What Chainlink's Staking v0.2 Launch Means for Chainlink

Written by: 0xxz@ Golden Finance

Chainlink Staking v0.2 is now live. On November 29th, Chainlink underwent the v0.2 upgrade of Chainlink Staking with the launch of Chainlink Staking v0.2 (

Chainlink Staking v0.2 Staking Pool Allocation

The total Chainlink Staking v0.2 LINK staking pool has a total capacity of 45 million LINK, of which 40,875,000 LINK is allocated to the community and the remainder is allocated to Chainlink node operators who currently service Chainlink Data Feeds.

Priority Migration Phase: Chainlink Staking v0.1 stakers can migrate their staked LINK and cumulative rewards to v0.2 for 9 days.

Early Stage: From December 7 at 12 p.m. ET to December 11 at 12 p.m. ET, LINK token holders who meet the predefined eligibility requirements will have the opportunity to stake up to 15,000 LINK.

Normal Phase: After 12 p.m. ET on December 11, anyone can stake up to 15,000 LINK, provided the staking pool is not filled.

The LINK community staking pool has pledged 16.44 million LINK. The staking pool capacity of Staking v0.1 is 25 million LINK.

What's new in Chainlink Staking v0.2

Chainlink Staking v0.2 builds on the experience of v0.1 released last December and focuses on the following goals:

• A new unbonding mechanism that provides greater flexibility for community and node operator stakers while retaining a secure non-custodial design. Unbonding introduces 28 cooling-off periods to withdraw staked LINK and ensures: the staking pool remains stable for a long period of time, with enough staking LINK being penalized in the event of a valid alert.
• By penalizing node operators for staking, Chainlink Staking increases the security of oracle services.
• Modular architecture that iteratively supports future improvements and additions to Chainlink Staking, such as expanding to more services.
• Dynamic reward mechanism that can seamlessly support new external reward sources in the future, such as user fees.

Why Chainlink Staking v0.2 Matters

This upgrade is Chainlink's most anticipated upgrade and is part of the Chainlink 2.0 roadmap. Cinlink Staking v0.2 provides more utility to the LINK token and brings value to token holders. Here's why:

Enhance network security and trust: Improve cryptoeconomic security by allowing node operators to lock up LINK as collateral, ensuring they have a vested interest in the network.

Punishment mechanism: Chainlink supports the ability to penalize node operators for partially staking LINK if they act in any way malicious or incompetent. This alignment ensures that stakeholders are committed to a common goal of increasing the value and efficiency of the network

Participation incentives: Staking allows LINK token holders to participate more actively in the network. This active participation is often rewarded, often in the form of additional LINK tokens or other incentives.

Reduced circulating supply: By staking LINK tokens, node operators reduce circulating supply, leading to scarcity. With the increase in services and node operators, the demand for LINK will increase, and the decrease in supply may be a positive factor in the value of the token.

Risk Mitigation and Network Stability: By enabling node operators to stake their tokens, Chainlink can potentially reduce price volatility and speculative trading in LINK, thereby contributing to price and network stability.

DeFi composability: DeFi platforms can provide innovative ways to leverage staking LINK, such as staking, to further enhance liquidity.

The introduction of staking is a game-changer for Chainlink, with Chainlink ecosystem participants able to help secure the network by staking LINK and earn revenue by supporting the oracle services provided by Chainlink, helping to create stronger cryptoeconomic security while increasing the utility of LINK's tokens.

Chainlink will also soon move away from the stereotypes shown below.