Flow: Staking & Delegating FLOW Tokens
By: Clayton Menzel
Tags: Smart Contracts, Proof Of Stake, Flow Blockchain, Flow, Dapper Labs

Questions? Critical information about staking FLOW and the Flow Network

Where can I explore the Flow network and create a Flow wallet?

Wallet: https://port.onflow.org

Explorer: https://flow.bigdipper.live

Windows 10 Wallet Users

– In Chrome or Brave, navigate to chrome://flags#new-usb-backend

– set “Enable new USB backend” to disabled

– restart your browser and head to https://port.onflow.org

When are staking rewards enabled? When are transfers enabled?

We expect staking rewards to begin on Dec 16, 2020 (with payouts one week later, Dec 23).

While transfers should currently be enabled, the only circulating tokens in the first year are expected to be those distributed as rewards to stakers, so we don’t expect to see FLOW tokens being transferred until Dec 23, 2020.

What is the name of the asset being staked?

Flow’s native token, FLOW will be staked to capture new issuance rewards and fee revenue. FLOW will also be used in these ways:

Payment for computation and validation services (i.e., transaction fees)

Medium of exchange

Deposit for data storage

Collateral for secondary tokens

Participation in governance (eventually)

Which type(s) and what rate of rewards can I expect? Can I stake locked/vesting tokens?

Locked FLOW can be staked, and stakers are expected to earn newly-issued FLOW tokens and transaction fees.

We expect stakers to earn around 4.5% in new-issuance FLOW tokens annually, depending upon the proportion of the token supply is staked.

If 50% is staked, then rewards will be 7.5%, and if 83% is staked, rewards will be 4.5%. Since all tokens will initially be locked, there’s a strong incentive for nearly all of them to be staked. If 100% are staked, rewards will be 3.75% annually.

Detailed token economics information can be found here.

Do I maintain custody of my FLOW tokens? Who or what controls my staked FLOW token?

You can self-custody your FLOW tokens, ideally using a Ledger hardware wallet. These are the instructions for using your Ledger wallet with Flow. Shorter version is here.

Figment has partnerships with a number of top-in-class custodians: support@figment.io

The Flow protocol takes control of your FLOW tokens while you are staking. If you unbond your tokens, this process will take at most 14 days before the protocol returns your tokens to you, depending when you commit to unbonding.

While your FLOW are staked, you may participate in on-chain governance once it is enabled (initially governance will be off-chain).

How long does it take to unstake?

In short: between 7 and 14 days.

From the moment you initiate the unbonding process, it takes between 7 and 14 days to unstake, depending upon when the request is made. An epoch is ~7 days, so your tokens will remain staked for the remainder of the epoch and then will take one additional epoch to unlock.

During the one-week unlock period (ie. epoch) you will not earn rewards. When the process is complete, you will be able transfer/trade your FLOW tokens.

Can my staked FLOW be slashed (seized or destroyed)?

In short: no, not initially (but we expect slashing to be enabled eventually)

Initially no, but we expect that eventually the rules will change such that a portion of your staked FLOW can be destroyed if you have delegated to a malicious or insecure validator. We will update this page when those conditions are enabled.

What is the rate of new issuance (aka “annual inflation”) for FLOW? How does the token supply change?

New FLOW tokens will be minted (ie. created) and then distributed to stakers at a rate of 3.75% of the total supply yearly.

How are changes to the Flow network decided upon and executed? ie. How is Flow governed?

The Flow Service Account has special permissions to change critical aspects of the network, including minting/burning tokens and changing the core protocol. This account will be controlled by the Flow team, Dapper Labs, at network launch. Here are the key details from the Flow team’s documentation.

FLOW SERVICE ACCOUNT

The Service Account is a special account in Flow that has special permissions to manage system contracts. It is able to mint tokens, set fees, and update network-level contracts.

TOKENS & FEES

The Service Account has administrator access to the FLOW token smart contract, so it has authorization to mint and burn tokens. It also has access to the transaction fee smart contract and can adjust the fees charged for transactions execution on Flow.

NETWORK MANAGEMENT

The Service Account administrates other smart contracts that manage various aspects of the Flow network, such as epochs and (in the future) validator staking auctions.

GOVERNANCE

Besides its special permissions, the Service Account is an account like any other in Flow. During the early phases of Flow’s development, the account will controlled by keys held by Dapper Labs. As Flow matures, the service account will transition to being controlled by a smart contract governed by the Flow community.

Where can I learn more about Flow?