Everstake has recently joined the Klaytn blockchain as a validator. The node was launched in partnership with Jump Crypto, and the public staking to our validator is available via Klaystation to all Klaytn delegators since October 21.
The aim of this article is to cover the Klaytn blockchain basics for new users by providing a brief overview of its history and tokenomics, the wallets chiefly used for storing and transacting with KLAY, the monitoring of Klaytn health metrics in the blockchain explorer, and the availability of public staking.
About Klaytn
Klaytn is a one-of-a-kind enterprise-grade network that is already widely adopted by millions of users mostly in Asia and now aiming to conquer worldwide crypto markets. Klaytn is often called a blockchain for the metaverse or “the trust layer for the metaverse” (Klaytn Litepaper). The network characteristics include high TPS, immediate finality and a low fixed gas price driving the blockchain adoption. Klaytn also aims to ease the entry for end users and cut the costs of running blockchain applications.
The Klaytn mainnet (Cypress) was launched on June 27, 2019 with the following specifications:
- 4,000 TPS.
- 1-second block generation and confirmation time.
- A low gas price of ~ 1/10th of Ethereum’s one.
- EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) support.
- Solidity contracts execution.
- Seamless interoperability with other blockchains (including Klaytn L2 chains).
The Klaytn Governance Council governing the network was initially represented by 19 large reputable corporations. The current number of consensus nodes is 35 (Klaytnscope).
Learn more about the Klaytn architecture here.
Klaytn Governance Council
The Klaytn network is secured by a group of providers/trusted entities—the Klaytn Governance Council. The GC is represented by 35 companies including key industries like consumer products and retail (LG Electronics, GS Retail), finance (KakaoPay, Sygnum), gaming (Netmarble, Wemade, Pearl Abyss), and blockchain (Binance, Hashed, and Jump Crypto along with the recently joined partner—Everstake).
Find a full list of GC nodes here.
Klaytn Ecosystem
The Klaytn ecosystem is one of those most actively developing in crypto. Hundreds of third-party services are being built on the network. An estimated 11 million users were reached a year ago (June 2021), according to Binance Research. The recent ecosystem overview on Twitter mentions a whopping 267 partners in the DeFi, NFT, and Gaming sectors.
Having their start in Korea, the Klaytn and Ground X teams aim to expand to the global market, beyond Asia. The network is ready to develop partnerships in various blockchain sectors building custodial and non-custodial wallets, oracles and bridges, liquidity protocols, DeFi, enterprise and entertainment services and solutions.
Klaytn Explorer
Klaytnscope is the official Klaytn block explorer that lets you search for network statistics and monitor blockchain health easily. Explore blocks, transactions, and smart contracts data through the dashboard for both Testnet and Mainnet:
Klaytnscope’s major features:
- Network overview.
- Search for a block, transaction, or account.
- Event logs search.
- Block proposer and GC member information.
Note: Apart from the official explorer, Klaytn is also integrated into xscan.io which users can use to search for KLAY token balances, NFTs, and transaction history.
Klaytn Tokenomics
KLAY is the transferable coin and official currency of Klaytn. KLAY is also used to pay transaction fees for smart contract creations/executions and regular KLAY transfers.
1 KLAY equals 10^18 peb, where peb is the smallest currency unit of KLAY.
The Klaytn tokenomics is designed with an idea to build a solid base for a large ecosystem and exponential growth. According to the blockchain’s Litepaper, “Klaytn is the first and the largest example in which the incentives supporting the ecosystem are encoded in an on-chain protocol tokenomics. 66% of the newly minted tokens are reinvested in the ecosystem. Initially issued reserve tokens will also be used as a resource for investment in the ecosystem expansion.”
So how is Klaytn’s funding structure built? A KLAY reward is issued for each new block. Block transaction fees (“block reward”) are collected and distributed to network accounts in the following proportions:
- Klaytn GC Reward: 34%.
- Klaytn Growth Fund (KGF): 54%.
- Klaytn Improvement Reserve (KIR): 12%.
For more information on the KLAY tokenomics, please feel free to study the Klaytn Docs.
Below are the initial KLAY token allocation details as presented by Binance:
- Private Sale: 18% of the total token supply.
- Protocol Reserves: 53%.
- Business Development: 16%.
- R&D and Technology: 8%.
- Team: 5%.
