Overview
The Cherry Network is secured by a Nominated Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. Unlike Satoshi Nakamoto’s traditional Proof of Work consensus, users of the Cherry Network do not have to rely on the hardware and electricity cost miners incur to incentivize correct block verification. Instead, the Cherry Network is secured by a $CHER stake (deposit) consensus participants use to collateralize the new block states they propose: if the new blocks are submitted correctly and the network agrees on the new chain state, the node who submitted them is compensated with a $CHER reward. If the blocks are not correct, or the network finds the node who submitted them was acting in bad faith, the staked $CHER collateral gets slashed.
Unlike Proof of Stake, Cherry Network’s consensus mechanism does not rely on each full node user to perform block production i.e., validate the network. While anyone can become a Validator, the Cherry Network elects a select few candidate validators to actively secure its blockchain.
Upon the mainnet network launch, this validator-set comprised 5 nodes. Only some nodes can therefore secure the network at any given time. These nodes are typically run by skilled users or organizations who understand Cherry Network’s consensus and are able to actively secure it against threats. A limited validator-set makes the network less prone to latency, while a larger validator-set makes the network more decentralized. The Cherry Network will expand its validator-set over time, considering this payoff.
While the network determines how many validators should compose the validator set, network participants decide who should be granted the active validator status. To do so, users nominate one or more validators with the $CHER they hold in their wallet. The validators with the greatest number of $CHER nominations become active validators.
Active validators are tasked with securing the network and ensuring the correct progression of Cherry Network’s blockchain. In exchange for this activity, the network compensates validators with a variable $CHER block reward. Since they owe their coveted position to the users who have nominated them, validators typically share part or all of their $CHER compensation with their nominators. These rewards are shared proportionally to the amount of $CHER the nominator has staked toward them and can be either added to the staked principal for return compounding or sent to another address.
Click here for a deeper dive into the Cherry Network consensus mechanism.
How do I Stake?
This tutorial uses the official Cherry Network Blockchain Interface to interact with the Cherry Network.
Preliminaries
- Create 2 Cherry Network accounts (a controller, and a stash)
- Bridge your $CHER to Cherry Network
- We recommend using a computer browser, but mobile will also work with some UI compatibility issues for smaller screens
Process
-
You have two Cherry Network accounts. Keep 1 CHER in one, and transfer all of the CHER you wish to stake in the other.
-
Navigate to Network>Staking>Accounts in the blockchain interface
-
Click the + Setup a Nominator button the top right if the page.
-
Select the account with the balance your wish to stake as the Stash account. Select another account with at least 1 CHER as its Controller account.
-
Type the amount of CHER to bond, and the destination of your CHER staking rewards. We suggest accepting the default settings.
-
After clicking next, you will be prompted to select one or more validators to nominate. Select those which you trust and believe will act correctly in their validation efforts for the Cherry Network.
- Click Bond & Nominate, after which you will be asked to sign the nomination transaction you’re about to submit with the controller wallet by clicking Sign & Submit.
- Once the transaction is successfully processed and confirmed, the page should refresh automatically to reflect your new nominations awaiting to be activated.
- Wait until the completion of the current era (one hour or less). You should now see your nominations activated. You are now successfully staking.
How to Unstake?
The process to unbond your staked CHER is the same for both nominating and validating. Follow this guide on the Cherry Network official Documentation.
Frequently Asked Questions:
I have nominated multiple validators but not all my nominations are active
Do not fret, this is an expected behavior. The system automatically adjusts CHER nomination allocations among the validators you are nominating. The nomination allocation optimizes for APY return and the security of the Cherry Network.
How long do nominations take to activate?
Nominations are reorganized every Cherry Network era which occurs roughly every 1 hour. You can track the era progress on the top right of the Network>Staking blockchain interface page.
