Gnosis is a community-run chain that is created by thousands of ordinary people running nodes around the globe. Gnosis runs the same composite client software and tooling stack as Ethereum and aims to improve the utility of Ethereum through its ecosystem. The Gnosis ecosystem has developed CoW Protocol, Safe, Gnosis Chain, Gnosis Beacon Chain and Gnosis DAO which all contribute to improving the Ethereum experience. The token that powers the Gnosis network is GNO and it is exclusively used for trading, staking, and xDai is used to pay transaction fees on the network. This tutorial will show you how to stake your GNO tokens on the Gnosis network.
TL;DR
- View the current GNO staking APR here
- Use the GNO Staking Calculator to estimate your rewards
- Lockup:
- Run Gnosis Node: Locked until Shanghai upgrade
- Liquid Stake Gnosis: No lockup
- Ankr Gnosis Delegation: Locked until Shanghai upgrade
- Average commission: 10%
- Minimum amount required for staking:
- Run a node: 32 mGNO
- Liquid Staking Pools: 0.001 GNO
- Estimated time needed to stake your GNO in your wallet: 5 minutes
- Recommended GNO staking wallets: Ledger, Metamask
- Steps to stake:
- You have three options to stake GNO which all follow different steps.
Prerequisites
Where to buy GNO
You can get GNO tokens at a cryptocurrency exchange, at a DEX, or within select wallets. You should always do your own research when selecting a reputable cryptocurrency exchange. For best security, it is not recommended to leave your tokens on an exchange, but transfer them to your non-custodial or cold/hardware wallet after procuring them.
Gnosis wallets
Gnosis has a variety of non-custodial wallets for you to choose from. We recommend that you use a hardware wallet such as Ledger otherwise we suggest using Metamask wallet. Compatible wallets include:
- Ledger
- Trezor
- Alpha Wallet
- Ambire Wallet
- Coinbase Wallet
- DEX Wallet
- DinoWallet
- Frame
- Mt Pelerin
- MetaMask
- Metamask
- Coinbase wallet
How to connect Gnosis (GNO) to Metamask
In order for MetaMask to communicate and interact with the Gnosis Network, it must be added. Click on the MetaMask icon within your browser and login. Once you have logged on, click on the currently connected network, ‘Ethereum Mainnet’ is displayed by default when installing the wallet the first time.
If you want to add Gnosis, click on the network name at the top of the wallet, a dropdown menu appears with the title, ‘Networks’. Near the bottom, you should find ‘Add network’, click this option to continue.
At the bottom of the page it will say “Add a network manually”, click this and fill in the details you see for the network you want. Please see the RPC details below:
Network Name: Gnosis
New RPC URL: https://rpc.gnosischain.com
ChainID: 100
Symbol: xDai
Block Explorer URL: https://gnosisscan.io
How to bridge assets to and from Gnosis
To utilize the Gnosis network, users must first transfer GNO to their personal wallet. This can be done by withdrawing the GNO you bought to a wallet of your preference. xDai is used for gas fees on the Gnosis network and is a requirement for bridging assets to and from Gnosis. You can get xDai from various faucets on Mainnet for free so that you can pay for transaction fees.
Every bridge works a bit differently and has its own nuances. Here a few links to bridges from that can be used to connect the main EVM networks to Gnosis Mainnet:
Bridges typically operate similarly; upon accessing the bridge, you will encounter a login screen presenting a list of compatible wallets you can utilize to interact with the website. To transfer an asset from one chain to another, simply choose the desired asset and sign the message through your selected wallet. As an example, this is how it operates on the Omni bridge.
How to bridge assets using Omnibridge
The Omnibridge can be used to bridge ERC-20 tokens between Ethereum and Gnosis, Binance Smart Chain and Gnosis, and the POA Network and Gnosis. The first time a token is bridged, a new ERC677 token contract is deployed on GC with an additional suffix to differentiate the token. It will say “token name on xDai”, as this was the original chain name prior to re-branding. If a token has been bridged previously, the previously deployed contract is used. Follow the steps below to bridge your assets:
- Go to the OmniBridge UI and connect your wallet.
