We're excited to announce that, after listening to feedback from our community, staking on Sceptre will be available 24/7 starting October 14th.
However, this change comes with some caveats you should be aware of.
TL;DR:
Sceptre will be open for staking at all times!
Staking during the 23-day Flare snapshot period is subject to a 4.4% fee. This used to be a non-staking period.
Staking during the 7 days following a FlareDrop remains as is.
The entirety of the 4.4% fee will go directly into the pool - our team won't take a cut.
Limited staking: fair, though not ideal
Previously, we limited staking on Sceptre to 7 days per month after a FlareDrop. This was done to prevent abuse and protect existing stakers. During this 7-day period, Flare doesn't take snapshots for reward calculations; those snapshots are taken randomly during the following 23 days. Since we have no way to know exactly how many snapshots were taken of each user’s contribution to the pool during these 23 days, we we made this a non-staking period to safeguard the interests of those who had been in the pool for a longer time and whose position did, indeed, contributed with 3 snapshots for the rewards calculation.
To give you a concrete example of gaming before these changes, if someone staked on the last day of the snapshot period, that user would have likely not contributed to the pool, but would receive the same rewards as someone staked for a longer time. This was the sort of situation we couldn’t allow and which prompted the August changes.
While fair, this system was impractical. It forced users to wait to stake and limited sFLR minting, which ultimately impacted the overall health of the Flare Network ecosystem.
Expanding access with fairness
To get around this limitation while maintaining fairness, we're allowing all users to stake during the 23-day snapshot period with an initial fee of 4.4%. We reached this number by taking into consideration the rewards added to the pool since Sceptre launched in July. As such, the fee is subject to change in the future if we detect an imbalance that doesn’t benefit the community.
This fee serves to even the field for everyone regardless of when they decide to stake so the team at Sceptre won’t take a percentage cut on this fee - 100% of it will go directly into the community pool.
What about free staking?
Free staking on Sceptre will still be available during the 7 days following a FlareDrop. We will keep reminding you of it on social media and the app will keep providing you a reminder to your calendar so you never forget to stake for free. After those 7 days, you’ll still be able to stake, but with the aforementioned 4.4% fee.
Starting October 14th, staking on Sceptre becomes more accessible, secure, and equitable. Users can stake whenever they choose, and existing stakers are protected from potential abuses. While committed to continuous improvement, Sceptre’s top priority is safeguarding our community and providing a top-tier protocol.