1 – HOW TO GET ECHELON
Bridging through SWFT, iNDOEX or Osmosis
You can swap to Echelon on Osmosis. You can also trade to Echelon using SWFT or iNDOEX exchange. Also, check out the guides written by Softpaws about buying Echelon and bridging using IBC
2 – CHOOSING A VALIDATOR
What does it mean to choose a validator?
Before you delegate (stake) your Echelon to earn rewards, you need to carefully choose at least one but preferably multiple validators (spreading your stakes lessens the risks)
You’ll essentially want a validator that stays online and doesn’t take large commissions out of your rewards
If a validator goes offline for too long, validator and their delegators might get reduced rewards (slashing)
Validator doesn’t have access to your funds, they can’t steal them. If a validator pulls the plug and disappears, your funds are still safe within the network and you can redelegate to another validator or undelegate
How to compare and choose a validator?
- Open validators page in the dapp, you can see a list of all active validators
- The red or green number next to the validator (not the one marked with #) is the number of missed blocks (missed blocks also appear as red bars below the validator)
- Commission means the amount of rewards that are taken from delegators’ rewards and given to the validators
- Voting power signifies the amount of total delegations on a validator, delegations can be either self-delegations or delegated by other users, validator maximum self-delegation is 1M ECH (from validator wallet)
- Consider at least these points while comparing validators:
- Large amount of missed blocks is not a good sign
- Avoid high commissions
- High amount of self-delegation is a good sign
3 – HOW TO DELEGATE (STAKE)
Delegate
It’s only possible to delegate native ECH using the Echelon dapp. If you haven’t bridged and unwrapped your funds to native ECH, please do so before continuing
- Open Staking page in the dapp
- Find a box that has the text “Delegate”
- “Select validator” list:
- on desktop browser, click the empty field (might need to click it twice) and scroll with mouse wheel or start typing validator name in the field and select the validator when it comes visible
- on mobile, start typing validator name in the empty field and select the validator when it comes visible
- Input the amount you want to delegate to “Amount” field and click “Delegate!”
- Confirm the messages that appear about signing the transaction
- Wait for a minute, reload and check from Staking page, under “Current Delegations” that your delegation is showing
Undelegate
If you want to undelegate funds that you have already delegated earlier, follow the above instructions but fill the validator and amount to the “Undelegate” box
Wait for a minute, reload and check from Staking page, under “Unbonding Delegations” that your undelegation is showing
Note: undelegation has 21 day unbonding period, during which you don’t get rewards. You receive the funds back to your wallet after 21 days
Redelegate
If you want to redelegate funds from one validator to another, follow the above instructions but fill the “to” and “from” validators and the amount you wish to redelegate to the “Redelegate” box
4 – MANAGING REWARDS
About rewards
When you have active delegations, you are being rewarded daily in form of native ECH! To be able to use the rewards, you need to first claim them. You are free to do with those funds whatever you wish but it’s recommended to delegate your rewards for maximum compound interest in the long run. If you want to delegate your rewards you can also compound the rewards easily with a single feature without having to claim and delegate separately
Claim rewards
You can see your current total rewards on the top part of Staking page of the dapp (under balance).
- Open Staking page in the dapp, total rewards are shown on the top part of the page (under balance)
- Click “Claim rewards!”
- Confirm the messages that appear about signing the transaction
- Wait for a minute, reload and check your balance to make sure that the rewards were received
Note: with the above steps you claim rewards from all the validators you have delegated to but you can alternatively claim rewards from a single validator by using the “Claim rewards!” buttons under each validator shown in “Current Delegations” part of the page
Compound rewards
Compounding rewards delegates your rewards again back to the same validators that you currently have rewards from. When compounding you don’t claim your rewards manually but instead you use the “Compound rewards!” button and sign the transactions, that’s it!