You are probably familiar with Polygon, an EVM compatible sidechain and a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum. Staking Polygon just got easier! The guide below details what Polygon is, and how to stake Polygon (MATIC) on the Ethereum mainnet.
Polygon is designed to increase transaction throughput and lower transaction fees for Ethereum users and developers by connecting stand-alone and secured blockchains to the network.
The protocol uses Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism for the verification of transactions. It started from an adapted implementation of the Plasma framework for Ethereum, but the “vision” of the development team is to provide side chain scaling solutions for blockchains in general.
Along that line, Polygon provides many solutions and useful features such as:
- Deploy existing blockchain networks and develop custom blockchains
- Enable communicate between Ethereum and other blockchains
- Help existing blockchain networks to become compatible with Ethereum
Polygon is currently one of the most popular protocols for blockchain development and tooling. With a recent fundraise of $450MM, Polygon is focusing on mass adoption of Web 3 applications through scalability. Currently, Polygon is running more than 7,000 dApps and is home to popular DeFi projects such as lending platform Aave or NFT marketplaces including OpenSea and Mark Cuban’s Lazy.com.
Ready to Stake? Here’s what you need to know:
Key Staking Considerations:
- Figment validator dashboard
- Staked funds are placed at risk and can be penalized, or slashed if a validator node is unavailable or acts maliciously
- Unbonding period: 80 checkpoints (average of 2 days, or slightly less)
- There is a daily average of 50 checkpoints on mainnet
- You will need some ETH in your wallet for fees, as staking MATIC happens on the Ethereum mainnet
As a disclaimer, Polygon (MATIC) is an ERC-20 token and staking takes place on the Etheruem mainnet, meaning users will have to pay bonding and unbonding fees in ETH on the Ethereum mainnet.
For this guide, we will be using the MetaMask wallet. This wallet is non-custodial, and requires the user to keep track of their own mnemonic phrase, and password. If you need to install the MetaMask extension, download it here. Once installed, if you are creating a new wallet, MetaMask will walk you through the wallet creation process.
As a reminder, creating a new wallet will prompt you to generate a 12 or 24 word key phrase. This is a crucial step of the wallet creation process. Please ensure to backup your 12-word or 24-word key phrase. Please also ensure that you backup your wallet password.
To learn more about custody and best practices, check out our “What is Custody?” video.
Staking Polygon (MATIC): Step by step guide
To begin staking Polygon (MATIC), you will need to have MATIC and Ethereum on the Ethereum Mainnet in your MetaMask wallet. Once your wallet is funded with MATIC and some Ethereum for fees, head over to https://staking.polygon.technology/.
Once you are on the Polygon staking dashboard with a funded wallet, click “Connect to a Wallet”
Simply connect your MetaMask wallet to the polygon staking dashboard, and proceed.
Scroll down on the polygon staking dashboard, and search for the “Figment” validator.
Click “Delegate” on the far right side of the dashboard, and enter the amount of MATIC you wish to stake. Keep in mind, since we are on the Ethereum mainnet, you will also need some ETH for fees throughout this process.
First you will need to approve the transaction, which requires a fee in ETH. When you are ready to proceed, click “Continue” and proceed with paying the ETH fees. At the time of this transaction, I paid ~0.0036 ETH (~$11 USD) for the approval transaction.
Once the transaction is confirmed, you will advance through the staking interface.
Once you approve the initial transaction, proceed with pressing “Delegate” and continue moving through the staking interface. This will prompt a final ETH fee to finish the staking process.
Continuing with the delegation transaction, at the time of this transaction, I paid ~0.014 ETH (~$47 USD) for the delegation transaction.
Once the transaction confirms on the blockchain, congratulations! You successfully have staked MATIC on the Ethereum mainnet to the Figment validator.
On the polygon staking dashboard under “My Account” you will be able to view your active stake. This view is also where you can unbond, restake, or withdraw staking rewards.
If you have any questions about this staking process, feel free to DM me on twitter @bradyyturner.