- Select the network you want to bridge from (i.e. Eth <-> Gnosis Chain)
- Select the token you want to transfer and enter the amount.
- Click transfer and approve the account interaction.
It is important to be aware that bridges have a reputation for being vulnerable to hacking. Please keep in mind that we cannot accept any liability for funds that are lost as a result.
Selecting Gnosis validators
Please refer to the FAQ section titled ‘How do I choose Gnosis validators’ on this page when selecting Gnosis validators. Also, you may want to utilize our criteria for verifying providers through the Staking Rewards Verified Staking Provider (VSP) Program.
How Staking Rewards for Gnosis are Generated
Learn how rewards are generated in the FAQ section titled ‘How are the rewards generated’ here.
How to Stake Gnosis (GNO)
There are three main options to stake your GNO:
1. Run a node:
Gnosis is a community-run chain that is created by nodes run by thousands of ordinary people around the globe. As a distributed network, a diverse set of nodes ensure that the network is resilient to technical failures. A diversity of nodes run across many countries ensures the network can remain credibly neutral infrastructure.
Running a node involves significant technical complexity. Gnosis provides both beginner-friendly “1-click” tools that abstract the complexity in favor of defaults, and a full advanced guide for technical users:
Step-by-Step Guides:
1-Click Tools:
2. Liquid Stake:
Liquid staking providers allow anyone to stake without running the infrastructure themselves. It also gives stakers an opportunity to use their tokenized staked resources (sGNO & rGNO) for yield farming, borrowing or compounding while still protecting the protocol.
Staked GNO (sGNO) and reward GNO (rGNO) can be converted to GNO following the Gnosis Execution Layer <-> Gnosis Beacon Chain merge. At that time the staking app will allow you to burn your sGNO and rGNO to redeem your original GNO deposit + your accrued GNO reward.
3. ANKR Delegation Staking
ANKR has announced that they are teaming up with Gnosis to launching a new staking product that is completely trustless and non-custodial. Gnosis staking allows you to stake your mGNO, making more profit from your assets. Thanks to the implemented Node Providers technology, you’ll be able to choose between Ankr-owned node providers and various Node Providers supporting Ankr Network 2.0.
This tutorial will guide you on how to liquid stake GNO and how to stake GNO with ANKR delegation staking.
How to Liquid Stake GNO
Step 1: Make sure you have a Metamask wallet
Metamask is a popular wallet in the Gnosis ecosystem and offers users the ability to stake their tokens, use blockchain apps and manage multiple tokens in one wallet. You can download the Metamask wallet here.
Step 2: Go to the StakeWise staking portal
Head over to the StakeWise portal and connect your MetaMask wallet.
- Go to the StakeWise portal
- Connect your MetaMask wallet
- Type in how much GNO you want to stake
- Tick the T’s and C’s box
- Click ‘Confirm’
- Confirm the transaction in your wallet
Please keep in mind that you will need to pay a Gnosis gas fee when staking your GNO, the cost of this will vary depending on the network activity on Gnosis. You should now see sGNO added in the interface.
Congratulations, you have now staked your GNO and have received tokens called sGNO.
Take Note: At all times the total amount of tokens that have been issued to users is sGNO + rGNO = GNO deposits + GNO rewards * (100% — 10%), where 10% is StakeWise commission.
What is the difference between sGNO and rGNO?
sGNO: sGNO represents your initial stake of GNO deposited to the pool. Exchanging or transferring your sGNO balance will result in lower rGNO earned to your account, as you will have a smaller proportional amount staked that is earning rewards.
rGNO: rGNO represent earned staking rewards and are updated on a periodic basis. Contracts check and update your reward balance based on staked GNO increases in the staking pool (or decreases if slashed).
