Frequently asked questions about the Aleo Network

Who are stakers?

Aleo Tokens can be staked by any individual or organization that wishes to participate in the incentivization process of locking up the Tokens for a desired amount of time to support the security of the Aleo Network.

How does staking work?

Stakers delegate tokens to validators, which contributes to their respective stake weight to participate in consensus. As a result, stakers earn a proportionate amount of inflationary rewards provided to the validator they stake with.

Read more about Aleo staking logic.

What are the minimum staking requirements?

You can help secure the Aleo Network with as little as 10,000 Aleo Tokens.

For participants with fewer than 10,000 Aleo Tokens, liquid staking is available to earn the same rate of rewards. You can find a list of liquid staking protocols here.

The protocol supports partial unstaking as long as you leave the minimum stake amount (10,000 Aleo Tokens for delegators). If you unstake and fall below the minimum, the entire balance will be unstaked.

When can I start staking?

Staking will be enabled soon after mainnet launch.

Where can I stake my Aleo Tokens?

You can use tools provided by the Aleo ecosystem including staking platforms, navigating directly to Aleo validator dashboards, or from supporting wallets. Note that these are 3rd party tools built for the Aleo ecosystem. Aleo does not endorse, review or otherwise vet these tools and is not responsible for their operation.

Is there any expected yield from staking Aleo Tokens?

Staking rewards are determined by the variable amount of Aleo Tokens staked globally and the inflation rate of provided network rewards. Estimates have ranged as high as 15 or 20% initially, but will naturally decrease over time as more Aleo Tokens are staked and inflationary rewards reduce. Block rewards will be constant in perpetuity unless adjusted by the network.

Who are provers?

Aleo provers (often referred to as ZK miners or ZK provers) are a distinct zero-knowledge specific infrastructure class that supports the Aleo Network by solving PoSW (Proof of Succint Work) coinbase puzzles through SNARK proofs that are then included in blocks that Aleo validators finalize.

How does proving work?

Aleo provers must compete with each other to generate solutions to coinbase puzzles by generating SNARK proofs that will satisfy a target difficulty threshold as determined by the Aleo Network. The more efficient and effective provers are at generating solutions to the Aleo coinbase puzzles, the higher the chance of earning Aleo coinbase rewards.

Multiple provers can earn a portion of the coinbase rewards in proportion to the number of valid puzzle solutions submitted. Provers provide 1/3rd of the coinbase solution reward to validators to incentivize their inclusion and reward receipt.

Read more about Aleo proving.

How can I start proving?

The most efficient way to start proving is by using proving software like snarkOS or specialized hardware. Proving rewards will be enabled at mainnet launch.

What hardware do I need to start proving?

Specialized GPUs work best, but CPU proving is possible.

Recommended minimum hardware requirements.

How can I maximize my proving rewards?

The more proofs, the higher the chance of receiving rewards. Specialized hardware proves faster.

Coinbase rewards earned by Aleo provers will be proportionate to the allocated amount from Aleo's inflation at the start.

Coinbase rewards decrease in a linear fashion until emission ceases around the tenth year.

When will proving go live?

Proving rewards will be enabled at mainnet launch.

How many Aleo Tokens can provers earn?

Provers can earn an estimated 40-50% APR at the start. This amount will naturally decrease over time.

Who are validators?

Aleo validators are infrastructure service providers who secure the network through AleoBFT, a Proof-of-Stake based consensus mechanism that leverages the latest state-of-the-art consensus research, Bullshark, and its directed acyclic graph (DAG) Narwhal-style memory pool.

How does validating work?

Validators verify and confirm blocks of transactions and use Aleo's consensus mechanism to agree on state. They include proofs from provers when creating blocks and receive rewards and fees for their work securing the network.

How can I start validating?

In order to start validating, you must have a minimum of 10m Aleo Tokens. Next, you need to use snarkOS software to run a validator node. Mainnet validating will begin after launch - stay tuned for more information!