(Korean version of the posting can be found below)
Hello, this is Layer 2 network developer, Tokamak Network. This post will address a recent report from a community member regarding staking issues in Talken layer. We'll also propose a policy modification to help prevent such issues going forward.
Recently, we received a report from a community member who did not receive any staking reward (TON seigniorage) from staking in the layer managed by Talken. This happened because Talken did not stake the minimum operator collateral of 1,000.1 TON from their operator’s wallet. To understand the root cause, let's examine how staking reward (TON seigniorage) and operator collateral work.
In Tokamak Network, anyone can become an operator and a DAO candidate that manages staking services on behalf of the users on that layer. In addition to being responsible for staking service for that layer, the three operators with the most staked TON are eligible to become one of the DAO committee members. DAO committee members can vote on agendas and earn TON at a fixed rate proportional to the time since their status changed to a DAO committee member.
This is a list of operators from the simple staking service page. level, tokamak1, and Hammer DAO, the operators with the most staked TON, form a three-member DAO committee. These members have the ability to vote on DAO agendas.
Currently set at 1,000.1 TON, the operator's minimum collateral is a non-withdrawable stake that the operator must maintain to manage the staking service for their layer. Its purpose is to be "slashed" if the operator acts maliciously. While the slashing feature is not yet active, the collateral requirement anticipates its eventual implementation.
Considering the economics of TON staking and the staking reward system (TON seigniorage), it would be unfair to reward a layer that hasn't met the minimum requirement, as they could potentially behave maliciously in the future without any consequences.
This is an example of slashing in the Ethereum staking service. If validators make incorrect attestations or fail to provide them, their collateral is slashed. The image is from Prysmatic Labs.
Initially, Talken did not meet the minimum collateral requirement, preventing stakers from collecting seigniorage. Despite this, the smart contract continued to track the staking reward based on the staked amount.
This meant that as soon as Talken (or someone on behalf of Talken) stake the minimum collateral, stakers could claim the staking reward .
Fortunately, someone recently solved this issue by staking the minimum collateral on behalf of Talken. However, this means the TON staked on behalf is now owned by Talken operator's wallet, and that user lost that amount.
It's important to note that the staking reward is claimable on Talken layer now not due to any changes in the smart contract logic that sidestep the minimum collateral check.
Before the minimum collateral was staked.
After the minimum collateral was staked on behalf of Talken.
Now, if you look at the list of operators on the simple staking service page, you'll notice that the "Add to Staked" button is present. This button distributes the staking reward to the individual stakers in that layer, which was previously not present for Talken layer (see the above image).