How to Stake mGNO with ANKR
Step 1: Make sure you have a Metamask wallet
Metamask is a popular wallet in the Gnosis ecosystem and offers users the ability to stake their tokens, use blockchain apps and manage multiple tokens in one wallet. You can download the Metamask wallet here.
Step 2: Convert Gno to mGno
To convert your bridged GNO to mGNO, follow the steps below:
- Go to the Gno to mGno Converter
- Connect your wallet.
- Choose the amount you would like to convert and click Convert.
- Sign the transactions in your wallet.
Remember that you will need to have some xDai in your wallet for transaction fees.
Step 3: Go to the ANKR staking portal
Head over to the ANKR Staking Portal and connect your MetaMask wallet.
- Go to the ANKR Staking Portal
- Connect your MetaMask wallet
- Make sure you are on the Gnosis network
- In the ‘Delegated staking’ section, click ‘Stake’ under mGNO.
- Choose a Node Provider (currently only Ankr; more providers in future releases)
- Enter the desired amount to stake and click Approve
- Confirm your approval in MetaMask wallet
- Click Stake to send your delegated stake to the chosen Node Provider
- Confirm the transaction
- Click ‘Go to the dashboard’ to see the added token. You may need to wait a little for the transaction to finalize and Dashboard to automatically update.
Step 4: Track staking portfolio
- Track your GNO staking rewards on the staking dashboard of the pool you have chosen.
- Monitor governance proposals on Gnosis network that may impact the staking mechanism.
- Track the current and historical reward rates, validator count, number of unique Gnosis staking wallets, and staking ratio of the Gnosis network by visiting the Gnosis asset page. To make better staking decisions, it’s essential to understand these relevant data points. To learn how these data points could impact your staking rewards, please read more in the FAQ sections named “How do I choose Gnosis validators” and “How are the rewards generated” on the Gnosis asset page.
Step 5: How to Unstake GNO
There is currently no concrete date for withdrawals of staked GNO. Please note that validator deposits are a non-reversible, one-way transaction. Gnosis will likely follow a similar timeline to Ethereum in enabling withdrawals on a post-merge hard-fork (Q1/Q2 2023).
Maximizing Staked Gnosis (GNO)
Now that you have staked your GNO, you have three options which can be used to change your position. The options are:
Stake more
You can stake more GNO through one of the staking options mentioned above.
Claim reward
Rewards are automatically distributed every few days once the Shanghai upgrade goes live on Ethereum (Gnosis will have a subsequent upgrade). Some users may have provided a withdrawal address when initially setting up their staking deposit—these users have nothing more they need to do. The majority of stakers did not provide a withdrawal address on initial deposit, and will need to update their withdrawal credentials.
Unstake
The Shanghai/Capella upgrade enables staking withdrawals on Gnosis, allowing people to unlock GNO staking rewards. Reward payments will automatically and regularly be sent to a provided withdrawal address linked to each validator. Users can also exit staking entirely, unlocking their full validator balance. This Gnosis network upgrade is expected to take place in the first half of 2023.
Conclusion
Staking is essential to Proof-of-Stake blockchains and comes with many benefits for investors and the network:
- Investors earn yield from token emissions and/or transaction fees.
- Stakers become eligible for airdrops as many networks prioritize granting these benefits to them.
- Staking helps to secure the network
- Staking from multiple participants helps decentralize the network
- Stakers can participate in governance, as many PoS networks allocate governance rights based on the amount of tokens staked.
Congratulations! You are now not only getting the most out of your investment with compounded returns. YOU are also (in-)directly contributing to the decentralization, and the network security of Gnosis and thus contributing to the long-term success of your investment! Gnosis needs active stakers like you to become successful long-term.
Now share the tutorial with your friends so they can get to start staking as well!
Lastly, don’t forget to check out the Gnosis (GNO) asset page for more insights into staking GNO, and drop us a message if you found this tutorial useful. Happy staking!