Share this article
Chainlink Staking Program Quickly Pulls in $600M, Hitting Limit; LINK Jumps 12%
The blockchain-oracle project's "v0.2" staking program expanded the capacity to 45M LINK tokens from 25M, and the portion reserved for the community quickly filled up. The LINK token surged in price.
Updated Mar 9, 2024, 2:17 a.m. Published Dec 8, 2023, 4:31 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Chainlink, the biggest blockchain data-oracle project, saw a powerful uptake for its expanded crypto-staking program, pulling in over $632 million worth of its LINK tokens and filling up to the limit just six hours after the start of an early-access period, the company said in a press release.
The "V0.2" community staking mechanism opened for early access from 12 p.m. ET, and within 30 minutes, some 32.8 million LINK had been staked; six hours later, the community pool had hit the new, higher capacity of 40.875 million LINK.
The price of LINK was up by 12% over the past 24 hours to $16.72, according to CoinDesk data.
Overall, the expanded staking pool capacity is 45 million LINK, up from 25 million under v0.1, a figure that includes the community pool allocation as well as a separate node operator pool.
According to a Chainlink spokesman, there are currently 1.8 million LINK in the node operator pool, out of a capacity of 4.125 million.
Some 21.9 million LINK migrated over from the earlier version of the staking program.
Staking is part of what the company calls Economics 2.0 that is meant to help secure the Chainlink system.
Chainlink staking enables node operators - which help engineers fetch external data - and community members to support the performance of oracle services with staked LINK. People can also earn rewards.
"Staking v0.2 introduces important new security features and sets the system up for even further growth in the year to come," Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov said in a press release.
Read more: Sergey Nazarov: The Crypto Oracle
More For You
Ethereum Foundation’s new mandate sparks debate about its role, priorities
The document quickly sparked debate across the Ethereum community, with supporters saying it reinforces the network’s core principles. Critics, however, argue the mandate signals the foundation intends to take a backseat just as institutional interest in blockchain is accelerating.
What to know:
- The Ethereum Foundation released a new 38-page mandate outlining its role as a neutral steward focused on maintaining Ethereum’s decentralized infrastructure and supporting public goods rather than directing the ecosystem.
- The document quickly sparked debate across the Ethereum community, with supporters saying it reinforces the network’s core principles — including decentralization, open-source development and credible neutrality — while clarifying that the foundation is not meant to build products.
- Critics, however, argue the mandate signals the foundation intends to take a backseat just as institutional interest in blockchain is accelerating, raising concerns that Ethereum may need stronger coordination to compete with rival networks.
Top Stories