Inflation/Burning Mechanism on Klaytn
9.6 KLAY is minted with each new block, hence approximately 300 million KLAY is minted annually. The initial KLAY supply at Genesis was 10 billion tokens making the total supply reach 10 billion + 3% annual inflation (a bit more than 11 billion tokens at the moment). Please note that the annual inflation rate is subject to change through the Klaytn Governance.
The fourth scheduled burning of a net difference in gas fees was implemented with v1.8.0. It had 319,553.7 KLAY burned for the period of July 1 to 31, 2022 as calculated from blocks 94739204 to 97414755.
Klaytn Staking Wallets
- Kaikas is a browser extension wallet for the Klaytn Network advised by the official Klaytn Documentation. KLAY staking via Kaikas is currently available at Klaystation and Hashquark. We will explain the differences between them below.
Kaikas allows users to create more than one account with a single master seed phrase. Kaikas also supports various types of Klaytn networks, and lets you register your own customized tokens within the wallet, as well as sign requests from Klaytn-based web BApps (Blockchain Applications).
To start using Kaikas, download the wallet from the Chrome Web Store.
- Klip is a digital wallet developed by Kakao Corp and available for iOS/Android. Klip supports Klaytn NFTs, KLAY, as well as other service coins issued by the Klaytn blockchain. KLAY staking via Klip is available at Klaystation. Users can create a new wallet using KakaoTalk in minutes. Please note that the wallet interface is in Korean.
Klaytn Non-Staking Tools
- KLAY Tool for transferring KLAY tokens/rewards.
- CLI tools like ken and JavaScript consoles.
- MetaMask (only KSP staking is available via Klayswap).
- Klaytn Wallet is for development purposes only. Do not use it for personal or commercial use. Klaytn recommends that you use Klaytn Wallet on the Baobab Testnet for TESTING ONLY and NOT for any other purpose.
- Other wallets not supporting staking: Huobi Wallet, D’Cent, DeKey, TokenPocket, Bport, Coin98, and Klutch.
Validator Rewards Distribution on Klaytn
A validator reward is a total amount of KLAY that a validator receives from a block reward.
3.2 KLAY of the block proposal rewards is currently distributed among the Governance Council Core Cell Operators (CCOs) for every block, totaling approximately 100 million KLAY annually. The distribution ratio is calculated according to the amount of KLAY staked with a CCO’s node. The following formula is used to calculate the final staking APR:
Staking APR ≈ GC Reward / Total Staking Amount.
In August 2022, a few GC members (Kakao, Kakao Pay, Kakao Entertainment and Ground X) came up with an initiative that would help boost the ecosystem growth by reducing their Consensus Node staking collateral to the minimum required amount. For more details, please read “Klaytn GC Members Will Help to Enhance Klaytn's Staking APR”.
Klaytn Staking
The public staking APR is ~ 6-16% depending on the provider. To stake, transfer your funds to the wallet of your choice (Kaikas or Klip). There are only three Public Staking options available so far. Let’s cover those briefly.
We suggest using Klaystation for staking. Why? Please read below and compare to the other options available.
1/ Klaystation is a staking tool built on the Klaytn Network. KLAY holders are invited to stake with Klaytn's GC providers using this tool with an average APR of 6-16%. To start staking, open Klaystation in your browser and install a compatible wallet (Kaikas or Klip) into your browser.
Klaystation offers its users:
- A choice of available staking nodes. Select a staking provider of your choice considering the various reward rates and the provider’s background. Note: The Hashed-Ozys node offers sKLAY/KLAY staking while the other nodes offer KLAY staking only.
- A dashboard to check key staking metrics, such as an account status and transaction history, including staking/unstaking transactions.
- An explorer that provides a history of transactions processed by the Klaytn Network and a staking/unstaking status for a requested wallet address.
Public staking is currently available with four operators. Jump-Everstake validator proposes delegators the highest APR so far.
2/ Hashquark allows staking via the Kaikas wallet but only to their node (HashKey). There is no choice of other providers. The currently offered APR is ~ 8%.
3/ Klayswap is a decentralized crypto asset finance protocol. It offers KSP staking, but no KLAY staking. The KSP staking APR is ~ 40% at the time of writing this article. Users can also use this platform for KLAY swaps.
Obviously, only the Klaystation platform offers a choice of providers to stake KLAY with, as well as an overview of the reward rates available, which makes it the most convenient tool for staking.
Everstake validates 50+ blockchains, and we dedicate a team of community, DevOps, and R&D specialists to each of them. You also get your community representative with Everstake. Feel free to contact our Klaytn Blockchain Manager on Twitter.
