Understand Stader in 3 Minutes: Multi-Chain Staking Middleware Infrastructure

Source: Coinlist Blog

Original Title: 《A Deep Dive Into Stader: Building Infrastructure For Staking》

Compiled by: Hu Tao, Chain Catcher

Coinlist will conduct the Stader token sale on January 25th at 18:00 UTC. Stader provides smart contract infrastructure for staking, helping users conveniently and securely stake their assets through its platform by building critical staking middleware infrastructure for Proof-of-Stake networks.

Stader is building native smart contracts across multiple chains (including Terra, Solana, Ethereum, Fantom, Hedera, Polygon) and creating an economic ecosystem to develop solutions such as yield redirection with rewards, liquid staking, launchpads, gaming, and more. The modular construction of Stader's smart contracts allows third parties to leverage their components and customize solutions.

Here are the interview questions and answers from Coinlist about the project:

1. First, what is Stader? What problem does it solve?

Stader is building critical middleware infrastructure for token holders to conveniently and securely stake their assets among validators on Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks.

Currently, token shares and voting rights on PoS networks are highly concentrated among top validators. Additionally, their existing staking infrastructure is not built for decentralization. Mid to long-tail validators struggle to attract delegation, leading to high validator attrition rates.

On the other hand, token users have limited awareness of staking-related metrics (such as uptime) and face labor-intensive processes for validator discovery and delegation. Furthermore, after delegating, they face manual tracking and management of staking assets, rewards, and airdrops.

Stader addresses these issues by allowing delegators to easily stake with a basket of validators. Our staking pools group validators based on key characteristics such as uptime, penalty history, and community engagement. Delegators can stake their assets into the pool of their choice with a click of a button, while Stader algorithmically manages the delegation to validators.

2. Can you describe your target audience? What types of users and use cases are best suited for Stader?

Stader's infrastructure is ultimately available for multiple customer segments, including retail crypto users, exchanges, custodians, and mainstream fintech participants. We are currently focused on the retail user segment on Terra. We will soon expand our business to multiple public chains and delve into other customer segments.

The modular construction of Stader's smart contracts allows third parties to leverage their components and integrate customized solutions.

3. What advantages does Stader have compared to other staking protocols?

Our modular approach to building smart contracts sets us apart from other staking protocols. As staking evolves, our architecture allows for flexible growth and the integration of new features day by day. Scalability is embedded in Stader's technical blueprint, featuring a highly interactive smart contract system.

Stader separates principal and rewards through different contracts. This ensures that the principal capital staked is always isolated from interactions with other protocols.

For users, our staking pools group validators based on key characteristics such as uptime, penalty history, and community engagement. Delegators can stake their assets into the pool of their choice with a click of a button, while Stader algorithmically manages the delegation to validators. Some key features of our staking pool product include:

• Providing multiple validator pools for delegators to minimize penalty risks and encourage network decentralization.
• Automatic reward compounding (converting stablecoins to LUNA and restaking) for higher returns.
• One-click airdrop claims that can significantly reduce transaction costs for Stader stakers.

4. What are the intrinsic use cases of Stader's native token SD?

The SD Token provides various core utilities within the Stader ecosystem:

• Discounted delegation and insurance: Validators will stake a minimum amount of SD tokens and will be allocated a proportional share of delegation in the pool based on the staked SD tokens. Validators will provide penalty insurance through the staked SD tokens.
• Rewards and discounts: 1) Liquidity pool rewards: SD token rewards for liquidity pool providers on DEX if elected by governance stakers. 2) Discount tokens: SD token stakers may receive discounts on fees charged by Stader solutions if elected by governance stakers.
• Governance: Governance stakers can propose and vote on policies related to Stader's protocol strategy, expansion, validator pool selection, validator selection, method changes, and more.
• Development access to Stader infrastructure: Third parties, including developers, need to stake SD tokens to access Stader's smart contracts and product features, such as customized staking smart contracts, validator smart tools, etc.

5. How does Stader approach building across multiple chains?

We believe that a seamless user experience across multiple chains is crucial for the large-scale adoption of the Stader ecosystem. In the short term, Stader is expanding its native staking smart contracts from Terra to multiple chains, including Solana and EVM chains, and building an economic ecosystem to develop solutions like YFI-style farming, including rewards, launchpads, gaming, and reward liquid staking solutions.

6. Looking ahead to 2022, what trends in the crypto space and the broader DeFi space are you most excited about?

We are very excited about cross-chain infrastructure built through bridges. We believe this will help us create truly interesting multi-PoS asset staking strategies.

We are also excited about the convergence of CeFi and DeFi, and we hope to be a key staking infrastructure layer connecting these two worlds (and more).