Staking & Rewards
Staking is the mechanism that ties the security of Relix to the RLX token. Holders lock their RLX behind validators, those validators participate in consensus, and the protocol directs rewards back to the parties who keep the network healthy. This section describes the concepts and principles; exact parameters (rates, epochs, penalties) will be published alongside the final staking contracts and mainnet launch materials.
On testnet, staking is primarily a way to exercise the flow end-to-end. Testnet RLX does not carry real-world value and any rates or values observed there should be treated as experimental.
1. Roles in the staking system
The staking model revolves around two main roles:
Validators Operators who run validator nodes, hold or manage stake, and participate directly in block production and consensus.
Delegators (if enabled) RLX holders who do not want to operate infrastructure themselves, but delegate their tokens to a validator and share in that validator’s rewards and risks.
Relix is designed so that token holders can support the network at different levels of involvement:
Highly technical teams can run validators.
Long-term holders can delegate stake once delegation is live.
Smaller participants can still contribute to decentralization by choosing where to place their RLX.
The common thread is that all stake ultimately backs validators who are responsible for honest participation in the protocol.
2. Where rewards come from
At a high level, rewards for staking are expected to come from two sources:
Protocol-level rewards A portion of new issuance or a dedicated reward pool can be distributed to active validators and their delegators, based on stake and performance. The exact schedule and limits will be defined in the Relix economic parameters.
Transaction fees Every transaction on Relix pays a fee in RLX. After base protocol rules are applied (for example, any burn or treasury components), a share of these fees can be allocated to validators who include the transactions in their blocks, and indirectly to delegators through the validator’s reward-sharing policy.
Over time, the balance between these two sources can evolve. Early in the network’s life, protocol-level rewards may play a larger role in incentivizing participation. As usage grows and fees increase, a greater share of validator income may naturally come from the activity of the ecosystem itself.
3. How rewards are distributed
While the exact implementation details will be defined in the staking contracts, the conceptual flow is:
Track stake and participation For each validator, the protocol records:
How much RLX is staked behind that validator (self-stake plus delegation).
How often the validator correctly participates in consensus (block proposals, votes, signatures).
Compute rewards per period At regular intervals (for example, per block, per epoch, or per day), the protocol computes the reward pool for that period and how it should be split among validators based on:
Stake weight.
Performance and uptime.
Apply validator commission Each validator may declare a commission rate: the percentage of rewards kept by the operator before the remainder is passed on to delegators. This compensates the operator for running and maintaining the infrastructure.
Credit delegators Delegators receive their share of the remaining rewards in proportion to the amount of RLX they have staked with that validator. Depending on the implementation, rewards may:
Automatically compound by being added to the existing stake.
Accrue in a separate balance, claimable via a transaction.
The resulting system aligns incentives: validators want to maintain uptime and a good reputation to attract delegation, and delegators have a reason to choose validators that operate reliably and transparently.
4. Locking, unbonding, and liquidity
Staked RLX is not meant to be instantly liquid. A typical staking flow includes:
Bonding / staking period When you stake or delegate RLX, it becomes “bonded” to a validator and is counted toward that validator’s weight. During this time, it cannot be freely transferred or used.
Unbonding period If you decide to exit, you initiate an unbonding or undelegation request. There is usually a delay (measured in blocks, days, or epochs) before the tokens become freely transferable again. This protects the network from very rapid stake churn and certain attack patterns.
Rewards access Depending on the design, you may be able to:
Claim accumulated rewards at any time while staying staked, or
Receive them automatically as part of the unbonding and withdrawal process.
Exact durations, minimum stake sizes, and any early-exit penalties will be documented as part of the final staking specification. For testnet, these parameters may be more flexible to facilitate experimentation.
5. Slashing and penalties
A Proof of Stake network must protect itself against validators that misbehave. Relix’s staking system is expected to include a concept of penalties, and potentially slashing, for certain categories of behavior:
Downtime / liveness issues Validators that are frequently offline may see their rewards reduced or, in more severe regimes, lose a small portion of stake if chronic unavailability becomes a risk to the network.
Equivocation or double-signing Signing conflicting blocks or messages for the same height or round is a serious offense. In many PoS systems, this leads to higher slashing penalties and potential removal from the validator set.
Protocol violations Running modified software that does not follow the consensus rules, or deliberately trying to attack the network, can also trigger penalties once detected.
The precise slashing conditions, penalty sizes, and appeal mechanisms will be carefully outlined before mainnet. As a validator or delegator, it is important to understand that staking is not a risk-free yield instrument: you are, in effect, putting RLX on the line in exchange for helping to secure the network.
6. Considerations for delegators
If you delegate RLX instead of running your own validator, you still have meaningful choices to make:
Validator selection Consider uptime history, communication style, commission rate, and community reputation. A slightly lower reward from a reliable operator can be preferable to an aggressive yield that comes with higher risk.
Diversification When delegation is supported, you may choose to spread stake across multiple validators to reduce exposure to any single operator’s mistakes.
Monitoring Even as a delegator, you should periodically review:
Whether your chosen validators remain in good standing.
If commission rates have changed.
How your rewards compare to expectations over time.
Delegation does not transfer ownership of your RLX, but it does align your economic outcome with the performance of the validators you support.
7. Testnet vs mainnet expectations
During Relix Testnet, staking and rewards serve three main purposes:
Exercising the technical flow: stake, unbond, and reward distribution.
Testing validator behavior under stress and various parameter choices.
Gathering operator feedback before finalizing mainnet economics.
Key points to keep in mind:
Testnet RLX and testnet rewards have no monetary value.
Parameters can and likely will change during the testnet lifecycle.
Data from testnet is useful for understanding mechanics, not for predicting mainnet yields.
For mainnet, the staking and reward model will be documented with:
Long-term issuance and maximum supply considerations (aligned with the capped 21M RLX).
Target participation rates and expected ranges of annualized staking returns.
Clear slashing and unbonding rules, so operators and delegators can make informed decisions.
8. Transparency and tooling
Relix aims to make staking understandable and observable:
The explorer and dedicated dashboards can display:
The current validator set and their stake.
Commission rates and reward history.
Performance metrics such as missed blocks or uptime indicators.
Smart contracts or modules responsible for staking should be:
Public, verifiable, and auditable.
Documented in this guide and in the corresponding repositories.
As the ecosystem matures, third-party tools will likely emerge to help validators and delegators compare options, track returns, and manage their positions across multiple networks with Relix as one of their core environments.
In all cases, the guiding principle is simple: staking on Relix should clearly connect the health of the network to the incentives of RLX holders, in a way that is transparent, predictable, and sustainable over the long term.
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