Chainlink Shares Details on Token Staking, LINK Surges to $9

Chainlink’s LINK token hit a recent high of $9 after the team unveiled an updated roadmap detailing Chainlink 2.0 token staking.

Chainlink 2.0 to Include Token Staking

Chainlink, the smart contract oracle protocol that powers the majority of DeFi applications across different blockchains securing tens of billions of dollars worth of digital assets today dropped its highly-anticipated updated roadmap.

Among other announcements, the most noticeable was inarguably the one about the LINK token staking. According to the announcement, staking is “a key mechanism that aims to bring a new layer of cryptoeconomic security to Chainlink.”

The announcement reads in part:

“The overarching mission of Chainlink staking is to give ecosystem participants, including node operators and community members, the ability to increase the security guarantees and user assurances of oracle services by backing them with staked LINK tokens. The staking of LINK in turn enhances the ability for nodes to receive jobs and earn corresponding fees within the Chainlink Network.”

As such, the announcement details the long-term goals of Chainlink staking.

The primary goal of Chainlink is to increase the cryptoeconomic security and user assurances of Chainlink oracle services. To achieve this, LINK tokens will be locked up as a form of service-level guarantee around network performance.

Should an oracle network fail to meet the objigaitons highlighted in its on-chain service-level agreement (SLA), then a portion of the LINK tokens staked by it shall be slashed and redistributed.

Another major goal of the LINK token staking is to empower and encourage a greater number of community members to directly participate in the Chainlink Network.

The next goal highlighted in the announcement is for staking to create and distribute sustainable long-term rewards to stakers. With rising network adoption and higher protocol fees, a greater portion of staking rewards can be sourced from non-emissions-based sources.

Some of the sources for token emissions include native token emissions from the LINK token supply that will be used to create an initial based level of rewards. In addition, user service fees from Chainlink oracle services sponsors were identified as another mechanism to reward LINK stakers.

The announcement identifies another anticipated source of benefits for stakers in the form of Partner Growth Program (PGP) that enables Chainlinked protocols and DAOs to offer various incentives to propel their growth and foster cross-ecosystem participation.

The concept of loss protection is also being actively explored, the announcement adds.

When Will the Staking Go Live?

Coming to the million-dollar question for every LINK marine, the announcement gives a rough guesstimate of when LINK staking could potentially go live.

According to the announcement:

“Chainlink staking will evolve across multiple versions, with the initial v0.1 release projected for later this year. This first release focuses on introducing a reputation framework and staker alerting system. After sufficient validation from in-production usage and community feedback, a v1 release will introduce additional functionality such as the slashing of stake for stronger cryptoeconomic security and the incorporation of user fees as rewards.”

The announcement had a positive impact on LINK’s price as the token surged from $7.75 to $9 shortly after the announcement came out.

In recent news, crypto.news reported that Chainlink Price Feeds had gone live on the Solana mainnet.