tokens. Providers are rewarded based on the volume of relays they serve, validators earn from block rewards and fees, and champions receive commissions for maintaining and developing API specifications.

LAVA follows a fixed supply model, starting with a total of 1,000,000,000 LAVA tokens at genesis and no mechanisms for inflation. The distribution of LAVA tokens is as follows:

• Public Allocation - 25%
• R&D & Ecosystem - 31%
• Investors - 17%
• Contributors - 27%

With LAVA staking (delegating to a validator), you can help to enhance network security. With re-staking your LAVA to an RPC Provider, you can enhance data quality of the Lava RPC network, and earn additional rewards. Stake with any combination of validator + provider, and select multiple pairs to enhance network decentralization.

Staking LAVA using Leap or Keplr dashboard only lets you delegate tokens to validators, this means you miss out on the opportunity to earn additional rewards through restaking. You can restake your existing staked position by connecting your LAVA wallet to our Staking Terminal and following the steps from this guide.

No, we do not charge any fees when you stake your tokens through our platform, ensuring that all your rewards are fully passed on to you without any deductions.

Yes, staking with us is safe as it involves direct blockchain interaction without any intermediaries or other contracts, ensuring maximum security for your assets.

Yes, you can connect with your Keplr or Leap Wallet. You may have to add a custom chain in Keplr wallet before seeing your balance and staking.

Yes, ledger signing is supported.

Validators create and validate blocks, while (RPC) Providers facilitate RPC services to Lavanet consumers. To ensure maximum rewards, you should always delegate to both.

The APR for RPC Providers may be relatively high because the staking ratio for RPC providers is currently very low. Most stakes have only been delegated with consensus validators so far, but have not been re-staked with any RPC Providers yet. We expect the APR to decrease drastically in the first few weeks after the Lava mainnet launch.

• Validators are ranked by performance, which measures their effectiveness in fulfilling tasks and collecting potential rewards over time.

• Providers are ranked by the number of RPC services offered, as more services indicate higher reward potential.

Additionally, validators and providers can be ranked based on multiple metrics, including reward rate, number of stakers, or fees on the Lava Network Staking Page.

To choose a Lava Network validator and RPC provider, consider the following factors:

• Fees: Look at the fees charged by validators/providers. Higher fees mean you get fewer rewards, but extremely low fees (like 0%) are often unsustainable. Choose a validator with reasonable fees that balance sustainability and profitability.

• Performance for Validators: Check the validator's performance ranking, which measures how effectively they fulfill tasks and collect rewards over time. A higher performance ranking indicates a more reliable and efficient validator.

• RPC Services for Providers: For RPC providers, check how many RPC services they offer. More services mean higher reward potential, indicating a more capable provider.

• Network Decentralization: To support decentralization, consider delegating to smaller validators and providers. This helps distribute the network's workload more evenly and strengthens its overall security.

• Verified Staking Provider (VSP) Program: Look for validators and providers that are part of the VSP program, which ensures they have undergone rigorous due diligence for transparency and trustworthiness.

For detailed information and additional metrics, visit the Lava Network Staking Page.

After you staked and re-staked LAVA, you can monitor your staked positions in the Staking Terminal. You can claim generated rewards across all your positions in a single click. You can undelegate, and re-delegate to another validator/provider. Furthermore, you can estimate future rewards using the LAVA Staking Calculator to supplement it.

Staking Rewards is calculating the reward rate for Lava validators and providers. The annual provisions for validators are determined by the block rewards, which are a fixed 3.4% of the total LAVA supply. Providers' annual rewards include Provider Drops and 6.6% of the total supply. Both validator and provider rewards are distributed monthly over 4 years.

Yes, Staking Rewards' Stake Now provides the capability to stake a variety of cryptocurrencies, including ETH, ATOM, TIA, and DYDX. We are building an all-in-one dashboard to discover, stake, and optimize your crypto. As the platform continues to evolve, additional digital assets will be integrated, enhancing your staking opportunities. Follow Staking Rewards on social media channels to stay informed about the latest updates and new asset integrations.