Staking Phase 4 - Battle of Stakes $10,000 Competition (Validators & Content Creators)

The Staking V4 proposal was published on the Agora for public discussion at the end of last year. Since then, it has become the top forum thread with the most replies, reflecting the high community interest. It also made its way to the testnet for public testing, where validators could experience the changes in a relatively similar environment to production.

Following this great progress, the proposal is now ready to advance to the next steps. As every important MultiversX upgrade now goes through on-chain governance, the upgrade to Vega will be the second vote for a protocol release - involving every EGLD staker.

Before moving to the governance vote, we are proposing a 10-day Battle of Stakes competition, where the transition to Staking Phase 4 will be replicated 1:1 on the testnet, this time including the 3 early stages leading to full activation.

Timeline

• March 27 (Wed): Battle of Stakes - registrations open
• March 28 (Thu): Morning: First Distribution of xEGLD
• March 28 (Thu): Evening: Battle of Stakes begins*
  • During the 10 days, MultiversX is expected to introduce several adjustments to change the dynamic of the network and parameters
• April 2 (Tue): Battle of Stakes restart*
• April 12 (Fri): Battle of Stakes ends
• April 8 (Mon) Validators Discord Session
• April 9 (Tue): Staking V4 governance vote begins
• April 19 (Fri): Staking V4 governance vote ends

Battle of Stakes Introduction

Staking V4 proposes important changes with the core goals of increasing the total EGLD staked and contributing further to the network decentralization. The most important one is the removal of the existing 3,200 nodes cap and the queue system, which at the moment allows new validators to join only when others leave, with an auction-based free-market mechanism.

More information can be found here - https://docs.multiversx.com/validators/staking-v4/

Given the comprehensive nature of this upgrade and the transition to a more dynamic staking environment, we are organizing the Battle of Stakes to make sure validators are prepared ahead of mainnet.

It will run for 120 testnet epochs (10 days), which is the equivalent of 4 mainnet months, in order to thoroughly test the implementation. 

Pre-Competition Setup

The testnet was reset on March 25, in preparation for the competition, to start from a clean state and revert to a previous software version. This will allow us to cover the interim phases unfolding in the first 3 epochs after the Staking V4 activation, to completely recreate the exact scenario the mainnet will go through.

Registrations are open now https://form.typeform.com/to/oc70IJn5 and will be kept open until the end of the competition. Participants who join from the start have a higher chance of ranking up, as the competition is based on the accumulated EGLD rewards through staking via validator nodes. 

Competition Quick Overview

• Duration: 120 testnet epochs (2h per epoch)
• Participation: Open through this registration form. Each participant receives 20,001 testnet xEGLD for competition activities
• Rewards: $10K prize pool. Most efficient SP or wallet owner wins (see rules), with additional prizes for bug reports and content creation.

Prizes structure

We have allocated a prize pool of $10,000 (in EGLD) for the competition. This prize pool will incentivize not only active participants as validators but also those who contribute to the community’s understanding of Staking V4 through educational content*. Additionally, we have dedicated a separate prize pool specifically for bugs and edge case findings.

*Note: Materials published ahead of this blogpost are considered

1. Validators Prizes
   1. $7,000 is allocated to validators participating in the competition. This will reward validators who achieve the highest gains in their delegation contract of their Staking Provider. The goal is to incentivize not only the participation but also the effective and efficient management of staking operations under Staking v4.
   2. Prize pool distribution:
      1. 1st Place: $2,800
      2. 2nd Place: $2,100
      3. 3rd Place: $1,050
      4. 4th Place: $700
      5. 5th Place: $350
2. Educational Content Prizes
   1. The remaining $3,000 is reserved for creators of educational materials related to Vega. This includes tutorials, learning materials, videos, and any other content that can help the community demystify Staking V4 and encourage participation in the governance vote. The evaluation of submissions will focus on the accuracy and depth of information presented, the quality of the content, and its reach and impact on the community. 
   2. Prize pool distribution:
      1. 1st Place: $1,200
      2. 2nd Place: $750
      3. 3rd Place: $450
      4. 4th Place: $360
      5. 5th Place: $240
3. Bugs and Edge Cases Recognition
   • We have established a dedicated prize pool for community members who identify and report bugs or edge cases. These submissions are crucial for the ongoing improvement and security of the network. Reports will be analyzed confidentially, and submitters will be contacted directly to discuss their findings and the corresponding rewards (if you did not submit a bug nor participate in the competition, we will not contact you, beware of scammers). This process ensures responsible disclosure and allows the technical team to efficiently address issues.
4. Special custom scenario testing
   • If you need additional xEGLD to test out other, more complex scenarios, make sure to submit this form: https://form.typeform.com/to/d4Fk9yIh

Competition Rules

1. Faucets are enabled, therefor delegators are invited to participate in scenarios.
2. The MultiversX Foundation will change the status of the network, testing how fast validators respond to these changes and how efficiently they will adapt their strategy to the new status existing on the network. This means that at any time, the MultiversX Foundation can:
   - add new nodes with higher top-up (raising the minimum top-up threshold needed to become eligible for consensus);
   - remove nodes;
   - add new xEGLD to existent nodes;
   - distribute new xEGLD to all participants;
3. During the campaign, each participant/SP will receive 10 points at the beginning of each epoch. We will deduct points based on the number of failures incurred. The participant with the highest score at the end will become the winner of the campaign, with all the others ranked in descending order according to their point totals. It is mandatory to have at least 20,000 xEGLD staked to your SP. Entities failing to do this, will be disqualified.

1. Prerequisites

• The auction results at the start of each epoch include detailed information, such as:
  • Qualified nodes and their stakes per node.
  • Unqualified nodes and their stakes per node.
  • Provider/owner information for each node in the auction list: total nodes and total stake.
  • Information on other providers not in the auction list: total stake and number of nodes.

2. ‍Strategies for Counting Failures:

• For owners (SPs or wallets) with nodes in the auction list:
  • A failure will be counted if a provider with qualified nodes could have had more nodes qualified. One failure per provider will be counted for each additional node that could have been qualified.
  • Owners with unqualified nodes in the auction will receive one failure per unqualified node.
• ‍For owners (SPs or wallets) without nodes in the auction list:
  • Failures will be counted for owners who could have added nodes to qualify but did not. One failure will be counted for each missed opportunity.

After Go-Live

Further instructions, real-time updates, and updates will be provided on the Telegram validators channel and on the builders' Discord server.

We recommend submitting important findings and potentially sensitive bug reports here: https://form.typeform.com/to/SMXLytiw

During the competition, the MultiversX Foundation will monitor the network throughout, adjusting parameters as needed to simulate real-world conditions by adding new nodes in the auction list, changing the top-up per nodes, or removing nodes from their SPs.

Winners, based on SP delegation contract gains and contributions, will be announced and rewarded within 5 days post-competition. Feedback will guide future enhancements and mainnet integration considerations.

Calling All Validators (and not only)

Adaptability has always been the core of how MultiversX functions. Now in the true sense of scalability on demand with full sharding, and next in the way the network dynamically adapts to host an entirely open staking economy with Phase 4.

We invite all validators, people curious about running nodes, and ecosystem content creators to participate.

battleofstakes.com