# Staking / Delegation

The stability and security of the Elixir network relies on its consensus validator set, both of which are economically secured by ELX tokens. To participate and maintain good standing, validators and nodes must stake a minimum required amount of ELX. This requirement strengthens the network by ensuring alignment between participants’ incentives and the network's integrity.

Validators play a critical role in maintaining network security and efficiency. By enforcing a staking mechanism, the Elixir Network leverages cryptoeconomic security guarantees to encourage honest behavior among validators.

ELX staking is integral to the network’s security and overall operational framework. Here's what you need to know:

<details>

<summary><strong>What is staking?</strong></summary>

ELX staking describes the process of users depositing their ELX into a smart contract that enables for delegation to any of the active consensus validators powering the network. This ensures that participants have a vested interest in the network’s integrity, while also allowing users to earn from a stream of fixed token emissions distributed to consensus validators

</details>

<details>

<summary><strong>What is ELX's role in staking?</strong></summary>

By requiring validators to stake ELX, the network creates a crypto-economic incentive for honest behavior. If a validator acts maliciously or fails to meet network requirements, they may face penalties — per an auditing process described in the "[Network Architecture](/technical-architecture.md)" section of the docs.

</details>

<details>

<summary><strong>Is there a cooldown period to unstake ELX?</strong></summary>

Yes, ELX unstaking has a 7-day cooldown period.

</details>

<details>

<summary><strong>What are staking rewards?</strong></summary>

All consensus validators earn a linear stream of token emissions as part of Elixir's validator incentive program. Delegators earn a share of these ELX token rewards based on their share of the validator's total delegation.\
\
These emissions are presently set to 12% of the total token supply over 20 years.

</details>

<details>

<summary><strong>How many ELX are required to run a validator?</strong></summary>

To be considered an active validator eligible to participate in consensus, the infrastructure host must delegate themselves a minimum of 9,000 ELX tokens.

</details>

<details>

<summary><strong>Where can I stake my ELX?</strong></summary>

Navigate to the [Elixir Validator](https://elixir.xyz/validators) page to begin the staking and delegation process.

</details>

<details>

<summary><strong>What happens if the validator I delegate to misbehaves?</strong></summary>

If a validator violates network rules by pushing inconsistent compute outputs that deviate from consensus, they may face penalties, including slashing (loss of staked ELX) or removal from the validator set. Delegators should carefully choose validators with strong reputations to minimize risks.

In the case of a slashing event, only the validator's initial delegation (supplied by the one running the infrastructure) would be reduced — users who delegated would not be impacted.

</details>

<details>

<summary><strong>Do I need technical expertise to stake ELX?</strong></summary>

Running a validator requires some baseline of technical knowledge and infrastructure setup. However, if delegating, non-technical users can avoid the validator onboarding flow and start earning ELX emissions simply by delegating their tokens to an existing validator.

</details>

<details>

<summary><strong>What is the user-flow to delegate ELX?</strong></summary>

Recipients of the recent ELX airdrop have been auto-delegated to the "elixir-foundation" validator, and can view their rewards and manage their tokens on Elixir's "Validator" page.

For users holding non-airdropped ELX, they can choose to delegate their tokens to any existing validator, including running their own validator if they meet the requirements. After the initial 3-month network stabilization phase, users can undelegate and withdraw their tokens at any time or redelegate to a different validator, such as one they operate themselves. Unlike airdrop recipients, regular holders must observe a 7-day cooldown period when unstaking. Staking and delegating ELX tokens enable users to participate in securing the network and to earn staking rewards proportional to their stake. This flexibility supports decentralization and governance participation in the Elixir network.

</details>


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