XChain

XChain Platform Action - UNSTAKE

This action begins the unstaking cooldown for an active stake identified by its signing pubkey, supporting both capability stakes (v0) and contract-targeted stakes (v1).

PARAMS

Name Type Description
VERSION String Format Version (0 = capability unstake, 1 = contract-targeted unstake)
SIGNING_PUBKEY String Ed25519 public key of the stake to unstake
TARGET_CONTRACT_INDEX Integer v1 only: action_index of the stakeable contract
TICK String v1 only: token ticker of the stake row to release
AMOUNT String Optional trailing partial-unstake amount; absent = full sweep

Formats

Version 0 - Capability Unstake

  • VERSION|SIGNING_PUBKEY[|AMOUNT]

Version 1 - Contract-Targeted Unstake

  • VERSION|SIGNING_PUBKEY|TARGET_CONTRACT_INDEX|TICK[|AMOUNT]

Examples

UNSTAKE|0|abc123...def
Begin unstaking the capability stake bound to pubkey abc123...def (returns all rows for that pubkey, original plus any v2 top-ups)

UNSTAKE|0|abc123...def|250
Begin unstaking 250 XCHAIN of the capability stake bound to pubkey abc123...def; the residual stays staked and keeps counting toward capability thresholds

UNSTAKE|1|abc123...def|500|MYTOKEN
Begin unstaking the (contract=500, tick=MYTOKEN) stake row for pubkey abc123...def

UNSTAKE|1|abc123...def|500|MYTOKEN|40
Begin unstaking 40 MYTOKEN of the (contract=500, tick=MYTOKEN) stake for pubkey abc123...def; the residual stays staked

Partial Unstake (optional AMOUNT)

The trailing AMOUNT is activated by the PARTIAL_UNSTAKE_COLLECT protocol change (mainnet: the coordinated contract-era flag day; testnet/regtest: genesis). Semantics:

  • Absent: full sweep, byte-identical to the historical behavior
  • Present (at/after the flag-day): only AMOUNT enters cooldown; the residual is re-staked seamlessly (it activates at the exact block the swept rows deactivate, so stake weight is continuous with no double-count and no gap)
  • Present (below the flag-day): ignored (full sweep), matching what a pre-upgrade node parses
  • An AMOUNT equal to the full staked balance is treated exactly as absent
  • An AMOUNT of zero, malformed, finer than the token’s decimals (8 for XCHAIN), or greater than the active staked balance is rejected; over-asks are never clamped
  • During the deactivation-delay handoff window a second UNSTAKE on the same pubkey (or (target, pubkey, tick)) rejects, exactly like the existing re-unstake guard; the residual becomes unstakeable once it activates

Rules

  • SIGNING_PUBKEY must be a valid 64-character hex-encoded Ed25519 public key
  • The active stake lookup is gated by the activation delay; only fully-active stakes can be unstaked
  • Begins the cooldown period; staked tokens are not immediately returned

v0 (capability)

  • BTC chain only
  • A capability stake must exist for SIGNING_PUBKEY, and the broadcasting address must be that stake’s original source
  • Returns all capability stake rows for that pubkey (original stake plus any v2 top-ups)

v1 (contract-targeted)

  • Works on any chain (BTC, LTC, DOGE)
  • A contract-targeted stake row must exist for (TARGET_CONTRACT_INDEX, SIGNING_PUBKEY, TICK), owned by the broadcasting address
  • Cooldown for v1 is determined by the target contract’s COOLDOWN_BLOCKS setting (set at DEPLOY time), not the global STAKING.COOLDOWN_BLOCKS

Deactivation Delay

Validator removal does not take effect immediately; the validator continues to participate for 6 BTC blocks after the UNSTAKE confirms.

  • Tracked via the deactivation_block column on all active stake rows for the pubkey (set to block_index + 6)
  • Active-stake queries filter by (deactivation_block IS NULL OR deactivation_block > current_block)
  • Prevents short-range BTC reorgs from affecting the active validator set

Cooldown Period

Separate from the deactivation delay, tracked via the cooldown_end_block column on the unstakes table.

  • Default cooldown: 1000 blocks (configurable via STAKING.COOLDOWN_BLOCKS)
  • After cooldown elapses, the staked XCHAIN tokens are returned to the broadcasting address
stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Active
    Active --> Unstaked: UNSTAKE confirms
    state Unstaked {
        [*] --> Deactivating
        Deactivating --> Deactivated: deactivation_block reached (block_index + 6)
        Deactivated --> [*]
        --
        [*] --> CoolingDown
        CoolingDown --> CooldownComplete: cooldown_end_block reached (default 1000 blocks)
        CooldownComplete --> [*]
    }
    Unstaked --> TokensReturned: cooldown elapses
    TokensReturned --> [*]

Notes

  • Two distinct delays apply on UNSTAKE:
    1. 6 blocks: validator removal from the active set (BTC reorg safety)
    2. 1000 blocks: XCHAIN token return (security cooldown)
  • The 6-block deactivation delay applies to capability unstaking (v0), which is BTC-only. Contract-targeted UNSTAKE v1 runs on every chain and uses that chain’s calibrated activation delay (6 blocks on BTC, 24 on LTC, 60 on DOGE) for equivalent ~60-min reorg protection
  • The unstake amount is the SUM of all active stake rows for the pubkey (original stake plus any top-ups via STAKE v2)
  • Use STAKE (v1) to re-stake after the cooldown period completes
  • Use COLLECT to gather any accrued rewards before or after unstaking

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