XChain

XChain Platform Action - STAKE

This action stakes tokens for validator participation, supporting both protocol capability staking (XCHAIN-only, v1/v2) and contract-targeted staking against any stakeable smart contract (v3, any token).

PARAMS

Name Type Description
VERSION String Format Version (1 = new capability stake, 2 = top-up, 3 = contract-targeted)
AMOUNT String Amount of token to stake (decimal string, 8 decimal places)
SIGNING_PUBKEY String Ed25519 public key, 64 hex chars
TARGET_CONTRACT_INDEX Integer v3 only: action_index of the stakeable contract
TICK String v3 only: token ticker being staked (any token, not just XCHAIN)

Formats

Version 1 - New Capability Stake

  • VERSION|AMOUNT|SIGNING_PUBKEY

Version 2 - Top-Up Capability Stake

  • VERSION|AMOUNT|SIGNING_PUBKEY

Version 3 - Contract-Targeted Stake

  • VERSION|AMOUNT|SIGNING_PUBKEY|TARGET_CONTRACT_INDEX|TICK

Examples

STAKE|1|1000.00000000|abc123...def
New capability stake of 1000 XCHAIN bound to pubkey abc123...def

STAKE|2|500.00000000|abc123...def
Top up the existing capability stake on pubkey abc123...def by 500 XCHAIN (new total = previous amount + 500)

STAKE|3|250.00000000|abc123...def|500|MYTOKEN
Stake 250 MYTOKEN against contract at action_index 500, signing as abc123...def (adds to existing row if one is already active, else creates a new row)

Rules

  • AMOUNT must be a positive decimal string with up to 8 decimal places.
  • SIGNING_PUBKEY must be a valid 64-character hex-encoded Ed25519 public key.

v1 / v2 (capability staking)

  • BTC chain only. Capability staking secures the platform validator set.
  • AMOUNT is implicitly XCHAIN; the broadcasting address must hold at least AMOUNT XCHAIN.
  • For VERSION=1 (new stake): SIGNING_PUBKEY must not already have an active capability stake, and must not be held by an active (or pending-activation) DELEGATE delegation. A key can never be both a stake key and a delegated key.
  • For VERSION=2 (top-up): SIGNING_PUBKEY must have an active capability stake and that stake’s original source must match the broadcasting address. The new amount is added to the existing stake total.
  • A VERSION=2 re-stake of a key previously revoked via DELEGATE v2 makes the key a valid signer again, backed by the stake rows from the re-stake onward (rows that predate the revocation stay suppressed).

v3 (contract-targeted staking)

  • Works on any chain (BTC, LTC, DOGE). Contract staking is a developer primitive; each contract defines its own staking semantics.
  • TARGET_CONTRACT_INDEX must be a positive integer pointing at a stakeable contract (deployed with COOLDOWN_BLOCKS + SLASH_DESTINATION). Contracts that lack those fields reject with invalid: TARGET_CONTRACT_INDEX (contract is not stakeable).
  • TICK must be a known token; broadcasting address must hold at least AMOUNT of TICK.
  • New-vs-topup is auto-detected by (TARGET_CONTRACT_INDEX, SIGNING_PUBKEY, TICK, SOURCE). If an active row exists owned by SOURCE, this STAKE adds to it; otherwise it creates a new row. There is no separate VERSION for top-up.
  • A pubkey can have separate v3 stakes per (contract, tick) pair; they do not collide with v1/v2 capability stakes or with each other.
  • If the staked TICK binds a stake-class controller (or the catch-all all), the contract’s guard runs before a v3 stake settles and may revert it; SOURCE pays the bounded guard gas. v1/v2 (XCHAIN-only capability) stakes are never controller-gated. See Controller-Bound Tokens.

Capabilities and Minimum Stakes

The protocol uses a capability model: a v1/v2 stake auto-qualifies for every capability whose min_stake the total stake amount meets. There are no tiers. Default thresholds:

Capability Role Default Min Stake
price PBFT signer on PRICE v0 snapshots 1,000 XCHAIN
cross_chain Cross-chain attestation 5,000 XCHAIN
oracle_publish Publish PRICE v0 rounds on-chain (DOGE recommended for low fees, but any chain is valid) 500 XCHAIN
attestation Off-chain data fetch and attest 1,000 XCHAIN
full_node Verified full-node tier (entrance stake; also requires passing periodic NODEPROOF possession challenges) 2,000 XCHAIN

A 5,000 XCHAIN stake qualifies for all five capabilities. A 500 XCHAIN stake qualifies only for oracle_publish. Minimums are governance-tunable.

A capability becomes active on a hub when all three conditions hold: (a) stake qualifies, (b) per-capability selfTest() passes, © operator has not added it to disabled_capabilities. Sub-features (chains for cross_chain, fiats for price, providers for attestation) live in operator hub config and are not on-chain.

Activation Delay

  • Stakes do not become active until 6 BTC blocks after confirmation.
  • This prevents short-range BTC reorgs (5 blocks or fewer) from affecting the active validator set.
  • Applies to STAKE v1, STAKE v2 (top-up), UNSTAKE, and DELEGATE (all versions).
  • Tracked via the activation_block column on the stakes table (set to block_index + 6).
  • Active-stake queries filter by activation_block <= current_block.
  • The 6-block figure is the BTC value (capability staking is BTC-only). Contract-targeted STAKE v3 runs on every chain and uses a per-chain calibrated delay for equivalent ~60-min reorg protection: 6 blocks on BTC, 24 on LTC, 60 on DOGE, set via each chain’s STAKING.ACTIVATION_DELAY_BLOCKS default.

Storage Model

Each STAKE action (v1 or v2) inserts a new row into the stakes table. The active stake amount for a pubkey is SUM(amount) across all valid rows for that pubkey within the activation window. This append-only ledger preserves rollback correctness: block-level rewinds simply delete rows past the rewind point.

Notes

  • Use UNSTAKE to begin the cooldown period and recover staked tokens for a pubkey.
  • Use DELEGATE to rotate the signing key without un-staking.
  • Slashing burns from the unified stake pool. If a slash drops total stake below another capability’s min_stake, that capability is collaterally lost at the next snapshot.
  • See PRICE action documentation for the price capability’s role in PBFT consensus.

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