Despite the fantastic time we had validating for the Tezos Network, Stakin is sad to inform you that we will be closing our staking services on the 1st of January 2022. This has been a tough decision because of our personal interest in the Tezos blockchain, loyal delegators, and long history of operations on the network. We have been baking fresh XTZ since cycle 72, while the network was still in Mainnet Beta phases. It’s been a great journey, and we really enjoyed running a validator on Tezos. However, we feel like this will be the opportunity to focus our efforts on other networks and ecosystems.
Starting from the 1st of January 2022, we will turn off the baker operating under tz1Vyuu4EJ5Nym4JcrfRLnp3hpaq1DSEp1Ke. Rewards will be paid out as scheduled for the last cycle of operations but will not be paid anymore after that.
Stakin is one of the rare Tezos bakers who initially chose to pay frozen rewards, meaning that our delegators did not have to wait for an extra 7 cycles to receive their rewards after these were generated. As such, delegators will not receive any rewards once the last cycle has taken place and been paid.
As a delegator, you should start moving your assets to another baker, as it takes 7 cycles (around 21 days) for the redelegation to start generating rewards. There are many great options to stake your XTZ. Have a look at Baking Bad, Tzkt, and Tezos-Nodes for recommendations and to analyze the performance of other bakers.
So, why is Stakin closing down the Tezos bakery?
As a multi-asset staking service provider, we frequently reevaluate our portfolio of networks to determine if these are still a fit for our operations.
It is important to note that as a small, strictly noncustodial baker, our activities on Tezos have been constrained by the limited size of our self-bond, which frequently led to being over delegated and generating suboptimal returns. This situation has not been the best for our delegators, and unfortunately, we’re unable to increase the self-bond while remaining noncustodial.
That said, maintaining a Tezos baker necessitates a significant investment of resources, and as a small baker, we believe that these resources would be better allocated to other projects we are currently working on. By laying down our duties towards the Tezos Network, we will provide better services to our clients across the other networks where we operate.
The Stakin team would like to thank everyone who has trusted us with their baking rights. We are deeply grateful to the 500+ delegators baking with Stakin. We hope that during our time as bakers, we have made a positive impact on the Tezos network over the years, whether through education, governance, or taking part in network security and decentralization. For any further questions, please feel free to reach out via @stakinofficial or Telegram.
What should I do with my baking assets?
We’d like to recommend you move your assets to another baker as soon as possible. As we will be closing down our bakery on the 1st of January 2022, we will no longer be baking or endorsing blocks and thus will no longer generate rewards. Therefore, any assets left will miss out on opportunities to earn baking rewards and assist the Tezos community.
We recommend looking at the Baking Bad website for an overview of bakers that you can use: https://baking-bad.org/docs/where-to-stake-tezos.
Once again, we’d like to thank you for your trust. For any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.
DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice. Staking, delegation, and cryptocurrencies involve a high degree of risk, and there is always the possibility of loss, including the failure of all staked digital assets. Additionally, delegators are at risk of slashing in case of security or liveness faults on some protocols. We advise you to do your due diligence before choosing a validator.
