Staking veHNT on Realms
Like many other Solana Ecosystem projects, Helium utilizes Realms to organize and manage vote escrow tokens, delegation, and more. Stakes can be created and later managed within Realms at any time.
Creating a Stake
Anyone with HNT in a wallet can create a stake using Realms either using an in-wallet browser or a browser-connected wallet.
While staking IOT or MOBILE tokens is possible through their respective subDAOs, those positions are only eligible for voting power and cannot currently be delegated for the purposes of earning rewards.
This guide outlines using Realms with the Helium Wallet App. To use Realms on a desktop browser, a Solana-compatible browser wallet can be used (such as Phantom or Backpack).
The Helium Wallet App's browser can be accessed via the globe icon in the bottom navigation.
https://realms.heliumvote.com/dao/hntSigning Into Realms
Connect your account to Realms using the in-app browser from the Helium Wallet App.
4qPt5... account.Once your wallet has been connected to Realms, your token balances (or existing positions) will be displayed in the governance section of the DAO.
As long as HNT is available in your linked account, new stakes can be created by tapping on the "Lock Tokens" button within the governance view.
Lockup Period
To build a secure voting system, Helium only allows votes from token holders willing to align themselves with the long-term health of the Helium Network. This is done by allowing holders to receive veHNT in proportion to the amount of time that the tokens are staked for.
Decaying
Tokens are locked for a fixed duration and are released in full at the end of the defined lockup period. Vote weight declines linearly until release. This effectively starts the cooldown at the moment of staking.
You will be required to close the position to return the staked HNT to your wallet after the cooldown period has ended.
Constant
Tokens are locked indefinitely. At any time you can start the unlock process which lasts for the initially chosen lockup duration. Vote weight stays constant until you start the unlock process, then it declines linearly until release.
Duration
The duration of your cooldown is set in units of days. The longer your tokens are staked, the more veHNT will be issued. If you chose the 'Constant' lockup period, this duration takes effect after the 'Unlock' action is executed.
While it is possible to set a higher duration than 4 years, no additional vote weight multiplier will be added.
Stake Multiplier
veHNT positions can be strengthened by increasing the duration that they are locked for. The resulting multiplier designates the amount of vote and delegation power of the position. It is not indicative of an investment return.
In other words, if you staked 10 HNT for 6 months, you'd get the same 10 HNT back 6 months later. During this time you would be able to delegate your position to a network to get a return in that network's tokens.
Positions created during the landrush period received an additional 3x multiplier on the overall lockup multiplier.
Confirming your Stake
Once parameters are settled in the Realms UI, you are now ready to create your veHNT position.
The Helium Wallet App will ask for confirmation before issuing the Solana transaction that creates the veHNT position.
Managing Stakes
With Realms, it's a sizzling experience to take control of your HNT stakes, ensuring they're grilled to perfection. Chew through stake delegation, transfers, splitting, and cooldowns like a master chef. 🥩
Delegating Stakes
A stake will not earn any token return until it is delegated to a subDAO. A stake without delegation earns voting rights, but no token return. You can delegate an active stake within the Realms interface.
Once a stake has been delegated, it can be undelegated in the same interface. Delegations can be changed at any time, however, it will take one epoch for the position to be available for redelegation. The stake must be delegated for the entire epoch to receive rewards for that epoch.
Splitting a Stake
A stake can be divided among multiple positions. This can be helpful if you wish to delegate your veHNT position to multiple networks (IOT or MOBILE) or set different lockup times to different positions.
Be warned, splitting a landrush position after the initial 10 day period will result in losing the multiplier for the position being split or transferred off the position.
You must undelegate before splitting a stake. You can redelegate after the split is complete.
Positions that are in any active votes cannot be split. To change a position during a vote it must be relinquished from the active vote.
Transfer a Stake
Staked positions cannot be transferred from one account to another. Stakes can only be transferred from one position to another within the same account. Positions can only transfer to positions of greater or equal duration. This functionality is useful for consolidating positions. Landrush positions cannot have more locked tokens transferred into them after the landrush period. Any veHNT transferred out of a landrush position will lose the 3x multiplier bonus.
You must undelegate both positions before transferring a stake between positions. Transferring to a new position requires the original position to be undelegated. You can redelegate one or both positions after the split is complete.
Extending a Stake
Extending a stake will lengthen the time it will take to unstake. Position holders may extend a stake to gain a larger multiplier for voting power or delegation purposes. Extending a staking period does not add additional time to the stake, it instead updates the existing stake period to the new selection.
Unlocking a Stake (Cooldown)
If a stake was created with a 'constant' lockup period, the ability to 'Unlock' the position will be visible in the position as long as the unlock has not yet been initiated. A constant lockup position will first need to be unlocked before the cooldown period begins.
Unlocking the position will begin the cooldown decay process. The time this takes is the lockup duration set during the creation of the position. And your veHNT value will decay to 0 veHNT during this cooldown period.
You will be required to close the position to return the staked HNT to your wallet after the cooldown period has ended. You must claim all tokens from the position and undelegate the position before the Close Position button is available as an option.
Landrush
For the first 10 days following the Solana migration, HNT holders were eligible to stake their HNT for a 'landrush' bonus of 3x the locked amount.(1,2)
If a landrush stake is moved or split out of its original position after the first 10 days have lapsed, the landrush bonus is forfeited.
Automatically Created Validator Stakes
For existing validators, a veHNT position is automatically created based on the existing staked position previously tied to Validators. The Validator migration guide is a valuable reference in understanding specific details for former Validator operators.
These positions are not automatically delegated to a subDAO and are set with a constant lockup period by default.
As a note, these Validator positions will appear as one large stake. hntyv... is the Solana mint
address for HNT.
Possible Errors
Insufficient SOL Balance
Creating new veHNT positions requires more SOL than standard token claims or account-to-account transfers. To stake your HNT you will need approximately 0.006 SOL in your account to create the position.
