The MultiversX is the first to present a viable solution where all three aspects of sharding - state, network, and transactions - have been implemented at once. Combined with its “Adaptive” component, this novel architecture allows for dynamic network configuration to maintain a high level of security while scaling with demand.

In addition to scaling through sharding, MultiversX also approaches the consensus problem with a mechanism called Secure Proof of Stake, which mitigates potential attack vectors when compared to Proof of Work, while also enabling large throughput and fast execution.

By solving some of the hardest consensus and sharding problems in the blockchain space, MultiversX is able to provide a very high level of performance on a network made of inexpensive computers, resulting in a very low cost per transaction. In addition to performance and cost, MultiversX also stands out through the quality of the developer experience and the resulting boost in usability on the end-user side.

MultiversX uses Secure Proof-of-Stake (SPoS) to secure its blockchain. Validators are the ones who staked at least 2500 EGLD and they represent the community of node operators that take care of the blockchain consensus. Technically, the validating nodes are servers that aggregate transactions into blocks, execute them, and maintain the latest state of the blockchain. The owners of these nodes, the Validators, get rewards for their service. Staking providers are the ones who validate the network with one distinction: they can accept a delegation from EGLD stakers and validators can not.

Validators can increase their stake by asking for delegation. Delegation is the opportunity for all token holders to stake in partnership with a Validator, leasing a small portion of their validating node. Delegators can lock their funds into a staking pool, and receive rewards at the end of every epoch, minus the fees paid to the Validator.

Staking is available via MultiversX Web wallet and xPortal Mobile wallet. Have a look at the detailed guides for:

• MultiversX Web Wallet 
• xPortal Mobile Wallet
• Ledger Live
• Atomic Desktop Wallet
• Atomic Mobile Wallet

The minimum amount to stake is 1 EGLD. This amount is an absolute minimum in the MultiversX and validators can set their own minimum to stake, for instance, 10 EGLD or even 100 EGLD. Everstake has 1 EGLD as a minimum amount to stake

In terms of security, 10 epochs are required to unbond the funds. During this period delegator will not receive any rewards.

In MultiversX you need to claim your reward in order to compound it. You may claim it every day when the epoch changes. If you stake via Maiar Mobile Wallet, you can receive a notification when rewards come. 

An epoch in MultiversX always takes 24 hours and changes approximately at 15:20 UTC.

APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate. This is the percent that you will receive when staking with a validator. APR should not be treated as constant as it is influenced by a number of factors: the number of nodes, service fee, top-up amount of the pool and of the network, uptime rank. Remember that the more users start staking, the less APR in the network. You may find an actual APR in the explorers mentioned above.

APY stands for Annual Percentage Yield and is the projected rate of annual return after taking compounding interest into account. In order to understand how APY is calculated, it is important to understand compound interest. In essence, compound interest is interest earned on previously earned interest.

Have a look at the article with a detailed explanation APR vs. APY: What’s the Difference?

These are the service fees that Everstake and other SPs charge to each account using the staking service. The fees have already been deducted from the APR.

If the validator consistently misbehaves or performs malicious actions, it will be fined accordingly and lose EGLD, an action known as stake slashing, and also by having its validator status removed. This form of punishment is reserved for serious offenses. Validator nodes each have an individual rating score, which expresses their overall reliability and responsiveness. Choose staking providers with a high rating in order to secure your funds. Everstake nodes have the Max score which is 100 points.

Note! that slashing will only be enabled in Phase 4 which is expected to go live in 2023. Currently, the staking phase is 3.5 out of 4.0. With 4.0 the MultiversX Foundational nodes will be decommissioned and allowing for more third-party services to offer their services. In Phase 4.0 it will be important to choose an experienced validator.

The funds are always under the control of the delegator. When delegating them to a validator, the validator does not have access to them. Moreover, the validator cannot delay the delegator's reward or take other actions. Therefore, the delegator's funds are safe.

• Level of expertise

Check their website, blog posts, social media. Have a look at the validating experience in other networks. Does a staking provider have any experience in validating at all? You’ll want to go with a SP who knows what they are doing.

• Number of nodes

The more nodes that are operating the better chance that they will be chosen for a consensus round. Rewards will likely be distributed at more regular intervals which makes calculating the optimal compounding interval easier.

• Service Fee

Regarding the difference in fees, it’s quite simple. The thing you should avoid is 100% as it is a so-called private pool where 100% goes to the validator and 0% to the delegator. In addition, it’s better to avoid pools with 0% service fee as this means that the validator earns 0% rewards and has no funds to properly maintain the required infrastructure.

• Stake share

Have a look at the validator stake, it should not be too large if you want to support network decentralization. Remember that your reward amount does not depend on the validator stake. You may stake with a validator who has 500k EGLD or 50k EGLD and in case these validators have the same fee for their service your reward will be the same.

• Uptime rank

Uptime and rating are very important as they are a measure of node integrity. An uptime and a rating should be as close to 100. Rating will increase for well-behaved nodes: every time a validator takes part in a successful consensus, its rating is increased. Consensus selection probability is strongly influenced by a validators rating. The consensus process favors validators with a high rating and will avoid selecting validators with a low rating. This implies that a node with a high rating produces far more rewards than a node with a low rating, so it is essential that operators maintain their validators online, up-to-date and responsive. Moreover, if the rating of a validator becomes too low, it will be jailed. A jailed validator will not be selected for consensus - thus earning no rewards. To restore the validator, it must be unjailed, which requires a fine to be paid, currently set to 2.5 EGLD.

Web site

MultiversX docs

MultiversX explorer

Everstake Medium blog

Binance

Binance.US

Bitbns

Bitfinex

AscendEX

AOFEX

Bitpanda

Bithumb

Changelly

Coinbase custody

Coinmerce

CoinDCX

CoinEX

Coinspot

Coinswitch

Crypto.com

Delta Exchange

DragonEX

Etorox.com

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gate.io

Giottus

Hitbtc

Hoo

Huobi Global

Indacoin

Indodax

KickEX

Kriptomat

KuCoin

Liquid

Mandala Exchange

Mercuryo

Moonpay

Nash

Nominex

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OKEx

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PlasmaPay

Ramp

SimpleSwap

Swipe

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tokocrypto.com

Tradesilvania

Transak

VCC Exchange

Voyager

WazirX

Zipmex

As you know, there are currently 3200 active nodes out of which just 50% participate in the consensus during an epoch so just half of them get rewards. In order to increase the Network’s Security, the nodes migrate from one shard to another periodically but in a totally random manner. This mechanism makes the network attack attempts become harder and the chances of an attacker to get a shard’s control are considerably reduced. The 3200 nodes are distributed equally between the 3 execution shards and Metachain, each shard having 800 nodes. Each epoch, every shard has 400 eligible nodes (validate blocks and produce rewards) and 400 waiting nodes. At the beginning of a new epoch, 80 eligible nodes are picked randomly from a shard and moved on the waiting list of another shard. The waiting time for a node is 400/80 = 5 epochs. This is the reason why APR should be seen as an average on a longer timeframe because the number of eligible nodes can’t be anticipated in advance. The APR shown in the wallet is calculated in ideal conditions as if the pool had 50% eligible nodes constantly and the network 100% hit-rate. In reality, one pool can have more than 50% eligible nodes (the rewards being higher than the APR/365) and the other day less than 50% (rewards being less than the APR/365). Even if rewards vary from one day to another the one-year length rewards should correspond to the shown APR.

In order to get an idea of the state of the nodes of one provider/pool in the current epoch, you can use the Validators section of the Elrond Explorer. With this method, you can calculate the rewards you are to get at the end of the epoch by using the ratio between eligible nodes and the total staked nodes of the pool.

Top-Up amount is one of the factors that influence the Provider’s APR.

In MultiversX there is a Base stake which is 2500 EGLD per node and Top-Up stake which is everything above 2500 EGLD per node. In the MultiversX, there could be only 8 million EGLD staked as a base stake, 3200 nodes x 2500 EGLD = 8milion EGLD. At the moment there are 11,7milion EGLD staked, this means that 3,7milion EGLD is a Top-Up stake. The more Top-Up, the more users who stake and the more secure blockchain is, nevertheless the more Top-Up, the less APR. Because the same amount of tokens, which are supposed to be distributed during staking, is spread among a greater number of users. Top-Up amount is spread among the pool nodes evenly and affects the whole pool and partially the whole network.

Rewards are distributed every epoch(24h). After an epoch change, the delegator can either claim his rewards or restake rewards. Claim rewards mean that the rewards become available and restake rewards mean adding newly minted rewards (compounding) to the staking pool.

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Let us know and we'll help you out. If you have EGLD and want to start staking but are not sure how to do it and why you need it, book a call with our Blockchain Manager! She will explain and guide you through the process!